STEP UP BORIS
BREXIT DEAL BLAMED FOR FLARE-UP PM under mounting pressure to resolve violent outbreaks in NI
BORIS Johnson was last night under mounting pressure to take action over outbreaks of violence in Northern Ireland.
The “Brexit Protocol” for the province – which the Prime Minister agreed with Brussels – has been blamed for fuelling rioting in Loyalist areas.
The deal creates an Irish Sea trade border, which has enraged Unionists who fear it drives a wedge between Northern Ireland and Britain.
Tensions have also soared amid the fallout from the police’s handling of a mass republican funeral that took place during pandemic restrictions last year.
Unionists were enraged at a decision by prosecutors not to take action against 24 Sinn Fein politicians, including deputy first minister Michelle O’Neill, who attended the funeral of former IRA terrorist Bobby Storey.
Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Louise Haigh said it was vital the Prime Minister, “as custodian to the Good Friday Agreement, steps in and takes leadership”. She told Times Radio: “He’s not a passive observer to the events in Northern Ireland and neither is the Secretary of State.”
Police fired water cannon for the first time in six years as they were pelted with petrol bombs, fireworks and missiles during another night of violence in West Belfast. Nationalist youths took to the streets after several evenings of clashes between Loyalists and officers in the city.
Violence flared on Thursday night along the “peace walls” dividing communities to prevent trouble. Northern Ireland police holding riot shields were targeted with stones. They then charged, with dogs, at rioters.
A human chain of community workers formed to prevent troublemakers reaching the gates at the peace line at Lanark Way.
In total, 74 officers have been injured in more than a week of violence.
Justice Minister Naomi Long, of the cross-community Alliance Party, pleaded for calm after “depressing and reckless” scenes. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis held crisis talks with political leaders in the province yesterday as officers braced for more trouble over the weekend.
Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald said: “Every single one of us has an absolute obligation to contribute to calm and reassurance.”
First Minister and DUP leader Arlene Foster branded the violence “totally unacceptable”. Johnson, Irish Premier Micheal Martin and US President Joe Biden have appealed for calm.