Although all the Catholics share the same goal, they go about it in many different ways. For example the IRA uses very violent methods to achieve what they want. However on the other hand there is the SDLP (Social Democratic Labour Party) are totally committed to democratic, peaceful methods. So although they both want to become an Independent countries there are different ways the two groups try and achieve it. Sinn Fein is another group that uses the same methods as the IRA. Sinn Fein is now the biggest Catholic political party, and has been since the Good Friday agreement.
Secondly there are the Protestants, loyalists/unionists, unlike the Catholics, they want to be part of Great Britain and be run by the Royal Family. The Loyalists/Unionists believe that they are British and not Irish. The groups of Protestants are; the DUP (Democratic Unionist Party, the UUP (Ulster Unionist Party and the UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force). Once again the UVF and UFF (Ulster Freedom Fighters) use violence to achieve there aims. An example to show that the Loyalists/Unionists believe that they should be part of Great Britain is that the Northern Ireland flag is based on the St Georges cross, which is the flag of England.
The Unionists see Northern Ireland as part of Great Britain, and Ireland as a separate country. The Loyal Orange Order is another Protestant organisation that is well known for its marches in the summer and community work. However the UVF (Ulster volunteer force) has used violence and are known as the ‘extreme Unionists’. At the present time the DUP (democratic Unionist Party) are the biggest Unionist political party.
The beliefs of the Republicans and Unionists are different. One of the main differences is that the Republicans want to become an Independent country and the Unionists want to be part of Great Britain. However they do share some similarities, for example they both have Paramilitaries who operate illegally and often control vast amounts of criminal gangs who use violence to achieve their aims. However the groups also have people that use peaceful democratic methods to achieve their aim. So although they want completely different outcomes of their country, they both have similar groups within them. Republicans and Unionists both have groups that use violence, such as IRA (Irish Republican Army) for the Nationalists and the UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force) for the Unionists. On the other hand they both have groups that use peaceful democratic methods such as the SDLP (Social Democratic Labour Party) for the Nationalists and the UUP (Ulster Unionist Party) for the Unionists.
I conclude that the main differences between the Republicans and the Unionists is that the Catholics want to be their own Nation and do not want to be run by Great Britain, they want to become and Independent country. On the other hand the Protestants want to be a part of Great Britain. The similarities are that they both have groups of people that are similar, they both have paramilitary groups and they both have groups that use peaceful democratic methods.
