Football Riot in Northern Ireland Sparks Social Tensions

For once the violence in Belfast wasn't caused by religious/sectarian parties. It was caused by football (soccer, if you will.) More specifically, in a recent World Cup 2010 qualifier between Poland and Northern Ireland, police say a group of hardcore hooligans from Poland started a riot outside the game at Windsor Park. Northern Ireland won the game 3-2, leaving it at the top of group 3 in the Euro zone qualifiers. But the riot is picking up more of the headlines.

Before you ask the question, "It's a football riot, who cares?" let me tell you a little more. Ireland is dealing with its own immigration troubles these days. No longer is it the young Irish lad in America trying to work his way up from the gutter. In Northern Ireland, Polish immigrants are struggling to live and work in relative peace ad prosperity with their neighbors. This can be said about most "Western" countries, but Northern Ireland is the case for the day.

The hooligans that threw bricks, bottles and fireworks at riot police, injuring 11, had traveled from Poland for the game. They were not the locals trying to make a better life for themselves. But who carried the blame? Locals.

Police Superintendent Chris Noble stated: “A number of homes were attacked and these are being treated as racially motivated incidents. We believe there was a hard core of Polish nationals who came to the game without tickets but with a clear intent to cause trouble to genuine supporters and residents. Unfortunately, their actions may well have put the safety of law-abiding and local Polish residents in jeopardy.”

This comes at a time when Northern Ireland is trying to keep a positive outlook on life. The state has already lost one officer and two soldiers this month due to civil strife. Combine this with the riot, and add in a little bit of horrible economic downturn and you are going to be left with a bit of social tension. And who will this tension be turned against? Polish immigrants. Just like in America, it's the immigrant that takes the fall. Questions like,"Why are the immigrants taking jobs from hard-working Americans/Irishmen?" or "How could we let so many immigrants in?" will begin to run rampant.

Mostly espoused by people that don't fully understand that a person is a person no matter where they hail from. And people have the right to work hard so that their family can prosper.

Either way, hopefully Northern Ireland can move past this debacle with good grace. It's been shown in the past. It's not too much to hope for. Besides, they won the game and they are doing pretty good in the Euro qualifiers. So that's something to celebrate.

Peace.