Word: belfasters
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...first the funeral seemed to be at least a melancholic pause in the long and bloody struggle between Ulster's Protestants and Roman Catholics. On the eve of St. Patrick's Day last week, an estimated 5,000 people had gathered at Belfast's Catholic Milltown Cemetery to bury three members of the outlawed Irish Republican Army, the organization dedicated to uniting British-ruled Northern Ireland with the Irish Republic. The I.R.A. trio had been gunned down March 6 by a unit of Britain's Special Air Service regiment in Gibraltar, where, the British government said, the three had planned...
Even in Ulster, with its long history of anger and bloodshed, an attack on a funeral had seemed unthinkable. The incident raised worries not only in Belfast but also in London about a fresh cycle of sectarian violence: before the cemetery attack 14 civilians and members of the security forces had been killed in Ulster this year. In an effort to head off terrorist reprisals, Tom King, Britain's Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pleaded with both sides to avoid "revenge and retaliation"; otherwise, he said, "the mad cycle of violence will...
Despite police worries, the atmosphere in the provincial capital of Belfast is more relaxed than it has been for years. The city's bars and restaurants are thriving. During the holidays, a Protestant banner opposing the Anglo- Irish accord was altered from BELFAST SAYS NO to BELFAST SAYS NOEL. The province as a whole seems less tense. Unemployment is at 17.6%, down from almost 20% a year ago. British troops are visible only in the 15% of Northern Ireland where the I.R.A. is most dangerous. Aside from the bandit country, these areas include West Belfast and sections of Londonderry, where...
Perhaps because of the relative calm, seasoned terrorism experts in Belfast fear a fresh outbreak of violence. They know that the I.R.A. is deeply frustrated after nearly 20 years of fighting without achieving its main objective, British withdrawal. As the outrage shared by Catholics and Protestants alike over Enniskillen starts to fade, a new offensive could be in the works. "People are beginning to say that it hasn't changed a damn thing," says Ken Maginnis, Westminster M.P. for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, which includes Enniskillen. "Deep down, the mistrust between the two communities is still there." Says a Catholic...
...subjects in Northern Ireland, both Catholic and Protestant, in expressing revulsion at the I.R.A. bombing in Enniskillen last November that resulted in the deaths of eleven civilians. The I.R.A. struck again last week: John McMichael, a leading Protestant activist, was blown up in his booby-trapped car outside Belfast. Said Joe Hendron, a Belfast city councilman: "McMichael had made a constructive attempt to end the political impasse...