In Northern Ireland, the New IRA is gaining a foothold with younger generations

[Denzil_DC]

4. I don't know how productive it is to start banging the Putin/Russia drum

every time we have incidences of unrest. I note that none of the UK-based DUers have leapt to that conclusion.

The "Troubles" in Northern Ireland/Ireland have a long and bloody history and have rumbled on since the Good Friday Agreement, so this is hardly a sudden development.

I've no doubt that if Putin thought it would serve his purpose, he'd meddle in Northern Ireland, but nobody has found any evidence of it, no Northern Irish politician is pointing to it, and the article gives some solid possible reasons for why a "return to the Troubles" might be attractive to some disaffected youth. The lack of care over the Irish border during the Brexit discussions is ample background to why urges to violence might be rekindled right now.

It's our problem. Blaming it on Putin doesn't absolve us of that.