What's Behind the Violence in Northern Ireland? | Explain This

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Keeping the land border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland free of any visible checkpoints is a key plank of the Brexit accord between the European Union and U.K.

An agreement, known as the Northern Ireland Protocol, aims to do just that. Yet, it’s drawing bitter criticism from unionists who claim it undermines their British identity because it treats Northern Ireland differently from the rest of the U.K. The arrangement is also under attack from companies who say it disrupts trade.

Following Brexit, the 310-mile (499-kilometer) frontier running from near Derry in the north to Dundalk on the east coast of Ireland became the EU’s new land border with the U.K. Without special status, checks would have had to take place on the frontier because the U.K. has exited the customs union and single market.

The concern was that delays could hamper the free movement of people and goods between the two parts of Ireland, which was partitioned a century ago, and customs posts could become targets for violence. The protocol was seen as an answer.

By keeping the land border free of potentially provocative checkpoints, both sides hope to prevent a return to the era of sectarian violence, which cost more than 3,000 lives between the late 1960s and the signature of a peace accord, the Good Friday Agreement, in 1998.

#Ireland #Brexit #Explained

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You know if Britain just gives Northern Ireland back to Ireland it would prolly solve alot of problems.

bobbuilder

Give all of Ireland back to the Irish. Pretty simple...

zillathezalo

pretty much the whole world is going nuts in the past couple years. the tipping point comes closer && closer

baddog

Give back NI to Ireland....prob solved....

jekdndn

hope everybody stays safe and healthy during these times wherever you are.

fjp

UK needs to give it back. Same problem with Hong Kong and China or USA and Hawaii.

conservativeriot

Hmmmm! Let me guess.
The Open Society Foundation

robertb

Whatever is the situation I would not trust Bloomberg news to tell me water is wet.

Floki_

I’m just a simple man who likes nice borders. Northern Ireland gotta go. Fix the border gore.

kevray

funny how bloomberg calls this violence and calls all the rioting druing the summer in the US "protests'... its almost comical how much bloomberg flip flops back and forth...

biggienorm

The Irish, for as liberal as they are, definitely know how to send a "stop fkng with us" message.

thernius

These unionists are incredible. They voted for Brexit but are mad about the NI Protocol. What did they think Brexit would lead to? No boundaries anywhere?

redbeangreenbean

The problem is that England is occupying six counties in northern Ireland. Journalists like to call this "sectarian violence." Actually there is an ethnic difference. In the early 17th century England brought in people from Scotland to create an artificial majority. These squatters happened to be Protestant but that's not the problem. Descendants of those Scottish squatters are still in northern Ireland and they identify with Britain.

loschekell