Northern Ireland caught fire. And peace is threatened again.

The nationalists fear a rough border with Ireland, and the trade unionists will be separated from the rest of Britain. The border issue, the identity issue – the major conflicts that have persisted in Northern Irish politics – can now tear old wounds again, from the April 10, 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which only served to patch up.

Again, it burns on Springfield Road and Shanghai Road in Belfast, the streets that further divide the city’s nationalists and unionists, centered Harassment, The bloody conflict of the three decades leading up to the Northern Ireland Peace Accord.

Riots and clashes around Northern Ireland over the past week have been predicted and anticipated.

For more than two decades, the weak peace of the Northeast of the British Isles has been preserved, largely thanks to good diplomacy and EU membership. At least not the independence movement: an open border with Ireland for nationalists who wanted to become part of the Northern Ireland Republic, which led to relief of fear among trade unionists who feared such access.

To some extent, EU membership in recent years seems to have disarmed the foundations for the conflict in Northern Ireland.

With Brexit, that peace is now relaxed.

Both sides of the conflict were unhappy with the negotiated Northern Ireland protocol – part of the Brexit agreement demarcating the border between Northern Ireland and the rest of Britain. Nationalists are still afraid of the island’s border controls and do not want to be part of exiled Britain. They keep the wind in their boat: support for a united Ireland is growing, albeit slightly out of the public opinion. Some percentage points are high and the Good Friday contract rule related to the referendum may come into force.

While the Unionists’ minutes are seen as an attempt to bring Northern Ireland and Ireland closer together instead, increasing the distance to London will lead to the same referendum. In early March this year, several paramilitary organizations on the trade union side announced their withdrawal of support for the Good Friday Agreement.

The violent eruption of last week will continue for some time. At worst, if it was increasingly difficult for police to deal with the situation, more and more young people are taking to the streets today than ever before, creating a greater number of criminals.

What will be the new foundation of a stable and peaceful Northern Ireland?

Crisis talks are planned between the leaders of the five largest parties in Northern Ireland, while the rescue operation by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin may have to defend Northern Ireland ethics.

Meanwhile, the people of Belfast are making themselves steel. They have done it before.