Loyalism in Northern Ireland is in crisis. That is the conclusion that can be drawn from the recent rioting and violence in Belfast, Derry and other parts of the north. Various commentators have attributed the violence to the Northern Ireland Protocol, deprivation in loyalist working class areas, and the alienation of northern loyalists from the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Of course these are all factors in the violent scenes that occurred.
However, a closer examination of the violent incidents reveals many other factors at work. Most of the rioters were teenage boys. These teenagers have no memory of “The Troubles” – the thirty years of violence that cost 3,700 lives and blighted the entire country. They do have a folk memory that has been passed on to them by their parents, friends and relatives. This folk memory emphasises the tribal nature of the loyalist experience – embattled supporters of the British link who were under attack by the IRA and/or the Catholic population , who wanted to force them into a united Ireland.
The folk memory also stresses that the terrorist violence carried out by the various groups – UVF, UDA, Red Hand Commando etc – was entirely justified. Because they, and by extension the British link, were under threat they were right in using murder as a tactic against the IRA and by extension the entire Catholic population of the north. Loyalist murder was legitimised for many working class loyalists.
Another factor has been the total failure of any sort of attempt at inter community reconciliation since the 1998 Godd Friday Agreement. Education in the north is still largely segregated with both sides unwilling to give up their tribal identity as expressed through their differing education systems. It is rare to find any State schools teaching the history of Ireland, the 1798 Rebellion, the Easter Rising and events that have shaped modern Ireland. Catholic schools teach the Irish language, State schools do not. The growth of gaelscoils and the unlikely spread of Irish language support reflects the self confidence of northern nationalists and their somewhat skewed view of Irish identity.
Children in the two communities in Northern Ireland grow up unaware of the other side and rarely meeting members of the other tribe. The teenagers throwing petrol bombs and rocks at the police in all likelihood have no contact with any of their peers in the nationalist community. The “otherness” of each community is therefore enforced by what the Good Friday Agreement achieved and the results of that. The emergence of the DUP and Sinn Fein as the two largest political parties in the north reflects the “Belgianisation” of Northern Ireland- two separate communities with little cross community contact and totally separate representation existing in an artificially enforced parliament.
By the standards of the violence experienced during The Troubles the recent events are small fry. No firearms were used. No explosives were used. The casualties were mostly police officers and thankfully with no life threatening injuries. The rioting was largely recreational, the product of months of lockdown and collective boredom. Undoubtedly elements of the paramilitary organisations were involved. These organisations have become little more than organised criminal gangs, using their “status” within the loyalist community as a front for their drug dealing and illegitimate activities. Forget the denial by them of non involvement. They are parasites that grew out of the troubles(with the active encouragement of politicians) and will continue to endure in loyalist working class areas.
Loyalist violence will no doubt resurface from time to time. However the attitude of Sinn Fein does little to reassure everyone else on the island. Talk of a border poll, the unlawful Bobby Storey funeral, failure to actively support the PSNI, failure to address the murderous terrorist campaign of the Provisional IRA – all of these will only encourage continued loyalist violence, whether rioting or something more dangerous and sinister.
Any sort of enforced Irish unity, whether by poll or by abandonment of Britain, will mean loyalist terrorism in Ireland. Ireland spent thirty years living with republican terrorism causing death and destruction here and elsewhere. It does not bear thinking what a future of loyalist terrorism would bring.
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