In 1916 there was an Easter rising, the catholic Irish nationalists could not wait they wanted the whole of their country back now and so therefore they attacked and took over post office in Dublin. In the end the catholic Irish nationalists were captured and shot without trial and they were martyrs to the Republican/ Nationalists cause. Because those men were not given a fair trial it angered the Irish Catholics and so this is an important cause of conflict. This was a long term cause for conflict in Northern Ireland.
In 1921 there was a partition which made 6 of the 9 countries British and the rest of them (3) to be governed by Dublin, this would have been good news for the Northern protestants but not good news for the Irish Catholics especially the Catholics living in Northern Ireland who had to remain in the U.K. This was also an important cause of conflict because it defined who ruled most of Ireland. And Northern Ireland is still rued by Britain. This was a long term cause of conflict.
During WORLD WAR TWO Eire remained neutral between the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance formally anyway, but informally it has been said that the Southern Catholics helped the Nazis with U-Boats, light blankets for bombers whereas the Northern Protestants (Ulsterman) fought with the Allies and died. This obviously angered the Northern Protestants because whilst they fought and died the Catholics were helping their enemies (Germany) so this is also another important cause of conflict. This is a long term cause of conflict in Northern Ireland.
In the 1960’s the Irish Catholics in Northern Ireland lead Civil Rights Marches and these were most important, the Northern Irish Catholics began to demand equal rights with the Protestant housing, education and jobs, the problem with this is that whenever they marched they turned into riots and then fights (with Protestants). Marches would obviously annoy the Northern Protestants because they would think how dare they march to their rights, and so because this angers the protestants and causes fights this is a very important cause of conflict. This is a short term cause of conflict in Northern Ireland.
In 1968 the British army was sent into Northern Ireland to keep the Northern Protestants and the Catholics both Northern and Southern apart to prevent street fighting, at the start the Catholics saw them as a blessing but as time went on the Catholics started to see the British army as a Foreign threat occupying there land like they had done for the last 700 years, so this aggravated the Catholics which caused fights which is a very important cause of conflict. This is a short term cause of conflict in Northern Ireland.
Because the Catholics carried on demonstrating for equal rights it caused more street violence because Northern Protestants were getting very angry at the Southern Catholics because of what they were demanding. In the streets, people were throwing petrol bombs and bricks at each other and so people were dying in the streets. This was a very important cause of conflict because the demonstrations were just adding to street violence. This is a short term cause of conflict in Northern Ireland.
On the 30th January 1972 there was a Catholic march in Londonderry to protest against internment then the Great British army turned up at the march they then shot and killed 13 Catholics and so because of that the Catholics never used marches and demonstrations as a tactic again. Many young Catholic republicans in Northern Ireland now joined the I.R.A. the 13 dead became martyrs. This greatly irritated the Catholics because they feel that 13 innocent people were killed and they wanted to get revenge on the British and so this caused conflict and so this was a very important cause of conflict especially seeing as many young people joined the IRA after Bloody Sunday to seek revenge. This is a short term cause of conflict in Northern Ireland.
After the British army had killed the 13 Southern Catholic people the Nationalist Catholics changed their tactics to terrorism and to fight against the British army and security forces as well as protestant
U.V.F and U.F.F. the I.R.A also decided to bomb England:
e.g.
- Birmingham pub bombing 1974 21 people killed
- Guildford pub bombing 1975 7 people killed
- Aldershot barracks 1972 7 people killed
This angered the British greatly, the bombings brought terrorist violence to a high and so it is a very important cause. This is a short term cause of conflict in Northern Ireland.
In the 1970’s the British army tried to reduce the number of weapons in Ireland, the British army searched homes in Belfast and revealed a high number of explosives, rifles and grenade launchers. This is also a very important cause of conflict because more weapons is more likely to result in more violence, more injuries and more deaths. This is a short term cause of conflict in Northern Ireland.
From the 1970’s there has been an escalation of provisional terrorism from the I.R.A and the U.F.F, as the revenge and hatred increased there were many tit-for-tat killings, for example in 1992 the I.R.A bombed a fish mongers in Belfast which killed 10 people, this increased the hatred. There were also some sectarian killings and so this was an important cause of conflict because of the increase in hatred and deaths. This is a short term cause of conflict in Northern Ireland.
After 1969 the boundaries of Catholic’s and Protestants were changed thus there were Protestants living in catholic land and there were Catholics living in Protestant land and so cities became more rigid. Because there were Catholics and Protestants living in the wrong areas there were windows getting smashed, cars blowing up, etc. An example of a catholic road is Falls road and an example of a protestant road is Shankill road and because of this there was a sectarian divide. There were barricades erected and then a large wall built and because of this increased division the hatred amongst people increased. This is an important cause of conflict as it divided society into two parts. This is a short term cause of conflict in Northern Ireland.
