AIBU - England couldn’t care less about Northern Ireland

[ThisThatTheOther]

Northern Ireland has seen a return to violence , petrol bombs etc every night for a week now. It’s dominated the headlines here in Ireland. People are worried as peace up north is so fragile. Listening to the radio yesterday an old advisor of Tony Blair was on to discuss. The radio host read out the top 8 listed stories on all main English sites and the violence of Northern Ireland didn’t even feature. It’s the top headline again in all major Irish publications this morning but not in English publications.

I'm English and care/worry about the situation.

Can I suggest you listen to LBC. They've been covering this extensively.

I admit however that if the events had been happening in an English city, there would have been a far bigger reaction.

This is why it is not being widely reported:

www.politico.eu/article/tony-blair-and-john-major-warn-brexit-could-tear-uk-apart-scotland-politics-schengen/

It was a logical consequence of Brexit. It shows what a massive disaster Brexit is for the UK.

Are you kidding?

I think every person in England (and the UK generally) cares very much indeed about the situation in Northern Ireland. Those of us who are old enough to remember The Troubles know all too well the pain and destruction that marked a very bleak 25 years.

The Metro's front page had to be changed at the very last minute.The front page they announced last night had referred to next Monday (when Covid restrictions in England will be relaxed) as the "Glorious Twelfth". This headline was to be on the same page as the story about the riots in Northern Ireland. This lack of knowledge by the media about Northern Ireland and its past doesn't help the present situation.

I've heard about it?? It's been all over bbc breakfast.
I too care deeply.

I have two good friends from England who have recently moved here and they have both told me there is not a peep heard about NI in England. I've worked in customer service for years and I can tell you lots and lots of English people demand someone from the UK when they hear my NI accent 🙃 and not very politely either lol.
I totally agree with PP in that the DUP have massively messed up and have now found that they can't bully their way out of this one. I feel for the PSNI as they can't possibly win. Stay safe and record in their land rovers, be called useless. Attempt to use force against teenagers, have your career go down the chute.

Lets not forget what Dominc Cummings:

' I don't care if Northern Ireland falls into the fucking sea'

twitter.com/steve_hawkes/status/1170979456611233792/photo/1

@noblegiraffe

People saying YABU it’s in the news are maybe unaware that it has been going on for days and is only in the news now.

Things were bad days ago and you had to hunt for coverage.

Good point

I have been watching it of the last few days but i agree they have been slow to report

@thewiseoneincognito:
"Forgive my ignorance but why is this happening in 2021?

Why has Irish society not been able to move on and why on Earth are young people getting caught up in this? Anyone under the age of 30 is clearly continuing the hate perpetuated by their parents.

How does this stop?"

What a sweeping generalisation. I appreciate that you have at least acknowledged your ignorance.

Firstly, this is something happening in Northern Ireland, not Ireland.

I am not under thirty but have lived through The Troubles and can assure you that not everyone's parents are perpetuating hate.

@AmandaHoldensLips

Are you kidding?

I think every person in England (and the UK generally) cares very much indeed about the situation in Northern Ireland. Those of us who are old enough to remember The Troubles know all too well the pain and destruction that marked a very bleak 25 years.

If every person in England and the U.K. cared about NI then Brexit simply would not be happening.

Yes, these riots are not solely about Brexit, but either way, sweeping statements about whether England cares or does not care about NI aren’t useful.

However what is clear is that the majority of U.K. media only cared enough about it 3/4 days after violence started. So for those of you saying it’s on BBC etc... yes, now it is! Simply wouldn’t be the case if it was Birmingham, Bristol, Brighton...

" @IVflytrap

The media don't care and are deliberately under-reporting it. Westminster barely care, but plenty of English people do care, me among them."

This!

It's the second story on both the BBC and The Guardian this morning behind Covid related news.

A week of violent riots in a UK capital ought to be headline news.

I agree the media coverage has been worse than useless. Even when the BBC etc cover it, they don't even attempt to explain why it is happening, just refer to Unionists and Republicans as if nothing has changed since the 80s. Now Biden has made public calls for calm it might start to get more attention in Westminster and therefore hopefully the media.

