Flag fury ignites some of Northern Ireland's worst violence in 15 years

A lot of people in the U.S. see religious violence as a Muslim thing, but there has been and still is religious violence on the part of Christians, either against those of another religion and/or another branch of Christianity. The religious motivation is usually mentioned little, if at all, by the media.
Like this article mentions "sectarian" violence. Many people will not realize that means it was a war between Protestants and Catholics.

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/08/16396021-flag-fury-ignites-some-of-northern-irelands-worst-violence-in-15-years?lite

By Ian Johnston, NBC News
Jan. 8, 2013

A spat over the flag fluttering over a local government building might sound trivial. But in Northern Ireland, the decision to stop permanently flying the British flag outside Belfast City Hall has sparked some of the worst violence since the 1998 Good Friday peace deal.

Dozens of officers have been injured in attacks on police lines by furious protesters who, night after night, have thrown stones, bottles, fireworks, and, sometimes, Molotov cocktails -- violence that police say is orchestrated by the Ulster Volunteer Force, a pro-British paramilitary group.

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Irish nationalists say they wanted to stop flying the flag from outside city hall because it is also used by pro-British paramilitaries and others to mark out their territory in the divided city and “intimidate” Catholics.

The Good Friday Agreement was credited with largely ending three decades of sectarian violence known as "The Troubles," during which British troops were sent in to patrol the streets and at least 3,600 people were killed.

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Long described the violence as a "reality check." While politics had delivered the peace process, she said, true reconciliation between the divided communities had been "left to one side because it's painful and difficult."

"What we have had is a papering over of the cracks," she said. "We have deep divisions, deep hatred and sectarianism and it won't go away by itself."

Long, a member of the U.K. parliament, said she and other politicians had received death threats after the Alliance Party members on Belfast City Council voted for an attempted compromise deal over the flag on Dec. 3.

It allowed the British flag to be flown on a number of designated days -- about 17 or 18 depending on the year -- rather than all the time or not at all.