• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Politics

Belfast violence ‘worst since 1970s’, community worker says

Isaac Andrews said unrest in the loyalist community was “murmuring for two-three years”.

Henry Goodwin by Henry Goodwin
2021-04-18 12:11
in Politics
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

A community worker has described seeing scenes of violence in Belfast of a ferocity he had not witnessed since the start of the Troubles.

Isaac Andrews was on the scene on the Springfield Road last week as the PSNI used water cannon to quell crowds for the first time six years.

Trouble flared following a loyalist protest at the peace wall gates at Lanark Way on Wednesday following successive nights of protests, some of which ended in violence, across Northern Ireland.

Scores of police officers were injured after being attacked with petrol bombs, fireworks and stones.

While loyalists clashed with police on one side of the gate, nationalist crowds were involved in clashes on the Springfield Road on the other side.

Andrews described seeing over 100 people on the Springfield Road and he rushed to close an open pedestrian gate at the Workman Avenue, a short distance along the peace wall from Lanark Way.

He said he came under attack as he prevented them gaining access to the Shankill, before republican community worker Sean Murray joined him and they did their best to secure the area.

RelatedPosts

‘Bins overflowing with bottles’: Insiders reveal true extent of No 10 lockdown parties

Cost of living: Eye-watering figure MPs pocket in ‘second jobs’ revealed

Internet poet gives ‘If’ a Downing Street party remix

Progressive alliance would hand Labour a MASSIVE majority in parliament

“I was basically surrounded by about 150 nationalists who were trying to get through the gate to get into the unionist area, it was me singly trying to get a gate locked,” he said.

“The Workman Avenue pedestrian gate had been left open in the midst of everything that was happening at Lanark Way. 

“I was attacked two or three times with bottles, bricks and planks of wood thrown at me.

“Five or 10 minutes into that, I heard someone shouting from the other side of the road which happened to be Sean Murray, and I was shouting back to him to help. 

“Shortly after police arrived and after that the keyholder arrived.”

He said Farset International community centre and hostel was later surrounded by a crowd of 200-300 before police pushed them back, and the violence on both sides of the peace wall went on until around 1am.

Andrews said “really vicious violence” continued on the Springfield Road on Thursday night into the early hours of Friday.

“For me personally, what I witnessed over those two days was very reminiscent of what you would have seen in the early 1970s in street disorder, that’s how bad it was,” he said.

“It was ferocious at times and it was sectarian. It was like a flashback to the past and very frightening.

“There’s been good relations here, we’ve had our bad times but good relationships have been built up and at a drop of a hat, you can see relationships disintegrating and people going back into their trenches.”

The violence moved to north Belfast on Friday and has not resparked since. The PSNI has ruled out orchestration of the violence by paramilitary groups.

Andrews described the violence at Lanark Way as spontaneous. “If it had been organised by paramilitaries, it would have been a lot more serious,” he said.

“But what happened on the Springfield Road was something completely different, what I witnessed was organisation, it was spontaneous. These crowds did not just appear.”

Andrews described unrest in the loyalist community as “murmuring for two-three years”.

“There is a feeling of loss of identity, culture being eroded,” he said. “In terms of Brexit, people were looking at what would happen along the border, watching the nationalist protests and all this talk that we can’t even have a camera on the border or we could return back to violence.

“Many in unionism and loyalism feel that threat was appeased and we have ended up with this Northern Ireland Protocol and another border has been created.

“You had all that built up and then the Bobby Storey funeral. It’s not an orange or green issue, it affects families across the divide. 

“My own mother when she passed away, we had to stand and watch her final moments on this earth on a screen.

“When that investigation was over and no prosecutions followed, it was seen as another appeasement. 

“The Rangers fans came out, wrongly, and within days there were fines, yet six months down the line from thousands of people being out on the streets for Storey, nobody is fined. 

“And this is government breaking their own restrictions. And you have to put in the mix, we have been in lockdown for so long, there is frustration particularly among young people, it’s a release to get out.

“Then the protests started, violence in some areas and peaceful protests. But for me personally, whoever arranged the protest on Lanark Way, bringing a protest to an interface was complete and utter madness, and it was very predictable what would happen afterwards.

“However I did not expect to witness what I witnessed afterwards on the Springfield Road.”

Related: Brits worse hit by Covid because of inequality and low welfare support

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

2017 “Superbrands” announced

People point out the obvious as anti-vaxxers and lockdown protesters coalesce

The Handmaiden: Film Review

US Election 2020: Why we could be waiting a long time for a winner to be declared?

Tory council hands £50k of Covid-19 bailouts to fox hunting groups

Fury as Minister tells Brits to buy value brands to cope with living cost crisis

How the UK Economy Can Grow With Big Engineering Projects

‘Levelling up’ agenda questioned after Tory MPs stay away from vote on workers’ rights and council tax hikes

Merkel begs Germans to follow Covid restrictions, saying 590 deaths a day would be “unacceptable”

There’s a bouncer shortage and people aren’t sure if it’s a good or bad thing

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.