The Conflict of Northern Ireland and Factors that Contributed to It

The Conflict of Northern Ireland and Factors that Contributed to It

All three of these events, Internment, Bloody Sunday and The Hunger

Strikes, have contributed in a large way to the conflict in Northern

Ireland between Catholics and Protestants since 1968. All three of the

events are linked in some way to each other.

In the summer of 1969 there was a huge march that was called 'The

Londonderry Apprentice Boys' march' this was followed by large-scale

riots between police and residents of the Catholic Bogside district,

in what became the Battle of the Bogside. In August the British

government agreed to send in troops to keep the people that were

fighting apart. When the troops first entered Northern Ireland they

were in the 'Honeymoon period' because they were neutral. The

Nationalists welcomed them because they thought that would defend

Catholic areas. But they soon clashed with both Protestant and

Catholic crowds and were accused of using excessive violence towards

citizens. While all of this was happening the IRA was re-forming. The

new Provisional IRA and the old Official IRA were both recruiting new

activists and gathering weapons. The Prime Minister ordered the army

to search the Falls road for weapons and IRA suspects, this turned

many Nationalists away from the army and increased support for the IRA

in Ireland and also aboard, such as the USA.

In August 1971 the Northern Ireland Prime Minister, Brian Faulkner

introduced internment. Internment meant that anyone the security

forces suspected of terrorism could be arrested and held in prison

without being charged or put on trial. Internment was Faulkner's

attempt at destroying the IRA. Internment was a tactic that had used

successfully during the 1950s, largely because it had been brought

into force on both sides of the border at the same time. But to

Catholics Internment was very biased, every suspect that Internment

was used against was either a Nationalist or a Republican, there was

no attempt to arrest loyalist paramilitaries. The RUC's intelligence

was very badly out of date, this meant that most people targeted were