The North: A cautionary tale of reconciliation

The annual riots in Belfast show the normalisation of abnormality, say Stephen Rainey and Jason Walsh

THINK of the Northern peace process and what comes to mind? Blair and Ahern trumpeting success? One modelled on South Africa and a lesson for Israel and Palestine? Perhaps just Martin McGuinness’s attempts to make capital in the presidential election? What should come to mind is this: The triumph of tactics over vision or strategy.

Since the weekend, dozens of police officers have been injured after hundreds of organised loyalist rioters took to the streets, attacking a republican parade in honour of Henry Joy McCracken, suggesting that little has changed at street level — even among those too young to remember the devastation of IRA’s bombs, loyalist death squads, and the constant background threat of militarised policing.