Contemporary Relevance of the Troubles Revolution
Since the Northern Ireland division endured through the end of the Troubles conflict, dissident groups continue to resist British authority today. In resistance to the outcome vote in favor of the Good Friday agreement, the militant “Real IRA” (splintered from the original Irish Republican Army) incited the Omagh bombing of 1998, killing 29 people. In 2012, the Real IRA merged with three other Irish dissident groups to form the “New IRA,” which has been responsible for dissident attacks throughout the 2010s. Recent activity includes a bombing in Belfast in 2016 and of a police station in Derry in 2019.
Political developments in the 2020s have also brought the question of Irish independence back into light. For one, debates have ensued regarding the treatment of Northern Ireland as the Brexit process progresses. Trade protocols had to be refactored, as the Republic of Ireland remaining in the European Union while the UK withdrew posed issues for movement over borders: particularly the Northern Ireland border. Originally, goods moving from Britain to Northern Ireland would have to be inspected at the port, creating a new rift between the territories. But in June 2022, the UK controversially proposed revising the protocol to eliminate these border checks. In even more recent news, Queen Elizabeth’s death has led unionists to question their alliance with the UK. Doug Beattie, leader of the Ulster Unionists Party, expressed that "The queen seemed to be the glue to the whole of the union, the four nations. So there was always that sense ... if you take away that glue, you get a sense of maybe, maybe things are weaker." Though the Troubles Revolution formally ended in 1998, the question of forming a united, independent Ireland has not been left behind.
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