ConflictBarometer_2015

EUROPE
condemned the violence.
As in previous years, paramilitary activity by Republican and
Loyalist groups continued. Allegations of an ongoing Provisional
Irish Republican Army (PIRA) activity and the group's
involvement in the killing of former PIRA member Kevin
McGuigan intensified the conflict in the second half of the
year. Unidentified perpetrators killed McGuigan on August
12 in Belfast. In the following days, the incident was deemed
by authorities and group members to be a revenge attack
for the murder of former PIRA member Gerard Davison on
May 5. PSNI Chief Constable George Hamilton stated on
August 22 that PIRA members were involved in McGuigan's
murder, albeit the organization itself no longer existed as a
paramilitary group and had not sanctioned the killing. While
SF leader Gerry Adams denied the same day that PIRA had
taken part in the incident, the Loyalist Ulster Unionist Party
left the mandatory coalition in protest on August 30. On
September 10, Robinson and three DUP ministers also quit
after PSNI had detained SF's N-IRL chairman Bobby Storey
and two other men related to the killing. However, the DUP
returned into the coalition after a British government assessment
had stated that PIRA had a ''wholly political focus'' on
October 20.
The Loyalist paramilitary group Ulster Defense Association,
which had officially announced to stand down its paramilitary
activities on 11/11/07, stated on October 6 that it was
still existent and refused to dissolve. In the first half of
the year, PSNI had already blamed the group for a series of
paramilitary-style attacks, leaving one person dead and four
people injured. mcm
UNITED KINGDOM (SCOTTISH NATIONALISTS /
SCOTLAND)
Intensity: 2 | Change: | Start: 2007
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
SNP, Scottish regional government,
Scottish Green Party, SSP et al. vs.
government, Labour Party, Liberal
Democrats, pro-union supporters
secession
The non-violent crisis over the secession of Scotland from the
United Kingdom (UK) between the Scottish regional government
formed by the Scottish National Party (SNP) and backed
by several minor parties and social groups, on the one hand,
and the central government backed by the Labour Party and
pro-union supporters, on the other, continued.
Throughout the year, both sides disagreed over the extent
of Scottish legislative powers. On May 7, the SNP outpolled
its opponents in the UK general election gaining 57 out of
59 Scottish seats. Related to the electoral results, Scottish
First Minister and SNP chairwoman Nicola Sturgeon renewed
her demands on further powers for the Scottish Parliament.
Despite stressing that another referendum on Scottish independence
would be off the agenda for the next parliament,
Sturgeon stated several times throughout the year that the
Scottish voters could push the SNP to a second referendum if
Scotland was taken out of the EU against its will. British Prime
Minister David Cameron repeatedly ruled out the possibility
of a second independence referendum.
Minor scuffles took place in the course of the year. For
instance, on May 4, anti-austerity activists and a left-wing
pro-independence group forced the leader of the Scottish
Labour Party, Jim Murphy, to abandon an election rally in
Glasgow, Scotland. Murphy described the incident as ''aggressive
nationalism'' and accused SNP of undemocratic conduct.
Sturgeon condemned the event and denied any linkages.
On November 30, a dozen pro-independence protesters set
up a camp next to the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood in
the capital Edinburgh. Although the Scottish Parliament announced
on December 10 that the activists were given 48
hours to leave ground, the protesters remained. Anxious to
force the protesters to leave, the parliament issued a legal
bid to evict the camp until 07/01/16.
csc, mcm
58