Another Nationalist paramilitary group is the INLA. On one side they are seen as freedom fighters, on the other just, violent terrorists.
Unionists stand at the other end of the spectrum. They believe that the union between the north and England is good thing. Unionists are mainly Protestant. They believe that the union is good for the north economically and serves as a way of benefiting them. They are also afraid that if the link didn’t exist, that as Protestants, they would be discriminated against.
The two main political parties are the Ulster Unionist party and the DUP. The Unionists also have paramilitary groups. The UDA (Ulster defence association) and the Ulster volunteer force (UVF). Like the nationalist paramilitaries, they use violence to achieve their goals.
There is another group of Unionists called the Loyal Orange Order. They are a Protestant organisation who celebrates the victory of William of Orange by marching in the summer months. Their traditional route takes them through predominately Catholic areas. This can often lead to clashes between the Protestant marchers and the Catholic residents, which can escalate into violence.
These are the fundamental differences that divide Northern Ireland.
- Choose two events from the last 400 years, which are particularly important in shaping the views of
- The Loyalists/Unionists/Protestants
- The Republicans/Nationalists/Catholics
The battle of the Boyne has played a big part in shaping the views of both Catholic and Protestant people in Ireland.
The Protestant organisation the Loyal Orange Order commemorate William of oranges’ victory at the Boyne each year by marching. This victory has become a pivotal moment for the Protestants of Northern Ireland.
The story of King Billy begins when Protestant nobles deposed the catholic king of England James II. They saw this as protecting their liberty. They were afraid he would persecute them due to their religious believes. They then asked Mary, the Protestant daughter of James, and her husband, William to take James’ place. James then fled to France and his catholic friend Louis XIV. They were good friends and Louis was also a bitter enemy of William. Louis provided James with troops and ships to help him get his throne back. James then took a detour to Ireland to get support from the catholic people of the country. Things went well for James, only north-west Ulster held out for support from William. As a result the crucial city of Londonderry held out and consequently became Protestant legend. The siege gave William enough time to send troops to help the suffering people of Londonderry. William then went on to defeat James at the battle of the Boyne in 1690. This signified the beginning of hundreds of years of power for the Protestants in Ireland. This piece of history has helped shape the view of Protestants in Ireland. They see the battle of the Boyne as being a triumph over their catholic enemies. Up to this day the Protestants celebrate the victory at the battle of the Boyne. Not only through the loyal orange order, but also by the huge murals that are seen on the side of houses in Northern Ireland. They often depict William in a masterful pose, sometimes on a horse, giving him a god like appearance. These murals help give Catholics the impression that Protestants feel superior in their victory. It also gives Protestants the idea that allegiance with Britain, like when king Billy helped the Irish Protestants in the Londonderry siege, will give them an advantage over their adversaries.
The battle of the Boyne and the king Billy saga also helped shape the views of the Catholics in Northern Ireland.
After the battle of the Boyne and the final defeat of James and the jacobites the treaty of Limerick was drawn up. For the times it was very generous to the Catholics. But the Protestants didn’t like this. They wanted more security from the treaty. Catholics suffered not only from this, but also the penal laws passed in 1695. These laws restricted Catholic rights to own property, weapons, to be educated or to have good jobs.
These things may impact on the feelings of Catholics. Catholics today may still be feeling the resentment towards the Protestants over these restrictions. They may feel that even today Catholics still have to work harder for the better jobs etc. They may also feel that the British are to blame for their situation, as Billy represented the British.
As a result this event helped shape the view of both the unionists/Protestants and Nationalists/Catholics.
3. Previous attempts to bring peace to Northern Ireland have failed. What problems will need to be overcome if the Good Friday Peace Agreement is to survive?
Many attempts at peace have been made throughout the decades in Northern Ireland. All previous attempts have failed.
These include the power sharing executive and the sunningdale agreement of 1973/74, the Anglo-Irish agreement of 1985, The Downing Street declaration, which would lead to the Good Friday agreement. The Good Friday agreement has since failed and the power sharing executive between the unionists and nationalists has been suspended. So why did they fail?
The power sharing executive and the sunningdale agreement failed due to unionist suspicion over the council of Ireland. The council of Ireland was a group set up to link Belfast, Dublin and London over matters concerning all of them. Unionists felt that having main land Ireland in the agreement was a mistake. They felt they had no right being there.
The Anglo Irish agreement didn’t exactly fail, it just didn’t seem to change much. This was agreed between Margaret Thatcher and Garrett Fitzgerald. It was agreed that there would be co-operation on legal, security and political issues. The main thing that was achieved by the Anglo-Irish agreement was that the British government did accept that there might be a united, independent Ireland one day.
John Major and Albert Reynolds made the next attempt at peace in 1993.The aim of the Downing Street declaration was to decide on a new form of government for Northern Ireland. Only parties that rejected violence would be allowed to join and it must respect all traditions in Northern Ireland
