Monday 9 December 2013  DebateNI home of Northern Ireland
politics  Northern Irish are giving Americans a masterclass in
the potency of the past  As special envoy Richard Haass deals
with flags, parades and the past an American academic says the
United States should take a leaf out of our book.  Harsh times:
Americans should look at their own divisions before helping us
with ours  Images of Belfast's brick-hurling thugs seem like
unwelcome eruptions of ancient history on American internet
feeds. Rooted in England's very first colonial venture under
Henry II in the 1100s, the continuing argument over Northern
Ireland is both impenetrable to outsiders and embarrassing to
most natives.  Even writing about Northern Ireland is filled
with roadblocks. It's Protestants vs Catholics, except faith is
really beside the point; loyalists vs republicans, though most
Northern Irish identify as neither and want nothing to do with
violence; or unionists vs nationalists, except a growing number
of Catholics support remaining