Northern Ireland Q2

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 (b) There has been great progress towards a lasting peace settlement in Northern Ireland in recent years. However, as recent events have shown, there is still a great deal of mistrust among the people of the province.
 
Choose two events from the last 400 years, which are particularly important in the shaping the views of:
 
a. The Loyalists/Unionists/Protestants
b. The Republicans/Nationalists/Catholics
 
Explain your answer carefully. (8 marks)

There are many examples in Ireland’s turbulent history that have been significant in shaping the views of the people who live there.  A key turning point in relations between the Protestants and the Catholics came about in the late 17th Century following the Battle of the Boyne. After the success of William of Orange at the Battle in 1690, the Protestants in Ireland followed deliberate policies to ensure that the Catholics were treated as inferior citizens. Protestants who were determined to pass laws that would restrict the lives of the Catholic majority controlled the Irish Parliament. These laws were passed as the Penal Laws.  This included measures such, as “No Catholic will be allowed to vote, or become a Member of Parliament, or a town councillor”; “No Catholic may join the civil service” and “ No Catholic may become a solicitor or a lawyer.” Catholics today remember the harsh treatment inflicted by Protestants in this period and this prolongs the argument over who should rule Ireland today.

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The Penal Laws paved the way for what has become known as “The Protestant Ascendancy” in Ireland – that is the control of Ireland by an elite group of Anglican Protestants. The Anglican Church of Ireland had great power, wealth and influence, and many privileges, even though it represented only 1 in 7 of the people in Ireland. Following continued violence throughout the 18th Century, and the Battle of the Diamond in 1795, the Protestants formed the Orange Order to protect the interests of their own Protestant Community. To this day, every summer, thousands of Protestants take part in marches ...

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