Tough times are hitting promising initiatives like Links — and causing unease about the very fate of Northern Ireland’s peace deal. As the troubled territory slogs through the worst economic downturn in decades, dissident Irish nationalist militias are getting increasingly restless — carrying out a string of violent acts including a recent bombing that injured three children.
Deep-rooted poverty and continued religious segregation of Irish nationalists and British loyalists are combining with steep budget cuts in London that lead many to fear that the hard work building bridges between Catholics and Protestants could suffer.
Though their numbers are small, the ability of the dissidents to cause problems has been increasing, officials say.
“[The dissidents] have gotten better,’’ said Paul Bew, Queen’s University political science professor, of those launching attacks. “There could be bad events just around the corner.’’
Protestants and Catholics agreed to a power sharing government a dozen years ago, when the major Catholic and Protestant parties forged an unlikely coalition to end violence that claimed 3,600 lives over three decades.
But those opposed to the deal have increased operations since 2007. In March 2009, Irish Republican Army dissidents shot to death two off-duty British soldiers collecting pizzas and a policeman sitting in his car.
Poverty, unemployment, and continued religious segregation are fueling a recruiting drive by groups clinging to the dream of getting the British out of Northern Ireland.
The dissidents are recruiting, openly, it is said, among poor youths who feel the Irish Republican Army sold out for a chance in power.
Even as the violence has increased, the financial support for the peace accord is being threatened by Britain’s economic squeeze.
Funding from the British government has been cut by some $606 million for this financial year and Northern Ireland must find additional savings of $197 million.
Though authorities are reluctant to discuss the threat of increased attacks, funds earmarked to fight Al Qaeda terror plots are being diverted to operations meant to quash attacks by dissidents.
