Conflict in Northern Ireland

1
Conflict in Northern Ireland

• Road to Peace

2
Background

• Conquered and colonised by England
• Battle of Boyne William of Orange (Protestant)
  defeated King James II (Catholic) in N Ireland
• Many Protestants were brought into Northern parts
  of Ireland. Local farmers were pushed out.
• Ireland became part of UK
• Potato Famine 1 mil people out of 8 mil died
• Ireland divided into 2 Northern Ireland
  (Protestant majority) Irish Free State
  (Catholic majority)
• Irish Free State became Republic of Ireland

• 1200
• 1690
• 17thC
• 1800
• 1846
• 1921
• 1949

3
Background

• Mid-1960s
• 1968
• Aug 1969
• 1969-1993
• 1972

• Civil Rights Movement
• Troubles
• British Army units sent in to keep peace
• IRA fought for Irish Cause
• Bloody Sunday led to direct rule from London

4
Causes of Conflict

• Divided loyalties intolerance
• Education system differences perpetuated,
  segregation
• Unfair treatment /discrimination/ sectarian
  prejudice -
• Competition for jobs
• Housing
• Voting (Proportional Representation not
  implemented / gerrymandering)
• Distrust!

5
Violent reaction to the civil rights movement

• Working-class Protestant resentment
• Economic problems
• Radicalism in the civil rights movement
• Fear of IRA (extreme nationalists)
• Marching and Confrontation
• Media attention
• ONeills Failings (Unionist Party)

6
Bloody Sunday
On 30th January 1972, 13 Catholics were killed
when soldiers of a British paratroop regiment
opened fire during a civil rights march in
Londonderry. The day became known as Bloody
Sunday. Its impact led to a resurgence of violent
opposition to the British presence in Northern
Ireland. Although the details of what took place
that day remain controversial, many of the basic
facts are not disputed.
7
Bloody Sunday

• 1450 The march begins The demonstration was
  held in protest at the policy of internment
  without trial. It was organised by the Northern
  Ireland Civil Rights Association. About 10,000
  people gathered in the Creggan Estate planning to
  walk to Guildhall Square in the centre of the
  city, where a rally would be held. The march
  itself was illegal because the Stormont
  Parliament had banned all such protests.

8
Bloody Sunday

• 1540 Confrontation Paratroopers had sealed off
  the approaches to Guildhall square. In order to
  avoid trouble the march organisers led most of
  the demonstrators down Rossville Street towards
  Free Derry Corner. A group of protesters stayed
  behind to confront the soldiers at the
  barricades. Stones and other missiles were used
  to bombard the soldiers who responded with rubber
  bullets, CS gas and a water cannon. The gas
  forced many of the remaining protesters to take
  refuge in the Bogside.

9
Bloody Sunday

• 1610 Soldiers open fire The paratroopers had
  orders to move in and arrest as many of the civil
  rights marchers as possible. They advanced down
  Rossville Street into the Bogside. What exactly
  happened next is not clear. The soldiers say they
  were fired upon from the Rossville flats as they
  moved in to make arrests and that they returned
  fire. The Catholic community says soldiers on the
  ground and army snipers on the city walls above
  the Bogside shot unarmed civilians.

10
Bloody Sunday

• 1640 Thirteen dead After 25 minutes of
  shooting, 13 civil rights marchers were dead. An
  inquiry by Lord Widgery reported that the
  paratroopers firing had "bordered on the
  reckless". It also concluded the soldiers had
  been fired upon first and some of the victims had
  handled weapons. The Catholic community rejected
  these findings and began the long campaign for
  another inquiry. In 1998 a fresh inquiry into the
  events of Bloody Sunday was announced.

11
A slice of life
Loyalist Murals
Republican Murals
12
Hunger Strikes and Death of Bobby Sands

• By March 1981 when Bobby Sands refused food, the
  hunger strike became world news and the
  international press was sympathetic to the
  prisoners' demands. Pope John Paul II sent his
  Papal Envoy, Monsignor John Magee, to persuade
  Sands to give up the hunger strike.
• Three weeks after his election Sands fell into a
  coma and died on 5 May. He had been on hunger
  strike for 66 days. A hundred thousand people
  attended his funeral. His death provoked riots in
  Northern Ireland and street protests in many
  cities around the world.
• By the time the hunger strike ended on 3 October
  1981 ten men had starved themselves to death.

