The vote of thousands of Irish people for him helped him to force the British government to change the law which banned the Catholics MPs in 1839. This changed the act of Union which abolished the old Irish parliament.
By the 1885 the number of Nationalist MPs Westminster which was led by Charles Parnell was raised to 85 which were big enough for liberals and conservatives parties to take notice of their demand.
In order to protect the poor Irish farmers from harsh landlords, Parnell joined with Fenians. This helped to pass laws between 1881 and 1885.
Parnell was helped in 1886 by the leader of liberal party in the attempt to setup their new parliament.
Lots of British MPs distrusted the Nationalist. The fear that home rule would be the first step towards complete independence for Ireland began.
John Redmond the second leader came close to victory when the bill was passed in 1914. The Irish people set to have their own parliament in Dublin.
Summary: _
Nationalists are the party who wants the Northern Ireland to join the southern and part of Irish republican. Hard line Nationalists are also known as Republicans and they are mostly members of the Catholic community.
The Nationalists believe that they are democratic and that the majority should decide, they believe that the majority of all people in the whole of Ireland should be allowed to decide.
The community in Northern Ireland is represented by a large number of different organizations and they are often in the news.
Nationalist agree that they want a united Ireland but they disagree about the best way to get it.
Who are the Unionists? What do they stand for?
Unionists are determined to stop North and South becoming united, but they disagree about the best way to do this. Hard-line Unionists are also known as Loyalists. Most of the Unionists are members of the Protestants community.
Many Protestants become frighten by the idea of a new Irish government dominated by the Catholics.
Parties like politicians of the Ulster Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party, use parliamentary politics to protect the Union with British. Others like UDA and the UVF have used violence towards Catholics in an attempt to defeat the IRA.
The Protestants have felt threatened by the large number of Irish Catholics since their arrival in Ireland in the 17th century. Protestant Unionists began to organize themselves to safeguard their position. Many joined the Orange Order which celebrated William of Orange’s victory at the Battle of the Boyne and aimed to keep power in Protestant hands.
As a way of resisting government from Dublin, the Protestants setup their own political party to fight to keep British and Ireland united. The Ulster Unionist Party was the solution to achieve their aims.
However, in 1912 the Nationalists seemed certain to win. Hence Ulster Protestants were led by a lawyer called Edward Carson to fight. This action convinced the British that Ulster would have to be left out of an independent Ireland.
Since 1921-71 the North was ruled by a Unionist, but however they are prepared to use force against Catholics who seemed to be potential traitors.
In the 1960s many Catholics civil rights marches were attacked by the Protestants. A more sympathetic attitude to Nationalists in the North and South were taken by the Unionists.
New party called Democratic Unionist Party was setup by Ian Paisley in 1970, others parties like UVF and the UDA were formed to carry on the tradition of Carson’s original Ulster Volunteer Force.
Ian Paisley’s DUP was seemed to be the single largest party representing the Unionist people in the 1979s, but however, the Anglo – Irish Agreement of 1985 played a large part in the development of the Ulster Unionist Party and their challenge of the DUP.
As a result of peaceful talk between Paisley the leader of the DUP and the Trimble who become the new leader of UUP, the gulf between the two parties increased and the UUP supported the Good Friday agreement of 1998.
Trimble became the 1st Minister of the assembly. Paisley’s party denounced the settlement, and called Trimble a ‘traitor’.
The Protestant people of Northern Ireland say that they are loyal to the British monarchy; many of them see themselves as being ‘British’.
Apart from political differences, what other social, economic and religious factors have contributed to the tensions between the two communities in Northern Ireland?
As well as political causes, there are also economic, religious and social causes of today’s conflict in Northern Ireland. In this section of my essay I am going to represent some of the differences that the two communities have. I am also going to show the factors which led to these changes. Finally I am going to give some of my own views about the conflict and what it will lead the two communities to in the future.
The two communities also have their own ways of living everyday lives at home and school.
The ‘Penal Laws’ banned Catholic teachers and carried a penalty of life imprisonment for those who broke this law, came after the Protestant victory in 1700 at the Battle of the Boyne.
