Therefore in 1921 partition was introduced. Nobody really wanted partition. A minority wanted to remain part of the United Kingdom governed directly from Westminster, as had been the case since the Act of Union in 1800. However the majority of Irishmen, sought to an end to British rule. Partition was a convenient way of resolving a serious conflict of interests that threatened the peace and stability of the United Kingdom.
The Partition of Ireland into two separate states was one of the most important turning points in the recent Irish history. Six counties were given there own parliament and government in the north but the south was now a new Independent Country. Thus the south is controlled by Catholic Nationalists and the north by the majority of Protestant Unionists. Unionists believed that partition was better than a united Ireland. They wanted to make Northern Ireland work to their advantage.
After the partition in 1920 a new government had been introduced to Northern Ireland. This became known as Stormont. Stormont was to have power over most aspects of life in the North but the new state was to stay part of the United Kingdom. This parliament was meant to look after the interests of both Catholics and Protestants, however because the protestants were in majority they had control of the Stormont government and parliament and they made sure that they continued by gerrymandering. Unionist authorities deliberately manipulated electoral boundaries, particularly at local government level, for political purposes. The gerrymandering of electoral boundaries was one of the main issues raised by the civil rights movements. This new Northern Ireland government produced new laws and a new part- time police force as defence against IRA. These were known as ‘B’ Specials and entirely protestant. They soon gained a reputation for being anti- catholic. The Unionists government of Northern Ireland was not active in social matters and did very little to improve living conditions for ordinary people which included both Catholics and Protestants. In some ways living standards deteriorated under Stormont rule. Partition brought a lot of problems for people living in the north. Protestant Unionists used their political power to help their own community. Protestants kept control of jobs which resulted in Catholics staying unemployed. Between 1925 and 1949 not a single Catholic was appointed as a Judge to the Supreme Court. A survey showed in 1943 showed that of the 55 most senior civil servants in Northern Ireland not one was a Catholic. Unionists kept control of council houses and gave the best houses to Protestants. Catholics were given uninhabitable houses. The town of Dungannon was evenly divided, Protestants ran the local council and for over thirty years not a single Catholic was given a permanent council house. Children were also involved in the conflict. Catholic and Protestants children went to different schools thus this caused hatred within the young communities at a young age. Catholics began to think of what there was for them in Northern Ireland and it was from this deliberate discrimination that street fighting began to escalate.
By 1950 the mood of Catholics was beginning to change instead of waiting for a united Ireland many of them began to accept that they were part of a separate Northern state for the foreseeable future. They began to hope that there lives could be improved by peaceful, social and economic changes. Many Catholics though did not want to resort to violence this became clear when the IRA’s new campaign of violence failed. After this the IRA decided to temporarily abandon their idea of violence, instead it tried to lessen the gap between the Unionists and Nationalists by campaigning for improvement in wages and living conditions of all working people.
This sparked changes in attitudes of political leaders. In 1963 hardline unionist Prime Minister, Lord Brookeborough was replaced by Terence O’Neil who was keen to end unfair treatment of Catholics in Northern Ireland. Catholics welcomed O’Neil’s talk for a better society but his reforms were too slow in coming and some Catholics became frustrated. So, in 1967 a group of young Catholics set up Civil Rights Association inspired by international examples of protests e.g. black citizens in South U.S.A. This organistaion demanded immediate reforms in the way Northern Ireland was run. But these marches ended up in violence and bloodshed between Catholics and Protestants. These protestants were mostly following Ian Paisley who was fiercely anti-Catholic. The mainly Protestant police also took a tough line towards the Civil Rights campaigners. It was at Burntollet Bridge that violence escalated. On New Year's Day 1969, eighty student marches set off from City hall, Belfast. There were many confrontations with loyalists throughout the route as the march passed through Protestant areas. By the time the protest reached Burntollet Bridge, near Derry, the number of marches had grown to several hundred. At Burntollet Bridge the marchers were confronted and were attacked by about two hundred loyalists, including off-duty B-Specials. Burntollet Bridge is only an example of the fighting which occurred on civil rights marches, there have been many incidents were violence has occurred and blood has been shed. From this once more Northern Ireland was convulsed in violence. These latest and most dramatic clashes of the civil rights movement with Unionist die-hards and the police temporarily swung almost the whole Catholic population behind the civil rights leaders and completely disrupted the traditional pattern of political leadership in the Catholic community. The violence was beginning to reach crisis point thousands had been killed and injured and something needed to be done and it was at this point the British had no option but to step in and send British troops to restore order. British troops were meant to be a short term cause but they have remained there ever since.
The conflict in Northern Ireland was a struggle for power between two groups of people. This struggle was only partly about religious, economic and social differences. But it was also a conflict about political beliefs between nationalists and Unionists. But inevitably we come to the conclusion that Catholics and Protestants are two communities who want different amenities and who believe in different things will not be able to coincide with each other peacefully. Therefore because Northern Ireland remained an integral part of the United Kingdom and since control of the Army lay with Westminster the British Government had a legal obligation to provide, if so requested by the police or government of Northern Ireland, troops to maintain law and order. Therefore in 1969 the British Government had no alternative but to send British Troops to Northern Ireland.
