Is Religion the Source of Conflict in Northern Ireland? Discuss.

assembled the Society of United Irishmen, rising alongside their Catholic neighbours, it seems that within only two generations following this agitation that Ulster's Protestant majority population had abandoned their revolutionary aspirations and embraced the politics of the Tories, cultivating a sense of deep-rooted enmity towards the Catholic native populous.         The forces of conservatism within Ulster at the time displayed energetic and expressive qualities and were also supported by the affluent landlord ruling class, who were determined to crush the liberal elements within the province. Through time, it can be seen that during an era of rapid industrialisation, Belfast's citizenry had shifted towards feelings of increased religious partiality and violence, with the revival of orangeism in the 1830s culminating in the first religious riots of modern times. The creation of Northern Ireland, as a separate parliament and executive government in 1921 had brought with it a legacy of division a well as an obstinate attachment to the union with britain held by the Protestant majority of its population, who were fervently opposed to Home Rule.        In 1931, Eamonn de Valera had announced that 'Since the coming of St. Patrick 1500 years ago, Ireland has been a Christian and a Catholic nation...[and] she will remain a Catholic nation'  Sir James Craig, Former prime minister of Northern Ireland, had responded to de Valera's assertion by proclaiming that 'In the South, they boasted of a Catholic state. They still boast of Southern Ireland being a Catholic state.  All i boast of is that we are a Protestant Parliament and a Protestant state.'   Indeed, Within the terminology used to identify and situate both sides of the community within the political divide, it can be seen that the terms 'Protestant' and 'Catholic' have assumed a meaning which extends not only to religious faith but is also synonymous with political affiliation.  Moreover, the conflict has been described as being waged between two sides which are religiously defined. The interchangeable terminology of both Catholic as Nationalist and Protestant as Unionist is problematic in that it implies that the conflict has been waged strictly within and for religious terms.        Father Des Wilson, in' An End To Silence'  states that "The presence and influence of Christian clergy in government and education is unique, making Northern Ireland the most clerically influenced area in the European community" and it is evident that religious devotion and affiliation in Northern Ireland is extremely high. Statistical information gathered by the Policy Studies Institute in the 1980s reported that 70 per cent of adults in the region went to church at least once a month, compared with 21 per cent in Great Britain.  Ed Cairns, in his study 'Is Northern Ireland a Conservative Society?'  stated that even in the advent of increased secularisation in modern times, the region still  "deserves its reputation as a religious society" . Furthermore, data compiled by one 'index of religious voting'   states that the link between political partisanship and religion in Northern Ireland rates at an 'unprecedented magnitude'        The link between religion and political life in Northern Ireland has been profound, and even today, especially within Ulster Unionism, still retains seemingly inextricable links.  The Unionist Parties, with the exception of the Alliance Party, are supported exclusively by Protestants in Ulster, and Catholic support is given to the nationalist parties.  Protestant clergy in the North of Ireland have played a very visible role throughout the conflict and in the political struggle.  As John McGarry and Brendan O' Leary examine, it can be seen that in 1992, three of the thirteen Unionist members elected to Westminster parliament were Protestant ministers.  It can be argued that this link between religion and political partisanship has been attached to and employed by the Unionist cause for centuries as a means of agitating popular opinion against the Roman Catholic church, using fears of papist control and domination as well as religious cultural difference to incite conflict and fuel antagonisms.  In his book 'Divided Ulster' , published at a time of heightened sectarian violence, Liam De Paor equates the use of religion as a political and hyperbolic means to mask a British and Unionist political agenda "It was important for the continuance of Unionist rule in Northern Ireland that it should be virtually totalitarian, in that control should extend to every aspect of political and social life...It was important, and has always been a main object of the Unionist policy of control, to keep the labour movement in the industrialised north-east from breaking away, and for this it was necessary to mask Tory policies and show them in another guise: Protestantism"  From a marxist perspective, this view can be identified with the belief that religion, like all ideology, reflects an axiom, but that it is inverted, obscuring the distress and and oppression that is produced by the capitalist system, and instead given a religious form. Thus the 'ideological smokescreen' of religion may be seen to palliate the real issues and causes of the conflict in Northern Ireland, that of socioeconomic disparity between the two communities as well as ethnonationalist  motivations and external stimuli in accounting for the conflict.        Religious animosity in Northern Ireland has not only been aggravated by continuing social clashes, but has continually been employed as a means of maintaining a key ethnic marker, distinguishing both sides as incompatible. Marxist analyses of the conflict stress the use of religion as a system of illusion in veiling the oppression of Catholics, or nationalists, by Protestant unionists in the shroud of theological principles and inviolable rhetoric.  It can be argued that the real causes of Unionist fear originate from a desire to maintain the socioeconomic status quo, affording the link to the union with Great Britain with a political and economic stronghold.    