The number of lives lost on Bloody Sunday and the harsh international reaction to the killings convinced ministers to re-examine their security policies and the kind of political advice they were getting from the Unionist run government at Stormont. Westminster decided that it must have full control over law and order but Stormont resisted. As a result many people opposed this and Hennessy argues that the abolition of Stormont created a wave of alarm throughout the Unionist Community. Due to Stormont being closed many Unionists began joining paramilitaries which can be said to cause more problems. So with this in mind it can be argued that Bloody Sunday led to the suspension of the Northern Ireland government in March 1972, which led to the decades of Direct Rule from London.
In March 1973, the British announced the new way Northern Ireland would be governed. It was to be an assembly where Unionists and Nationalists would share power. The leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, Faulkner, reluctantly agreed to the new arrangements although he said he would never share power with anyone whose objective was to 'break the Union'. The idea of power-sharing executive was to weaken the IRA by appeasing the Nationalist community. However, there were serious problems. Tension arose immediately, with Nationalists still concerned about internment and Unionists unhappy with the council. In addition to this there was a lot of disagreement between parties in the Assembly and the role of the Council of Ireland was not made clear. Consequently there was a lot of terrorist activity ongoing in Northern Ireland and, although the police were controlled from London, the Northern Ireland Executive got the blame. The anti-power sharing Unionists were outraged that the Republic was to have a say in Northern Ireland and demanded that the agreement be scrapped. A loyalist organisation caused the Ulster Workers' Council and called a general strike for 15th May. After two weeks of barricades, shortages and rioting, Brian Faulkner resigned as Chief Executive and the Sunningdale Agreement collapsed on 28 May 1974.
Another significant turning point in the course of troubles of Northern Ireland is the introduction of Internment. When Internment was introduced it immediately added to the troubles of Northern Ireland. It was the turning point that eventually led to the disasters of Bloody Sunday. Internment was where a person was imprisoned without process of law and a trial. In March 1971, the Northern Ireland Prime Minister Brian Faulkner reintroduced internment. It was introduced as an attempt to try and suppress the IRA; however it just fueled support for them. As a result of the introduction of internment was further violence breaking out. It can be argued that Internment was the catalyst that finally transformed the conflict (Kennedy Pipe). Also the decision to introduce internment caused outrage in the USA and the Republic. This almost certainly helped the IRA to raise funds abroad and to obtain weapons from the USA which links with the international condemnation of that in Bloody Sunday. Though Bloody Sunday is seen as one of the major turning points, without the introduction of internment in Ireland Bloody Sunday would never have taken place because Bloody Sunday was a march against the use of internment as people were incensed by the injustice caused by it. Kennedy Pipe claims that “Internment marked an irrevocable change in the nature of the conflict”.
Moreover as a direct consequence of internment, many more no-go areas were established and all Catholics began suspecting the IRA. In addition to this the IRA then had safe haven to bring in weapons and make bombs for them. Many troops became frustrated and lost their discipline. This was immediately exploited and Bloody Sunday represented a massive propaganda victory for the IRA and Sinn Fein as the television and press publicized the killings of the catholic men (Kennedy Pipe). In addition to this Kennedy Pipe and Hennessey state that “Internment increased terrorist activity”. This backs up the argument that Internment is seen as a turning point because of further problems it caused in Northern Ireland.
A turning point that is also debated by historians as to whether it is a significant turning point in the course of troubles in Northern Ireland is that of the Battle of the Bogside. On the 12th August “The Apprentice Boys March”, which led to the Battle of the Bogside, took place to commemorate the Protestant victory in the Siege of Derry in 1689 and was considered highly provocative by many Catholics. Although the march did not pass through the Bogside it was here that trouble was expected to and did break out. Initially taunts were exchanged between the loyalists and Bogsiders. Stones were then thrown from both sides for a period, before the police forced the nationalists into Bogside itself, they were followed by local loyalists, at which point the rioting broke out.
From August 13-17 1969, Northern Ireland was rocked by intensive sectarian rioting. The riots broke out in response to the Battle of the Bogside in Derry. Riots were launched elsewhere in Northern Ireland in support of the Bogsiders, in turn provoking retaliation from the RUC and loyalists. As the violence increased and Catholic homes in some areas of Belfast were set alight, the police believed that they were facing an "armed uprising" by loyalists in some areas and extensive rioting by Catholics in others. The events of August 1969 are widely seen as the beginning of the conflict known as the "Troubles". This is the period of violence involving paramilitary organisations, the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the British Army and others in Northern Ireland. Alongside the violence, there was a political deadlock between the major political parties in Northern Ireland, including those who opposed violence, over the future status of Northern Ireland and the form of government there should be within Northern Ireland. So from this it can be said that the rioting not only lead to social violence but also led to political disagreement. Furthermore the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association, NICRA, was an organisation which campaigned for civil rights for Northern Ireland's Catholic minority during the 1960s and early 1970s. The organisation's demands for reform, and the subsequent backlash by some in the Unionist majority, can be considered to have been one of the causes of the Troubles and violent conflict.
