Unionists and nationalists clashed with police and each other in Northern Ireland for the sixth night in a row on Wednesday.
Unrest erupted last week amid rising Brexit tensions and unionist outrage over police decision not to prosecute leaders of the Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein for allegedly violating coronavirus restrictions at the funeral of a former senior IRA figure.
On Wednesday, rioters clashed along the so-called “peace line” that separates predominantly unionist and nationalist communities in west Belfast, with police struggling to close a gate designed to separate the areas.
According to police, a bus was set on fire on Lanark Way near the intersection with Shankill Road. Photos and video from the scene showed youths on both sides of the gate hurling projectiles, including petrol bombs, across the fence.
Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin issued a statement condemning the violence and “attacks on police,” adding that the “only way forward is to address issues of concern through peaceful and democratic means.”
“The time has come for the two governments and leaders on all sides to work together to defuse tensions and restore calm,” Martin said.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson expressed “deep concern” about the violence in Northern Ireland.
“Dialogue, not violence or criminality, is the way to resolve differences,” Johnson said on Twitter.
Tensions in Northern Ireland have risen since the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, raising the prospect of a border between the British-ruled north and the Republic of Ireland, which remains in the EU. The absence of a border was regarded as a critical component of the post-1998 peace that followed three decades of sectarian violence.
The Northern Ireland Protocol of the Brexit withdrawal agreement established a de facto border in the Irish Sea, with goods entering Northern Ireland from mainland Britain subject to EU checks, infuriating unionists who accused London of abandoning them.
In an interview with CNN, Democratic Unionist Party MP Sammy Wilson urged Johnson to “tear up the agreement that divides the United Kingdom, tear up the agreement that divides all the promises you made to the people of Northern Ireland.”
The Loyalist Communities Council (LCC), a grouping of unionist paramilitaries, announced last month that it would withdraw its support for the Good Friday Agreement, which ended the Troubles.
While the LCC stated that the opposition would be peaceful, the letter stated that the organizations would not rejoin “until our rights under the Agreement are restored and the (Brexit) protocol is amended to ensure unfettered access for goods, services, and citizens throughout the United Kingdom.”
“It’s very easy for things to spiral out of control,” LCC chairman David Campbell recently stated, “which is why dialogue is essential.”
Mary Lou McDonald, an Irish lawmaker and Sinn Fein leader, said on Twitter late Wednesday: “The only acceptable stance from all political leaders is a united voice calling for an end to all violence and the restoration of calm. The assaults and intimidation must stop.”
