Nothern Ireland Coursework

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History Coursework:

Northern Ireland

Since c.1960

Question 1:

Study source A

What can you learn from source A about the disadvantages faced by Catholics in Northern Ireland in the early 1960’s?

S

ource A is an article taken from the “Sunday Times” newspaper in 1961.The article informs us that the majority of the employed were protestants, especially jobs higher up in hierarchy, it also includes figures and statistical information that give us a clear indication about the ratio of protestants to Catholics in particular jobs.

The big employers were privately run companies and the article tells us that the “Belfast shipyard – the biggest single source of employment in the city” which had approximately 10,000 workers and just 400 were Catholics, that’s only 4% which is a very small amount compared to the 96% of the Protestants that accompanied them. This blatantly shows us that there was discrimination against Catholics and their employment with the more ‘attractive’ jobs, although the Catholics had suspected of anti-catholic prejudice among foremen or personnel managers, it was extremely hard to prove without rock solid evidence

Furthermore, the Fermanagh county council employed 370 people, but yet again 322 of those posts including the top ones were filled with Protestants, so they had more control as they near enough took over the council and they had the power in the city, even though that “the population of Fermanagh was more than half catholic”. so the county of Fermanagh was mainly catholic but the people in control of the councils and government were the minority, the protestants, this suggests that the government were overflowed with protestants and they were very prejudice against the Catholics and the Catholics had no way of overcoming them because of their given power so they had very little opportunity in life.

But the discrimination wasn’t just in important and powerful jobs it was difficult to find any job. “Of about 75 school bus drivers in Fermanagh, all but seven were protestant”. Even the simplest of jobs were hard to obtain, which is shocking to see as “more than half of the population were catholic”.

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To conclude the protestants had the power to exclude the Catholics from many things and they chose to use it and the Catholics were suffering purely because of their religion it was difficult for them to  provide for themselves if they had no source of income due to having no job because they were being discriminated and I think the biggest disadvantage they had to face was that if they were to try and retaliate it would be pointless because the people in power were their opposition so all they could not overcome their situation.

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