One of the most closely watched and widely debated conflict of our time is the one occurring In Northern Ireland. It has been a hot debate for over a century now, yet the root of the conflict is still unclear. There have been many theories over time, yet none have been able to adequately describe what is really happening on the matter. This conflict is divided by many lines; ethnically between the Irish and the British, and religiously by the Catholics and Protestant denominations.
The Troubles emerged after many years of incidents between the Protestants and the Catholics. One issue that contributed to the conflict was the border that separated Northern Ireland from Ireland that was drawn in the seventh century. This is one of the many issues that has also contributed to the Catholics resentment (Conroy 1995). The most recent episode of this ongoing conflict between these two denominations has been occurring for over thirty years. Even though they have a reached a peace agreement, a resolution for this long struggle does not seem to be coming in the near future (Hancock 1998).
Since the time of the first civil rights marches in 1968 to the year of 1994, over 3,500 have died and over 35,000 were injured from fighting. “Robberies, bombings, assassinations, and terror tactics spread to engulf Great Britain and the Irish Republic, greatly decreasing the common person's sense of security and impinging on the populace's personal freedom,” (Hancock 1998). Between the years of 1969-1970, the Provisional Irish Republican Army was able to finally re-establish itself, which was the result of the frustrations rising from the Catholic population instead of the continual ethnic hatred. “This discrimination has a long historical record, datin...
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...ed on the research above, I would say that the conflict occurring in Northern Ireland is about religion, but also about civil rights. In the book, it talked about how badly Catholics were treated. “Houses belonging to those of the wrong religion were torched,” (Conroy 1995). They were deprived of their dignity, and were forced to go back to the “ghetto” they left years ago. Those belonging to the Catholic religion were pretty much exiled for being Catholic. Their civil liberties were taken away and they were harassed most of the time. Religion plays a big part in this conflict, and being of one or the other cause conflicts and violent outbreaks. Each side is fighting for something and each side is seen as the enemy (logic of exclusion), and to make a point, they used force. Even today, the past still haunts Northern Ireland, and may never reach an absolute solution.
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Show More...differences as an ending. Thousands have died regardless of the side they represented. As a reader, this eye witness account in the book brings to life the troubles in Northern Ireland. Walking the streets and living amongst the chaos shows the severity of the situation. This segregation still lives on today in Northern Ireland with no clear end in sight. But one can not expect a four hundred year long feud to end abruptly. Progress has been made in modern time but both sides need full dedication to end the divide. To put aside religion, politics and other blockades in order to truly find what is best for their nation. Just like the old Irish proverb, you've got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was. Forget what was in the past and by the elders so one can move on to a new united future whether it be united with Great Britain or Ireland.
What do you think of when you hear the name Ireland? Ireland is a relatively small island off the coast of Great Britain with a land area of 32,424 square miles (Delaney 2). There are several things that you may associate with this country such as St. Patrick’s Day, shamrocks, beer, and strife. The source of the bitterness behind this conflict began centuries ago, when Britain came over and forced Protestantism on the Irish Catholic inhabitants. For this reason there has always been an animosity between the Protestants and the Irish Catholics. The island is broken up into two distinct regions. The Republic of Ireland consists of twenty-six counties, which make up the southern region. This area is predominantly Roman Catholic. Northern Ireland is made up of the six northern counties, which are under British rule and predominately Protestant. Both sides use propaganda to spread their ideas and gain support. They each have organizations, such as the I.R.A., in the south, and the U.V.F., in the north, which use peaceful methods such as newspapers and murals along with violence to fight for their cause. In Northern Ireland the Protestants used their position in the government to spread anti-Catholic propaganda and persecute the Catholic citizens.
Over time there came to be ethnic controversy between the Catholic and Protestant groups. The Catholic people were not able to get the same jobs or housing. They were also treated badly by the police and Army. The IRA was formed by the Catholic people to protect the catholic citizens and fight for there rights The IRA was mostly a militant force that took extreme actions to make their point. Most think the actions taken by the IRA are mindless acts of violence. This is not the truth at all the violence has always been used for a purpose. The IRA has used violence as a form of propaganda to show there resistance to the British government and Military. Most violent attacks have taken place against British troops, policemen, government officials. These attacks are planned in retaliation against British actions against the Catholic citizens of Northern Ireland.