However longer term I don't think that many English people are interested and I don't see the Union as it is lasting.

"It's not the lack of reporting, it's the way it has been presented, especially on the BBC who tried to dress it up yesterday as sectarianin pitch battles. It absolutely is not.
Basically the DUP got their mates in the UDA/UVF to round up a load of disadvantaged teenagers to riot because they'd made fools of themselves trying to bully Simon Byrne out of his job & of course Brexit, which is an unmitigated disaster for NI. The interface trouble was a very small part of the violence and happened because the loyalist mobs attacked the peace gate & tried to force their way into the Catholic side."

SFA to do with Brexit. Very little sectarianism to it either! It has been massively stoked by Belfast Live, who have a lot to answer for in encouraging this for months.

The saddest part is the kids committing the crimes have no agenda with this yet will end up with convictions.

@Thewiseoneincognito

Forgive my ignorance but why is this happening in 2021?

Why has Irish society not been able to move on and why on Earth are young people getting caught up in this? Anyone under the age of 30 is clearly continuing the hate perpetuated by their parents.

How does this stop?

Young people are being used by paramilitaries and organised crime.

These riots are happening in primarily deprived and neglected areas. Neglected for decades by the NI/UK government/media etc etc. It’s a small population involved in the rioting, but probably expressing the feelings of many.

I don’t remember the troubles at all but my parents and many others certainly don’t perpetuate hate.

Centuries of history cannot be explained briefly in a mumsnet post. Far too complex.

Had this been happening in London, it would have been the top headline for days.

Membership of the EU, underpinned the GF agreement - for the Republicans it took away the border, for the Unionists it kept them firmly as part of the UK. Brexit has removed that, and I doubt even 1% of those who voted Brexit thought about the effect on N.I

Meant to say, previous post in bucket fulls.

It's been on every main news programme on R4 this week. I care - the thought of things reverting to 1980's levels of violence is really worrying. I'm sure most parents in NI were so thankful their children were growing up in a peaceful place - now it looks as if that's being ruined.

It was pointed out really early on that Brexit would be difficult for NI, but people didn't seem to either understand or care.

Although I would suggest that the current violence has more to do with general thuggery piggybacking on the excuse of funeral attendance and Brexit.

@ThisThatTheOther

I don’t think many people in England are interested in Northern Ireland if I’m honest. I think most people accept that invading another country and colonising it (whether Ireland, India or various African countries) was a bad thing and wouldn’t really care if Northern Ireland was handed back to Ireland.

There is no "handing it back to Ireland". They're now two separate countries. Once you've committed despicable crimes in lands that dont belong to you there are no easy answers - whether it be in Belfast, Hong Kong, India or anywhere else. The consequences never disappear.

I read/watch both English and Dutch news and this was more prominently in the Dutch news. My English DH noticed the same.

@Thewiseoneincognito

Forgive my ignorance but why is this happening in 2021?

Why has Irish society not been able to move on and why on Earth are young people getting caught up in this? Anyone under the age of 30 is clearly continuing the hate perpetuated by their parents.

How does this stop?

Good God!!!

It was certainly headline news on BBC TV news last night. YABU.

I think N.Ireland has endured Brexit disruption far worse than the rest of the UK.

Thanks all for your responses. Sorry I worded my OP badly, I meant more the English machinery of government / media. There is no appetite to care or discuss what’s happening. There is no working government in northern Ireland at the moment. Westminster should be all over this trying to diffuse tensions. It’s not even the same as if there were riots in Bristol etc it’s far worse. Northern Ireland was a war zone within people’s lifetimes. There are serious divisions simmering underneath the surface and Brexit has brought them back to the fore. This should be the number one thing Westminster is concerned about. Things need to be stopped before they escalate further. The point the radio host made yesterday astounded me that it hadn’t even made the top 8 stories in all major publications.

@oneglassandpuzzled

It was certainly headline news on BBC TV news last night. YABU.

Last night was the 7th night of violence. Took them long enough!