The two religions/groups are also split into different parties and political groups due to differences from within the major group/religion. The Nationalists can be split into three main segments; The SDLP or Social Democratic and Labour Party, Sinn Féin and the Ira or Irish Republican Army.
Sinn Féin is a key extreme party that is currently well known across Ireland for representing a significant paramilitary group, the IRA. The leader of Sinn Féin, Gerry Adams is widely regarded as having played a pivotal role into getting the IRA to give up its armed campaign against the UK, in return for devolved government for Northern Ireland. Sinn Féin itself is Gaelic for “We Ourselves Alone” this itself describes their viewpoint and their belief. Sinn Féin has the second largest number of seats in the Stormont Assembly, loosing out closely to DUP or the Democratic Unionist Party which is an extreme Loyalist party. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) was a military organisation which descended from the Irish Volunteers in April 1916 and which was recognised in 1919.
The IRA is famous for being an extreme paramilitary group that uses a lot of violence to achieve their aims. The IRA took a long time to decommission its weapons back in 2004, which lead most people against them, making them one of the most hates groups in Ireland.
The Real IRA is a splinter group of the IRA. They broke away from the IRA because they didn’t agree with the ceasefire or the Good Friday Agreement. They are well known for their cruel terrorist acts especially whilst the ceasefire was in place. The Real IRA aren’t happy what they have at the moment with Northern Ireland as they want the whole of Ireland as one republic and are still continuing to cause conflict in order to obtain this.
The SDLP is one of the two major nationalist parties in Northern Ireland. During the ‘Troubles’ (the ‘Troubles’ was a period of conflict involving Republican and Loyalist paramilitary organisations, political activist and civil rights groups) the SDLP was consistently the most popular Nationalist party in Northern Ireland, but since the IRA cease-fire, it has been gaining fewer votes than the main Republican rival, Sinn Féin.
From the protestant religion there has also been different groups formed as a result from conflicting methods used of the two main divisions, Loyalists and Unionists. There are more individual parties who of which are mainly Protestant, rather than those that are Catholics. A valid explanation for this is probably because Protestants are the majority in Northern Ireland whilst Catholics are the minority.
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is the larger of the two main Unionist political parties in Northern Ireland. Led by Ian Paisley, it is the largest party in Northern Ireland and the fourth-largest party in the British House of Commons. The DUP has strong links to Protestant churches, particularly the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster; the church Ian Paisley founded. In the delayed Northern Ireland Assembly election of 2003, the DUP became the largest political party in the region, with 30 seats and even today it still currently remains the largest. The DUP also, would never agree to anything that gave Republicans or Nationalists any more power than what they have at present, making DUP one of the most committed and extreme hardline political parties Ireland has ever seen.
The Ulster Volunteer Force (more commonly referred to as the UVF) is a very significant Loyalist group in Northern Ireland. The current incarnation was formed in May 1966 as a paramilitary group and named after the Ulster Volunteers of 1912, although there is no direct connection between the two. The group is a proscribed organisation and is classified as a main terrorist group by those living in the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is also a Loyalist paramilitary organisation, outlawed as a terrorist group in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, which claims its aim, is to defend the loyalist community from Republican terrorism. Its main objective has been to reject Unification of Ireland seeking to do so through either Ulster independence or maintenance of the Act of Union. Its military branch has operated under the name Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF). Its terrorist activities, which have included attacks against civilians as well as members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), were originally intended by the UDA as retaliatory acts for Irish Republican violence against Protestants in Northern Ireland. The UDA/UFF has also killed at least three Irish republican paramilitary members.
The LVF is a splinter group of the UVF. The LVF was created by a man called Billy Wright, after he had been thrown out of the UVF for breaking the ceasefire. The LVF is a very extreme paramilitary group which uses only violence.
One of the only parties, whom of which only use peaceful methods of persuasion to achieve their aims, is that of the UUP or the Ulster Unionist Party. UUP were once the most popular party because it represents only Unionist views. They also used to have a lot of seats at Stormont Assembly but lost them to DUP over recent years.
In conclusion, the main difference between the Nationalists and the Unionists has caused Ireland to be divided into two. This division is primarily due to the English interference in Ireland in the 1600’s. Further to this the issues around how the Irish people wish to be governed is paramount to the continuing conflict. This has resulted in a division between the Catholics (Nationalists) and Protestants (Unionists). The two groups have failed to resolve their problems, resulting in a rise in even more splinter groups forming because of disagreements between parties and the continuing struggle against the death toll of both Catholics and Protestants.