Ireland has a very conflicted history. Just when that history may seem to take a turn for the better, it seems that there is always another event to keep the trend of depression ongoing. The separation of the Protestant and Catholic Church would be the center of these events. However, the two different groups could potentially work together for the betterment of the nation. Through an analysis of why Protestants and Catholics split in the first place, disadvantages that Catholics would face in the coming years and also how these disadvantages were lifted, an argument will be developed in that there is perhaps the chance that they may end up working together in the future for the betterment of Ireland. Although these two groups would fight over the countless decades, they need to join into one entity if they wish to see a better future for Ireland.
Life was very difficult and hopeless in Northern Ireland during the ”Troubles”. People, mainly the Catholics, had to learn to live among riots, murders, bomb raid, discrimination and political violence. Many people did things which they did not want to do but they did because they would be punished if they resisted. They did not know when their families were attacked by hostile groups.
This paper will argue that in the height of the Troubles, due to pent up frustration and extreme desperation with the situation in Northern Ireland, the British often responded with acts of terrorism. As the international community regarded this situation as an internal conflict within the United Kingdom, there was a lack of monitoring and accountability among the representatives of the state. This allowed for great atrocities, which were only brought to light through fair media coverage and investigation of the events. The media was responsible for disseminating the facts and channeling p...
Bringing Peace to Northern Ireland It has proved hard to bring peace to Northern Ireland. There are many
British- Irish relations over the past three hundred years have been troubled. There have been many tensions caused by religion in Northern Ireland and Britain's unfair rule of Northern Ireland. The British are guilty of many of the indignities suffered by the Irish people. They are also guilty of causing all of the religious and territorial conflicts between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.
The authors provide a background to the Troubles of Northern Ireland, with their main focus being a detailed analysis of the religious, geographical, age and gender distribution of polit...
The Irish and British governments fought for many years over the ownership of Northern Ireland. Britain had main control over Northern Ireland, and Ireland did not think that was fair. Be...
Hughes, Michael. Ireland Divided: The Roots of the Modern Irish Problem. New York: St.Martin’s Press Inc., 1994.
The Troubles Era was largely seen as having taken place primarily within the 1960s, although it expanded for three decades. During this time frame, civil rights marches occurred frequently and more often than not ended in bloody conflicts. Politicians were faced with restoring the peace and establishing a stronger and more economic Ireland. Inter-parties became common in an attempt to establish unity.
The island of Ireland is known for many things: St. Patrick’s Day, its green landscape, music, beer, and discord. The heart of this conflict began centuries ago, when Britain came over and forced Protestantism on the Irish Catholic inhabitants. There has always been hatred between the Irish Protestants and Catholics. The island is broken up into to distinct regions. The Republic of Ireland consists of 26 counties, which make up the southern region. This area is predominantly Roman Catholic. Northern Ireland is made up of the 6 northern counties, which are under British rule. This area is predominately Protestant. The conflict between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland is based on both religious and political views.
- How did the Protestant maintain almost a century of peace in Ireland during the Protestant Ascendancy?
Lanka and Northern Ireland demonstrate. David Lake and Donald Rothchild’s argument that a group’s ‘collective fear of the future’ (41) is often the main cause of ethnic conflict remains the most successful framework through which to evaluate the conflict between the Sinhalese and Tamils in Sri Lanka. Fear of disappearing as an ethnic group was the main catalyst for Tamil violence, in response to Sinhalese political acts designed to limit Tamil involvement in business, economics and higher education. Laws introduced to attack Tamil culture added to this fear, and a communal fear of ‘dying out’ thus became reason to fight for an independent nation. However, this was not the case in Northern Ireland: the conflict did not arise as a result of Protestants curbing cultural freedoms of Catholics, instead the issue of civil rights was more prominent. The existence of the Republic of Ireland assured Catholics in Northern Ireland that the Irish Catholic culture would not be lost, in contrast to the Tamil (and formerly Sinhalese) fear of cultural extinction. Instead, the conflict was a result of a prolonged period of Catholics suffering civil injustice and economic disadvantage. As Stefan Wolff argues, ethnic conflicts have both underlying and proximate causes, the former including ‘necessary conditions for the outbreak of inter-ethnic violence’ (68) whilst the latter are needed to act as a catalyst and bring conflict to a head. The ethnic conflicts in Sri Lanka and Northern Ireland had similar underlying causes brought about from structural, economic and social, and cultural and perceptual factors. Ethnic minorities in both cases suffered polit...