The Great Potato Famine happened from 1845 to 1850 causing Irelands population to drop by more than two million and a long-lasting hatred of the English was firmly rooted. “A people whose land and lives are in the keeping and custody of others… in spite of the famine… they took the whole harvest and left hunger… had the people of Ireland been the landlords… not a single human creature would have died…”
The problems between Northern Ireland, Ireland and England continued on into the 1900’s and became recognized as “The Troubles”. The disputes amid the three countries (although at the time there was simply Ireland and England) acquired a more political stance, but the religious division was as present as always with the Protestants in Ulster in the north and the Catholics in Southern Ireland.
The first turning point in the 20th century was the Easter Rising. Prior to the Easter Rising, a gathering was held with eight or nine people – Patrick Pearse and James Connolly were both present – and a rebellion was planned. On Easter Monday (24th April 1916) the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army took the Dublin Head Post Office as their headquarters and numerous other buildings in the region of Dublin. Patrick Pearse proceeded to read the Irish Proclamation of Independence on the steps of the Post Office to all the civilians on the street and then raised the Irish Tricolour flag.
Despite making this stand for independence on behalf of the Irish populace, “A raucous crowd came… to accost the rebels. Waving British flags… the flood of insults was fierce. These were the people for whose freedom the rebels had just been risking death.” The majority of the Irish population were shocked and reflected that the Easter Rising was off the mark, however, when the British executed the rebel leaders, the British lost valuable Irish support. The British hastily defeated the two thousand rebels (an estimated figure) by acting swiftly, using heavy artillery and a gunboat that was stationed on the River Liffey to gain control.
The Easter Rising was a defining moment since the British felt they had to impose martial law on Ireland and imprison people such as Arthur Griffith. As a result, a group of Republicans, Sinn Fein, expanded by recruiting more supporters and by the end of 1916 Sinn Fein had developed into a revolutionary party that was devoted to the establishment of an independent united Ireland. In 1917, Sinn Fein won two seats that had formerly belonged to Nationalist groups. It was in the same year that Eamon de Valera won a seat at the Party. By the end of 1917, Sinn Fein had enlarged in size so much it was starting to threaten the Irish Nationalists.
In the general election of 1918, Irelands political face changed forever. The Irish Nationalists won seven seats whereas Sinn Fein won seventy-three seats. The Manifesto of Sinn Fein had been unambiguous about their aims and, true to their word, did not take up their seats. Instead, twenty-three Ulster MPs did. The Irish Declaration of Independence was made on 21st January 1919 by the Dail Eireann, which was founded by Sinn Fein. When the Dail first met, not even half of the Sinn Fein MPs attended, this was due to the fact thirty-four were serving time in prison and Michael Collins was planning an escape from prison for Eamon de Valera, who later became the Sinn Fein President. Arthur Griffith was Vice-President and Michael Collins became the Minister of Finance. This organization was illegal, but they still began to collect taxes.
In January of 1919, Michael Collins became the military leader of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). The IRA attacked two policemen of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), who were under British command, and killed them. This was start of the Irish War of Independence. Throughout the war, Guerrilla attacks continued in a spiteful manner. In the fall of 1919, the British Government banned the Dail and Sinn Fein, but this did not stop the attacks on the RIC and the British Army for as far as the Dail and Sinn Fein were concerned, they were at war with Britain.
The IRA widened their attacking target from the RIC and the British Army to include civilians and public buildings. The British Government called up ex-soldiers known as “Black and Tans” to help restore peace. However, it was a dog-eat-dog world and one event triggered a response from the opposition. The Black and Tans became just as atrocious as the IRA. This was unpopular with the Irish people who began to take the IRA’s side in this battle. The worst incidents of the war took place on Bloody Sunday where the IRA killed twelve British agents and two Auxiliaries. The Black and Tans retaliated by killing twelve Irish at a Gaelic football match. The IRA in turn killed eighteen Auxiliaries, the Black and Tan again, revenged by burning most of the city of Cork.
By early 1921 it became evident that neither side would win the war if it were continued in this petty manner so a truce was called. It was at this truce, when the realization that Northern Ireland was now separated from Southern Ireland. All throughout the war, the Northern Irelanders had remained for the majority, Protestant, and fought on the British side. The idea of a partition became more acceptable. A conference was held in London where the head of the Republican delegation was Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith. As a result, an Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed in December 1921 stating Ireland was now “The Irish Free State”.
