Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

NORTHERN IRELAND

• The population is composed of Protestants and Catholics.

• 900 000 Protestants and 680 000 Catholics.

History

• England brought Ireland under systematic rule in the sixteenth century.

• English and Scottish Protestant settlers took the best land.

• The English tried to destroy Irish language, culture and Catholisism.

Independence

• Inspired by the American and French revolutions, the Irish began their long struggle to be free.

• The Irish got finally their independence in 1921.

• Ulster did not get freedom.• Britain had big political and economic

interests here.

Ulster

• London allowed the Northern Irish to govern themselves.

• Northern Ireland became controlled by the Protestants.

• The Protestants excluded the Catholics for political power.

• They discriminated them also in housing and employment.

The Troubles

• The shipbuilding industry declined in the sixties.

• Northern Ireland became one of the poorest parts in Britain.

• The Catholics got no jobs and they got angry.

• In 1968 they went out in the streets to demonstrate.

Bloody Sunday

• The demonstrations got into violence.• The Catholics formed the IRA.• The Protestants formed the Ulster Defence

Association and the Ulster Volunteer Force.• In January 1972 British troops killed 13

unarmed demonstrators.• The IRA got many supporters after the

Bloody Sunday.

• The province got under direct rule from London.

• 500 people died in 1972 as a result of violence.

• There were IRA bombs, troop violence and sectarian killings.

Catholics

• The IRA developed to be a small army.• The IRA etablished a political wing – Sinn

Fein.• The majority of the Catholics supported the

Social Democratic Party ( SDLP).

• Most of the Protestants supported the Ulster Unionist Party.

• Ian Paisley formed the Democratic Unionist Party ( DUP).

• The Unionists were fragmented.

London and Dublin

• From 1972 to 1985 London tried to foster the middle ground among the peaceable majority of both communities.

• But the efforts were destroyed by radical politicians on both sides.

• The government in Dublin supported the Catholic community in Ulster.

• It criticised British policy and practice.

• London and Dublin wanted to cooperate politically.

• The British government began to negotiate an agreement with Dublin.

• The Anglo Irish agreement of 1985.• This weakened IRAs position.

• In 1988 IRAs Gerry Adams and SDLPs John Hume began secret talks.

• In August 1994 the IRA announced a cease-fire.

• The British government wanted that the IRA decommissioned its weapons.

• The IRA refused.• In 1996 a big bomb exploded in the

Docklands

• Tony Blair wanted peace talks with Sinn Fein if the IRA abandoned violence.

• Sinn Fein and the IRA accepted Tony Blairs challenge.

• A new cease fire began.• Nationalists and Unionists began

negotiations.• A peace plan was clear 10. april 1998.

• The agreement:• The establishment of a Northern Ireland

assembly.• Establish a North South ministerial council.• The establishment of a council for the Isles.

• Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein and David Trimble of the Ulster Unionist Party tried to get an agreement.

• The IRA refused to decommision its weapons.

• In August 1998 the Real IRA detonated a bomb in Omagh, killing 29 people.

• In May 1998 71% of the people in Northern Ireland supported the agreement.

• The two communities are segregated.• Protestants and Catholics have moved to

their own areas.• Education has always been segregated.• Only 10 % of children attend integrated

schools.

• In 1995 unemployment stood for 18 % for Catholics and 8 % for Protestants.

• Unemployment in both communities recrute young men for terrorists.

• In July each year the Orange Order organise parades to celebrate the Battle of the Boyne.

• Some of the marches go through Catholic areas.• The Orangemen see it as a celebration of

community identity.• Catholics see it as a provocation.• In 1998 the Orangemen were forbidden to march

down the Garvaghy Road in Drumcree.

• The Catholic population is young, but the Protestant population is old.

• The Protestants political power is decreasing.