Word: unionists
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Like Belfast itself, the PSNI has managed to shed its sectarian colors only in stages. For decades the Royal Ulster Constabulary, as the PSNI was known until 2001, was seen as pro-unionist. A police report in January revealed that officers colluded with Protestant paramilitaries throughout the 1990s, ignoring murders carried out by police informers. But today the PSNI reflects the region's broad move toward reconciliation, which took another step forward on March 26, when leaders of the long-feuding Democratic Unionist Party and the nationalist Sinn Fein party agreed to form a power-sharing government...
...drizzly afternoon, Constable Neill Simpson makes his rounds in an armored Land Rover through North Belfast, one of the few districts where it's still too dangerous for routine foot patrols. His first visit is to Jim Potts, a unionist community official. A tall green "peace fence" winds between the streets, separating unionist Glenbryn from nationalist Ardoyne. Potts tells Simpson about a small riot over the weekend involving 40 or 50 people from each side of the fence. In times past, such altercations might have had deadly consequences. Potts himself was charged with making an affray at high-profile...
...arrangements for governing the region. Paisley thinks they're bluffing, in part because the deadline is being dictated by Tony Blair's desire to see a decade of effort on Northern Ireland rewarded with a settlement before his impending retirement. British officials tend to think the 80-year-old unionist is the bluffer, believing he wants to crown his own political career by being Northern Ireland's First Minister...
...Still, Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Fein, the party led by Adams, have broadly indicated they're willing to work together under rigid power-sharing arrangements. That's encouraging since they're expected to run the region together in a matter of weeks. And they need to talk about the details. The DUP wants more assurances that Sinn Fein has left behind their associates in the IRA and will genuinely support Northern Ireland's police. "Sinn Fein are not entitled to be at the table until they declare themselves for democracy," said Paisley. "I'm a democrat...
...wrinkles remain, as they always do when it comes to Northern Ireland reconciliation. The more hardline Protestants in Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party feel a bit like the prodigal son's brother in the Bible - they think Sinn Fein is being praised for something it should have done all along. They're also wary because an apparent promise to get rid of the IRA's guns ended up taking years to fulfill...