For decades, loyalist groups in Northern Ireland waged war against the Catholic IRA. Now the paramilitaries feel betrayed on all sides in the Brexit dispute and are giving up their support for the 1998 peace agreement. Is that just saber rattling, or is there a risk of violence returning after Brexit in Northern Ireland?
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The port in Larne, Northern Ireland: A Brexit customs border has been running in the Irish Sea between the British Isles and Northern Ireland since the beginning of the year.
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The port of Larne seems almost deserted on this windy March morning, a single cargo ship that has arrived from the Scottish Cairnryan is at anchor. Because of the corona lockdown, the shop windows are locked and the pubs are closed, which gives the northern Irish coastal town a ghostly appearance. The ferry port of Larne advertises to be the starting point for the shortest crossing to the British Isles. But the port has recently hit the headlines mainly as the “Irish Sea Border”. “Organic products, food, agricultural goods, soil for plant beds, everything is now being checked,” complains Mayor Peter Johnston, pointing to the barracks on the port area where inspectors have been carrying out the new Brexit goods checks since the beginning of January. “You would even have to bring a vaccination card for pets, but because of the pandemic, nobody is traveling at the moment.”
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