Yes, that's the easy answer, one that the government wishes you to believe. But the actual causes are far more deep rooted. The PSNI, as does every police force, has an anonymous crime stoppers hot line. Anyone can pick up a phone and report a crime with no one ever knowing. That doesn't happen.
The legacy of discrimination and oppression is very hard to shake. Its deeply ingrained. the vast majority of dissident republicans active today were not even born in 1968. The failure of Sinn Fein and the DUP to get Stormont up and running and the uncertainty of what shape a final Brexit will look like have exacerbated the situation.
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