this. However it only contains the statistics for a selection of businesses, there are
more than five companies in Northern Ireland. The magazine that published the
article may have chosen specific companies to influence the Public’s opinion.
Question 3
Source D is a former player-manager of Linfield Football club in 1984 he says that
”The second or third question is, “What school do you go to son?” And if it’s Saint
something, then all of a sudden the boy isn’t good enough.” This is blatantly saying
that if a boy goes to a Saint school he cannot be on the team. Even if he was the
best football player in the world because he goes to a Roman Catholic School he
is not good enough to play with the rest of the Protestant team.
Sources A, B and C show that in certain areas the Protestants were favoured over
Catholics when it came to jobs. Source D shows us that the extent of the
discrimination is much worse than not giving people jobs, it is now affecting the
lives of school children. The source is showing that the discrimination has gone so
far to the extent that even children are being left out and segregated from other
children based on the religious views that they were brought up with. The child
does not actually choose its religion that is determined by the child’s parents ant
their views. Discriminating against someone because of something that they
cannot even decide shows how bigoted the Protestants have become.
Source E is from a document published by the Ulster Protestant Action. This
organisation was set up by the Reverend Ian Paisley and other Unionists. The
important thing here is that the organisation was set up Reverend Ian Paisley, he is
a religious leader. The Protestants are more likely to obey an instruction from him
than from a normal person. This piece of evidence also shows that even the
leaders of the Protestants believed that they were better and deserved more
opportunities than the Catholics.
The source is also a good piece of evidence to show that the Protestants were
above the Catholics “Keep Protestants and loyal workers in employment in times
of depression in preference to their fellow Catholic workers.”
The source is blatantly saying that the Protestants are to be given jobs and
Catholics not. The source does specify that this should only happen during times of
depression however. Even so the Protestants would still be given the idea that they
are superior to the Roman Catholics who, according to their Reverend Ian Paisley,
should not be considered for jobs during a depression.
This source is reliable as it comes from an official report, it should however, not be
considered to be the opinion of all Protestants that all Catholics are inferior. If
everybody in Northern Ireland followed this advice then the extent of discrimination
against Catholics would be as it was in Sources A to C.
Question 4
Source F is the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland speaking at the end of his term
of office. He believes that the all the problems in Ireland between the Catholics and
the Protestants are “nothing to do with religion at all”. He has the experience of
being the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland for twenty years, Brooke has a unique
insight into the workings of Irish politics.
Brooke dismisses the bigoted discrimination as simply “How can you give
somebody who is your enemy a higher position in order to allow him to come out
and destroy you?”. Although it is true that giving your ‘enemy’ a position of power
would be foolish, it is also true that the Catholics did not necessarily want a
position where they had immense power, most would probably have been content
with any normal job. The Catholics and Protestants may be religious enemies but
during the First World War they both fought together in the trenches, putting aside
their differences in the defence of their country.
Source G is also a former Prime Minister of Ireland he has a different perspective
though; he thinks that “If you treat the Catholics with due consideration and
kindness, they will live like Protestants in spite of the authoritative nature of their
church. ”Terence O’Neill has a very set view of Catholics. In Source G he refers to
them as having “18 children”, living in a “ghastly hovel” and relying on National
Assistance for financial support and their well-being.
Brooke and O’Neill both agree that the Catholics are lower in society than the
Protestants, Brooke states “There is this feeling that here is a man who is out to
destroy Northern Ireland if he can possibly do it” O’Neill says that “If you give
Roman Catholics a good job and a good house they will live like Protestants.”
The two Prime Ministers disagree on how to solve the problem though, Brooke
thinks that they are the enemy and should be oppressed and kept down.
“How can you give somebody who is your enemy a higher position in order to allow
him to come out and destroy you?” O’Neill however, thinks that they should be
treated as equals and given respect “If you treat the Catholics with due
consideration and kindness, they will live like Protestants.”
