UK: Another bus set on fire in Northern Ireland

LONDON

Another bus was set on fire in Northern Ireland on Sunday night, according to local media, as tensions over the Northern Ireland Protocol continue to escalate.

Around 8 p.m. on Sunday, four masked men hijacked a bus in Co Antrim, in the northern part of Northern Ireland, ordered the driver and passengers off, and set the bus on fire. The incident took place near a Unionist area.

Last Monday, another bus was hijacked and burned in a unionist part of Co Down – that is, an area favoring Northern Ireland remaining part of the UK – another county in Northern Ireland.

In order to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, British Prime Boris Johnson negotiated the Northern Ireland protocol as part of his Brexit deal with the European Union, placing a de facto border instead between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

This is because the protocol basically means that Northern Ireland still has to abide by some EU rules, and certain goods from the UK to Northern Ireland have to be checked.

The protocol is unpopular with Northern Irish unionists, who see it as putting too much distance between them and the UK mainland.

Jeffrey Donaldson, leader of the DUP, Northern Ireland’s largest unionist party, tweeted: “This is senseless. Such criminal behaviour could lead to death or serious injury. This only harms local people and local communities. It serves no cause whatsoever. The ringleaders should step back. Change is brought about by politics not by burning buses.”

Northern Irish Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon called it “disgraceful and disgusting that our public transport workers have been targeted for attack again,” adding that this is the fourth attack this year.

"The criminals behind these reckless and cowardly attacks have done nothing more than harm their local community, depriving them of a critical public service," she said.

Gerry Kelly, a lawmaker in the Northern Irish legislature for Sinn Fein, Northern Ireland’s largest nationalist party, said: "There is absolutely no place in our society for this criminality and violence.

"We need to see clear condemnation from unionist leaders tonight of this violence and further attempts to stir up tensions. Words and actions are very important, and I would urge unionist leaders to end the provocative language and dishonesty around the protocol.”