Countries Divided

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• Chapter

• Countries Divided

• 3

• In this chapter, you will learn about
• Introduction to Northern Ireland
• Causes of conflict in Northern Ireland
• Consequences of conflict in Northern Ireland

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• People of Northern Ireland

• In 1993
• 1 million Protestants, mostly of Scottish and
  English origin
• 600 000 Catholics, mostly descendents of local
  Irish inhabitants of the island

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Government in Northern Ireland

• Since 1972
• ruled by the British parliament in London
• Secretary of State for Northern Ireland chosen by
  the British Prime Minister
• finance,commerce,health and education controlled
  by N Ireland government
• Foreign affairs and defence matters were in
  British hands

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Causes for the Conflict between the Protestants
and the Catholics
Divided Loyalties The Education
System Employment Housing Voting Rights
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• 1. Divided Loyalties

• The Protestant and the Catholics are intolerant
  of one another.
• Give their allegiance to different countries.
• Protestants want to continue to be part of United
  Kingdom
• Fear union with Republic of Ireland
• Fear Catholics would not be tolerant of the
  Protestant beliefs
• What about the Catholics?

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• Catholics want N Ireland reunited with the
  Republic of Ireland
• Remember persecution suffered by the Catholics
  during Englands conquest of Ireland
• Distrust the Protestants
• eg. still celebrate the Battle of Boyne as a
  mark of Protestant dominance

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• 2. The Education System

• Education system in N Ireland deepened the rift
  between the Catholics and the Protestants
• Schools in N Ireland can be divided into 3
  categories
• The Protestant Schools
• The Catholic Schools
• Mixed Schools

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• In the Protestant Schools
• Students are taught British History, play British
  sport and are loyal to Britain
• In the Catholic Schools
• Students learn Irish History, play Irish sports
  and taught Irish language and culture.
• See Britain as a foreign country
• In Mixed Schools
• Subjects cater to both the Catholics and
  Protestants
• Schools run by private individuals
• Unpopular

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• Results of the Educational System
• Generations of children grow to be distrustful of
  each other
• Hostility between them increases.

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• 3. Employment

• Competition for jobs
• Catholics felt there is no equal opportunity for
  them in
• getting the jobs
• Number of Catholics engineers and civil servants
  was not
• proportionate to their numbers in the country
• Fewer Catholics in senior positions in the
  public or private
• sectors

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• 4. Housing

• The provision of housing by city council- caused
  great concern to the Irish
• The Councils made up of largely of Protestants
• Catholics were delayed in getting their houses
• They became frustrated as the shortage of houses
  meant they have to wait for many years to own a
  house
• Catholics felt the provision of housing was
  unfair to them

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• 5. Voting

• The right to vote was a problem to the Catholics
  prior to 1968
• Each household was given to 2 votes while
  companies had more votes depending on their sizes
• Many companies owned by Protestants- so they
  ended up with more votes
• many voting districts were often drawn up to
  include large proportion of Protestants
• Catholics were unhappy

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• Since 1968, changes have been made
• due to the changes voting rights ceased to be a
  problem in Northern Ireland
• everyone is entitled to one vote
• must be a British subject
• must be above 18 years old
• has to be born in Northern Ireland or
• must have lived in the United Kingdom for 7
  years
• voting districts have also been redrawn to
  ensure fairness

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Peaceful Protest Marches vs Violence

• Civil Rights movements started in 1960s
• demanded equal rights
• protested against unfair treatment of the
  Catholics
• made peaceful demands for basic rights such as
  
• housing, jobs, education and voting
• Civil Rights Movement in 1968 was a beginning
  of the period called the Troubles

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• How did the Protestants react to these marches?
• Protestants reacted with hostility and violence
• Saw the movement as an attempt to weaken the
  government

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• In 1969,
• the British Army was sent to Northern Ireland to
  help keep peace
• Catholics welcomed their protectors
• Catholics soon lost faith in the British Army
  when the army started to search their homes and
  made arrests

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• In 1972,
• A peaceful civil rights march was shot at by the
  British soldiers
• 13 civilians were shot dead and many more were
  wounded
• This incident is called the Bloody Sunday
  incident
• It marked the beginning of violent conflict
  between the Catholics and the Protestants

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• Violence

• The Catholics suffered at two fronts
• 1. The Protestant Mob
• Catholic homes were petrol-bombed by Protestant
  mobs forcing families to flee
• Their homes were looted
• Catholic businesses and pubs were burnt and
  destroyed

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• 2. Security Forces The Police and British Army
• The police did not help to ease the tense
  situation
• The British Army attacked Catholic homes and
  damaged their property.

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Involvement of Irish Republican Army (IRA)

• IRA was an illegal organisation formed by the
  Northern Irish Catholics
• Its mission was to use violence to rid Northern
  Ireland of the British Army and the
  representatives of the British government
• Within 2 decades of the conflict , many people
  were killed
• IRA was said to be responsible for 2/3 of the
  deaths and even the killing of innocent
  Protestants

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Effects of ProtestantsCatholic Conflict

• The conflict resulted in
• Many deaths involving innocent victims
• Increasing number of people growing up with
  intense prejudice towards each other
• Adverse development in the economy
• ? Decrease in investment
• ? Decline in tourism trade

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• Conclusion

• Throughout 1980s and 1990s attempts were made
• to resolve the conflict but attempts failed
• Peace accord was discussed in the 1990s but
  failed
• New agreement reached in 1998
• Peace is uncertain as there is still tension