Belfast's rioting loyalists feel abandoned by their politicians

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/07/belfast-rioting-loyalists-politicians-union-flag

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The month-long series of riots by loyalists in Northern Ireland after Belfast city council's decision to restrict the flying of the union flag at city hall shows no sign of abating. A weekend meeting of politicians aimed at ending the violence was followed by a protest in which a crowd of more than 100 people clashed with police, throwing petrol bombs, fireworks and other missiles. Police responded with water cannon and plastic bullets.

Ever since the council's vote, the rioters have made it clear that they have no time for the unionist politicians who claim to represent their views. It is also apparent that they are not even listening to the pleas for calm from leaders of the paramilitary groups, such as the UDA and UVF.

Though participants do not express themselves well in radio and TV interviews, one insistent theme is the feeling of being marginalised, of "losing out" in the peace process to the nationalist Catholic population. There is no obvious material proof of this being the case. It is true that the rate of Catholic unemployment has been dropping over the past decade, partly as a result of equality laws and also because young Catholics tend to enjoy a higher level of education than their Protestant peer group. But unemployment in Catholic west Belfast remains significantly higher than in Protestant east Belfast.

The real problem is one of ideological alienation and a social class divide. There is a disconnect between the politicians who affect to represent loyalists and the people themselves. Young, working-class Protestants do not feel that the mainstream unionist political parties, whether they be members of the UUP or DUP, properly represent their interests.

They are still mouthing the slogans of yesteryear, such as "no surrender", and refuse to accept the historic political compromise forged between unionists and nationalists. By contrast, almost all of their traditional political leaders have seen the virtue of supporting the peace process and sharing power with nationalists and republicans.

Then there is the matter of class. Unionism has come a long way since the old Orange state, which was run by patrician leaders such as Viscount Brookeborough and Captain Terence O'Neill. The separation between them and the people who voted for them in their hundreds of thousands didn't matter then because there were plenty of jobs for the Protestant working class. They ruled the roost over their Catholic neighbours.

Nor was there noticeable disquiet at the initial rise of the more militant DUP as it supplanted the official Unionist party. Gradually, however, loyalists have come to view even DUP leaders as middle class – an educated and somewhat affluent elite. They feel they have little in common with such politicians.

Among the nationalist population, the situation is very different. Sinn Fein, born from within the working class, has continued to promote working-class leaders who have striven to maintain their roots within their traditional communities. So, despite a rump of disgruntled people who support the dissident groups, Sinn Fein has managed to retain its close links with its constituency. The ever-improving voting figures for the party, and the consequent loss of votes for the more middle class SDLP underline the point.

Ironically, it is loyalists who point to the cohesion among the nationalist community by complaining that their own community lacks the internal discipline evident in west Belfast. They do see its value, though they also believe it to be part of some conspiracy designed to undermine them in the short term and bring about a united Ireland in the long term.

The inescapable reality is that the Protestant areas in both east and north Belfast have been not been politically educated. They lost one potentially important teacher when the former paramilitary leader and founder of the Progressive Unionist party, David Ervine, died in 2007.

That said, the PUP – the political wing of the UVF – doesn't have widespread respect. Many working Protestant people have little time for loyalist paramilitary groups because of their involvement in drugs and protection rackets.

While it is hard to gauge the level of support for the flag protests, which may number hundreds rather than thousands, the alienation of the Protestant working class should not be doubted.

If there is to be real progress towards the building of cross-community links in Northern Ireland, then unionist politicians have to find a way of re-engaging with the people who think the peace process is only good for republicans.