An event that the Protestants still remember today is the Siege of Derry in 1869.
By November 1688, only the walled city of Londonderry had a Protestant garrison and as a result, the Earl of Antrim was ordered to replace it with a more reliable force. Alexander MacDonnell, third Earl of Antrim, despite his age of 76, keenly responded to this command but wasted valuable time searching for the men who were six feet tall or more. It was not until the first week in December- the week of William of Orange landed in England- that he set out for Derry with around 1200 men, most of them “Redshanks”, Highlanders and Islanders who got their name from wading with bare legs through rivers in the coldest weather. On the 7th of December 1688, Lord Antrim’s army appeared at the waterside, on the right bank of the Foyle, and began to cross the river in boats. The thirteen young men, most of them apprentices, drew their swords, ran to mainguard and grabbed keys, they raised the drawbridge at Ferryquay gate and closed the gate before the astonished Redshanks were 60 yards away.
At the end of May a siege of train heavy guns sent by James arrived and the bombardment of the city intensified, the rain of mortar shells, bombs and cannon balls never threatened to breach the walls, but it did exact a heavy toll of life from packed defenders. Robert Kee writes “Still preserved on a stand in the entrance to the Cathedral in Londonderry is one of the round iron bomb shells fired into the town in June 1689. It has a small hoe in the top and contained, in fact, not explosive at all but a letter giving terms on which the Protestants sent out to the Catholics” Even though they ran out of food they were forced to eat dogs, cats and mice. Major General Percy Kirke had arrived at the mouth of Lough Foyle on 11th June but for six weeks he refused to risk the Jacobite guns of Colmore Fort. A stiff note from Willam of Orange’s General, The Duke of Scomberg, arrived ordering a relief attempts to forthwith and, helped by a flowing tide and the fact that the walls on the evening of 28th July 1689. The arrival of provisions for the defenders caused James and the Jacobiteas to withdraw Lasting a 105 days, this was a great siege in British history. Protestants will remember it because it was a great victory for them, how they lasted for many days and didn’t give in. The words “No Surrender” are put on many T-shirts as a rememberance of this. James’s army retreated and the Protestant authority was secured.
A way that past events are remembered are through marches.
The name Northern Ireland evokes images of guns, bombs and soldiers. Bloody Sunday was a march against interment (imprisonment without trial) An incident in Northern Ireland in which a number of protesters were taking part in a banned march in Londonderry were shot by the British Army. In Ireland for 50 years the term “Bloddy Sunday” evoked a memory of November 21, 1920, when 14 British Secret Service Men were simultaneously killed by the Irish Volunteers in their Dublin homes, and in retaliation auxilairy police killed 12 specatators at a Dublin Football Match. But since January 30th on Sunday 1972 the term has been re-applied to the shooting of 26 men, 13 fatally, by the British Army in Londenderry.
Marches stand in the way of the peace because children are constantly being used in marches. This is worrying for the parents as they bring their children as young as one or two years old. The children are exposed to the same biased views as their parents . Children tend to follow their parents footsteps and if their parents use violence then their children are going to think that it’s the right thing to do.
This is linked to violence because people who are in the marches tend to get angry and go out of control and the things that both sides resort to is violence
Violence in Northern Ireland continues to pass on to its children. It is a culture where being part of one group requires anger towards members of another. Another reason why the two sides never meet is because of Sectarianism. In Catholic schools, the children play Hurling and Gaelic football where the Protestants play Hockey and Rugby. The Protestants and Catholics have distinctly different views towards both past events and present day situations. They have separate shops, pubs, doctors, sports, flags and newspapers; this among other things is a reason why there can never be peace in Northern Ireland.
The seperation is increasing year by year, with the number of segregated areas more than doubling in the last two decades. A census in 1991 revealed that segregation was on the increase, as 90% of the Protestants and Catholics live in their own areas but 10% of Protestants and Catholics live in mixed areas. They can never mix for fear and mistrust of the opposing side and often with good cause. A Catholic boy was stabbed in the eye with a screwdriver while being in a Protestant Chinese Takeaway in Belfast 2002.
Terrorism is the fact of life today in Northern Ireland. During the fight for Home Rule groups had been set up both by Catholics and Protestants, which were ready to use violence if necessary, e.g. On Sunday 08/05/02 3 real IRA men were caught trying to get help from Iraq. The Omagh Bombing in 1998 killed 31; Red Hand Defenders (Protestant) murdered Catholic Solicitor called Rosemary Nelson.
Terrorism is still part of everyday life for people of Northern Ireland. Decommissioning of paramilitary weapons has been under debate in Northern Ireland for several years. The Northern Ireland Arms Decommissioning Act 1997 implemented a decommissioning scheme proposed by the Mitchell Commission report of January 22nd 1996. The Labour Government passed this act. On May the 6th 2002 the IRA offered to put their weapons beyond use in dumps, which would be inspected by the international politician who confirmed they couldn’t be used. However the IRA was accused of involvement in the recent sectarian violence, the police discovered an updated IRA target list and IRA men were found with the terrorists in Columbia.
The violence in Northern Ireland still lives on today, where even police get involved in the killings. About 300 officers have been killed in Northern Ireland in the past 30 years of sectarian violence, mostly by the IRA. Pattern insisted that the decision to change the name of the RUC wasn’t intended as a slight to their sacrifice “We are transforming the RUC, not disbanding it” he said, “But the greatest memorial of all (to slain officers) with, we believe, be a peaceful Northern Ireland with agreed institutions including an agreed police service with participation and support from the community as a whole” “That is a vision which, more than any symbols might make, some sense of. The sacrifices of the past” he said. Chris Pattern was asked to make recommendations for the police force- the name changed to Police Service Of Northern Ireland, and more Catholics should be recruited as well to represent the Catholics in the population.
But the Protestants and Catholics have totally different views in everything that happens. In Northern Ireland it is generally held that politics and religion are closely linked together. A person’s religion is seen as an indicator to the way he or she votes. Visual evidence in Northern Ireland supports the idea that Protestant areas support unionism in many of the Protestant areas loyalist and banners are displayed, painted red white and blue. The consequence can be seen in a working class Catholic area, with tri-colour and Republican graffiti.
The problem is with the Protestants and Catholics is that they can’t work together and to start again means that they must let go of past events and move on. Until 1998 the Catholics and Protestants had never even worked together. They hate each other so much that they won’t even go in the sme room, shake hands etc. I believe that peace in Northern Ireland will never be restored until the Catholics and Protestants can learn to work together, and look forward to the future and stop dragging up past events, with a grudge. Fighting doesn’t solve anything and until they learn this there will be fighting for a long time to come.
