When Belfast City Council voted on the 3rd of
December to only fly the flag on certain days of the year, most people did not
realise what this would trigger. The action infuriated many unionists who feel
that their British identity has been under threat for a long time. This vote
was the final straw and they’ve been protesting ever since. Many of the
protests have gone off peacefully but there have been many that have turned
violent. On Friday night 29 police officers were injured in a confrontation in
East Belfast between nationalists and protesters.
Unfortunately it doesn’t look like there is any end in
sight and riots are breaking out with increasing frequency. Thankfully the
protests and violence have been largely confined to Belfast, although there
have been flashpoints all across Northern Ireland. In reality this could not
have happened at a worse time, after a year of poor sales, shopkeepers and
other businessmen were hoping that Christmas would bring a much needed boost to
sales. A fear of roads being blocked by protesters and the threat of violence
kept most people away. This has had a serious effect on the business community,
some entrepreneurs have reported losses up to tens of thousands of pounds! 2013
was supposed to be a good year for NI; Derry/Londonderry (NI’s second city) has
the UK City of Culture, Derry has been listed by a number of travel guides as
one of the top destinations in 2013. This was supposed to be the year that we
started to send out good images to the world. Yet this year has begun with
images of violence and protests. Great.
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| Police are caught in the middle of clashes between nationalists and protesters source: telegraph.co.uk |
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