Thread by @FinancialTimes

For many people, the most striking feature of the riots in Northern Ireland during April – when loyalist protests against post-Brexit trading arrangements descended into violence – was how young the participants were on.ft.com/3ADo2aI

Some of those charging police, hurling bottles and petrol bombs were not yet in their teens.

@LauraNoonanFT has spent the past few months asking young people, and the adults who work with them, what they see for the future of the place they call home ft.com/content/e9c7e2…

Nathan Anderson was 5 when the 1998 Good Friday Agreement ended more than thirty years of sectarian bloodshed. He shares how easy it is for people to partake in civil disobedience, and says every generation in Northern Ireland has taken part in some kind ft.com/content/e9c7e2…

Across Belfast, youth clubs and community groups have been trying to prevent the city’s most vulnerable from being lured into violence ft.com/content/e9c7e2…

Some believe the glorified violence of Northern Ireland’s past was a big factor in driving kids on to the streets recently. ‘That cause is no longer there,’ writes @LauraNoonanFT, ‘but the feeling that no one is listening endures’ ft.com/content/e9c7e2…

Five of the 10 most deprived communities in Northern Ireland border Belfast’s peace walls, according to a broad deprivation measure. Scores for income, healthcare and unemployment are particularly bad ft.com/content/e9c7e2…

Working on the frontline of communities during the Troubles was ‘horrendous’ for Ruth Petticrew, a former Presbyterian Church deacon who now runs a Belfast youth centre ft.com/content/e9c7e2…

Protestants held most of the region’s land, wealth & jobs when Northern Ireland was created. But from 2001-17 they lost >21,500 jobs, while Catholics gained >56,000 – highlighting a gulf in the two communities’ experiences since the Good Friday Agreement ft.com/content/e9c7e2…

For more on how Northern Ireland’s young people see their country’s future, read the full story: ft.com/content/e9c7e2…