In a statement, Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin condemned the violence and ‘attacks on the police’ and added the ‘only way forward to address issues of concern in a peaceful and democratic way’.
“It is time for the two governments and leaders on all sides to work together to defuse tensions and restore calm,” Martin said.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson
said he was ‘deeply concerned about the scenes of violence’ in Northern Ireland.
“The way to resolve differences is through dialogue, not through violence or crime,” Johnson said on Twitter.
Tensions have been rising in Northern Ireland since the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, creating the potential for a border between the Northern British government and the Republic of Ireland in the south, which remains in the EU. The lack of a border was seen as an important element of the post-1998 peace that followed three decades of sectarian violence.
Under the Northern Ireland Protocol to the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, a de facto border has been created in the Irish Sea, with goods entering Northern Ireland from Britain on the mainland, subject to EU controls, a move that angers unions, who accused London of abandoning it.
In an interview with CNN, Sammy Wilson, Member of Parliament for the Democratic Union, called on Johnson to ‘tear up the agreement that breaks the UK, the agreement that breaks all the promises you made to the people of Northern Ireland broke. ‘
Last month, the Council of Loyalist Communities (LCC), a group of trade union paramilitarists, said it was withdrawing its support for the Good Friday Agreement, which puts an end to the problems.
While the LCC has said that the opposition will be peaceful, the letter reads that the groups will not rejoin “until our rights under the agreement are restored and the (Brexit) protocol is amended to allow unrestricted access to goods, services and citizens. throughout the United Kingdom. “
LCC Chairman David Campbell recently said: “It is very easy for things to get out of hand, so it is essential that a dialogue takes place.”
Write on Twitter Late Wednesday, Mary Lou McDonald, an Irish lawmaker and leader of Sinn Fein, said: “A united voice to stop all violence and to restore calm is the only acceptable attitude of all political leaders. The attacks and intimidation must end. . “
CNN’s Nic Robertson and James Griffiths reported.
