Question 2)
The Easter Rising was a military rebellion against British rule in Ireland that took place in Dublin, 1916. Although the rising was primarily organised and planned by the Irish Republican Brotherhood who saw an opportunity of independence when British militants were fighting abroad in WWI, the rising itself was carried out by the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army.
On 24 April 1916, control over the General Post Office was seized and a proclamation was made by Patrick Pearse, announcing the establishment of an independent Irish republic and a provisional government. Several other locations were occupied and the rebels governed a considerable part of Dublin.
British military forces and reinforcements arrived on Tuesday and several prolonged, frontal attacks began. The successful military response to the rebellion resulted in the evacuation of the post office and the acceptance of the unconditional surrender. After appearing before a field court martial, 16 leaders were sentenced to death and were executed by a firing squad shortly after.
Although the military rebellion had little support at the time, the execution of the leaders led to sympathy towards the rebels and consequently increased the popularity of militant resistance. Support of the use violence increased, as well increasing the support for an independent republic in Ireland. The organization held incorrectly responsible for the Easter rising was Sinn Féin and in the general election in 1918, Sinn Féin won 73 seats in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
The effect of the Easter Rising on the unionists was different to that of the nationalists. Although the British and Irish army forces were defending their country at war and were therefore angered by the republican’s attempts to gain an Independent Ireland, there was a general sense of guilt that the unionists felt about the execution and brutality towards the leaders.
The Irish Potato Famine was a famine in Ireland between the years of 1845 and 1851. The famine was caused by an appearance of potato blight that caused the withering and death of crops and resulted in a million deaths from starvation and a million people immigrating to America, Great Britain, Australia and Canada.
The severity of the potato famine was affected by several underlying factors including plantations, subdivisions and landlord’s refusal to accept appeal of the Irish.
British Penal laws forbade land and property being inherited by the first born son and instead it was divided equally among each male child. This subdivision therefore made potatoes the primary food source due to potatoes being the only crop that you could grow in sufficient quantities on a small holding. Ireland’s sole reliance on potatoes therefore drastically increased the impact of the blight as no other food source was readily available. In addition to that, the plantations were also a cause of the effects of the potato famine as it involved Elizabeth I dividing profitable land and donating it to the English nobles who in result charged the Irish very high rents. In order to pay the rent to the landlord and therefore prevent being forcefully evicted by the army, the Irish had to sell their crops, livestock and belongings.
The Potato Famine is the basis of the Catholic’s anti-British sentiment and reinforced their desire of gaining independency through peaceful protests as well militant opposition. The Irish immigrants living in America faced desperate conditions and readily blamed Britain for their unemployment and poverty. Many Irish immigrants were supportive of IRA and sent money to Irish Republicans in order to raise funds for paramilitary groups. The Irish people were infuriated by the fact that the British government did not offer aid and that the exportation of grain and livestock to England continued and accused the government of committing genocide. The support of republican parties increased, especially by immigrants in USA, Australia and Canada.
The effect of the potato famine on the Protestants was that they felt guilt about not providing aid to the Irish and felt responsible for the million or so deaths. Tony Blair’s apology for British indifference in the potato famine has created different attitude however, in which Protestants recognise the fault of the British but are annoyed by the persistence of the issue and its constant arousal in the conflict between Protestants and Catholics.
Question 3)
There have been several previous attempts to bring peace to Northern Ireland and to resolve the conflict between the unionists/loyalists ad nationalists/republicans. The Downing Street Agreement was a declaration proclaimed on 15 December 1993 by British Prime Minister, John Major and Irish Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds
The declaration was an agreement between England and Northern Ireland to enforce a cease-fire and stated that the conflict between Southern and Northern Ireland should be resolved without outside interference: ‘The British government agree that it is for the people of the island of Ireland alone, by agreement between the two parts respectively, to exercise their right of self- determination on the basis of consent, freely and concurrently given, North and South, to bring about a united Ireland, if that is their wish.’ The Downing Street Declaration states that Sinn Fein can gain invovlement of the future of northern ireland if IRA renounes violence and that democratic loyalists can also take part if paramitlateris disarm themselves. The Downing Street Agreement was responsible for IRA’s declaration of a complete cessation of military operations in 1994.
