Melodi
Disaster Cat
I have asked the mods to change the title of my older thread where I have been updating on this, including at least three articles this morning.
I don't really care if we use my old thread and update the title or a new one.
Basically, as the three articles I posted this morning show, what I was afraid would happen is happening with local complications.
The Ulster-Scotts (Unionist/former known as Protestants) are furious at being treated differently from the rest of the UK during BREXIT after they were told they would be treated the same - it is so bad now that many UK retailers simply won't ship to Northern Ireland at all causing all shorts of shortages and problems.
The Old Republican (formerly Catholic) vs Unionist (Protestant) hatreds and divide never really went away, it was just as long as everyone was in the EU both sides could "play pretend" the Republicans could pretend they lived in a United Ireland and get Irish passports, the Unionists could pretend they lived in the United Kingdom and have British ones (many people had and have both).
Now the "pretend" has been ripped away, there are local issues such as the "Republican" (aka IRA) funeral that a bunch of Republican politicians attended and violated COVID rules. About two weeks ago a decision was made not to prosecute them and the Unionist "thugs" decided to use that as part of their excuse to keep rioting.
Now of course, especially after last night, the Republican "thugs" are now fighting in the streets with the Unionist ones - the PC term is "paramilitary" but I think thug is probably more accurate for what is going on right now (on both sides).
Hijacking buses, burning cars, throwing small Molotov cocktails at police, injuring 40 police officers with everything from rocks to who knows what; yep it is heating up fast.
And sadly, it probably won't be long before the full civil war is back on up there - I have no good solutions, once this gets started it has and will take on a life of its own.
The only thing that stopped "The Troubles" before was a combination of people who were sick of them after a couple of horrifically despicable acts, and it was rumored the Brits told the Unionist Northern Irish "we can't afford to pay to police a civil war anymore, either make peace or we are leaving; enjoy your lives as a minority in either a United Ireland or in a tiny independent country of Northern Ireland."
I don't really care if we use my old thread and update the title or a new one.
Basically, as the three articles I posted this morning show, what I was afraid would happen is happening with local complications.
The Ulster-Scotts (Unionist/former known as Protestants) are furious at being treated differently from the rest of the UK during BREXIT after they were told they would be treated the same - it is so bad now that many UK retailers simply won't ship to Northern Ireland at all causing all shorts of shortages and problems.
The Old Republican (formerly Catholic) vs Unionist (Protestant) hatreds and divide never really went away, it was just as long as everyone was in the EU both sides could "play pretend" the Republicans could pretend they lived in a United Ireland and get Irish passports, the Unionists could pretend they lived in the United Kingdom and have British ones (many people had and have both).
Now the "pretend" has been ripped away, there are local issues such as the "Republican" (aka IRA) funeral that a bunch of Republican politicians attended and violated COVID rules. About two weeks ago a decision was made not to prosecute them and the Unionist "thugs" decided to use that as part of their excuse to keep rioting.
Now of course, especially after last night, the Republican "thugs" are now fighting in the streets with the Unionist ones - the PC term is "paramilitary" but I think thug is probably more accurate for what is going on right now (on both sides).
Hijacking buses, burning cars, throwing small Molotov cocktails at police, injuring 40 police officers with everything from rocks to who knows what; yep it is heating up fast.
And sadly, it probably won't be long before the full civil war is back on up there - I have no good solutions, once this gets started it has and will take on a life of its own.
The only thing that stopped "The Troubles" before was a combination of people who were sick of them after a couple of horrifically despicable acts, and it was rumored the Brits told the Unionist Northern Irish "we can't afford to pay to police a civil war anymore, either make peace or we are leaving; enjoy your lives as a minority in either a United Ireland or in a tiny independent country of Northern Ireland."