On April 2nd, a riot occurred on the streets across several cities in Northern Ireland, including Belfast, Carrickfergus, and Ballymena, ahead of the 23rd anniversary of the “Good Friday Agreement.*” The center of the riot was near the “peace wall” in West Belfast, the boundary between the residence of loyalists and nationalists that was installed throughout Northern Ireland to prevent conflicts between the two sides. 

About 600 rioters hijacked and hurled firebombs on buses and police cars, threw stones at police, and attacked the photographer covering the protest. In response, the police used suppression equipment that were criticized by the majority of human rights organizations as violent suppression. The police fired six plastic bullets and used water cannons for the first time in six years. According to Belfast Telegraph, a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, 88 police officers were injured during the quelling of the violence. Among rioters, 18 have been arrested and 15 charged after attacking police officers and vehicles with bricks, fireworks, and petrol bombs. 

The violent protest was triggered by the fears that grew among loyalists due to the trade barriers created between the United Kingdom (UK) and Northern Ireland after Brexit. After the UK had a year of transition since Brexit, from this year, the UK withdrew from the European single market and customs union of the European Union (EU). Northern Ireland, however, has continued to remain in the EU single market under “Northern Ireland Protocol” as it borders Ireland. As a result, custom clearance and quarantine procedures that never existed were applied when goods came over from the UK to Northern Ireland. In this situation, loyalists felt isolated, and complaints provoked the riot. 

Dustie Spencer (Prof. of Global Studies, PNU) said, “They can reduce the immediate violence through some kind of peacekeeping measures, but in order to obtain long-term stable peace, you have to address structural inequalities, the persistence segregation between the communities and try to build up more civil society communities that can work together to help build a strong Ireland or Northern Ireland. Perhaps starting a dialogue on implementing parts of the “Good Friday Agreement” that haven’t been implemented can ease the conflict in the future. It is important to move forward for a sustainable resolution.”

*Good Friday Agreement: an agreement signed between UK, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland in 1988 to stop the Northern Ireland conflict.