The Good Friday Agreement was a document that was signed on 10 April 1998 by the British and Irish Government and that was endorsed by most Northern Ireland political parties. The agreement proposed a plan to introduce a Northern Ireland assembly that will give equality to the Nationalists and Unionists and that will have the powers to run the Government departments such as agriculture and education. As well as that, a north-south council will be introduced in which ministers from the assembly and Dublin parliament will meet twice a year to adopt common policies where there is cross border benefit. A British Irish council will consist of members from Great Britain and Ireland and will meet twice a year to discuss matters of mutual interest. The British Irish Conference will be responsible for overseeing the assembly and the north-south council without having the power to replace democratically made arrangements. The Good Friday agreement also specifies that amendments will be made to the Irish Constitution in which the articles that lay claim to Northern Ireland will be removed to recognise a united Ireland through peaceful means. The British Government will reduce the numbers of police and armed forces and remove security installations and an independent commission will be established on the future of policing in Northern Ireland. The agreement stated that Loyalists and Republicans paramilitaries will decommission their weapons within two years and that the parties confirm the right of free political thought expression and freedom from sectarian harassment.
The Good Friday agreement had varied affects on the political parties of Northern Ireland. The Unionists were offered a majority, a chance of stability and a promise of and end to IRA terrorism. The Ulster Unionist Party was supportive of the agreement and encouraged its members to endorse it. Although the DUP were originally involved with the negations that let to the Belfast agreement, they opposed it due to Sinn Fein’s involvement with the agreement and his allowance of holding Government office despite his ongoing IRA terrorist acts. The SDLP had a major role in the talks that resulted in the signing of the Belfast Agreement and has recommended its members to support the peace agreement. Sinn Fein was given permission by the IRA for members elected to the Assemble to take their seats and have recommended that its members support the Peace Agreement although they have refused to decommission their fire arms.
There have already been several breakthroughs in Northern Ireland. In 1921 the first Northern Ireland Parliament opened and was granted partial home rule. In 1949 Ireland became a full republic and the British government gave new constitutional guarantees to the Ulster Parliament at Stormont. In August 1994, in response to the Downing Street Agreement, the IRA announced a complete cessation of violence although the cease fire was later called off. In July 1997 the IRA declared another ceasefire and an end to military action. The Good Friday Agreement was signed in April 1998 and resulted in the decommissioning of weapons, an independent government and the amendment to the Irish constitution.
Despite these breakthroughs, there are still numerous problems that are present in Northern Ireland. Firstly in the context of education, Northern Ireland has segregated schools which in result may encourage prejudice between the Catholics and Protestants and may isolate the two groups even further, causing future conflict. Another problem that still exists in Northern Ireland is that although the Good Friday agreement gave Ireland an independent government based in Storment some issues, the DUP and Sinn Fein refuse to work together and the government has been suspended. However, this suspension is being challenged and the parties are planning to corporate with each other in the assembly. Another major problem that still exists is drugs and the increase of crime in Northern Ireland. After declaring peace in Northern Ireland, those who fought for independence or a union with Great Britain had to find activities to replace their protesting and campaigning. Many turned to crime and this resulted in a rapid crime wave. Former paramilitaries acted as law enforcers and used violence on drug dealers and traffickers.
Another problem that still persists is the presence of hardline republican movements and the Real IRA’s failure of following the Good Friday Agreement and carrying out the decommissioning of weapons. The Real IRA refuses to lay down their arms and insists that an independent Ireland must be achieved through the use of military action and terrorism. The Independent Monitoring Commission have stated in their October 2006 report that the real IRA ‘remains active and dangerous’.
In order to solve the existing problems in Northern Ireland, several measures should be taken into action. Firstly, segregated schools should be abolished in order to allow interaction between both Catholic and Protestant children and hence decrease prejudice towards the opposite religion. As well as that, unbiased learning about both religions should be compulsory and teachers from catholic and protestant backgrounds should be present at school. In order to solve the problem of crime and drugs, employment should increase and the unemployed should be encouraged and supported to join the work force.
Former paramilitaries and the police force should begin to cooperate in a bid to regain control of the criminals involved in the drug trade. As well as that, negotiations should be made with the Real IRA to persuade them to decommission their weapons and gain a more peaceful approach to their desire of gaining an independent republic. Sinn Fein and DUP should be persuaded to resolve their conflict in order to sustain the Northern Ireland Assembly.
