Northern Irelandsince c.1960 - questions and answers

Sohaib Mohammad - Northern Ireland since 1960 - History Coursework

Northern Ireland

since c.1960

Coursework

Assignment

Describe the disadvantages faced by the Catholics in Northern Ireland in the mid-1960s?

Up to the mid 1960’s Catholics faced countless problems. The Anglo – Irish treaty of 1921 partitioned Ireland into two countries, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland. Northern Ireland mainly Protestant made from six Ulster counties which are known as Londonderry, Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone. All six counties had their own parliament and their own government for domestic issues. The majority of the population in the Republic of Ireland was Irish Catholic. The Republic of Ireland was made of twenty two counties, which wanted an independent country. In 1921 a group of Sinn Fein, and IRA members signed a treaty with the British accepting the division of Ireland. This was when what’s known as “Northern Ireland” was created, which was dominated by Protestants. Following the treaty of 1921, the Northern Ireland government established in Stormont castle were granted the wide ranging powers of education, housing, local elections and policing. With this dominance, the Northern Ireland government had unlimited control over how the country was governed. The people of Northern Ireland, being mainly Protestant, were free to elevate themselves over their Catholic counter-parts and to shape the country as they wished, segregating Catholics. The Catholics who remained in the north felt as abandoned as the Protestants in the south. They had no secure national identity, no local group in Ulster, nor any political coherence, as they were defined as outsiders by the state’s core values of Protestantism and British demeanour. It is obvious that this unfair treatment would lead to conflict if things were not put right. As Catholics in Northern Ireland wanted a united and independent Ireland, resentment started to grow. The Unionists who held power in the north were determined to keep Ulster British and Protestant; an example of this would be from Sir James Craig, the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, as he said “All I boast I that we are a Protestant Parliament and a Protestant state.” Also his successor Brook, did not have a single Catholic employed when he came into power, he believed Catholics were “Out to destroy with all their might and power” This generated major problems for Catholics in Northern Ireland as a result Catholics were discriminated against.

The Catholics were discriminated mainly due to them being out numbered, as Roman Catholics formed 35 to 40 per cent of the population in Northern Ireland plus only 14.5 per cent of all officers in Northern Ireland’s police force, the Royal Ulster Constabulary were Roman Catholics and the fact less of them owned businesses to provide each other with work. To make things worse for Catholics they were discriminated into further issues such as employment and politics as the Ulster Unionist Party subjugated the whole of Northern Ireland. A perfect example of this would be in the city of Londonderry as the Northern Ireland government gerrymandered by fixing constituency borders to ensure favourable elections results to them (meaning leading councilors, MPs and Prime Ministers were always Protestant and Unionists) as 40 per cent of local government seats went to Nationalist parties, yet 60 per cent of the population were Roman Catholics. Furthermore voting in local elections in Northern Ireland was mainly on the basis of property in which you owned, so if you were a single person who with no property, which would mean you would not have the opportunity to vote. Whereas if you were a single person with several properties under your name, your vote would have counted for more than one, or even several amounts. This discriminated against Catholics as they were poorer than Protestants due to employment discrimination towards them. An example of employment discrimination would be the Belfast shipyards, of the 111 government contracts to build factories in the post-war period only 16 had been built in Catholic areas and in addition to this, jobs in shipbuilding were perceived as Protestant-only careers.

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The bulk of the protestant politicians were said to have made decisions against Catholic interests in a planned fashion and at this time there was immense tension between the Protestants and the Catholics so much so that the prejudiced Protestants started segregated areas which really effected the Catholics, they found it almost impossible to find jobs in areas where Protestants were seen as much higher classed than the Catholics religion. This lead to a new form of discrimination against Catholic and this was the education system where the two religions had their own schools. This was a real blow to the Catholics. As they couldn’t benefit from this; the government’s interest remained with Protestant schools. As well as school segregation sport followed the same rule, as Billy Sinclair a former player – manager of Linfield said “If you’re a Linfield scout and you see a lad who’s good, the second or third question is, “What school did you go to son?” And if it’s a Saint something, then all of a sudden the boy isn’t good enough. He kicks with the wrong foot.”

