English and Scottish people were sent to live in Ireland by Elizabeth I and James I to persuade more people to become Protestants and spread the religion to make it a protestant country. Irish Catholics were removed from their land because they wouldn’t change their religion and the Protestants didn’t like it therefore moved them. Catholic and Protestant religion caused a lot of violence.
In 1641 it was a good time for Irish Catholics to rebel. At the time England was having a civil war therefore they would be distracted. Many Protestants were killed and tortured, and protestant land was confiscated. The protestant views on Catholics were that they were barbarians, not to be trusted and they feared them.
In 1649 the civil war was over and Oliver Cromwell leads the protestant army. Three thousand Catholics were slaughtered at Drogheda. Most of which was because of the methods of Oliver Cromwell. These methods made the relationship between Irish Catholics and the English a lot worse and more hatred grew between them. Land was returned to Protestants, soldiers and supporters. Catholics were pushed to the west of Ireland and weren’t very pleased about it.
Protestant views on Catholics are that they are evil and seen as a constant threat to them, if England can’t help or protect the Protestants. They see England as heroes and their protectors and their Union with England is very important.
The second event which was important in shaping Protestant views was the Battle of Boyne in 1690. This event was caused by the removal of James II from the English thrown. James’ removal from the throne was to have a big effect on Ireland.
Question 2B
James II was a catholic king and wanted to restore the Roman Catholic religion. This is the reason he was removed from the throne, because he was catholic, and replaced with a protestant king. James, in protest and anger, went to Ireland to get some support and easily raised an army of Catholics. In 1689 James and the army trapped 35,000 Protestants in the city of Londonderry. They were under siege and were running very low on food. Luckily for them the English came to the rescue by sending ships over with food. They showed no surrender and the siege was over after fifteen weeks.
William of orange then stopped the Catholic rebellion by sending an army of his own, of Protestants, to Ireland to fight James II and the Catholic allies. William of Orange defeated James and once again won control of Ireland.
The Battle of Boyne confirms that the Catholics fear the Protestants, and that they need the English to help and protect them. After the battle William of Orange was seen as a hero to all of the Protestants. Appreciation for him is still continued today. Celebrations of his victory are shown by ‘Orange Marches’ every year in July and August. These celebrations must make the Catholics feel annoyed and more hatred towards them as they are boasting about winning many years ago and proving that they were better than them.
Ireland Question 3
Ireland has faced many problems over the last 500 years and because of various different reasons. These reasons include religious, political, national and military. The problems start with historical events such as Battle of the Boyne and the Irish potato famine these all have caused big problems and have only made the conflict worse. Ireland has always been run from London for most of the last forty years and not by the country itself. Since 1968 British troops have been stationed in Northern Ireland so it shows that Ireland has always been connected with Britain and has been national with the running of the country. The people in Ireland have always been against each other though making arguments about what they believe for example religion Catholic against protestant. Political views are also very important with Nationalists against Unionists. Despite all these problems there have been many attempts at finding a peaceful solution. I am now going to look at some of the peace agreements that were tried to make Ireland peaceful.
The Sunningdale agreement was signed on 9th December 1973. It was the first attempt to find a peaceful solution in Northern Ireland. The details of the agreement were as follows. Major decisions would include both the views of the nationalists and unionists to make a ‘power sharing executive’. A council of Ireland would be created including representatives from the republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. They would meet regularly to discuss any issues of concern. In May 1974 increasing hatred of both the power sharing executive and the council or Ireland amongst the unionist communities led to a general strike, lasting two weeks. This is because the IRA and Unionists rejected the agreement. Brian Faulkener was the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party and became unpopular to unionists because of his evident support for the agreement. He was increasingly hated and was forced to resign. It was then that direct rule was introduced that meant Ireland would be led from Britain. William Whitelaw was the first secretary of state for Northern Ireland under Direct rule.
Between 1974 and 1985 violence increased in Northern Ireland often spreading to the British main land. In 1985 the British Prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, met with the Irish Prime minister, Charles Haughey, to find a peaceful solution. Followed by the meeting was the Anglo Irish agreement. Details of that agreement were that both countries would develop close cooperation to improve security, share information about terrorist activities and develop laws that were help in common especially to enable easier exchange of prisoners. Regular inter-governmental conferences were set up between secretary of state for Northern Ireland and the Irish foreign affairs minister. The Irish government accepted the legitimacy of the state of Northern Ireland but only as long as people kept to it. However the agreement also failed as it was rejected by unionists because it gave the Republic of Ireland an increased influence over Northern Ireland.