At this time terrorism was beginning and IRA snipers were bigger than ever and this lead to internment. This is a very important cause because the more terrorism which occurred then the more hatred amongst the people. This is a short term cause of conflict in Northern Ireland.
Because of the increase in terrorism the British government decided on internment 1971 – 1975. The internment gave the army and the police (R.U.C) the power to put suspected terrorists in jail without a fair trial, evidently this meant that most people captured by the army and the police were Catholics. The Catholics claimed that this was infringement of their civil rights and the European government agreed. So this showed the British rule to be illegal and unjust. This was also a very important cause. This is a short term cause of conflict in Northern Ireland.
On July 12th, 1690 there was the Battle of the Boyne with the Catholics fighting the Protestants the leader of the Catholics was
James 2nd and the leader of the protestants was William of Orange, the victor of the battle was William of Orange and to honour and celebrate this battle the protestant people march and play music, and the only problem with that is that the protestants like to march through catholic streets i.e. Garvaghy Road (a catholic housing estate) and this obviously annoys the Catholics. This is also an important cause because it helps fuel the conflict. This is a short term cause of conflict in Northern Ireland.
What has changed in Northern Ireland since 1968?
At first the Great British army was brought in to deal with riots, marchers, street fights and terrorists and they carried heavy weaponry and wore uniforms more suitable for the jungle but since 1970 because of riots and terrorist acts the army and police were issued shields and helmets with visors and riot sticks were now used. Then because the police thought that pedestrians were transporting weapons in their cars the police and the army built road blocks, set up to check vehicles and so this obviously inconvenienced the Belfast people with traffic jams and delays.
Because the Great British army was sent into the streets of Northern Ireland to stop terrorism the IRA sees the army as a force of foreign occupation and so that has provoked IRA terrorism and violence and thus it has caused civil disorder.
Before 1969 the violence and Death toll was 2,167 people killed however from 1969 to 1981 the violence and death toll was 23,000 and not only that but there were assassination attempts after bloody Sunday also IRA violence increased and tactics changed. In 2002 there was no fight and the Great British army where still the peacekeepers.
In 1968 most violence occurred on the streets i.e. petrol bombs, rocks, etc, however since then terrorism has become more upscale for example they now use snipers and deadly weapons started to be used in 1968 – 1972. After Bloody Sunday Catholic Nationalists saw no point in demonstrations that lead to their own death and so the IRA turned towards terrorism to get the British out of Northern Ireland. After 1976 shootings and bombings became more common in Northern Ireland, the Catholic Nationalists decided to bomb the mainland (Britain).
IRA killings have made the U.D.A. then the U.F.F. and the U.V.F. retaliate with tit-for-tat killings against Catholics. More recently the IRA called for a cease fire for attempts at peace which was sadly ended at the Omagh bombing. Even though peace talks continue the IRA still refuses to give up its weapons to the police and security forces.
After 1968 there was a problem in Northern Ireland with the Catholic minority wanting to be part of a united Ireland. After the start of the 1960’s violence, sectarian attitudes of hatred increased, also people who lived in the wrong area had to leave and go to an area with their own religious group.
In the later 1960’s and the 1970’s house swaps were arranged so that Catholics could live in Catholic areas and that Protestants could live in Protestant areas.
Catholics and Protestants did not want to mix there schools, shops and pubs for each religion so There was a dividing wall built in Belfast to keep opposing sectarian groups apart (It was a peace line). Since 1968 the wall has got ton bigger because people have been throwing petrol bombs and bricks, etc into enemy housing over the wall. Because of all the hatred in Belfast children have grown up in an atmosphere full of violence.
In the 1980’s two ladies from Northern Ireland started a Protestant-Catholic movement for peace with some success before it ended in the 1990’s this was very unusual for Catholics and Protestants to work together. Peace talks continued and the IRA had another ceasefire. In 1972 the Northern Ireland Government at Stormont was closed and power was transferred to Westminster. In 1999 there was a new Northern Ireland government reinstated at Stormont again. There was also a release of terrorists due to the Good Friday Agreement.
Even though there are a lot of things that have changed since 1968 there are still a lot of things which have stayed the same for example the Great British army is still in Northern Ireland, There is still hatred and distrust in Northern Ireland between the people, Great Britain still rules Northern Ireland, Catholics still want to be ruled from Dublin, Protestants still want to be part of the United Kingdom, Protestants are still in the minority, The IRA still have their weapons furthermore Catholics and Protestants still live in separate areas.
