The Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland requires a power-sharing government which is formed by different social groups (source). The two largest political parties in the country are the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the republican party Sinn Féin.

Power-sharing in Northern Ireland means that the party with the most seats chooses the First Minister whilst the largest party from the other community chooses a Deputy First Minister (source). DUP’s refusal to participate in political relations has left the Northern Ireland Assembly without an executive government for nearly a year (source).

Tensions have also been evident from recent activity from the ‘New IRA’. The New IRA is an umbrella group of Irish republicans fighting against British rule (source).

A previous article by Grey Dynamics found that many of the groups have varying degrees of separation from the original IRA but still follow the original cause. Police have linked recent attacks in Northern Ireland to the group.