Belfast riots trigger renewed scrutiny over loyalist paramilitary influence

Riot police arrive at the scene of a fire lit by anti-immigration protesters in Belfast. Photograph: Lab Mo/Sopa Images/Shutterstock View image in fullscreen Riot police arrive at the scene of a fire lit by anti-immigration protesters in Belfast. Photograph: Lab Mo/Sopa Images/Shutterstock Belfast riots trigger renewed scrutiny over loyalist paramilitary influence The violent disturbances occurred in a nationalist area yet played out against a backdrop of union jacks As the racially motivated violence unfolded in Northern Ireland this week, a striking dissonanace could be seenbehind the mobs and flames and smoke. The knife attack that triggered the disturbances occurred in a nationalist area yet the mayhem played out against a backdrop of union jacks and loyalist murals. You could watch rioters hurl missiles and target foreigners on Shankill Road, then cross a few blocks to Falls Road, bedecked with Irish tricolours and republican murals, and experience serenity. History, demographics and psychology can explain some of the diverging community reactions, but there is also a familiar factor at play under the surface – paramilitaries. The security services and some academics say there are more loyalist paramilitaries today than in 1998 when the Good Friday agreement drew a line under the Troubles. One estimate from 2020 put the number as high as 12,500, albeit with many members inactive. The Ulster Volunteer Force and Ulster Defence Association, which are proscribed as terrorist groups in the UK, have endured despite engaging in a state-sponsored process of “transitioning” that is supposed to phase out their existence. The groups have split into sub-groups. Some are involved in drug dealing, extortion and racketeering while others have cooperated with politicians and civic society organisations that seek to consign them to history. The riots have renewed scrutiny because they happened in areas where paramilitaries wield influence. Ryan Henderson, an assistant chief constable, said police had no evidence that paramilitaries orchestrated the violence. Instead, there is evidence that some paramilitary leaders chose neutrality, neither stoking nor impeding the violence, to make a point: beware a vacuum. “The chickens are coming home to roost,” said Jamie Bryson, a prominent loyalist activist. “You don’t want loyalists to play any part in society? You want the groups to go away? Well, there you are, there’s the wild west. Be careful what you wish for because you’re going to create a vacuum.” Under pressure to disband, loyalist groups decided to not intervene when trouble flared, said Bryson. “People don’t want you to exist on a Monday and all of a sudden want you to partially exist when it suits on a Tuesday? No. The groups are not going to exercise influence and coercion when it suits the great and the good. They’re saying very clearly: ‘We’re not stepping into these community policing roles any more.’” It is Northern Ireland’s version of the warning at