The two men agree that there is a problem but they have very contrasting views on
the solution of the problem.
Question 5
Source H shows a Catholic family living in the 1960s. The ‘house’ has no garden
and has no real bath. There is a little stone room with a door that is probably the
toilet. On the top of this room there is a corrugated metal roof. A bath tub sits on
the floor, it looks like it is being used to wash clothes in. From the picture I can see
no taps or any sort of water source.. A crude washing line has been attached to the
wall of the stone building. The actual walls of the house are made from stone not
brick, they are simply stone walls. From the fact that the bath tub is outside we can
learn that there is no proper bath or hot water inside.
The man and the girl are standing on a mound of dirt. There is no grass at all. If a
small child was being raised in this house it would probably catch an infection or
something and without any proper facilities to keep clean the risk would be even
higher. The house has no garden it is just a small back yard. It looks like a typical
19th century working class dwelling in not very good condition.
The source says it is a house in “Londonderry” which tells us straight away that the
source comes from a Protestant. No Catholic would ever call it Londonderry. The
reminder of England is all too clear in the name (London) derry, Catholics know it
simply as Derry. This makes the source less reliable, as it was taken by the
‘enemy’ of the house’s resident.
Source I shows the results of the local elections in Londonderry in 1966, again we
can tell that this source came from a Protestant because the name of the town is
Londonderry. I think this source shows gerrymandering. The majority of Catholics
live in South Ward. 10,047 Catholics votes won only 8 unionist councilors.
Whereas in North Ward only 3,946 votes by Protestants also managed to win 8
councilors only this time for the nationalists. The Catholic population is so
condensed into one area that they can only hope to win any councilors there. If the
Catholic population was as spread out an as even as the Protestants was then
they probably would have won the entire election and been able to take control of
their lives for once. Instead the Protestant government at that time forced the
majority of the Catholics to live in the same area so that they would only be able to
win a set number of councilors. Source I is very reliable as it comes directly from
the voting record of Londonderry.
The map in source J also provides some more information about voting, this
source comes from Catholics as the town is referred to as Derry. It shows quite
plainly that there is an East-West divide between the Catholics and the
Protestants. The majority of the Catholics live on the Creggan estates in the west
of Londonderry. In the center of the map is the walled town, this looks a bit like a
fortress. The walled town is, as its name suggests, surrounded by walls. These
walls either by intention or accident are keeping the Catholics out of the Protestant
town.
During the siege of Londonderry in 1689 the Protestants, who had barricaded
themselves inside the town walls for safety, needed to lift the morale of the people.
On almost every wall in Londonderry the words “No Surrender” were written to
remind people that they were not going to give up. This phrase is still used today
especially by the Protestant leaders in the Northern Ireland Peace talks. Every year
the Protestant Orangemen march through Londonderry to commemorate the Battle
of the Boyne in 1690. This was when the Protestant King William “Billy” of Orange
crushed the rebellion led by the ex King of England the Catholic James II. Every
year the Orange men march through Londonderry to commemorate this event but
also to wave their victory under the Catholic noses.
After the partition in 1920 the Catholics were appalled by the discrimination
against them. There was a huge unemployment problem where Catholics were
concerned but not with Protestants. In 1960 the New Unionist Government
promised reforms, when nothing had changed by 1967 civil rights marches began,
they carried on until 1968. Tensions were escalating and in October 1968 fighting
broke out between the Catholics and Protestants.
Question 6
The Reverend Ian Paisley, speaking in Source K, believes that the civil rights
movement was the doing of “The Irish Republican Army, or at that time those who
were dedicated to the views and objectives of that army.”
At first glance the Sources L and M would seem to disagree with this statement.
