Why were British troops sent into Northern Ireland in 1969?

In the 1920s and 30s after partition, it seemed that partition didn’t create a problem free Northern Ireland. There were troubles brewing on both sides, discrimination being one. In Northern Ireland Catholics were on the receiving end of discrimination. Protestants got all the best jobs; hardly any Catholics got a job in the civil service. It even went to phone calls. Richard Dawson Bates (Minister of Home Affairs) refused to use his telephone until a catholic phone operator in his department got transferred. There was segregation in Irish life, Protestants go separate places to Catholics, and this even affected children, separate school for separate religions. In elections Nationalists hardly got to have their say in the government as the Unionist fixed elections, gerrymandering. Unionist’s got their way, while the British government did nothing to stop it. But from 1940s to1960s there was less troubles between Northern Ireland and The Irish Republic, basically “good neighbours”. This was mainly because the North was richer and more prosperous since it had become part of Britain. In 1945 the welfare state was introduced. This improved conditions in the North by a special Housing Trust, insurance, family allowance, NHS and industrial development funding. Education reforms meant that peoples education benefited, children got free school meals, giving hope to the future. Both Catholics and Protestants saw the benefits with living alongside with Britain. But as the North prospered, the south didn’t. Unemployment and poverty became major problems in the republic. Farmers struggled against foreign competition. High food prices against low wages showed that the economy was struggling in the republic. Catholics were still being discriminated against in the North but still lived better than those in the south. Many emigrated from the republic for a better standard of living. The definite separation between Catholics and Protestants, richer north to the poverty stricken south, gave tensions between the two. Although there was less from the north because they were richer Catholics still were being discriminated and an inequality between the two. This showed the failure of partition giving reason for the British Army to go in to sort out the inequality and troubles.  

In the 1960s there was a higher demand for more civil rights. There was still a Religious divide between people and showed in the areas of Irish life. In employment there was discrimination against Catholics, the Harland and Wolff shipyard had 400 Catholic workers out of 10,000. Promotion for Catholics was rare. In politics there was obvious gerrymandering, in Londonderry 14,000 Catholics were represented by eight councillors, 9000 Protestant voters had twelve councillors. There was discrimination within politics as well as employment. In Northern Ireland, voting in local elections was on the basis property owned. If you didn’t own property you couldn’t vote, if several properties were owned several votes could be made. This was generally unfair towards to the poorer Catholic population. The housing trust allocated new houses fairly but local councils didn’t. In Northern Ireland two thirds of the houses built went to Protestants. Nationalists did the same for Catholics, giving Catholics the lion share. The civil rights movement aims was to bring an end to sectarian discrimination, and that all of Northern Ireland’s citizens to have equal civil rights. But many of the civil rights marches in 1968 lead to violence breaking out. The peoples Democracy march (1 January 1969) was of mainly militant socialist students. It was a three-day march, over the first two days the march got rerouted by the RUC to avoid a battle between Loyalists counter marchers an the People’s Democracy marchers. On the third day the marchers were ambushed by a loyalist mob. The RUC escort did little to protect the marchers from the mob. Protests and Marches were on the rise, which led to an escalation of violence.

In the Late 1960s there was an increase in the number of protest marches, which meant there was an increase in violence between people. Tensions in Northern Ireland were on the rise as the summer marching season came nearer. After a riot following a march in Dungiven, the first death showed the start of the new Troubles. The Apprentice Boys march go through the Catholic Bogside area, where violence was known to happen in normal times. The march itself was relatively peaceful. But soon after it ended Protestants and Catholics threw missiles at each other. In short time it was riot. When the RUC tried to take down a barricade, the riot became a battle. The police faced petrol bombs and missiles from the Bogside area. The riot lasted two days, and created Irelands first ‘no-go areas’. The violence was not just in Londonderry; it spread to other towns, the more serious in Belfast. Protestants did suffer, but Catholics got hit the worst, they were outnumbered 2-1, and were surrounded by protestant areas. Over 1800 families were forced out of their home due to the violence, burning, beatings and shootings. 1500 being Catholic families. The RUC had incorrect intelligence, believing that an IRA led uprising was imminent. The RUC asked the British army for Support. The RUC claimed that if the British troops didn’t get involved in Ireland there would be a massacre. So on the 15th of August 1969 the British army arrived in the Belfast streets.

In Conclusion the reasons why the British Army was sent in, was due to the combined ingredients of the long and short term causes. The Plantation created a religious divide in Ireland; the Easter rising gave way to the rise of the Sinn Fein and emergence of the IRA, leading to the Partition of Ireland and the Failure of Partition after 1922.The Violence in the late 1960s gave way for the Army going in. The violence broke out mainly because of both Catholics and Protestants not willing to forget the past, the whole feud between Irish Catholics and Protestants was based on past events. If both sides forgot the past there would have been no need to send British Troops in, or any Troubles being started. But the religious differences between the Catholics and Protestants can be primarily routed to the Plantation. The British wanted to assert Ireland, by Plantation the British created a problem that was never solved. The reason why the British Army was sent into Ireland was the problem created by Britain. If Britain didn’t get involved in Ireland, a problem would never have been created, resulting in there being no Easter Rising or Partition of Ireland.