However, members of the Dail thought the treaty had been too one-sided and had yielded to British obligations more than it should have. The individual who felt the strongest was Eamon de Valera; “I am against this treaty… it will not end the centuries of conflict… does the Dail think the Irish people have changed… within the past year or two…”. As a result of the treaty, de Valera resigned as President and was replaced by Griffith, with Collins as head of new government.
Disputes began between the pro-treaty group (lead by Collins) against the anti-treaty group (lead by de Valera) and there followed a bloody Civil War from June 1922 to May 1923 when Collins was killed in an ambush. An uneasy peace settled on the Irish Free State, along with the lingering feeling that many Republicans in Ulster should not have been allowed to unite with Great Britain.
In 1949, after re-naming the Irish Free State “Eire”, the country finally separated from the British Commonwealth and all other British rule. Despite these reforms, some members of the IRA still felt the goal of a united Ireland should be fought for. Various campaigns and small bursts of violence took place, but did not create any alterations. Between 1969 and 1971, the situation rapidly developed into more violent circumstances. The IRA split into two groups – the “Official” and “Provisional” branches, with the latter being the more militant and violent organization that found recruits among the Catholic population who felt threatened by the increasing aggression.
During an internment march in Londonderry (Northern Ireland), in January 1972, the most famous “Bloody Sunday” happened. A march had been organized by Unionists but had been banned by the British Government for fear of violence. The march itself passed peacefully through Derry until soldiers of the Parachute Regiment opened fire on the demonstrators. Mayhem followed and thirteen people were killed. In the aftermath, the British Army claimed their men had been fired at, but to this day, the issue remains controversial.
Bloody Sunday sparked a renewed vengeance for hostility. Many citizens feared Northern Ireland would descend into a Civil War and requested additional security measures. The British Prime Minister – Edward Heath – refused. He insisted that Westminster should have complete control over security matters and in March 1972, he introduced direct rule from Westminster. The Northern Ireland parliament at Stormont was ended and the Secretary of State took over day-to-day running of the province. The years that followed were particularly violent with many upheavals, although no year had more remonstrations than 1981.
The IRA and Sinn Fein had reorganized themselves; Republicans began to press Sinn Fein to take up a new dynamic role as a political party. For this pass, a major impact needed to be made on the political front. Formerly, the IRA had angered many potential voters by bombing a Protestant restaurant, killing twelve. For the Republicans to gain electoral support, a method was needed to make the Nationalists more fundamental. This took place in the form of protests.
The first protest to take place was the Blanket Protest in Maze Prison. Instead of wearing clothes the revolting prisoners wore blankets. As feelings became stronger, prisoners refused to clean the toilet buckets but slopped the contents over the buildings. The Blanket Protests had little consequences until Bobby Sands began a hunger strike.
Soon after Sands had started his hunger strike, other prisoners followed suit. Catholics across Ireland began supporting them, even those who had had no previous sympathy for the IRA. Sands were elected for the parliamentary seat of Fermanagh-South Tyrone, causing the campaign to accelerate. Margaret Thatcher’s Government still refused to accept Sinn Fein as a new political party and listen to their requests, despite pressure from the world opinion and Catholic Church leaders. Sands died on 5th May 1981 with ten other hunger strikers, many people attended their funeral in the streets of Belfast. Still no political reforms were brought about.
As a result of the blanket protest and the hunger strikes, few concessions were made. The IRA increased their violence and fed of supporters and anger generated by the strikers. An even greater separation was formed between the Catholics and Protestants as each religion considered the other murderers and terrorists. From the events, Sinn Fein had gained a greater share of Nationalist support as they intended to do and persuaded the rest of the country to think about democracy. Gerry Adams became the MP for Belfast in 1983, as well as becoming the President for Sinn Fein. Before, he had been arrested under charge of belonging to the IRA but was released to be part of an IRA delegation that took part in secret talks with the British Government.
The growth in support for Sinn Fein and the threat they were presenting to the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) worried the British Government. Both governments (Sinn Fein and the British Government) wanted to give hope to the Nationalist community through the SDLP. The SDLP in turn, wanted support from the Dublin Government for the Nationalist community in Ulster. May 1984 saw a conference take place that discussed the future of Northern Ireland. Sinn Fein did not attended neither did the Unionists. The Irish Government published three ideas that were rejected by Margaret Thatcher.