13
Riots break out in Belfast each time a hunger
striker dies. As the Thatcher government dug in
its heels and refused to accede to the prisoners'
demands, a Dungannon priest, Fr Denis Faul,
sought to end the hunger strike by persuading the
prisoners' families to intervene. On 28 July as
Kevin Lynch approached the 69th day of his fast,
Fr Faul met some of the prisoners' families. He
told them he believed Thatcher would not make any
further concessions and that nothing could be
gained by more deaths.Impact of the hunger
strikes?
14
Paramilitaries

• Loyalists Ulster Defence Association, Ulster
  Defence Force,UVF.
• Nationalists IRA, INLA (Irish National
  Liberation Army)
• Economic factor
• poverty, unemployment easy target for
  recruitment

15
The IRA

• 1919 Founded
• 1948 Fought for union with Rep. of Ireland
• 1969 Provisional IRA (more violent) IRA
• 1994 Pro. IRA declared unconditional ceasefire
  for peace talks, but failed (issue of
  disarming the IRA) Followed by series of
  bombing
• 1997 ceasefire, Sinn Fein was allowed to join the
  peace negotiations
• April 1998 Good Friday Agreement power sharing
• May 1998 Referendum
• Aug 1998 Omagh bombing Real IRA (formed after
  1997 ceasefire)

16
Consequences

• Loss of innocent lives
• Disillusionment and prejudice difficult to
  achieve peace despite peace agreement in 1998
  (Good Friday Agreement)
• Stagnant economy fall in investments and
  tourism
• Social implications of stagnant economy

17
Peace Efforts

• 1973 Power-sharing executive
• 1974 Defeated
• 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement
• Violence continued
• 1993 Downing Street Declaration
• 1994 Paramilitary ceasefires
• 1998 Good Friday Agreement

18
Peace Efforts

• Peace Movements
• Community Groups
• Trade Unions
• Education (Education for Mutual Understanding)
  and Churches (Peace Education Programme)

19
Go To

• http//www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/troubles/
• For detailed study of the conflict
• Variety of sources and commentaries
• Art and music

20
The Orange Order

• Largest Protestant organisation in
• Northern Ireland with at least 75,000
• members, some of them in the
• Republic of Ireland
• In 1795, "Battle of the Diamond"
• led to some of those involved to swear
• a new oath to uphold the Protestant
• faith and be loyal to the King and his
• heirs, giving birth to the Orange Order.
• Parades on 12 July.
• http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/142221
  2.stm

21
Causes of conflict

• Unhappiness may arise over the following factors
  
• Inability to keep their traditional way of life,
  instead forced to adopt a different set of
  customs and traditions.
• Anger unfair laws - languages/education policies
  that did not consider their interests (real or
  perceived)
• Fight for control of power by different racial or
  religious groups
• Disagreement over how country should be ruled
  management of resources - job opportunities,
  economic resources
• these issues may lead to conflict if there are no
  peaceful solutions to the problems.
• ROLE OF THE GOVERNMENT?

22
Consequences of conflict

• Political
• law and order disrupted
• Violence, loss of lives, etc.
• Foreign intervention
• Could have affected international relations with
  foreign countries (depending on the nature of the
  conflict)

23
Consequences of conflict

• Economic
• Disruption of the economy.
• Conflict would have led to the destruction of
  properties, factories, warehouses, etc. ?
  affected industrial growth.
• The instability in the country would result in
  the loss of confidence amongst foreign investors.
  
• ? decrease in investments.
• Drop in revenue of the country
• Could result in unemployment.
• This could in turn affect the livelihood of the
  people ? standard of living dropped, etc.
•  
• Effect on Tourism with instability, no tourist
  would be willing to visit the country.

24
Consequences of conflict

• Social
• Education could be disrupted eg. Schools might
  have to close down.
• Hospitals might be affected too. Might be
  overcrowded with injured people, etc. Might not
  be able to cope. Expenses on hospital care would
  increase too.
• Standard of living dropped.
• Health facilities might also not be upgraded in
  view of the drop in revenue.

25
WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS?

• q     Ulster will remain part of the UK, governed
  by a Protestant majority.
• -gtThe Catholics and the Nationalists who want
  to be joined to Eire will not accept that.
•  
• q       Ulster will become part of a United
  Ireland, so the Protestants will be minority in
  the new nation.
• -gtProtestants who want to keep their links with
  Britain will not accept that.
•  
• q       Ulster should become a small, independent
  state with no links to any other country.
• -gtIt would be difficult to persuade people on
  both sides of the argument to agree to that.
•  
• Whatever it is, the solution has to be acceptable
  to both sides, until then, the killings and
  bombings will continue.

26
LESSONS FOR SINGAPORE

• Being multi-racial,
• -Sensitive to one anothers needs.
• -Understanding and respect for the different
  ethnic, racial and religious
• -Peace and unity is the best defence against
  foreign interference and intervention