Belfast Northern Ireland

Belfast is split between Catholics and Protestants. They have a long time hatred of each other in Ireland, but Belfast is a harbor of hatred. The loyalists(protestants) and the Republicans “IRA(Catholics)” are enemies of each other. The loyalists are for England while the IRA is for an independent Ireland. Much blood has been shed between the two sides, and with a progressive world maybe this can be stopped.

History on the Issue

-Famine

On Easter Weekend 1916, Republicans under James Connolly in the Irish Citizens Army took over loyalist owned buildings in Dublin.

On November 21,1920 The IRA killed fourteen loyalist officials, later in the day the Loyalists killed fourteen civilians at Croke Park at a Gaelic Football match

On January 30, 1972, the British Army in Northern Ireland killed 14 republican protesters at a civil rights rally in Derry, Northern Ireland.

Antagonizing

To Celebrate the lasting existence of loyalists in Ireland, and their triumph at the Battle of the Boyne, every year on June 12 Protestants have a bonfire where they burn Irish flags and pictures of the Pope as well as other things. The following day, the Orange Order marches through Belfast to insult Catholics.

Problems Today

Last spring on March 8th, a splinter cell of the original IRA, called the Real IRA, killed six people, including soldiers of the British Army. They killed a pizza boy from Dominos pizza while he was delivering pizzas to the soldiers. They believe that anyone who helps the Loyalists in any way should not exist, and that they should kill them.

Also today, Belfast is divided up in half, one side being Catholic, the other Protestant. There are gates that split the city in half, these people cannot coexist and they are known to throw rocks and molotav cocktails at each other. Catholics generally end up on the bad end of things because the police force is made up mostly of Protestants. 8 percent of Police in the RUC are Catholic.

How to fix it, and what is being done

Currently, the Police force in Northern Ireland is getting more balanced with Protestants and Catholics. With the Northern Ireland agreement in 1998, police reform was the main topic. It is believed that with this reform, all people will be treated equally. Although some hate will always be there, with equality comes peace, and with peace comes times where people can coexist.