Given the previous record of devolution to Northern Ireland are there good reasons to expect the current settlement in Northern Ireland to be more successful?

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Given the previous record of devolution to Northern Ireland are there good reasons to expect the current settlement in Northern Ireland to be more successful?

                

                The violent conflict in Northern Ireland between 1968 and 1998, also known as The Troubles, was one of the most violent and longest lasting conflict of the 20th century having lasted for thirty years and taken over 3,500 casualties. It finally ended in 1998 as a result of the Good Friday Agreement. However, there had been growing tensions a long time before the conflict officially started. Before the final settlement there had also been several attempts to reach a peace agreement. Unfortunately, all of them failed (Darby 1995, chapter 2; Tonge 1998, p. 94; Ruane and Todd 1999, p. 1). In my essay I am going answer the question whether the last settlement in Northern Ireland can be successful. First I am going to outline a very brief history of Northern Ireland and how and why the conflict started. Then I am going to explain why several peace agreements failed. Finally, I am going to argue why it is difficult to say whether the conflict has been completely terminated.

                Firstly I am going to describe a short history of Northern Ireland and the Anglo-Irish relations prior to the conflict. The origins of the conflict go back to the twelfth century, when in 1170 the Norman Empire successfully invaded England. Over a century later Henry II, the King of England, tried to claim and annex Ireland to England. He managed to gain control over a small area around the city of Dublin. Since then this area adopted English laws and the language and was protected by the kingdom. In the next few centuries attempts to extend the area of English control in Ireland were unsuccessful. The Irish perceived the English kingdom as a threat to their sovereignty and identity. By the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I the Irish island except the province of Ulster was under the English rule. Eventually, in 1609 the Northern part of Ireland was conquered by the English and attached to the kingdom, which event is known as the Plantation of Ulster. Most of the lands in Ulster were given to settlers, particularly from Scotland and at the beginning of the eighteenth century only 5 per cent of the land belonged to the Catholic Irish. In 1801, following an Act of Union, the Irish Parliament was integrated into the British Parliament and since then all decisions concerning Ireland were made in Westminster. During the century several risings and movements were carried out in attempt to abolish the union but none of them succeeded. In 1916 the Irish Republican Army committed an uprising and declared an Irish republic but soon after that they were defeated and killed. However, it caused a rising wave of sympathy for the IRA and its political party, Sinn Fein. Thanks to this, Sinn Fein won the election in 1918 and established an Irish parliament. The War of Independence between Ireland and Britain was ended in 1920 and followed by the Government of Ireland Act, which partitioned the island (Darby 1995, chapter 2; Dixon 2001, pp. 2-6).

                At the end of 1921 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty the Irish Free State was created. However, the government of Northern Ireland decided to remain part of the United Kingdom. As a result Westminster still had the ultimate authority over the northern part of the island. Some Irish nationalists, who wanted Ireland to be united, did not accept this decision and the IRA carried out campaigns in the 1920s, 1940s and 1950s. Unionists fought it with force in order to preserve the unity with Britain. The Catholic minority (who constituted about a third of the population in Northern Ireland throughout the twentieth century) was constantly discriminated against. Local government boundaries were manipulated, there was discrimination in jobs, public housing, police forces, etc. Violence between Catholics and Protestants was spreading but the United Kingdom was not particularly concerned with the Irish problem for about fifty years. After violence started to escalate in the late 1960s, Britain deployed its troops to restore order in Northern Ireland in August 1969 (Cunningham 2001, pp. 1-8; Darby 1995, chapter 2).

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                Even though the United Kingdom tried to avoid involvement in the Northern Irish problem, eventually an intervention became inevitable. Firstly, the Catholic minority in Ireland had begun to bring the problem to the centre of the British politics and therefore it could no longer be ignored. Secondly, the problem had become popular in the world causing the Britain's reputation to go down and embarrassing the kingdom. Thirdly, the United Kingdom's superpower status had significantly started to decline and it was clear that something had to be done to protect the Catholic minority. Moreover, the Northern Ireland's police forces could ...

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