Ian Paisley says that it was just the IRA who were responsible and source L says
that “There were a number of Republicans and the proportion of them varied from
time to time but they never dominated it .” This source directly contradicts Ian
Paisley, it says that the Republicans were never the dominators at the civil rights
marches, whereas Reverend Paisley lays all of the blame on the IRA. Although the
IRA is made up mostly but not entirely of Republicans, not all Republicans are
members of the IRA some Republicans want peace, not violence.
Source M agrees with Reverend Paisley but it also disagrees with him;
“The membership was politically varied and undoubtedly included persons of
known extreme Republican views and activities as well as members of the
Northern Ireland and Liberal Parties.” This extract is basically saying that while the
Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association did contain some strong Republican
viewpoints and members of the Liberal Parties, they did not account for the entire
of the association however.
It is also very likely that they had some members that were Protestant and simply
felt bad for the Catholics, not all Protestants are full of hatred for their Catholic
neighbours. Making the statement that the entire civil rights movement was led by
the IRA is completely without merit. It true that the IRA was involved with the
marches though “There is no doubt that the IRA has taken a close interest in the
Civil Rights Association from its beginning.”
Ian Paisley speaking on a television interview saying that the IRA deserve all the
credit for the Civil Rights movement in Ireland is completely disagreed with by
Michael Farrell, a member of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association, who
says on the same television programme “They were never in control, at least not
until maybe later on.” There is evidence in the sources to suggest that the IRA were
involved “ The IRA has taken a close interest” but Sources L and M both state that
they were not the sole creators of the Civil Rights movement.
Question 7
The cartoon in source N shows five people walking on a staircase. The stairs are
an optical illusion as they are neither going up nor down. This represents the Irish
Issue, it is neither escalating into full blown war, nor is it calming down enough to
be settled by a peaceful agreement.
The five people on the stairs are a priest who is clutching a bible and walking
cautiously on the stairs. He represents the religious aspect of the Northern Irish
Problem. The Church is worried about the people that follow it and believe in God
but it is also worried that if it fails to take action then it’s followers will lose their faith
in religion and God.
The second person is a suspicious looking man wearing a beret, underneath his
arm he is holding some sticks of dynamite. In his right hand he is holding a
revolver. The man represents the terrorists in Northern Ireland, he is skulking
around to ensure that he remains inconspicuous. The man looks as if he is about
to go and do something illegal like plant his dynamite and blow something up.
The woman standing next to the terrorist is a mother shielding her scared child.
This is representing all the mothers in Northern Ireland who are trying to protect
their children from the fighting and the ‘troubles’. It could also be inferred that as
her back is pointed towards the terrorist that the mother considers him the biggest
threat to her child.
The next man round the stair case is a person dressed in normal everyday clothes
he is holding a newspaper under his arm, has his hands stuck in his pockets and is
smoking a pipe. He is symbolic of the normal everyday working class people that
are being affected by the Northern Ireland Issue. His hat is one that was worn by
working class men during the first half of the 20th Century.
The final person on the stairs is a politician, we can tell this as he is wearing an
official suit and a bowler hat. On his jacket he has a rosette used in canvassing
before an election. In his hand he has a flyer advertising his political party the word
“vote” is visible on the front of it. His hand is raised in a typical politicians pose,
dictating to people how they should behave, act and especially vote.
The stair case is the way all of the above people are going in Northern Ireland,
they are walking around in circles not communicating with any body else, keeping
to their own routines without making the effort to try and resolve their problems. The
politicians try to change things but are unsuccessful, the terrorists like wise make
the effort but use violence and no one is prepared to listen to them as they are
seen as nothing but brutal killers.
The cartoon is not representing the actual situation as it only portrays the specific
groups of people in Northern Ireland and not religions. It depicts the Priests,
Terrorists, Parents, Working Class and the Politicians. It does not however contain
any mention of the different religions.
There is mention of religion in the cartoon though, on the walls of the endless
staircase, there is some graffiti. On the left hand side of the wall there are the
words “ Remember 1690 Ulster” This is a reference to the Battle of the Boyne
when King William “Billy” of Orange went over to Ireland and crushed the Catholic
rebellion led by the former King James II.
