July 18, 2017

Bonfires and parades fuelling tension in Northern Ireland

located:	United Kingdom
editor:	Maria João Morais

On July 12th Northern Ireland experienced once again traditional loyalist marches that celebrate the historic victory of Protestant King William of Orange over the Catholic King James II at the Battle of Boyne in 1690. Despite the battle occurring over 300 years ago, the date still represents an important milestone for Protestants residing in Northern Ireland, the descendents of English and Scottish settlers who support maintaining the territory in the United Kingdom.

This year, the parades took place in 18 locations around Northern Ireland, involving thousands of people and were considered the largest in a generation. Draped in Union Jacks, protestors once again displayed their passionate British patriotism that is really glimpsed in Britain itself. Typically, the parades are followed by scenes of violence and clashes between the Catholic and Protestant communities as the parades are provocatively routed through Catholic neighbourhoods and in recent years have led to rioting.

On the previous night of July 11th, large towering bonfires were lit in Protestant neighbourhoods. Provocatively, unionists burned flags of the Republic of Ireland, along with images of Sinn Fein electoral candidates, the party that supports political reunification of the island of Ireland. Highly controversial, an image of a black coffin with a photo of the historic Sinn Fein leader Martin McGuinness, recently deceased, was also attached to a bonfire in east Belfast. Such actions are hugely offensive towards Catholics, who consider them as hate crimes.

Although this year’s parades passed without major confrontations, the moment advises more prudence on the part of the unionist community. Although a majority of Northern Irish people (56%) voted to remain in the EU, the UK-wide vote for Brexit has now propelled the possibility of a hard border returning between the south and north of Ireland, potentially jeopardising the peace process. 20 years after the Good Friday Agreement, which brought an end to 30 years of conflict between the Protestant and Catholic communities, much progress has been made in the region’s peace process.

Nevertheless, much remains to be done in achieving harmonious coexistence between the two communities, which have become more and more polarised in recent years, as shown in the rise of radical parties in recent elections. As social divisions seem to be increasing, this kind of patriotic display and constant provocation do not help the normalisation of Northern Irish society.