Is there sufficient evidence in sources D to J to explain why the troubles broke out in Northern Ireland in 1969? Explain your answer using the sources and knowledge fro your own studies.
Throughout the sources, there are various different interpretations and opinions based on why the Troubles broke out in Northern Ireland in 1969. I will examine the sources and come to a conclusion to decide if they provide sufficient evidence to base and evaluation on why the Troubles broke out.
Sources D-J provides both opinion and factually based views. Source F shows a map of the Gerrymander in Derry in 1966, as a map, the source holds real significance as to why the Troubles broke out. The source helps to support the Catholics argument that they were being discriminated in Northern Ireland before the Troubles broke out. The map shows that despite Catholics made up roughly 2/3 of the Derry population (20 102 out of 30 376) they still only received 8 councilors to represent them despite Protestants receiving 12. This highlights that voting was blatantly rigged and the source also shows 5673 Catholics did not receive a vote; this was because they were not property owners (as from my own knowledge I can recall that this was due to the fact that Protestants received 2/3 of the new housing being built during the 50s and 60s). The source is useful in the sense that it highlights that the Catholics had reason to become annoyed and frustrated with the continuous discrimination against them in Northern Ireland. Another source which provides hard evidence to the Catholics argument that they were being discriminated is the photograph of RUC officers striking a civil rights marcher on 5th October 1968 (source H). The source shows a peaceful, unprotected civil rights marcher being aggressively attacked by a group of RUC officers. This photo is useful because it helps to show that there was much tension even before 1969 as from my own knowledge I no that the RUC were Protestant and the civil rights marchers were Catholics (as they were frustrated with the lack of freedom they had in Northern Ireland)- this shows fighting had already had started to break out. However the source has its limitations because it only captures one scenario and there were maybe violent outbreaks from the Catholic marchers which the photograph does not show. The photo was taken in Londonderry- this links the two sources together as it highlights that despite the fact that the Catholics made up the majority of the state, they were still treated with disrespect by the Protestants and the overall tension in Derry between the two religions was rising to an optimum. Source I is also a photograph and it can be substantially useful as it is not subjectively based. Source I like source H interoperates that despite peaceful protests by the Catholics, Loyalists were still continuing to ambush the organized marches in acts of aggressiveness and hatred towards the Unionists. The photograph was taken in 1969, which is at the time at which the Troubles broke out therefore it is significantly useful in telling us what events took place during the Troubles however it is limited as it doesn’t really help to explain why they broke out as the troubles had already broken out hen this photograph was taken.