On the right hand side of the stairs there is writing that cannot be seen, but there is
also the date 1916. This was the date of the Easter Uprising during the First World
War. On Easter Monday, 24th April 1916 the rebellion of the Irish Nationalists took
place in Dublin. The Easter Rising was described by a member of Sinn Fein as:
“The Easter Rising of 1916, a rising almost entirely confined to Dublin, was
suppressed after a week’s fighting by British Forces.” *
The Rising was brutally ended, fifteen of the ring leaders were executed. When the
British Forces did this the men they killed were instantaneously changed into
martyrs. The popularity for the Catholics rocketed in a matter of a few days.
The cartoon is depicting, on the left hand side of the wall, a glorious victory for the
Protestants (The Battle of the Boyne.) On the right it is not necessarily a great
victory for the Catholics but it is definitely a memorable deed that should be looked
on with pride.
The person who drew is only specified as “A Northern Irish political cartoonist.”
The caption does not specify which religion the cartoonist is. Although they live in
Northern Ireland that does not mean that they have to be a certain religion. Not all
of the people in Northern Ireland are religious it may be that this particular
cartoonist is an atheist and does not believe in religion or God. If so then this
cartoon could be portrayed as belittling the Irish problem.
I think the cartoon is attempting to make the point that peace in Northern Ireland
cannot ever be resolved unless the groups that are represented in the cartoon
actually put aside their differences and begin working together. Whether or not the
issue actually can be resolved is a debatable subject. One school of though is that
the ‘downward spiral’ that Northern Ireland is stuck in is infinite and can never be
broken.
It is certainly true that there have been attempts at peace this is a very good
reason to be hopeful of the future. The problem is that all of these peace
agreements have failed. The peace agreements were all set up to put an end to
the fighting in Northern Ireland but none have successfully lasted more than two
years with the exception of the Anglo - Irish Agreement which has now lasted for
over fifteen years despite fierce protest by the Ulster Unionists.
The Sunningdale agreement was made in December 1973, some of the Northern
Irish politicians agreed to power sharing with their Republican counter parts. In
May 1974 however, Protestant workers called a general strike and the
Sunningdale agreement was abandoned. This is interesting as it shows that
although some of the Northern Irish politicians were willing to give up some power
in order to aid their fellow Irish, the general working class population were against
this idea.
The women’s peace movement in 1975 was actually lead by working class
women, Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan, they hoped to unite women against
the fear of violence. This lasted two years before Protestants and Catholics
attacked the movement and it disintegrated. The fact that the majority of the
Northern Irish people want peace is a very hopeful fact. It shows that although there
is a minority who wish to continue with the violence, they are a minority.
The Good Friday Peace deal was set up in 1998 and is still active. This peace
agreement, in my view is the fairest of all, according to the Good Friday peace
Deal; “A 108-member Northern Ireland assembly takes over day-to-day running of
the province” this is run by an executive committee of 12 people who in turn
represent main parties. The first minister is David Trimble, his deputy is SDLP
boss John Hume. Although the chief of the executive committee is a Protestant the
Catholics are not under represented in fact Sinn Fein has a ministerial position in
the committee.
Some of the points of the agreement are; A North - South council created with
representatives from Belfast and Dublin, they consult on matters of common
interest like transport and the environment. The Irish government releases its claim
on Ulster, they still want to unite Ireland again but only when there is support from
the Protestants. The British law is changed so that if they wish it Ulster can leave
the UK.
This peace agreement in some way benefits both sides of the border. It is also a
glimmer of hope to the people of Ireland who have been living under the threat of
violence for most of their lives. All of the peace deals signify that the people of
Ireland want an end to violence, but will there ever be an end if the peace deals
keep failing?
Matt Sharpe Ireland Coursework 13/10/00
* From Modern Ireland by Alan Dures
