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.

@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.

I'm of Irish extraction, I'm 32, and I only really know about the troubles because of my elective history studies.

I'm sorry but I think you're massively naive if you think people care. They have to KNOW to care.

The part about reporting delay is important too - I was furious during the riots in the UK because the reporting moved from London to Manchester several days later, even though Birmingham followed London very shortly. My employer was based in an unaffected suburb of Birmingham and wouldn't let me leave for home safely because they had no idea how bad it was in the centre of their own damn city because the BBC reporting was London then Manchester centric. I had to walk home (after massive transport diversions) through the most dangerous parts of the city, crossing the road to avoid gangs who were being tackled by the police.

It doesn’t concern anyone in England because it won’t affect them. The troubles only became a concern when bombs appeared in England. But these kids rioting aren’t going to set up barricades or burn buses with drivers in them on London Bridge so nothing to concern anyone important really.

@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?

I’m afraid there is very little hope for you to understand the current riots when you refer to it as ‘Irish Society’ it would be well worth doing some deeper reading on Northern Ireland if you genuinely want to understand.

It took 4 nights of violence to make it onto the news sites I read. I was really shocked by that.

But then I naively assumed that the NI issue would mean people wouldn’t vote for Brexit, and we certainly wouldn’t have a hard Brexit. Shows how out of touch I am.

The UK is a union of four nations. Such a massive upheaval as Brexit should have required a majority in favor in each of those four nations, or no change. And no the general election wasn’t another Brexit vote. It was a general election.

I learned nothing about the troubles in school. I'm 33 and in Scotland. I have got what I know from a program that was on a few years ago.

I am astounded that the PM thinks a few tweets are enough. I don't know if Nicola Sturgeon has even commented yet. I agree the reporting is a disgrace. This is very much a UK problem.

I can easily say I don't agree with the violence but I haven't lived through what people in NI have. Water cannons on bloody kids? Is that what we as a country think are acceptable?

It took 4 nights of violence to make it onto the news sites I read. I was really shocked by that.

The British Press will fall over each other to report a peaceful protest in Russia or China, but have no interest in riots injuring dozen of policemen on their doorstep.

Well I'm glad that these thugs aren't getting the coverage they're seeking. It's embarrassing and disgusting. It is happening in very very small pockets of the most deprived areas in NI. 99% of people in NI are carrying on as normal.

Having lived in England for 14 years there is a deep ignorance about the 'UK' , in relation to NI. I've been asked where I'm from, and when I said Belfast, I've been asked where is that/ is it in Wales/ do we use the euro in NI/ why can't you just get along etc etc. These questions are from seemingly educated peers. My English dh is starting to educate himself on political affairs that affect his country/ UK, but it's taken 20 years!

Most British people don't have the first clue about the history of Ireland, much less the effects of Brexit (any of them - let alone its effect on NI).

I am very saddened by this. As pp said I really hoped that the violence that I grew up with would never happen again; so it matters to me.

I'm English but of Irish descent. I care deeply. I did know about it, but only because I have friends in Belfast.
Most people probably, sadly, either don't know or don't care about the history and how hard it was to get a fragile peace in NI.

The UK simply don't care about NI and what happens, they threw NI under the bus with brexit and didn't care how it affected them.
Yes the Sinn Fein party were idiots but I struggle to believe that no one on the other side were stupid too.
Those rioting are not people who will care too much about the factsor people trying to ease tensions. They missed rioting last year and are simply making up for it now. The majority of people in Belfast and NI will be going about their day with little or no disruption.
It will have a greater impact on people South if the boarder than in the UK, hence the media coverage.

Some of us warned our leave voting relatives this would happen. Some of us do care because we should care but the British Gov doesn't care.

The Tories in particular only care about lining their own pockets, they are only interested in NI when they need DUP votes.

NI has generally been under reported in Britain, sadly notice only seems to be taken when London is bombed and I sincerely hope that won't happen again.

I was in my teens when Bobby Sands died of starvation but I had no idea why he was on hunger strike. The news occasionally showed the cells with a sort of, "What type of animal does this" voice over.

