Violent Splinter Groups Try to Reignite 'the Troubles' in Northern Ireland
The success of the Good Friday accord spurs a backlash from Roman Catholic factions
Reader Comments
IRA
Until you visit Belfast (as I did in March), American's can't comprehend the complexities of "The Troubles" that continue to exist. My Catholic cabbie/escort, who had spent over a decade in the Maze, showed me the Peace Line which has gotten higher NOT lower in ten years, graves and monuments of IRA members and murals of child and grandparent victims. As a Catholic and Irish American, I was profoundly moved. I am glad splinter groups are forming, if only to keep Bobby Sands' vision alive. England needs to let go of what wasn't theirs to begin with.
Britain's North-Eastern Frontier Province
Not really sure why this is tagged as reglion or christianity while the markers of the conflict may be "Protestant" versus "Catholic" the issue of Northern Ireland (not "Ulster" by the way) is one of National and Ethnic identity with the addition of political ideology, "Republicanism" versus "Monarchy" and "Social Democarcy" versus 'Lassize Faire".
In any case as long as Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom there will be those on both sides of that British border who violently oppose it, the only question is how lethal they can be. Think of it as the British "North-West Frontier Province"!
