evidence: More than 3,500 people died during those decades of conflict known as the Troubles. And though the period largely ended with a peace deal in 1998, many of Northern Ireland’s Catholics and Protestants continue to live mostly separate lives. More than 90 percent of children go to schools segregated by religion. Some neighborhoods remain physically divided. Nearly one hundred barriers [PDF], including so-called peace walls, still crosscut the capital, Belfast. [...] Those disagreements erupted into terrorism. Extreme factions of both communities bombed city centers and assassinated members of rival groups. Paramilitaries—groups that function like a military but aren’t formally part of a country’s armed forces—were responsible for much of the violence during those years. For three decades, explosions, shootings, and terror plagued Northern Ireland. The conflict even spilled into the Republic of Ireland and England. [...] Continuing Violence: Though the Good Friday Agreement committed forces to lay down their weapons, paramilitaries did not vanish altogether. Much like during the Troubles, those groups claim they are defending their communities. But instead of squaring off against rival paramilitaries, they are increasingly turning inward on their own communities. Traditional paramilitaries have shifted towards vigilante police [PDF] and carrying out shootings and beatings of those suspected of crimes like selling drugs. At the same time, many paramilitaries themselves are accused of dealing.