Conversely, within a marxist view of religion, it may be expressed that Protestants, primarily the Protestant working class, are prevented from attaining unity with their Catholic neighbours , through the manipulation of religious divisions thus clouding the necessity for class or indeed revolutionary consciousness by diverting the possibility for social unity.   Although Ulster Unionism can be seen to represent the interests of the Protestant ascendancy, it has been waged with brutal consequences between both sides of the working class population, evident in socioeconomic geographical terms.  However, the Orange Order, which has strong religious affiliations, is credited with serving to unite Protestants of different classes.        According to Steve Bruce, four distinct aspects of Unionist politics can be identified as encompassing religious roots. Firstly, Bruce asserts a Unionist unwillingness to accommodate Catholics, arguing that such action is incongruous with retaining Protestant trust. Secondly, a Unionist unwillingness to consider a united Ireland can be seen as evidence of substantial fears of the power of the Catholic church. Bruce also states that the Unionist desire to maintain the Union focuses on the belief that, under the Union,  the Protestant way of life as well as elemental civil and religious liberties  will remain protected. Lastly, the Unionist electoral support for Ian Paisley and the  Democratic Unionist Party (D.U.P), a party recognised for its evangelism, and religious engagement is indicative of  the prominence of religion in Northern Ireland. It is possible that the opposition to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement  by the D.U.P and their unwillingness to share power with Nationalists, who adequate demand political representation and expression in Northern Ireland, is seen as threatening the pre existing power structures which allowed an arguably Unionist monopoly to exist in the governance and control of the region.        Catholicism is also seen by many as possessing a primary role in promoting conflict in the region.    Irish author and diplomat Conor Cruise O' Brien maintains that 'Irish nationalist ideology, irish republicanism...beneath an increasingly perfunctory pseudo secular cover, is Irish Catholic holy nationalist"  McGarry and O' Leary, in 'Explaining Northern Ireland'  state that a minority of Protestants, mainly evangelicals and fundamentalists, believe that the Irish Nationalist movement is under the command of the Vatican and pursuing the evulsion of Protestantism.   Liberal Unionists argue that the Catholic hierarchy promotes the teaching of Nationalist doctrine within the education system, and highlight Catholic refusal to accept the legitimacy of the Union as well as that of the Stormont parliament and the security forces.  Many Unionists also believe the role of the Catholic church's policy of imparting a Catholic identity to the children of intermarriage as responsible for the 'religious genocide'  of the Republic of Ireland, which saw a significant decline in the already delicate balance in demography.  Unionism often stresses links between Roman Catholicism in Ireland and militant Irish republicanism.  In a statement issued to the inter-party negotiations in 1991, Rev Ian Paisley referred to the Irish Republican Party as the 'Roman Catholic IRA'          Indeed, even within some parts of the Nationalist community, it has been expressed that the role of the Catholic church as been counteractive.   it is felt by some that the bishops within the church have continually condemned violence in Northern Ireland without defining it and without analysing the root causes of injustice and poverty, and also have also failed to condemn institutionalised state coercion, thus exacerbating what is perceived by some as the alienation of the Nationalist Catholic population.         Political scientist David Rapoport identifies a direct connection between religion and political bloodshed, in stressing that religions have both violence-reducing as well as violence-producing dimensions,  in that they invoke total loyalties and are used as a means of justification for wars. The dogmatic principles of Catholicism and the extent of its following in the Republic have also been viewed by Liberal and Socialist Unionists as maintaining a state which is sectarian, intolerant and homogenising, contrasting with a defence of the UK, which they argue in terms which emphasise its pluralism, diversity and tolerance.         It is assumed that religion in Northern Ireland is also a mechanism of maintaining as well as reinforcing social boundaries by facilitating segregation of education, as well as continued endogamy within the two communities.  Durkheim, in his study "The Elementary Forms of Religious Life" argued that religion symbolically embodies society itself, and it seems that  Northern Ireland as an example of religious strife, constitutes many variants of the problems posed by religion as part of a wider fabric of discord.  Religion has been instrumental in both the incitement and perpetuation of division in Northern Ireland, however, the issue must be placed within a comprehensive framework of analysis in a sociological examination of conflict in the region.        In conclusion, it must be seen that both Ethnonationalist explanations as well as the importance of external factors at work, including  British control within the province must be incorporated into any valid evaluation of the roots of conflict in Northern Ireland.  Central Socioeconomic criterion also provides a necessary consideration in assessing the struggle.  Religion cannot be seen as the primary source of conflict in Northern Ireland, but rather as a factor in stimulating intense division within a broader frame of reference which accounts for historical allegiances and clashes as well as Unionist and Nationalist political objectives.  Religious institutions can be identified as playing an elemental role in both creating and prolonging 'the troubles' but responsibility must likewise lie with those institutions which can be seen as political and cultural.