The police responded to the current rioting with violence and this may have angered the loyalists who then would have kept rioting with worse intentions.
I conclude that the Loyalists have been rioting to get their voices heard on religious and political issues including the Uniting of Ireland and they are rioting in response to many Republican attacks. To me, these riots seem as if they are demonstrations against the way that the Ireland situation is being handled. This is because there are many possible reasons to why the loyalists could be rioting and they all have one aspect in common, religious and political hatred.
- Why is the Loyalist rioting such an important issue in the peace process?
The peace process is the way in which the situation and conflict in Ireland is trying to be solved by politicians. If one side does not co-operate then the peace process will not be solved and violence will once again be resorted to.
The article “Last Chance for Rioting Loyalists” explains how the cease-fire of seven years will be declared over if the loyalist rioting does not come to an end. On 31 August 1994, the IRA announced a cease-fire as of midnight and six weeks later on 13th October 1994 the Loyalist gunmen declared their cease-fire as of midnight. This cease-fire was to be declared over in September 2001 if the Loyalists did not stop the rioting and would lead to many threats to the peace process.
If the Loyalist cease-fire is declared over the escalating violence on the Loyalist behalf will become a threat to the IRA’s cease-fire. If the IRA cease-fire stops then they will not decommission and therefore becomes a threat to the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement. The Good Friday Agreement of Saturday 10th April 1998 allowed terrorists out of prison, which means if the cease-fire is declared over then they violence will escalate even more. This agreement also set up a referendum for Northern Ireland although this referendum is now over.
Northern Ireland will be “dragged back into the violence and sectarian violence of the past” if the cease-fire is declared over because of the Loyalists rioting. This is because decommissioning will not take place and the hard-line Loyalists and Republicans will resort to violence to get their voices heard and they will still have all their weapons to make an impact on the innocent. In the past tit for tat killings have taken place when Catholics have murdered Protestants for murdering Catholics and so on. The Shankhill road bombing of 1993 left 9 Protestants dead and 1 Catholic who was the bomber and later in 1994 Loyalist gunmen walked into a bar during a world cup match and shot 6 Catholics dead. This is what Northern Ireland would return to if the rioting continues.
When the cease-fire began in Northern Ireland the economy was at a low because businesses did not want to risk being blown up and people were scared to visit. As violence stopped, businesses and tourists began to return but if violence breaks out again they will disappear. People would be left unemployed and out on the streets causing more violent acts.
If rioting and violence continue in Northern Ireland more British Troops will be put on the streets by the British government and under the Good Friday Agreement and the Downing Street Declaration, the number of troops in Ireland were to be reduced. This breaking of the agreement on the British behalf would lead to a threat to the peace process because neither side will believe that Britain will stick to the Peace agreement and they would pull out of the Good Friday agreement and terrorism will strike once again.
The UDA (Ulster Defence Association) agreed to the Good Friday Agreement, which allowed UDA prisoners out of jail early and now “the organisation had reneged (gone back) on its commitment to the peace process” by the prisoners causing problems on the streets. The Good Friday Agreement would have to be abandoned.
On the other hand, if the rioting stops, lives will be saved and the peace process may be able to move forward because both sides will listen and talk to each other which in turn should help decommissioning.
Most residents in Ireland just want a peaceful solution and this was shown in a video “The Downing Street Declaration” when children from a primary school pleaded for a peaceful Christmas while Bill Clinton visited. If the cease-fire becomes declared over then many residents will once again be living in fear.
The Loyalist rioting will cause chain reaction events resulting in serious damage to the peace process. The rioting will lead to the end of the cease-fire leading to more violence which results in a fall in economy and more violence on the streets from the unemployed; this will then cause a knock on effect to the peace process because neither side will decommission due to fear of an attack from the other side. The rioting is such an important issue in the peace process because it is not being peaceful and could result in the problems spoken about above.
- Does the history of Ireland suggest that the peace process will succeed this time?
Irelands history is very complicated and difficult to understand with all of the violent and political acts that took place.
Northern Ireland’s history is remembered every year during the marching season, showing that history is not forgotten. The marches often cause disorder and violence among the Catholics when the Protestants want to march along Garvaghy road form Drumcree to Portadown. The march on July 12th is in remembrance of the Battle of the Boyne (1690) and on the march on August 12th commemorates the siege of Londonderry (1689); they are both Protestant victories over Catholics. The Protestants can not forget these victories and they make a big deal out of their ancient victories whereas the Catholics do not publicise and cause ordeals during their marches. The Protestant marching season causes more violence that is not needed and shows to me that if the history can not be forgotten from that long ago how will the history from the past 30yrs be forgotten and forgiven? I feel that this needs to be done in order for the peace process to work.
The cease-fire called by the IRA in 1994 was ended when a bomb was planted and exploded in the London Docklands on 9th February 1996. The cease-fire was ended because things were not moving fast enough for the IRA. This makes me feel that peace will not succeed this time because if the IRA have ended their cease-fire before then they will do it again if things do not go their way. The IRA set off many more bombs before calling another cease-fire in 1997.
Decommissioning is another problem in the peace process because neither side has handed in weapons. The funding could not be cut-off before September 11th 2001 when terrorism hit America and NORAID’s accounts were frozen by the American government. NORAID are the American funding for the IRA because many of the Irish that fled to America during the potato famine still hold grudge against the British for not helping them and they are helping Ireland become an independent country. Before then, even if both sides had decommissioned, the IRA could have easily got hold of more by using the NORAID funding so now that the funding is gone I feel that if both sides decommissioned then the peace process could move forward and last. Although on the other hand, drug dealing and protection rackets are used to get money for funds. This is hard to stop because it is all kept low profile. This is why decommissioning may not be a solution to help peace last this time, if it is going to last.
The “Women’s Peace Movement” of 1972 did not work, but lead to bigger bombs being used and more sectarian and tit for tat murders. In the border area of Northern Ireland the British Army built bigger fortifications at the checkpoints to minimise bombings and this failed because the IRA responded by using bigger bombs and the first “human bomb” where someone was forced to drive into an army target. These are both two attempts at peace which have failed and there are more such as all the peace talks that have gone on and still pushed the peace process no further forward.
When the North and South were partitioned in 1920, I feel that this partition was done to please but in fact displeased many from both the Republicans and the Loyalists. This partition has caused many arguments and violence and this act was not thought about, it was used as a solution at the time and the consequences were not thought about. I feel that this problem can not be sorted because only one side can be pleased; no matter whether Northern Ireland stays as part of the UK or becomes part of Ireland there is still going to be hatred and violence afterwards.
I feel that peace might last because this time the Republicans and the Loyalists have stuck to the cease-fire and there has not been any sectarian murders or murders this year, 2002 except for the postman which was killed. This shows that they are both attempting to make peace last this time.
The history of the massacres (see question one) of 1641 and 1649 is a good example of a tit for tat killing. These murders still take place today because the Loyalists will not let the Republicans have the last shot and vice versa. The amount of Peace talks which have failed because either one political party or another will not attend shows that not all of the parties are willing to work together and I feel that this is needed for peace to succeed this time. I also feel that neither side is going to compromise on the decision of whether Northern Ireland should stay partitioned or not. The Republicans want a united and independent country only and the Loyalists want Northern Ireland to stay part of the UK and nothing else. They are both obstinate and will not give in. A peaceful solution can not be found because there is always going to be something wrong with the solution from either the Republicans/Catholics and the Loyalists/Protestants because there opinions of what should be done are so narrow. Peace could be found if they were willing to listen and compromise with each other but I believe that this will not happen.