Irish Prime Minister warns of ‘spiraling back’ conflict in Belfast riots

Irish Prime Minister Taoiseach Micheál Martin called for calm on Saturday after a week of violent riots that broke out in Belfast, Northern Ireland, as officials set off alarms to report that children from up to 12 years.

“We owe it to the ‘generation of the agreement’ and, indeed, to future generations, not to return to this dark place of sectarian assassinations and political discord,” Martin said in a statement marking the 10th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, the 1998 agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland after decades of bloody conflict.

But growing frustration over new trade barriers between Northern Ireland and the UK in the wake of Brexit has sparked a week of unrest, with violent clashes between nationalists and loyalists that set fire to cars and buses and injured several police officers.

Religious leaders from all over Belfast, Rev. Tracey McRoberts, center and others gather at the Forthspring Inter Community group to talk and pray about last week’s recent sectarian riots in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on April 9, 2021. — Religious leaders throughout Belfast, Rev. Tracey McRoberts, center and others gather at the Forthspring Inter Community group to talk and pray about last week’s recent sectarian riots in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on April 9, 2021.

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Youth Koulla Yiasouma said 12- and 13-year-olds had been seen taking part in the riots.

“What we have are criminals who control or force young people to trade drugs, engage in criminal activities and that would include street riots,” he told The Guardian.

The hijacked cars burned on the wall of peace on Lanark Way when riots broke out in west Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 7 April 2021.

Justice Minister Naomi Long condemned the trend as “nothing less than child abuse”.

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