Sectarianism in Derry is increasingly being expressed through the Israel/Palestine conflict, with some nationalist youths willing to attack Protestant communities over support for Israel, a Protestant community leader has said.
Speaking at the launch of the latest research commissioned by the Derry-based Holywell Trust, Brian Dougherty of the North-West Cultural Partnership warned Northern Ireland is now seeing increasing division over identity and sovereignty issues.
“Within unionism, we have seen the repainting of kerbstones for the first time in a decade, or the erection of more flags, or bonfires getting bigger. Visually, people are showing their frustration and sense of vulnerability through contentious symbolism,” he said.
Equally, however, sectarian attacks against Protestants now occur in Derry “on a weekly basis”, Dougherty said, with a young Protestant attacked in the city centre last weekend, and regular attacks against homes in the Protestant-dominated Fountain estate.
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“We’ve seen a proliferation of sectarian attacks in the Fountain estate over the past year. If you ask why that is, I think it’s part of that reintroduction of identity and sovereignty back into the psyche,” Dougherty said.
The younger post-Belfast Agreement generation “weren’t really worried, or concerned” before Brexit, but many have become “increasingly sensitive” on identity and sovereignty questions, he said.
The local situation in Derry is being fuelled by the Israel/Palestine conflict, Dougherty said: “Derry sees itself as a progressive active city, but that activism has consequences, that feeds into general civic issues in Derry.
“In Northern Ireland people like to binarise themselves. You’re either for us or against us, so if you’re not on our parade supporting Palestine then you must be supporting Israel,” he told a Holywell Trust conference.
However, research commissioned by Holywell shows broad cross-Border support for better combined health and transport services, although support is stronger among Northern Catholics than Protestants.
Coming just a day after the 60th person was killed on the A5 since efforts began to turn it into a dual-carriageway, the demand for better transport services is near-universally held, but especially strong among those who cross the Border frequently.
Economics researcher Paul Goslings told the conference that buses run only every two hours between Derry and Letterkenny, while Coleraine and Ballymena have an hourly bus and train service between them.
The Holywell Trust poll, carried out by Lucid Talk, found that 71 per cent of those polled in Donegal, West Derry and West Tyrone believe the region should be recognised by Dublin and London as one economic subregion.
The poll details are revealing. Nearly 90 per cent of Catholics in the three parts of the three counties accept the idea, compared with just a third of those describing themselves as Protestants and a fifth who self-describe as Unionist.
The views are held roughly equally between men and women, though younger people are significantly more in favour of the idea – with 75 per cent of under-34s in favour, compared with 53 per cent of those over 65.
Derry residents take for granted the leadership of Derry of such a new economic region – though opinion in Donegal is sharply different, with strong support for Letterkenny.
Seventy-seven per cent believe greater cross-Border health co-operation would leave them better off, compared with just 17 per cent who believe it would not and four per cent who believe it would make no difference.
Interestingly, 92.2 per cent of Catholics are convinced of its merits; among Protestants, 42.5 per cent agree while 41.2 per cent do not.
However, the numbers become clouded when religion is separated from politics: 28 per cent of those who vote for Unionist parties favour an integrated service, while 59 per cent are opposed to the idea.
