The Irish Question

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The Irish Question

Q1. What are the main differences between the beliefs of republicans/ nationalists and loyalist/ unionists?

Nationalists in Northern Ireland are generally Catholic, they see themselves as being Irish rather than British, they also see the island of Ireland as one place, and generally want it united as one state. In their quest to get a united Ireland with rule from Dublin, Nationalists have many different ways in how they intend to do this: there are Moderate Nationalists and the Republicans. The Moderate Nationalists have one main political party, this is the SDLP (Social Democratic Labour Party), the SDLP's current leader is a man named Mark Durkin even though the man best known in the SDLP is called John Hume, who was the driving force of the SDLP before he retired, another party leader whose name is Martin Morgan who recently was up for election to be an MEP and voice Northern Irelands views in Europe (the manifesto is enclosed). Moderate Nationalists aims, these include an all Ireland Nation (32 county State) with rule from Dublin. They want rule from Dublin because they would probably feel more at home and they also feel that they have a loyalty to Dublin and therefore it would only be right to have rule from there. Moderate Nationalists in Northern Ireland would like to be part of a majority in a 32 county state rather than a minority, in Northern Ireland. They also think that Southern Ireland is doing very well economically and they want to be part of this Irish economic prosperity. To achieve these aims the Moderate Nationalists use peaceful methods such as persuasion, argument and the ballet box, they do not believe in achieving aims by violence. They look back in history to different Nationalists who achieved power and influence peacefully either by protest or the vote, these people include Daniel O'Connell who in 1829 was granted Catholic emancipation following a successful campaign, Redmond and Parnell. Daniel O'Connell is the main moderate Nationalist hero as he got what he wanted through peaceful methods and the modern day moderate Nationalists such as the SDLP try to follow in his footsteps and completely dismays anyone who tries to achieve what they want through other such violent methods. The SDLP manifesto for 2004 enclosed tells us of what they intend to do in Europe and what they have achieved in the past, on the page in both sectors the word peace is in capital letters which indicates to the reader that this is how they aim to achieve what they want to get. The aims which the SDLP intend to achieve with the help of your vote are given on the manifesto for 2004 and tell us that they want; more jobs, more investment, more for the community, more for farmers, more for the environment, and more for developing countries, these agree with what the general moderate Nationalists aims are. Moderate Nationalists who follow the SDLP political party are predominantly Roman Catholic they tend also to be middle class citizens who are university educated, aside from this the SDLP's power and number of people voting for them is declining. The lifestyle of the moderate Nationalists is also very different from the Unionists/Loyalists; they tend to use Irish names for their children such as Siobhan, Shaun, and Seamus etc. Nationalists in general are more loyal to the green, white and gold flag (tri-colour), this is further proved by the colour of the SDLP's manifesto for 2004 which is mainly green indicating that they are loyal to the flag. The sports which Northern Irish Nationalists play such as Gaelic football, Hurling and Camoige are sports which the Southern Irish community would play and this shows their loyalty to the South of Ireland. The Nationalists try to show their loyalty even more by reading certain newspapers such as the 'Irish Times' and the 'Irish News'. Nationalists also try to use the Irish language as much as they can in street signs, schools and names they also tend to watch Southern broadcast television channels such as RTE. Overall the Moderate Nationalists are predominantly Protestant and set out to achieve their aims by peaceful methods.
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Republicans are the second type of Nationalists and they are also predominantly Catholic. The main Republican party is Sinn Fein which is written in Gaelic and when translated means 'ourselves alone'. Sinn Fein's main party leader is Gerry Adams who is closely followed by Martin McGinnis and Gerry Kelly. Another up and coming leader is Bairbre de Brun, she has was the spokesperson for Sinn Fein in the recent European elections (manifesto for 2004 is enclosed). The aims of Sinn Fein are exactly the same as the aims of the SDLP. Although the main difference between these two ...

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