Amidst renewed violence between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, Boston University students said they hoped peace would be restored by St. Patrick’s Day.
Last week, violence broke out in the troubled area for the first time in almost 12 years when a breakaway faction of the Irish Republican Army killed two British soldiers and a police officer. As of Monday, 11 suspects were being held during investigations of the incidents, according to the Associated Press.
This violence was sudden and unprecedented after more than a decade of peace between Catholics and Protestants, groups that had previously been at war for 30 years, BU international relations department acting chair William Keylor said.’
‘What this latest violence means is that the extreme wing of the IRA is unhappy that their leaders have agreed to work with the Protestants, and they started resorting to violence again,’ he said.
Keylor said that he did not think the faction’s actions will instigate more attacks.
‘I’m hopeful that this will be a minor outbreak of violence in an area that has seen 10 years of peace after 30 years of war,’ he said.
BU students agreed, saying that they have faith that a 1998 peace agreement reached will be upheld.
‘It’s not going to escalate into anything,’ College of Engineering junior Alexander Ko said. ‘We’re not going to see a whole new rash of killings.’
College of Arts and Sciences freshman Rachel Bennett agreed with Ko, adding that she thinks religion is not worth causing wars over.
‘Generally, I think religious turmoil is stupid,’ she said. ‘If you steal my cow, I’ll shoot you. But if you want to worship a different god, go ahead.’
College of Communication junior Caroline Cleaver said she feared the violence would escalate, endangering another generation of children in a country that has just found peace. Cleaver said when she was 7 years old, her family hosted a young girl from Northern Ireland.
‘She would tell me stories about alarms going off,’ Cleaver said. ‘It would really upset her.’
She said that she and her family were very happy when they learned of the peace agreement, and they hoped the girl would be able to grow up in a safe environment. Now that the violence has started again, Cleaver said she worries for all the children who will have to live in constant fear.
‘It has the most effect on people that have no control over it, like children,’ she said. ‘For this to happen again . . . to come so far and revert back is such a shame.’
Cleaver said she was hopeful that the violence would subside and said that it would not deter her from visiting Ireland in the future.
Keylor agreed, and said students do not have to steer clear from visiting.
‘[There’s] just these few little isolated instances,’ he said. ‘Let’s face it, there’s violence in Boston, too. I don’t think there should be a concern.’
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Not meaning to be disrespectful but I’m currently studying abroad in Ireland and I feel like this article is giving the total wrong impression. The “troubles” mainly only affect Northern Ireland, which is not a part of the Republic of Ireland but part of Great Britain. Obviously it is a part of the island itself. Next thing to realize is that the IRA is not involved. The two groups that took responsibility for the attacks are the “Real IRA” and another dissident republican group. While it sounds similar it’s important to differentiate because the “Real IRA” was not part of the Good Friday Agreement, while the IRA did eventually decommission in the early 2000’s. It’s also not just about religion, there are SO many other factors involved. Also I’m not quite understanding why these attacks would deter us from visiting Ireland. Like I said, this is Northern Ireland we’re talking about. The Republic has seen relative peace for much longer than NI. <br/>I just don’t really feel like this article conveys an understanding of the conflicts… there was no discussion about Gerry Adams or Martin McGuiness and the way they condemned the attacks. It makes Ireland look like a place of turmoil even though it’s seen relative peace. I feel like it really just makes Ireland into something that it isn’t. Just read the Irish Times and you’ll get a wholly different understanding of the Troubles and the way the governments are dealing with them.