In October 1984 the IRA bombed the Conservative Party in Brighton, killing several party members. The British Government began a series of secret talks with the Irish Government and brought about the Anglo-Irish Agreement that was signed by both governments. The SDLP welcomed the agreement as they hoped it would boost their votes but Sinn Fein discarded it, they objected to the Unionist veto of a united Ireland. Sinn Fein thought Ireland should be regarded as a united nation with the Unionists as a minority, so the majority in Northern Ireland would not be valid.
As a result of the agreement, the British and Irish governments had shown they were willing to co-operate over Northern Ireland. Despite the Republicans discarding the agreement, they realized that a negotiation could bring around results for the Nationalist community. It also came to light that the Unionists and Loyalists felt increasingly isolated. They realized that the British government was prepared to place policies with consulting them and they needed to become involved in talks if they wanted to influence the government policy.
After the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement, Unionists refused to talk with the British government despite numerous attempts to get all parties to attend talks. Hopes for peace were continually threatened by sporadic violence and bombings.
On 31st August 1994, the IRA declared a complete cessation of cease-fire. The Loyalist Paramilitaries followed shortly after. Both groups had hoped that without all the violence all the political leaders would be able to meet and agree on a settlement. However, this was not the case immediately. The Unionists suspected that IRA cease-fire was a tactic that brought no assurance of being permanent. They were unwilling to talk with Sinn Fein and no one could persuade them to do so. Meanwhile, restlessness was stirring with the Republicans who wished to see some talks happening.
In an attempt to avert the peace from deteriorating, the Irish and British governments outlined their visions of a feasible resolution titled “Frameworks for the Future”. Part I of the resolution suggested an assembly to assume responsibility for health, education and agriculture and similar matters. Part II of the resolution recommended plans for north-south bodies that would assume the role for “executive, harmonizing and consultant functions”. This resolution infuriated the Unionists who felt that the “north-south bodies” meant a unified Ireland would eventually be introduced. The Unionists argued that Republicans had not been committed enough to the cease-fire as they still had all their weapons. Unionists stated, that if they were to talk, a decommissioning of the weapons must have taken place. The Republicans refused, saying they would decommission after a settlement had been agreed. To sort this conflict, an American Senator – George Mitchell – was brought it. He suggested that decommissioning should take place during the talks and other “confidence building measures” should be put in place. The IRA believed that too much was being asked of them, to them, a cease-fire was a major concession and Sinn Fein had the same right to participate in the talks regardless of weapons. In February 1996, they exploded a huge bomb in London and a year of violence and marches followed.
In July 1997, a second cease-fire was called by the IRA on the understanding that Sinn Fein would be allowed to participate in the talks, regardless of decommissioning. The Unionists were persuaded to join the talks and set aside their concerns. The winter of 1997 and early 1998 saw the Unionists and the IRA breach their cease-fires and their representatives suspended from the talks. George Mitchell realized nothing would ever get done unless a deadline was set. This deadline was Good Friday 1998.
By 5.30 on the Friday afternoon, an agreement had been reached. The main points and terms in the agreement varied from concerning the general public to specific groups. In order to put the agreement into practice, a referendum was posted for people to vote in favour of, or against the agreement. Seventy-one percent of the people in Northern Ireland voted for the agreement, while ninety-four percent also voted for the agreement in the Republic. The agreement put together an assembly with David Trimble as First Minister and they held their first meeting on 1st July 1998.
However, not all were content with the Good Friday Agreement and its terms and conditions. “There’s absolutely no euphoria. There’ll be no party here tonight.”. Ian Paisley, a leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, campaigned strongly against the agreement and assembled a loyal and substantial following. Despite being so anti-united Ireland, he was unsuccessful to arrive at a more constructive alternative for Northern Irelands future than the Good Friday Agreement and was discarded out of the political party. Today, Paisley still rallies against the agreement and vows to amend it and not let Northern Ireland become part of Southern Ireland.
The agreement was first put into action on 1st July 1998, when the assembly was initially assumed. David Trimble was the First Minister with Seamus Mallon from the SDLP as his Deputy. A year subsequent to the assembly foundation, the British Government was due to pass all supremacy to the assembly. David Trimble’s Unionists refused to pursue the devolved government. They sought Sinn Fein and the IRA to be completely decommissioned of arms and weapons before the handover; otherwise, the IRA and Sinn Fein should be excluded from the assembly.
