The Good Friday Agreement

Professor Coulter is a sociology lecturer at the National University of Ireland Maynooth. He grew up in Belfast and is the author of Contemporary Northern Irish Society: An Introduction.

He believes the power-sharing arrangement has produced a complacent and unaccountable political class who caters to a shrinking segment of the population.

The arrangement was intended to bring unionists and nationalists together and, in doing so, defuse political division. In reality the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Fein (SF), trafficking in fear of the ‘other side’ squeezed out the moderates.

In Northern Ireland, votes on ‘controversial’ matters require weighted majorities of unionists and nationalists. Which means the ‘other’ parties don’t really count.

Therefore, people with no affiliation are effectively disenfranchised. “The logic of the Good Friday Agreement means they’re second class citizens, essentially,” said Prof. Coulter.

But the disaffection doesn’t end with those who don’t identify as Unionist or Nationalist.

A disconnect has developed between both communities and their ostensible political leaders.

But nowhere is this disparity more apparent than among Unionists. A Liverpool University survey of the 2019 election found only 49% of pro-union voters actually voted for unionist parties.

Brian Dougherty was the first Unionist community worker in Londonderry, and he works in the areas where the 2021 riots began.

Economic decline acts as fertile soil for unrest to flourish. All it needs is a spark.

When the austerity cuts began to bite in 2011, mass rioting and looting broke out in London in response to police killing Mark Duggan.

Because Northern Ireland is a special case economically it took a little longer.

But in 2012, loyalists assaulted Belfast City Hall in response to a law that brought the number of days The Union Jack would fly on government buildings in line with the rest of the UK. And this unrest continued throughout 2013.

“You never see rioting in leafy suburbs, do you?” said Mr Dougherty. “These young men have no prospects, so crime and antisocial behaviour are concentrated in these areas.”

In his book Capital in the 21st Century, French economist Thomas Picketty explains how income inequality has exploded because those who have desirable skills for a modern economy earn much more, which causes social friction.   

This is partially why the Rust Belt in America voted for Trump and the North of England for Brexit. 

And Protestant boys in Northern Ireland, especially those from poorer backgrounds, are less likely to achieve top grades – a prerequisite for most well paid jobs.

The closure of manufacturing hubs like Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast also deprived Protestants of a generational trade. Catholics didn’t work in the shipyard, so for them, this was no significant loss.

And in a divided society the situation is even more complicated.

“It’s also about the direction of travel,” said Prof. Coulter. “Imagine you’re the star centre forward, and you’re banging in 30 goals a season, and the kid in the reserves was only getting 15.

"But now you’re only getting 25, and he’s getting 23. He’s not worrying about what the future will bring; you are.”

Mr Dougherty also runs Londonderry Bands Forum. A training centre for the flute, pipe, accordion and brass bands in the city.

Parades are an integral part of Northern Irish culture and bands often exist to commemorate specific people or events.

“The Ulster Volunteer Regiment were first over the top at the Somme and have fought in every war since,” he said. And the parades ensure their sacrifice is not forgotten.

There is a dark side to the marching, however. A parade entering the wrong area could be seen as a provocation worthy of retribution.

The bands get a bad rap he said, but they’re often misunderstood. With band meetings halted, football clubs closed, and everyone sitting bored at home, he said, the young men in these areas have no social outlet.

At 7.28am on the 1st July 1916 the whistle blew to send British troops over the top at the Somme. This was the bloodiest day of war when approx 19000 of our soldiers died. Ulstermen along with Irishmen died together. We will remember them.

And the Public Prosecution Service decision not to prosecute 24 Nationalist leaders who breached Covid rules to attend Bobby Storey's funeral exacerbated their perception of a two-tiered policing system.

Storey was head of intelligence for the Provisional IRA in the 1990s.

Once the violence began in March, explained Mr Dougherty, estates were egging each other on via social media in a show of one-upmanship.

As a result, unrest spread to Belfast.

This was as unusual as loyalists were explicitly protesting the state for the first time.

Mr Dougherty said they felt betrayed by the country they had pledged undying loyalty to after the Northern Ireland Protocol effectively put a border in the Irish sea.

“I think it goes back to the portrayal of loyalists as a monolithic, backward and stupid group during the 2016 Brexit campaign,” he said.

“This is simply not true. We do a lot of anti-racist and cross-community work.”