Northern Ireland Source based work.

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Northern Ireland Coursework

1.        Source A indicates the problems Catholics in Northern Ireland had finding

jobs in the 1960’s. It says, “The big employers were privately run companies” who could easily be “anti-Catholic” and gives the example of the Belfast shipyard which was the biggest source of employment in the city which out of 10,000 workers only employed 400 Catholics. This shows even the biggest companies were anti-Catholic. Source A also gives the example of Fermanagh, a County with more Catholics than Protestants, whose council filled 322 out of 370 posts with Protestants. Which shows that anti-catholic prejudice was not only true in privately owned companies but also in government jobs. In fact, one of the “most sought after jobs” in Fermanagh, being a school bus driver was taken up by 68 Protestants and just 7 Catholics.

2.                 Sources B, C and D go very far to suggest there was anti-Catholic prejudice in Northern Ireland. Source B, which is a reliable source as it is based upon the census, states “unemployment is experienced at a much higher level by Roman Catholics than by Protestants” and “industries which had the highest weekly wage in 1971” were “predominantly Protestant”.  This is clear evidence of anti-Catholic prejudice.         

Source C gives clear figures showing anti-Catholic prejudice from employers. It shows that out of 9,000 workers at Harland and Wolff only 500 were Catholic and at Sirocco out of 400 workers none were Catholic. It also indicates 3 more employers with very small percentages of Catholic workers. However, this source is not as reliable because the source could easily be biased. For example, Catholics may run the magazine or the writer might want to use the most shocking evidence to make a better read.

Source D is a quote from a former player-manager of Linfield football club, he says “ If you’re a Linfield scout and you see a lad who’s good, the second or third question is “what school do you go to son” and if it’s saint something, then all of a sudden the boy isn’t good enough. He kicks with the wrong foot”. This source is important as it shows that the discrimination against Catholics was even happening to young children and also in sport. However, this source is also unreliable to an extent because it is just someone’s opinion.

Overall, these three sources do go quite a long way to suggest there was anti-Catholic prejudice in Northern Ireland in both employment and other areas such as sport but do not give a completely un-biased picture.

3.                 Sources D and E are useful in assessing the extent of discrimination against Catholics in Northern Ireland although neither source is without its faults.

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Source D is a quote from a former player-manager of Linfield football club, he says “ If you’re a Linfield scout and you see a lad who’s good, the second or third question is “what school do you go to son” and if it’s saint something, then all of a sudden the boy isn’t good enough. He kicks with the wrong foot”. This is saying that good players were not being scouted purely because they were Catholic. This source is good because it is an expert’s opinion. However, this is just one person from one club and doesn’t give a ...

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