Decommissioning of arms and weapons finally began in early 2000. During that same year, the Executive was formed with members representing Unionism, Nationalism and Republicanism and sharing power equally for the first time. There was still trouble about decommissioning the IRA and they finally pulled out of talks in late 2000.
The IRA put forward a suggestion that if they put their arms and weapons beyond use, they could be reinstated. This was put to a vote, and only just passed. The IRA was accepted back into the assembly and they moved back to Stormont, the former ruling place of Northern Ireland in June 2001.
The Good Friday Agreement and its laws and establishments have yet to see whether the political front between Ireland, Northern Ireland and England will calm down and form a lasting settlement. Given its history, Northern Ireland will be unlikely to forgive and forget the Troubles and the religious barrier between the Catholics and Protestants. This could be a cause for concern in the future but in the meantime, the politicians are focussed on seeing the terms of the Good Friday Agreement met, and the slow diminishment of republican organisations and loyalists paramilitary groups. It isn’t just the political front of Northern Ireland that has to change, the people and their attitude need to progress if they wish to either join Southern Ireland or stay part of the United Kingdom in the near future.
Bibliography
Books
Deary, Terry.
Horrible Histories; Ireland.
London:
Scholastic Ltd,
2000.
McKittrick, David and McVea, David.
Making Sense of the Troubles.
England:
Penguin Books,
2001.
Minnis, Ivan.
The Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Great Britain:
Heinemann Library,
2001.
Rea, Tony and Wright John.
Ireland, A Divided Nation.
Oxford:
Oxford University Press,
1999.
Websites
Bloomfield, Sir Kenneth.
“Stormont Castle”.
<http://www.nics.gov.uk/castle/castle.htm>
27th May 2004.
Corso, Josef.
“Photo Essays: Northern Ireland”.
<http://www.corsophotos.com>
25th May 2004.
Northern Ireland Office
“The Agreement”
<http://www.nio.gov.uk/issues/agreement.htm>
29th May 2004.
Interview
Steinmetz, Henri interviewed by Keates, Danielle.
The Troubles and Personal Experience.
28th May 2004.
In the car.
“Ireland, a divided nation”, Tony Rea and John Wright, Oxford University Press, 1999
Who was a Dutch Protestant and James II cousin
“Ireland: A Divided Nation”, Tony Rea and John Wright, Oxford University Press, 1999
James Fintan Lalor, Young Irelander writing in June 1848
Patrick Pearse and James Connolly were the leaders of the Irish Volunteer and the Irish Citizen Army
The Four Courts, Jacob’s Factory, South Dublin Union, Collage of Surgeons, Mendicity Institution and Bolands Mill
“Agony at Easter”, eye-witness account, 1969
Another leader during the Easter Rising
The aims consisted of: a) withdrawing the Irish MPs from Westminster and opposing the will of the British Government or any other foreign government to make laws for Ireland b) using any means available to obtain Ireland from the military grasp of England c) establishing a Parliament as the supreme national authority to act and speak in the name of the Irish Nation d) appeal to the Peace Conference (that drew up the peace treaties after the First World War) for establishment of Ireland as an independent nation
The IRA was the joining of the Irish Citizen Army and the Irish Volunteers
There were numerous “Bloody Sundays” during the Troubles, however, the worst Bloody Sunday happened in 1972 and will be discussed later
Eamon de Valera speaking in the Dail, December 1921
By “a united Ireland” they mean, Eire and Ulster
Londonderry and Derry are the same place. Doire (Derry) was the original name of the place but when Queen Elizabeth set up the Plantation, her men rebuilt the city and renamed it Londonderry. Both names are still in use.
The IRA leader in the Maze Prison
The modern Sinn Fein deny having any strong connections with the IRA
The SDLP had been the leading party in Northern Ireland, despite having a broad Catholic support
The three ideas were 1) a united Ireland 2) a confederation of North and South and 3) joint authority by the British and Irish Governments
The terms of the agreement were: The British government recognized that the Republic had the right to try and influence policy in Northern Ireland. Both governments said they wanted to make Northern Ireland a place where people could ‘live in peace, free from discrimination and intolerance’. Both governments agreed to an inter-governmental conference, to discuss political measures, including security. The Republic accepted that a united Ireland could only be implemented if Unionists agreed.
“The Troubles in Northern Ireland”, Minnis, Ivan, Heinemann Library, 2001
Toni Carragher of the South Armagh Farmers’ and Residents’ group, Crossmaglen, Northern Ireland
53.2% voted for the return of the IRA while 46.8% voted against