St Paddys Day in a Divided City

Less than an hour after the parade had cleared, the main event kicked off at Belfast City Hall. 

Flag protestors had gathered, as they still often do on Saturdays and special occasions, although in far smaller numbers than at the start of the protests in December 2012. Ironically they gathered beneath the Union Jack flying high, as St Patrick's Day is one of the 18 designated days when Belfast City Hall raises the flag. 

Opposite the road, and behind two lines of armoured police vehicles, stood a small group of young people wrapped in tri-colours. As both sides of protestors antagonised one another, sang political songs, and on occasion threw items across the barricade; the symbolic division of Belfast was literally colouring two sides of the road. 

In the end the counter protest of young people with tricolours, and without permits, were moved on by the PSNI as young people chanted "F the RUC." Ironically again these young people seemed younger than the Good Friday Agreement and therefore without a living memory of the old police force, the Royal Ulster Constablary.

All in all, many people will have only experienced the positive elements of St Paddy's Day in Belfast, before the public drunkenness of young people and open flag wars ensued. Although in many ways the city's transformation has come a long way, the recent flag wars have brought us one step back in terms of community relations on contentious days. As always, there's more to be done.