Few cheers in Northern Ireland as Brexit finally happens.
's tortuous saga to leave, and where the event is loaded with unsettling questions about the province's future. Since before the 2016 referendum, there have been fears that Brexit could destabilize Northern Ireland's complex peace, raising doubts about its place in the U.K. and stoking talk that it could lead to unification with Ireland.
Unlike England, Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU by a majority of 56% to 44% in 2016. Brexit remains so divisive that no official celebrations were organized by Northern Ireland authorities; instead, the rally at Stormont was organized by a few conservative unionist politicians who support Brexit.
The pastor leading the prayers asked God that Ireland might also now leave the EU and trigger the union's collapse as countries fell like dominoes. between mostly Catholic republicans who support unification with Ireland and the predominantly Protestant unionists and loyalists who support staying with the U.K. The three decades of bombings and shootings, which killed 3,500 people since the late 1960s, were ended by the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
Brexit supporters celebrate during a rally outside Stormont in Belfast, Northern Ireland as Britain left the European Union on Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. Britain officially left the European Union on Friday after a debilitating political period that has bitterly divided the nation since the 2016 Brexit referendum.
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