Like the nationalist the unionist have many individual organizations within themselves that put forward their own political opinions. The UDA/UVF (The Ulster defence association and the Ulster volunteer force) are illegal groups whose main objectives are vengeance against the IRA. They also like the IRA use brutality and have been responsible for the murder of many innocent people.
The two groups of the unionist which take a similar approach to things but by no means want to achieve less are the UUP( Ulster unionist party) and the orange order. The UUP defends the interests of Northern Protestants. The Orange Order named after the 17th century protestant king, William of Orange take things on a public scale and organize marches to celebrate the tradition of the Protestant community. The orange marches are a remembrance of the 1690 defeat of Catholic King James by Protestant Prince William of Orange at the Battle of the Boyne. The members of the Protestant Orange order parade to province-wide rallies. These two groups are much more restrained than the final group the DUP (The Democratic Unionist party). This parties main focus is to stop the IRA from expanding and want to stop them.
These following four events which have happened in the last hundred years in my opinion have all had a huge impact on the conflict in Northern Ireland in different ways and have all been of great importance to Northern Ireland. They have been particularly important in shaping the views of today’s nationalist/Unionist are. They are:
Easter rising 1916 Civil rights march 1968-69Bloody Sunday 1972 Bloody Sunday 1972 Civil rights march 1968-69 Hunger strikes 1981 Omagh bombing 1998
Easter rising 1916
The first event I have chosen to talk about is Easter rising 1916. In my opinion this event has been very fundamental in shaping the views of the nationalist and unionist. The fact that this event took place 6 years before the partition in 1921 indicates that the Easter rising played a big part in the fight for freedom on the part of the nationalist. The main objective of the Easter rising was to achieve political freedom and an Irish republic. It was an event that provoked much anger and hatred between the two sides.
The Easter Rising took place on Monday 24th April 1916 which was Easter Monday. It took place when the whole of Ireland was part of Britain. As Britain was at war at this time many revolutionary Nationalist were worried that the freedom of Ireland was being ignored and saw war as a chance to create an uprising. About 1200 Irish Republican brotherhood (IRB) volunteers organized a rebellion and took over the general post office in Dublin, as Dublin was the most important and busiest city in Ireland. Also many British officers were based there. After taking up the post office they proclaimed Ireland an Independent Ireland free of British rule. The rising lasted for six days which included much brutal fighting and left parts of Dublin in ruins. As a result of the Easter Rising more than 400 people were killed and up to 2500 people were injured. After one week of brutal fighting the British surrounded the rebels who then surrendered. Many IRB volunteers were imprisoned by the British army and the 15 leaders which include the heroic Patrick Pearse and James Connelly were executed.
For the Unionist the Easter rising was proof that the Nationalist were traitors and could not be trusted. They saw the rising as a treacherous act and saw how ruthless the Nationalist could be claiming that they showed no respect for what Britain were facing in World War One. Also many Unionist believe that the Easter Rising was a complete failure, which left large parts of Dublin in ruins.
However Nationalist believes that if the Easter rising had not took place Ireland might never have been free of English rule. “Well, when we are all wiped out, people will blame us for everything, condemn us: but (if it had not been) for this protest the war would have ended and nothing would have been done. After a few years they will see the meaning of what we tried to do” (Stated by Patrick Pierce before the rising) (The Irish question by Hamish McDonald) Many Nationalist were horrified at the way the British dealt with the prisoners. The fact that the 15 leaders were executed without a proper trial shocked many people and so the support for the IRA increased.
Within the nationalists there are the hard-line nationalists and the more moderate ones each with their different view on the Easter Rising. The hard-line nationalists believe that they were the ones who started the fight for freedom. For many years Nationalist had fought to gain an Independent Ireland and they believe that the Easter Rising was a major stepping stone to success which lead to the partition in 1921.
Civil rights march 1968-1969
The Civil Rights Movement that began in 1967 was a major event of Irish history. The civil rights took place as the minority of Catholics in the north were frustrated at the injustice they were being subjected to and the lack of progress that was being made to stop it. The civil rights took place at a time when in the U.S.A Martin Luther King was campaigning for justice and Equal rights for Black Americans. I think that this had a huge influence on the catholic community and motivated them to do something about the injustice they were receiving.