Although the Anglo Irish agreement was a step forward it did not bring about a lasting peace. However it did mean that people were talking to each other instead of arguing. Between 1989 and 1993 the Downing Street declaration was agreed by British Prime minister John major and Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds. The details of this agreement are as follows. Both London and Dublin agreed that ‘it is for the people of Ireland alone, by agreement between the two parties respectively, to exercise their right of self-determination on the basis of consent, freely and currently given, North and South, to bring about a united Ireland if that is their wish.’ Both governments agreed to give ‘full respect for the rights and identities of both traditions in Ireland’. Cross-party talks would be set-up but only parties that were against violence were allowed to go. British Government accepted the possibility of a United Ireland but the apparent shift in British policy worried the Unionists as it seemed the British were no longer determined to keep Northern Ireland as a part of the United Kingdom. Albert Reynolds put pressure of Sinn Fein to renounce violence and seek a democratically political settlement. Gerry Adams visited USA in February 1994 and was treated like a celebrity but his support only relied on Sinn Fein pursuing peaceful instead of violent policies.
Despite the fact the Downing Street declaration did not bring about a lasting peace it was an even bigger step forward. In May 1997 the new labour Government came to power and Prime Minister Tony Blair restarted the peace talks. All parties were invited providing they refused to use violence. By 1998 nearly all sides were talking to each other. However the American senator George Mitchel said they had to make a decision, and on the 10th April the Good Friday agreement was signed. It had the support of most Unionists, Sinn Fein, IRA and the American Government. Only the DUP were against the agreement. The details of the agreement were as follows. The state of Northern Ireland would stay part of the United Kingdom unless the majority of Northern Irish people voted otherwise. The Irish republic would end its claim of being the Government of Northern Ireland. The new ‘Northern Ireland Assembly’ would take control of health, education, agriculture and law-making from Westminster. The assembly would have 108 members and equal representation from all communities. There would be ten separate ministries with their own committees. Also ‘A council of the Isles’ would be formed including representatives from Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Human rights and equality were guaranteed. All parties agreed to use their influence to bring about decommissioning of weapons within two years. The agreement was met with great relief from intense media and worldwide. Most people thought the agreement was a good idea however Ian Paisleys DUP did not support it. A vote was held in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The agreement received a 94% backing in Ireland and a 71% backing in Northern Ireland. So overall the agreement was positively backed.
Although the Good Friday agreement continues there are still a number of problems to be solved before Northern Ireland can have a lasting peace those are as follows. The decommissioning of weapons need to be resolved and there are problems with the hard-line loyalists and nationalists. The issue of the marching season was the first challenge. A violent face off and protest was to meet the Orangemen on their march. Both sides stood firm and bloodshed seemed inevitable. Innocent people were killed such as three boys and their parents. But the fact that one parent was catholic and the other was protestant shocked many people and the Orangemen cancelled their march out of respect. Worse was to follow and the so called ‘real IRA’ exploded a bomb killing twenty four innocent people. Between February and June the Northern Ireland assembly was temporarily suspended. The IRA then stated that they would begin ‘a process that will completely and verifiably put the IRA arms beyond use’. David Trimble and the UUP agreed to return to the Northern Ireland assembly. On the 19th January 1999 the Patten report was published. It suggested many changes of the RUC and recommended minimum quotas of Roman Catholics within the force. However the report was rejected by the Northern Ireland assembly and it remained an unsolved issue. The power sharing was stopped in October 2003 because of an IRA spy ring. Also a recent major bank robbery was alleged to be carried out by the IRA. Ian Paisleys DUP is now the main unionist party in Ireland and is against the agreement therefore this makes it hard for the agreement to go ahead.
Throughout this piece of coursework it is clear that there have been several attempts at finding a peaceful solution for Northern Ireland. I have identified the details of the peace agreements and explained why some of these agreements failed. I have also identified problems that Northern Ireland still faces. It is clear that until Northern Ireland solves these problems and the people talk about important issues like education and health there will never be a lasting peace there.
