Claiming responsibility for the attack on the soldiers was a dissident paramilitary group called the Real IRA (Real Irish Republican Army). The group despises the British and wants them out of Northern Ireland. A similar group called the Continuity IRA claimed responsibility for the attack on the police officer. The attacks are a reminder of the tension and hatred that still exists in Northern Ireland as a result of a conflict called the Troubles, a thirty-year conflict that started in 1968 where Protestants and Catholics were killing each other over different political beliefs. In fact, this conflict traces its roots back to medieval times, when the British first settled in Ireland. The Protestants are mostly loyalists, people who want to keep Northern Ireland a part of Britain and the Catholics are mostly republicans, people who want Northern Ireland to become part of a United Ireland. It wasn’t until 1998 that an agreement was signed that peace seemed to become more of a reality.

                These tragic events are an example of old wounds that don’t go away overnight. Dissident republicans oppose the peace process because they have one goal that still hasn’t been reached yet, and that is the British giving up control of Northern Ireland. The republican groups before them thought violence would get them what they wanted. After thirty plus years of fighting, Northern Ireland is still under British control. Violence hasn’t gotten them anywhere. These idiot republican groups don’t know when to call it quits. But they aren’t the only ones responsible for the violence. The loyalist groups are as guilty as the republicans. For example, in 1988, a loyalist named Michael Stone threw a grenade and opened fire on a funeral for three IRA men killed in a British Special Forces operation. Three civilians were killed by the grenade blast and hundreds of others were wounded. However, the majority of the recent violence has been committed by republican groups. They’re a bunch of uneducated, bigoted, and evil people who show no remorse for human life. This past weekend, three people were arrested for their alleged role in the shootings. Hopefully, there will be enough evidence found against them to convict them.  They deserve the harshest punishment possible, which in Northern Ireland, is life in prison.

                If the wounds from the years of conflict are to be completely resolved, then there needs to be an acceptance by both sides that violence will not get them what they want. The loyalists have done a remarkable job so far by not retaliating against the recent attacks on the two soldiers and the policeman. But the republican groups have not been able to stop committing atrocious acts of violence that do nothing but cause pain and heartache to the victims’ families. The only way the republicans will have any chance of creating a United Ireland is to get the dissident groups to stop fighting and work with the politicians of Sinn Fein, the party that represents the republican cause. If it can win enough support from the Catholic communities, it might finalize this goal and vote yes in a referendum on this issue. The loyalists, in this case, will have to accept the fact that the majority of the people in Northern Ireland want a United Ireland. If the republicans don’t get what they want, they will have to accept the loyalists’ wishes. Ultimately, it will take years for the Catholics and Protestants to get over their differences and start accepting each other. The best way to get this to happen is to integrate more schools, encourage integration of neighborhoods, solve past crimes that have gone unsolved, and get both sides to talk about their problems instead of taking them out on innocent people.