I say that meaning no disrespect to the families of those men. That was the tone of the news.

It's been on the news here for days.

If the English media gave it the attention it deserves then they would have to admit that Brexit was a huge mistake and they don't want to do that.

This x1000

The English establishment and media treat Scotland and Ireland as if they are a very old Aunty, who should sit quietly in a chair and be placated once in a while, if needs be. Brexit has proved this 1M times.

I'm horrified by what's happening & the potential for the floodgates to reopen on violence in NI. I think it's utter bullshit for posters to claim that English people care deeply about what happens in NI because the simple truth of the matter is the overwhelming majority know nothing about the complexities of the situation & they certainly could not have voted for Brexit if they did...
I've lived through the 70s & 80s and I remember all too well the absolute horror of those times.
England doesn't give a fuck about NI and will not unless trouble comes to their door & the violence spreads to London again.

YANBU, I heard about this yesterday on the radio and was really shocked it wasn't a bigger story.

@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.

I disagree. Most people didn't even stop to consider NI during the Brexit process, including the government. Certainly we didn't learn anything about NI in school in the 00's. I don't think I realised it was a part of the UK until I was well into my teens. Most people probably don't even give the situation any thought at all. They might feel a bit sad if they see reports of a major incident, but only the same as they would if a bomb went off in another "foreign" place.

I’m English. I remember the end of the troubles and GFA. My mother who was a doctor in NI told me about tarring and feathering.
Since the DUP took power as part of coalition at Westminster I have listen occasionally to Radio Ulster.

I’m afraid that I do tune out mentally of news that doesn’t directly affect me. That means a lot of UK news which focuses on London concerns even within a particular story - more on Covid or Brexit affect on London. As with NI, north-east England seems only of marginal interest on national news unless something major happens.

Also hard when there is nothing you can do. I can take a Covid jab and make sure I vote, use NHS wisely when I see stories on the pressures on NHS. I can’t influence the politicians on NI issues.

If I’m honest until recently I didn’t understand any of the issues Northern Ireland have faced and continue to face and I’m in my 30s. I knew about the good Friday agreement but didn’t “get” it and I remember the Omagh bombing on the news. I wasn’t taught it in school, in Sunday school we prayed for and end to the Troubles but I didn’t understand them, no one explained it. Our media (in England and Wales at least) seemed to/seems to have the attitude of “the Irish are at it again with their rioting and carry on 🙄” when things like this happen. (Just to emphasise I don’t believe this myself) Thank god for google tbh because now when I don’t understand something I search for it and read about it. That only happened after Brexit though when there was talk about what a pain it would be for Northern Ireland.

To sum up, I have form for being ignorant but I don’t want to be.

Sadly, I think you're right. Most people just don't care, including our PM apparently.

This was a disaster waiting to happen when we voted for Brexit, unfortunately, and especially when we decided to go for a hard Brexit. BJ made it very clear that he didn't care. It's shameful.

Part of the problem is that people aren't taught about NI history in our schools, so people have no real understanding unless they have taken the time to educate themselves.

These are kids who weren't even born in 1998. In fact their parents were probably still at school. I highly doubt that your average 15 year old has any interest at all in Customs forms and trade barriers. This therefore sounds more like ordinary thuggery than anything else.

I care.

I think this helps sum up how fragile Northern Ireland is and was. It’s a review of the year 1998 in Ireland. During this year the Good Friday Agreement was signed heralding peace, a month or so later loyalists were refused permission to March down a street in a catholic area - this led to loyalist rioting similar to what we are seeing now but ended in the death of 3 young children. A month or so later the Real IRA planted a bomb in Omagh which killed 29 people.

Any of the episodes of reeling in the years between 1979 and 1998 all feature violence in Northern Ireland. It’s not that long ago and Westminster should be doing more.

This therefore sounds more like ordinary thuggery than anything else.

Aye that’s all it is. Just normal, run of the mill thuggery you see in every large city every week.