Since then the legal schools were those run by the Protestant church. However, the Catholics ran hedge schools for their children.
The churchmen on both sides stopped the British plan in 1831 that provided money to pay for both groups, who wanted the schools to have both Catholic and Protestant.
From my point of view, I believe that having separate schools will have an effect on the children’s education of the two communities. Children from the two communities will have limited education of the opposite community as they were only told about their own community history.
Children from the Catholics schools will start hating the British and the Protestant community as they were told about the English conquest of Ireland and the way in which their country was held in slavery.
Many people who lived in the wrong area, e.g. if Catholics in Protestant areas and vice versa they were forced to leave their homes.
Most Catholics and Protestants live in separate areas in the cities like Derry which was given to a company of London who rebuilt the town, renaming it Londonderry. People other than Protestants had to live outside the wall which today is a stronghold of Nationalism.
In the areas like Belfast the separation started in the early 19th century. The first riots between the Catholics and the Protestant in Belfast began in 1832.
Beside all of these social differences, the Catholics are the only community who play the Gaelic games for example the contest of Hurley.
The 1991 census showed that more than half of the population lived in areas that were solidly Protestant or solidly Catholics. Some attempts have been made in the recent years to encourage mixed schools and areas.
In the 17th century and after the rebellions in 1641 and 1690, lands from the Catholics rebels were confiscated than it were given to the English and Scottish settlers.
This was the first step taken from the British government in order to stop rebellions in Ireland. In 1704 other law was passed by the Irish government which was controlled by Protestant landowners, the law forbade Catholics to buy any more lands.
However, the Catholics fought back and the rebellious Catholics for example “the Defenders” and “Ribbonmen” organized themselves.
Daniel O’Connell and the Parliamentary Nationalists looked for support; they soon attracted the backing of discontented Catholics in the countryside who deeply resented the loss of their lands and Protestant landlords.
Before the outbreak of the First World War, various laws were passed which protected the tenants and allowed the Catholics to buy lands. This allowed the Catholics to win back control of much of the land taken from them in the 17th century.
The economics contained to divide the two communities in Northern Ireland when it was ruled by the Ulster Unionist party during year 1921-72. It was also badly affected by the Depression in the 1930s. This resulted in the unemployment in both communities and especially in the Catholic site.
Discrimination against the Catholics took place between 1925 and 1949. The Discrimination applied to housing and employment. No single Catholic was appointed as a judge to the Supreme Court; this is because the Protestant believed that 97% of Catholics are disloyal and disruptive. If they allow the Catholics to work on their areas this means that they are traitors to Ulster.
The British government tried to stop the employers discriminating against the Catholics which also applied on housing. Catholics were much less likely to be given decent council houses.
In the 1989 the government abolished the Fair Employment Agency which was set up in 1976 in order to check up on any discrimination, it was replaced with Fair Employment Commission.
The following speech was by Sir Basil Brooke, a member of the Unionist government who was Prime Minister of Northern Ireland in the 1950s, “There are a great number of Protestants and Orangemen who employ Catholics. I appeal to Loyalists to employ Protestant lads and lassies wherever possible.”
Today male Catholics unemployed twice as high as male Protestants unemployment. Catholics are still over-represented in some unskilled jobs and still under-represented in some managerial posts.
Since 1920 Ireland was divided into two parts, the south, and controlled by Catholic, and the North, which has a majority of Protestants.
Today, the religion is one of the biggest factors which separate the two communities. Religion is one of several reasons why the two groups see themselves as being different from each other and are suspicious of each other.
King Henry broke with Rome in 1530s when the Pope had refused to grant him a divorce from his first wife, hence he declared him self to be ‘Supreme Head’ on Earth of the whole Church of Ireland. He also took charge of the Church in England and Ireland.
Since then, more Protestant ideas were introduced and the Catholic service of the Mass was banned in Ireland. Most people and especially the powerful Catholics for example the Pope the King of Spain refused to accept the Protestant ideas and the new prayers which were in English, they decided that Elizabeth should be overthrown and replaced with a Catholic monarch.
