Northern Ireland bus hijacked and set on fire | Abroad

Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon has criticized the perpetrators on Twitter. “The buses are paid for by and from the people of Northern Ireland. Without the buses, people cannot get to and from work, school or hospital appointments.” She also wonders aloud what is the purpose of “this madness.”

It is not clear why the hijacking and arson took place. A similar action took place elsewhere in Belfast early this month. Local media attributed the incident to the tensions created by Brexit. There is disagreement about, among other things, the Northern Ireland protocol, the agreements that prevent a hard border between Northern Ireland and EU member state Ireland.

The protocol has preserved the soft border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. This was previously agreed in the Good Friday Agreement that ended decades of violence in Northern Ireland in 1998. More than 3,500 people were killed in the struggle between Irish nationalists and pro-British loyalists.

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