Northern Irish Leaders Struggle to Quell Worst Violence in Years

Northern Irish Leaders Struggle to Quell Worst Violence in Years
A fire burns in front of the police on the Springfield Road as protests continue in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on April 8, 2021. Jason Cairnduff/Reuters
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BELFAST—Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government put aside factional differences on Thursday to call for calm after frustration among pro-British unionists over post-Brexit trade barriers helped trigger some of the worst violence in the region in years.

Despite the appeals, clashes spread further into Irish nationalist areas on Thursday night where police responded to petrol bomb and stone attacks with water cannon. The White House joined the British and Irish governments in urging calm.