During the 1960s there was evidence of economic recession, which began affecting everyone in the United Kingdom especially Northern Ireland, traditional Northern Irish industries like shipbuilding, linen production were beginning to be to see the affect and unemployment began to rise, subsequently slum clearance programmes were stopped. To make it more difficult for Catholics, they were forced to live in the slums whereas the Protestants were given opportunities to live in areas in which were far better off than the Catholics.

However there was some hope as a civil right movement was introduced with its aim to fight for equal rights all over Northern Ireland. They wanted to terminate sectarian and make sure Catholics and Republicans had the same opportunities for jobs, housing, law and education. This peaceful organization was inspired by Martin Luther King’s civil rights campaigns which had been growing across the USA since the mid-1950s. The civil rights movement was also supported by Protestants who were also being discriminated towards however many of them opposed this as they believed this would benefit the Catholics far more than them.

How did Protestant politicians explain the social, economic and political differences between Catholic and Protestant?

In the whole of Ireland Protestant’s were a minority and in Northern Ireland they were a majority so they felt the need to justify themselves politically. The Protestant politicians denied all allegations that they discriminated against Catholics. They said that each of the decisions made were individually and totally justifiable.

Both in Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State had segregated employment. This meant that mainly Protestants could get work in Northern Ireland and mainly Catholics in the Irish Free State could attain jobs. This meant that Protestants and Catholics did not mix since their work places were so segregated. Also during the 1950s and 1960s many people were given jobs on the basis of recommendation from family or friends rather than through an application and interview. This meant someone who was working might recommend somebody else for a job because he/she would know that the person is reliable. But they probably know very few people from another community will enough to make a judgment and recommendation about them. Politicians said that this was not a deliberate policy and it was connected to the location of the business.

A Protestant Belfast housewife on the civil rights movement in 1969 said “It was all the Catholics this, the Catholics that, living in poverty and us lording it over them. People looked around and said “what, are they talking about us? With the damp running down the walls and the houses not fit to live in”. This shows that Protestants citizens at the time believed that the Catholics weren’t going through discrimination since they were in the same position themselves. ALL of them didn’t have adequate housing not only the Catholics.

They portray Catholics as lazy and looking for pity Ian Paisley said in a sermon in 1969. “The civil rights people don’t believe in civil rights at all, they’re just a bunch of republican rebels that’s what they are. Let’s be very clear about this, they have no time for law and order, they destroy this country and we mean to see that this country will not be destroyed”. This tells us that Ian Paisley regards the Catholics and the civil rights marchers as terrorist of the country, that they’re determined to destroy the country. Also when he says that he won’t let them destroy the country he is somehow making an excuse for all the discrimination it gives the impression that all the discrimination in Northern Ireland is the result of preventing the country from being destroyed by the Catholics and civil rights marchers.

These two quotes show different viewpoints but the people are both Protestant. The Protestant person sees Catholics as lazy and not in a worse situation than them. But Ina Paisley sees Catholics as terrorists who want to destroy the country. The Protestant civilians and the government have two completely different perspectives on Catholics.

Why were British troops sent to Northern Ireland in August 1969?

The main reason for the input of British troops in Northern Ireland in August 1969 is the riots which were creating havoc and were too powerful for the Northern Irish police force and could not hold back this violent for of protest.

The Catholics welcomed the British Army with open arms, as they made tea, sandwiches and attended army discos. The official reason for the interference of the British Army was to protect the Catholic population against loyalist attacks. At first Catholics welcomed British troops as impartial or neutral peace-keepers. Privately the British Government was aware the number of disturbances across Northern Ireland was so great that the 3000-strong RUC could not cope any longer. As well as these reason for the interference of the British Army. It all started from the period of The “Troubles” it consists of five steps which lead up to the involvement of the British Army.

The first step was the Austin Currie’s sit-in protest in June 1968. Austin Currie was a Catholic and Nationalist civil rights campaigner. He led a sit-in protest at a council house in County Tyrone which had recently been awarded to a single Protestant woman called Emily Beattie instead of been given to a Catholic family with children. This shows the unfair treatment towards the Catholics. Currie was primarily concerned with the drawing attention to the way houses were allocated.

