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100-year celebration for Northern Ireland: With Union Jack and marching music through Belfast
Photo: Niall Carson / dpa
With a one-year delay due to the pandemic, tens of thousands of people celebrated Northern Ireland's 100th anniversary with a large parade in Belfast.
Supporters of closer ties between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK - also known as Unionists - marched from the Stormont regional parliament towards Belfast city center on Saturday with flags and marching bands.
"We have no interest in being part of a united Ireland," said one of the keynote speakers, according to the PA news agency.
The pro-Irish party Sinn Fein, which came out on top in Northern Ireland's recent general election, is campaigning for a united Ireland.
The formation of a unity government for both camps is currently faltering because the Unionists are blocking it in protest at the special Brexit rules for Northern Ireland.
The parade was held amid rising tensions between Britain and Northern Ireland.
Great Britain recently threatened a unilateral change to the Northern Ireland Protocol, which regulates the movement of goods between Northern Ireland and Great Britain after Brexit.
Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, on the other hand, accused the British government of "saber rattling and grandstanding".
Fear of civil war flaring up again
According to the agreement, goods have had to be checked on the Irish Sea since leaving the EU.
This regulation is intended to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the EU state of Ireland, which could fuel tensions in the former civil war region again.
Supporters of Northern Ireland's close ties to the UK fear alienation and decoupling.
According to historians, May 3, 1921 marks the birth of Northern Ireland.
With the "Government of Ireland Act", which came into force at that time, a border was drawn on the island of Ireland for the first time - the southern and northern parts were each to form an independent government.
Unlike Ireland, which seceded to become an independent republic, Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom.
The question of whether the province should belong or reunite with Ireland led to decades of bloody civil war and continues to divide society today.
sol/dpa