One further argument that can be stated was a turning point in the course of the troubles of Northern Ireland is the introduction of the British troops into Northern Ireland. It can be said that 1970 was a turning point in Northern Ireland. The British Army, having been welcomed initially by Catholics turned that welcome into suspicion and hatred by conducting mass house searches in Nationalist areas. Though the introduction of the troops is not seen as a strong argument, it certainly had an effect and can also be argued to have caused further problems and violence within Northern Ireland. The rise of violence in Northern Ireland seemed to confirm for both the nationalist and unionist communities that gradual improvement was impossible. For unionists that meant that all protest needed to be ended and for nationalists that only strong action would bring about any change. In August 1969 British troops were deployed to try to maintain control of the situation on behalf of the Stormont administration. Furthermore it can be argued that the introduction of the British troops caused a rapid growth of paramilitaries in the area. For Republicans the presence of the British troops in their communities focused attention on the role of Britain in supporting the unionist system and encouraged the arguments for armed forces against the British and the Unionist community. Loyalists did not believe that the authorities would take sufficient action to deal with the threat which they saw coming from the nationalist community.
Another dispute and turning point in the course of troubles of Northern Ireland is the Falls Road curfew. It was a British army operation which started with an arms search but developed into three days of rioting and gun battles between British troops and Irish Republican Paramilitaries. Jim Sullivan, the local Official IRA commander instructed his men not to attack the British troops, for fear that the rest of their weapons would be discovered and seized. However, the Provisional IRA did attack the British troops and in response the British announced a curfew and flooded the area with up to 3,000 soldiers, supported by armoured vehicles and helicopters. The Falls Curfew had two major results. It is these results that stand out and make the Falls Curfew a turning point in the course of troubles of Northern Ireland. The first problem encountered because of the Falls Curfew was that it deeply alienated Belfast's catholic Irish Nationalist population from the British Army. Previously, many of them had seen the Army as a neutral force in the city to keep order between Catholics and Protestants. However, the events of the Falls Curfew gave belief to the Irish Republican argument that the British Army was a hostile army of occupation. According to Gerry Adams, "The Falls Road Curfew made popular opposition to the British Army absolute in Belfast...After that, recruitment to the IRA was massive". Gerry Adams means by this that because of the Falls Road Curfew there was much more hatred and hostility for the British army which increased the numbers for the IRA. The second main problem encountered because of the incident was the deepening of the hatred between the two sections of the Irish Republican Army, the Official IRA and the Provisional IRA, who had parted ways the previous December. The Official IRA blamed the Provisional IRA for starting the confrontation with British troops and then leaving them to fight alone against overwhelming odds, resulting in the loss of much of their weaponry. Over the following year, the two sections of the IRA carried out many shootings and beatings of each other's members causing problems for one another.
In conclusion to the arguments stated it certainly can be said that the most significant turning point in the course of troubles of Northern Ireland is that of “Bloody Sunday” in the context of the violence and trouble it caused for Northern Ireland. It also brought about many political issues within the government which caused more problems. The political issues include the closing of Stormont and also the imposing of Direct Rule from London. Though Bloody Sunday is one of the most significant turning points, many historians argue against it and say that the introduction of Internment was the turning point that really caused a lot of the problems and led to other problems. This is argued due to the fact that after Internment was introduced into Northern Ireland many people objected the injustice it caused and it was this that caused Bloody Sunday to begin because it was a protest against the use of Internment. This then led to the violence and problems taking place in Northern Ireland. Furthermore in addition to Bloody Sunday and the introduction of Internment being seen as turning points, another turning point that has reason to be argued to cause problems within Northern Ireland is the Battle of the Bogside. It is seen as a turning point in the course of troubles of Northern Ireland because of the violence that it caused and also the political deadlock it caused between the major political parties in Northern Ireland over the future status of Northern Ireland and the form of government there should be within Northern Ireland. Finally the last two arguments of the introduction of the British troops and the Falls Road curfew are seen as turning points in the course of the troubles of Northern Ireland also. The introduction of the British troops into Northern Ireland is argued to be a turning point because it raised many eyebrows and caused more conflict and violence. Although Catholics saw the entrance of the troops as a neutral force a good thing to begin with to try and keep order between them and Protestants, it is argued that the way the British dealt with things that is questioned to have caused more problems within the communities. Finally the Falls Road curfew is disputed to lead to problems because again it involved the British troops. The Provisional IRA received a lot of the blame because they attacked the British troops who then imposed the Curfew. The Nationalist community felt they were being treated unfairly and retaliated against the British troops which in turn caused more violence and conflict between the British army and the Irish Republican Paramilitaries.