The second step was the Craigavon Bridge-October 1968. On the 5th of October 1968 a civil rights march was planned to Londonderry, to protest against what was seen as the unfair allocation of council housing. Most of the marchers were Catholics and some were believed to be members of the IRA. Despite a ban on the March entering Londonderry city centre, the organisers went ahead in an attempt to sustain the growing worldwide interest in Northern Ireland.

As the marchers approached Craigavon Bridge, in the centre of Londonderry, they were confronted by Royal Ulster Constabulary the RUC officers. BBC Northern Ireland broadcasted censored images of the protesters being pushed back by water cannon. The Irish Republic national TV station, broadcast uncensored images of the RUC officers assaulting unarmed protestors whilst innocent bystanders were attacked with water cannon. This was not long after similar scenes of police brutality in the USA-against Martin Luther king and civil rights protesters. Television viewers in Ireland and Great Britain were angered by the violent methods used by the RUC. The incident really damaged the Catholics’ respect for the RUC. Within Catholic communities the RUC increasingly came to be seen as the brutal and oppressive tool of the Unionist government.

A month after Craigavon Bridge incident, following intense pressure from the British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, the Northern Ireland Prime Minister Terence O’Neil introduced reforms aimed at appeasing the civil rights protesters. The reforms of 22 November 1968 were intended to stop gerrymandering, to award council housing on need, and to begin considering reforms of votes for homeowners and tenants. However this was too little too late, and the reforms were unable to prevent further confrontations and major increase of violence in January 1969.

This subsequently led to the Burntollet Bridge protest on January 1969, where a radical offshoot of NICRA, known as “People’s Democracy” led a march from Belfast to Londonderry. It called for fairer council house distribution, more jobs and an end to extra votes for wealthier citizens. Some NICRA members were against the march because it went through strongly Protestant areas. On January the 4th the marchers were seven miles form Londonderry and began crossing the Burntollet Bridge. At that point Loyalist mob armed with sticks, stones and bottles began attacking the unarmed marchers.

Television cameras caught the RUC making very little to protect the marchers. Not a single Loyalist was arrested whilst RUC officers took 80 People’s Democracy marchers away. Television pictures and an official government report confirmed the attendance of off-duty B-Specials amongst the mob. B-Specials were part-time auxiliary policemen (largely Protestant) under the command of the RUC, who were allowed to carry arms and who were hated by the Catholics.

The Burntollet Bridge incident and its aftermath left the Catholic community feeling isolated and unprotected. Many Catholics began calling for their own protective force or vigilantes against the RUC and B-Specials oppression. It was in this atmosphere that the IRA re-emerged as a major force in the Northern Ireland. From this it is evident that there was an imminent threat that there maybe a civil war.

The last step to the interference on the British Army was the battle of the Bogside in August 1969. At this time tension increased across Northern Ireland throughout the spring and summer of 1969, particularly when the Protestant marching season began in June. Marching is a protestant tradition dating back to 1795 which commemorates the triumph of Protestant William of Orange over Catholic King James II in 1690. The season culminates in the 12 July celebration of William’s victory at the Battle of the Boyne. Another tradition is the march every August of the Apprentice Boys, a ten-thousand-strong Protestant organization which commemorates the defence of Londonderry against the forces of King James II in 1690. On 12 August 1969 the Apprentice Boys marched along the Londonderry city walls that overlooked the Catholic Bogside area below. Bogsiders had feared attacks from these Protestant marchers and had erected barricades to prevent entry by Loyalists mobs or the RUC. A minority of Apprentice Boy marchers threw pennies at the Bogsiders, and rioting broke out between Catholics and Protestants. By the late afternoon the RUC decided to try and remove the Bogsider’s barricades. Why they wanted to do this is unclear. A minority of extremists Bogsiders, perhaps remembering the Burntollet Bridge incident, began petrol-bombing the RUC.

In the two days of fierce rioting eight died and 750 people were injured. 270 houses were either demolished or required major repairs. In addition 1800 families were forced out of their homes as housing estates became increasingly divided. Once more the RUC and the B-specials were discredited; television cameras recorded collaboration between the B-specials and Loyalist mobs. Violence soon erupted across Northern Ireland, with riots in Belfast, Newry, Strabane and Coalisland.

At this moment in time Northern Ireland were on the brink of civil war and to prevent this from taking action the British Army had to step in and calm tension between the sides for the allocated time they were sent.

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