An under remarked side effect of Sinn Fein’s capitulation to British imperialism is how it is making Belfast a more dangerous place. This was brought home to me by two incidents on two consecutive nights on a visit to Provielandia.
Last night leaving a pub after an extended survey of the Irish political landscape, in which we explored the demoralisation of Sinn Fein’s base, I heard shouting on the other side of the street. The bar is close to a roundabout half way up the Glen Road and has two bouncers on each door. I left at chucking out time and there was a fair number of people hanging around waiting for taxis and chatting. Only one of them was daft enough to walk towards the sound of the woman screaming and the man shouting. When I got there she was on the ground while he was alternately dragging, slapping and kicking her. His version was that he was kicking her handbag.
Over the next five minutes – though it seemed longer – only one other person tried to give any real help. One woman who did come over was pulled away by her friend saying “it’s nothing to do with us”. That was pretty much the view of every other spectator other than the man who got her into the taxi. Not one of the bouncers assisted, likely as not because no one bothered calling them and no one else helped me trying to prevent the man getting in the same taxi as the women he’d just been thumping. It was hard to say if they just couldn’t be bothered or were too frightened.
Pretty much everyone who drinks in the bar would identify themselves as a Republican. That would explain why no one thought of calling the cops either. The Republicans’ political collapse has been accompanied by a collapse in their political and moral authority and the vacuum gives license to anti-social, lumpen behaviour that was much rarer even a decade ago. When there was more political self-confidence and a more evident sense of solidarity the chances are that the woman would have got a lot more support than was on hand last night.
The other incident was a lot more trivial involving some vodka swilling fourteen year olds in the park who must have felt disrespected when I declined their offer of a chat in what was their park
Perverse it might be but the hard fact is that Belfast used to feel like a pretty safe city. So long as you stayed away from the bits where you might be picked up by the UDA or get a kicking from drunk Orangemen. In the new dispensation casual street violence is becoming socially acceptable.
Liam redux 
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