These civil rights marches were held because of segregation/discrimination issues. Protestant-Catholic hostility from the Plantations in 1603 still caused major problems. Society divisions meant that they led much separated lives: their separate (biased) educations taught children to frown upon the other sect; their churches preached them to hate the other sect; even workplaces were often exclusively Protestant/Catholic. Segregation caused deeply-rooted opinions and ignorance, which often led to hostility. Discrimination was also an issue. Since the Penal Laws in 1695, few Catholics owned property. As laws stated that only property-owners could vote, many Nationalists couldn’t vote, which favoured N.I.’s Unionist government. This government’s abolition of proportional representation for local elections in 1922 angered Nationalists minorities, as without it they were not fairly represented. When Nationalist MPs protested and walked-out, Unionist MPs ‘gerrymandered’ (border-fixed) certain constituencies to gain optimum election results. Nationalists felt that these actions violated their rights, causing many to object to this injustice. Employment discrimination was another concern. As many 1930s businesses were Unionist-owned, discrimination was immense. The government, instead of distributing public sector jobs fairly, gave most to Unionists. When N.I. PM O’Neill introduced new industries to N.I. in mid-60s, they went mainly to Unionist strongholds: 95 of 111 factories built post-war were in Unionist districts. These resulted in high Nationalist unemployment and a feeling of being unwanted.
Other types of discrimination included: law enforcement, where the mainly-Protestant RUC and (very violent) B-Specials discouraged Catholics from joining their forces with intimidation – Catholics put up barricades in Bogside because they felt the need to protect themselves from pro-Protestant forces; education, where plans for a university in Protestant Coleraine were blocked, as Unionists feared that it would bring Catholics to the city; and housing, where local councils gave 2/3 of council housing to Protestants to limit the number of Catholic householders voting. These show glaring inequality that Nationalists felt and their solution would be taking law into their own hands.
Discrimination was widespread because of the power-sharing created by the Partition in 1922. Protestants wanted control of the new N.I as they felt threatened that Ireland would be closer to becoming one nation if Nationalists gained control and Unionists would be a minority. Unionists’ actions to prevent this resulted in discrimination against Catholics. Power-sharing disagreements occurred because of failed attempts at Partitioning Ireland. Protestant-Catholic distrust, created by Ireland’s Partitioning, further heightened tensions, as Protestants made no efforts in building relationships with isolated Catholic minorities in the new N.I. While Unionists felt that Nationalists wanted N.I. destabilized, Nationalists (justifiably) felt that Unionists wanted them excluded from power. Ireland was Partitioned to find a compromise. If Britain continued controlling Ireland, Nationalists would claim the right to self-govern the whole country; if the Irish were allowed self-governance, Unionists would have claimed it would endanger their political and religious freedoms. These disagreements intensified post-Partition, leading Unionists to use the failed power-sharing and abusing their power to discriminate against Nationalists, thus leading to hostilities and violence.
Although hostilities had simmered for centuries, violence increased dramatically in the 60s when worldwide economic depression hit N.I. hard. Competition for limited jobs and resources meant that Catholics got the worse end of everything. More people started joining extremist groups as they felt that they had no other alternative. The RUC and B-Specials had many members who belonged to Protestant organisations like the Orange Order. Many Republican protesters believed this made them pro-Protestant, and discouraged Catholics from joining by using aggression. Catholics used events such as the massacres at Drogheda in 1649, the enforcement of the Penal Laws in 1695, and the Irish Potato famine in 1845 as examples of British mistreatment. Many felt that their views were ignored, and joined extremist groups to be heard. As everything was so much harder if you were Catholic, they felt that violence was the only way to get their viewpoints across.
I conclude that British troops were sent into N.I. because of discrimination. The Nationalists’ loss of faith in the biased political system and law enforcement caused them to defend themselves and put up barricades, as they felt that they had to protect themselves from pro-Protestant forces. However, discrimination would not have occurred if Ireland had not been Partitioned, which further heightened Protestant-Catholic tensions But Partitioning would not have occurred if James I had not planted Protestants in Ulster in 1603. The two faiths living side-by-side started the tensions in the first place.
