Of course unionists are angry, we partitioned their country

Youths launch fireworks at the PSNI during the protests in Belfast. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

Eilis 
O’Hanlon

Is this what it felt like back then, watching the Troubles begin? It seems absurd to suggest such a thing could happen again, more than two decades after the Good Friday Agreement was supposed to have buried the past where it belonged. However, if the loyalist protests that broke out in the past week have proven anything, it’s not just that the past can repeat itself, but the mistakes made back then in response to the original grievances and provocations will be repeated with uncanny familiarity.

The only difference is the roles played by the principal actors are being reversed. Now it’s unionists, who said of the IRA for decades that there could be no kowtowing to or making excuses for violence, who are calling for understanding of the reasons behind the disorder. Republicans, meanwhile, are sounding hawkish on security, insisting the forces of law and order must be obeyed. The irony cannot be lost on either side.