Although the conflict between Irish Catholics and British Protestants in Northern Ireland officially ended in 1998 with the Good Friday Agreement, it – after 20 years of this peace process – echoes back recurrently and significantly to this day. Even if the conflict’s amplitude has significantly weakened, it does continue to take a hard toll on the residents of the region.
Since Peace Process starts in Ulster, not so many people are interested any more about what is going on in Northern Ireland. Meanwhile at the island, deep hate dividing most part of the province. Paramilitary organizations are still very active and controlling most the areas, not only in Belfast and Londonderry/Derry but even at the small villages.
Third generation from working class districts, still have big problem with unemployment and what is more important, since The Troubles the number of people who commit suicide in last two decades, is larger than people who been killed during the conflict. It’s clearly show us that United Kingdom, doesn’t know how to fix it.
From 2007 to 2013, the EU spent 2.4 billion euros on peace projects in the region and set community-building initiatives for 2014-20 (up to 229 million euros) on projects aimed at integrating Protestants and Catholics.
According to the Northern Ireland Peace Monitoring Report of 2016, manifestations of Irish and British paramilitary activity over the 3 years (2014-2016) encompass: 109 incidents with the use of firearms; over 1,000 shootings and bombings; 88 attempted bombings; 1,100 bomb alarms; 50 persons injured as a result of firearm attacks, 116 victims of paramilitary beatings, 22 paramilitary murders; nearly 800 punishment-style attacks; and 4,000 cases of sectarian forced eviction. Confiscated were 124 firearms; 8,988 pieces of ammunition; and 25kg of bomb-making materials. Between 2007 and 2015, only 80 convictions were secured under terrorism legislation, leading to a paltry 48 prison terms. Noting that much weaponry is still in circulation, the detailed report criticized the authorities for failing to truly address the violence still manifest twenty years into the peace process.