When Terence O'Neill took control of the government of Ulster in 1963 he promised changes for the catholic minority against the discrimination they had been facing for many years. This included not being allowed to vote, poor housing conditions, not able to own any business and only allowed in certain jobs. O’Neil promised changes and that the Catholics would get equal rights. However these changes were slow in coming and many Catholics got frustrated at the lack of progress that was being made. So In 1967 a group of Catholics started the Civil Rights movement demanding changes in the way Northern Ireland was run. From then on they organized a series of marches in the hope of speeding up the changes.
Many of these marches ended in violence and bloodshed between the catholic and Protestants. By April 1969 6 months after the marches had started Terence O’Neill resigned as he found it impossible to stop the ever increasing amount of violence that was taking place. By August of that year the bloodshed and fighting was spiraling out of control and so the British troops were sent to stop the violence. It was these civil rights marches that led to the other events like Bloody Sunday and many years of violence in Northern Ireland.
As O’Neill had promised the Catholics equal rights many Protestants were worried about the Catholics becoming too powerful and therefore strongly opposed the marches.
For the Nationalist the violence that erupted in the marches and the way the British and Police reacted to it has caused distrust of the police. Catholic and Protestant relations have got worse since and the IRA have placed many bombs in Belfast, Derry and even in England.
Bloody Sunday 1972
In my opinion Bloody Sunday was one of the most vital events in Northern Irelands troubles. I think Bloody Sunday has had the biggest impact on the road to success as there have been many long term consequences and unanswered questions as to what really happened on that day.
Bloody Sunday took place on January 31st 1972 in Londonderry. Around fifteen thousand people took part in a civil rights march to protest against the detention policy in the city. The Unionist knew abut this march and so British troops were stationed across the city and barriers were put up with the intention of minimizing the amount of violence. The demonstration passed peacefully for a while but then violence broke out between the two sides. There is a lot of confusion about what happened next and each side with their own view. The British army claims that they were fired on first, but the Nationalists argue that the Army fired for no reason which resulted in 13 0f their people being shot dead.
The troops say that they were fired at first and were being attacked by the crowds and that's why they acted. They believe that they were right to use force and fire there guns, because they believe they were attacked first. But people in the crowds say no one on there side fired a gun and that that they were just reacting to what happened. They claim that the people who were killed were 'innocent and defenceless' and that the troops started the violence. Because no conclusion can be drawn up to who actually opened fire first on that day as neither side will believe that they are wrong there have been many events which have risen from Bloody Sunday. Because of this Northern Ireland has become a very violent and dangerous place to be.
The long-term effect of Bloody Sunday is that conflicts are still happening because neither side will give up. Because of this the IRA are still in conflict with Britain. They still continue to plant bombs in Britain as revenge and their way of making people aware that they want to see justice be done.
Hunger strike 1981
The Hunger strikes that took place on March the 1st 1981 is a key date in nationalist history. It is very important as it showed how far the Nationalist would go and how willing they were to endure suffering in order to fight for there cause.
The Hunger strikes started on March the 1st 1981. They took place as a group of IRA prisoners who were in the maze prison wanted to see ‘special category’ privileges for themselves and not be treated like ordinary criminals. The date of the strike was very significant as five years ago on that very day the ‘special category’ which had been introduced in 1972 was abolished. The aim of the strike was to reintroduce the ‘special category’ privileges for the nationalist prisoners. These were: the right for prisoners to wear their civilian clothes at all times, the right to be free within a block of cells, the right not to do prison work and the right to educational and recreational facilities. Among those who refused food and went on the strike was the IRA leader Bobby Sands. The strike lasted 7 months and ended on 3 October 1981. In total ten Nationalist starved themselves to death in support of their demands.
After the Hunger strikes of 1981 the Nationalist received much international sympathy. Also much support for the IRA increased which was shown when over 50,000 people attended the funeral of Bobby Sands. The support for Sinn Fein also grew in consequence to the Hunger strikes. The hunger strikes fueled much discontent among the people.
Conclusion
In my view out of all the four events which I have talked about I think that the Easter rising was the most important event in shaping how the Loyalist and Nationalist go about fighting for what they believe is right. I think that even though many of the nationalist who took part in the rising knew that there chance at success was almost impossible, but they fought anyway shows the great determination and sacrifice they made for a cause they thought was right.
