Why has it Proved so Difficult to Create a Lasting Peace in Northern Ireland?

There has been sectarian violence and civil unrest in Northern Ireland for centuaries, all of which has grown from the historical and religious divisions between the two groups: Catholics and Protestants. Many attempts to curb the conflict and bring peace to Northern Ireland have been made but have only been successful in part and violence remains to this day. The first official attempt to stop violence in Northern Ireland was the Sunnigdale Agreement in 1974 which stated that any government in n.Ireland had to have a 50:50 ratio of protestants to Catholics. This was the fist attempt at forming a powersharing executive. However, although the catholics were enthusiastic about the proposals the Unionists were not, so the Ulster Unionist Council (UUC) ordered a strike. The whole of Northern Ireland came came to a standstill and attempts at powersharing failed. The Unionists had also learnt that by striking they could get thier way. The next noticeable attempt was the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985-86. The possibility of a devoloved Government including Rep. Of Ire representatives was suggested and it was agreed that Britain and the Rep of Ire should jointly decide on the future of Northern Ireland. Again, this attempt at settling the problems failed because the Unionists felt the Rep of Ire shouldnt be involved in their future whereas Sinn Fein and the IRA wanted a full republic. Fourteen out of fifteen councillors resigned from the UUC and re-elected themselves as anti the Aglo Irish Agreement.

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John Major’s big idea was the Downing Street Declaration, a joint declaration issued on , by the PM and , the of the . It affirmed the right of the people of to , and that the province would be transferred to the from the , if agreed under a referendum, and stated that parties could take part in a settlement as long as they used peaceful and democratic means. It seemed that the Downing Street Declaration was to be a successful peace attempt as Sinn Fein had been prepared to accept devolution. However, when losing his majority because of the Scot report and the Maastricts Treaty, John Major turned to David Trimble and the UUP for support. In return he changed the Downing St Dec from being a ceasefire to being “permanent decomissioning of weapons”. The IRA and Sinn Fein reacted badly to this as they werent prepared at handing over all weapons so once again the agreement had fallen through. After this, US Senator John Mitchell tried suggesting that a return to ceasefire was the best option but Major wouldn’t settle for anything less than permanent decomissioning. The IRA werent prepared to decomission again and returned to violence. On Febuary 9th 1996 the IRA bombed Canary Wharf killing two people to show their disagreement with decomissioning.

The divide between the two sides in Northern Ireland has stemmed from problems a lot older than these agreements and any of the parties involved. The divide began during the 1500s after King Henry 8th attempted to impose English colonialism on Ireland, Elizabeth 1st then began to supress Irish Catholics. The Irish Catholics began to hate the protestants who had settled on the rich land and conflict began. Oliver Cromwell punished the Catholics for rising against the protestants in 1649 whereas his successor James 2nd was a Catholic so punished the proestants in the siege of Londonderry. William of Orange came to the aid of the protestants in 1690. This is celebrated nowadays with the Orange Day Marches, where scenes of violence and conflict between Cs and Ps still continue. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries conflict continued and it wasn’t until 1870 that William Gladstone decided to propose a home rule bill in an attempt to curb the violence. However, it remained just a bill and in 1906 Belfast had to be divided into Catholic and Protestant areas with riots occurring regularly. The Government found themselves stuck between the two sides over the issue of home rule and Unionists show their loyalty to Britain by sacraficing a lot durning the Battle of the Somme, 1916. The Republicans however decided to stage a coup in Dublin which most Irish Catholics regarded as a disgrace. On 3rd May 1916 the Birtish executed the leaders of the coup which caused outrage even among the Catholics who saw this as a step too far. It was this that led to the formation of the IRA (Irish Repulican Guard) the key player in the conflict and terrorist activities until modern day. Sinn Fien was then set up as a political wing of the IRA and after boycotting the Stormont government in reaction to home rule the Govt. Of Ireland Act was introduced. This split Ireland into EIRE (semi autonimous) and N.Ireland where most of the protestants lived (6 counties of Ulster.) This caused further unease and the IRA came into the forefront of the problems and made N.Ireland ungovernable. In 1922 tension between the two groups escalated into violence which lasted just over a year and left hundreds dead and 1100 rebels were interned. Civil rights marches in 1968, Orangeday and siege of Derry Marches in 1969 caused further tension which resulted in the IRA killing a British soldier and 10 civilians in 1971 after internment was introduced.

Because of the IRA's dislike for the British becoming increasingly involved in N.Ireland, they launched a bombing campaign targetting Dublin, Monaghan, Guilford, Woolwich and Birmingham killing and injuring civillians. The Government introduced the Prevention of Terrorism Act which meant prisoners could be detained without trial for seven days. This resulted in the hunger strikes of 1980s and those who died (eg Bobby Sands) were considered matyrs.

In 1984 IRA members palnted a bomb under Margaret Thatcher's room in her hotel during the Tory Party Conference in Brigthon. The bomb killed four people but left Thatcher uninjured.

By 1985 the huge unrest and increase in frquency of violent acts and bombings led to the leaders of Britain and Ireland meeting to discuss the situation- this resulted in the Anglo-Irish Agreement.

The most recent, and well known, attempt at bringing peace to Northern Ireland has been the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.