As far as the present situation in Northern Ireland goes, the IRA haven’t done what
the Protestants wanted. What they wanted was the IRA to decommission their
weapons. The plan was to reform the National Assembly, however the IRA is now
saying that the Protestants are demanding too much.
In the past, there have been many events that have caused the current attitudes
towards the peace settlement from both groups. In fact ever since 1969, there have
been many attempts to reach a suitable solution meaning that ‘The Troubles’ could be
resolved.
For the Protestant Unionists, there has been immense distrust ever since things like
the massacre in 1941 occurred. From the observers’ point of view, it can be seen that
Catholics in Ulster resented losing their lands to the protestant settlers. That
resentment led to the rebellion and the massacres. It is this that helps to explain the
killing, but still doesn’t justify them. Additionally, even if the killing was justified,
this sort of act would still create distrust amongst any communities. The massacred
were terrible, it is probable that between 2000 and 3000 Protestants were killed;
however propaganda from the Protestants still set the figure at around a total of
154,000. It is however know that there were probably not even that many Protestants
in Ulster at that time. The distrust is shown further, as the current ‘street history’ still
ignores the reasons for the rebellion, it also ignores the fact that the Protestants
massacred Catholics in 1949, in some communities even, the 1941 events are still
held as the main reasoning as to why all Catholics are bloodthirsty rebels who cannot
be trusted.
Protestants want Northern Ireland to be part of Great Britain, which it is at the
moment, but as the Catholics don’t want this, and this is all they really want, there is
even more distrust created.
In 1995, the new Ulster Unionist Party Leader David Trimble confirmed his full
support for the peace process. In July 1997, the IRA announced a new cease-fire,
which allowed Sinn Fein to take part in the peace process negotiations. However it
didn’t lead to the decommissioning of any weapons. Unionists are divided over
whether or not they should talk with Sinn Fein whilst the IRA still had it’s
weapons/… Eventually the DUP pulled out of the process in September, but David
Trimble didn’t. He remained committed, even though he received much criticism
from some fellow Unionists and despite the fact that he himself was dissatisfied with
some parts of the Peace Process. David Trimble and Mo Mowlam, who was the
Northern Ireland Secretary, visited loyalist paramilitaries in prison in 1998. This sort
of thing showed that most loyalist and republican paramilitaries were prepared to end
the conflict.
Ian Paisley is someone who made his name protesting about O’Neill’s concessions to
Ireland churches in the ecunmenial movement. Captain Terrance O’Neill was
someone who became the new leader of the Unionist Party and the Northern Ireland
Prime Minister. The ecunmenial movement was a movement that isolated involved
different churches communicating and co-operating with each other. His main
reasons for distrust are that he just wants to keep his nationality. He doesn’t want
Northern Ireland to no longer be part of the UK. Also he has seen first hand what the
IRA have done to certain families which is bound to cause much distrust.
Sinn Fein/IRA also have their reasons for not trusting the Protestant Unionists. For
instance the massacre of Catholics by Oliver Cromwell’s troops in 1649. Looking at
the events, the Catholics ignore the historical context. It concentrates on the suffering
Cromwell inflicted. Oliver Cromwell is still seen as a man of hatred in many parts of
Ireland.
“A curse upon you Oliver Cromwell
You who raped our Motherland
I hope you’re rotting down in Hell
For the horrors that you sent
To our misfortunate forefathers
Whom you robbed of their birthright
‘To Hell or Connacht’ may you burn in Hell tonight.”
This is the chorus of a song written in 1989 by the Pogues. There are many Irish folk
songs like this, all which express similar views.
Someone not involved in the conflict will stress that events such as this massacre in
Wexford were reasonably common at the time in Europe, and were an accepted part
of 17th Century warfare. They also happened in England during the Civil War.
It can also be said that Oliver Cromwell and his soldiers believed all the propaganda
about the massacres of Protestants. It helps to explain Cromwell’s actions, but it still
doesn’t justify them.
Home Rule was a measure to give Ireland it’s own parliament, but leaving Ireland
without the British Empire. The Catholics weren’t happy with this due to the
partition. It meant that due to the fact that there is more Protestants than Catholics in
Northern Ireland, the majority would be in charge.
British Soldiers being positioned in Northern Ireland annoyed the Catholics, as they
often made mistakes.
Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness are former members of the IRA. When they
left, they announced that they had given up violence and are now working for peace.
They became the leaders of Sinn Fein, which enabled Sinn Fein to sit on the peace
talks. The moment they are doing this, the IRA stopped their violence. Their
violence in the past had probably gained them support, as they are symbols to show
that the Catholics can be forgiving. Without their inclusion in the talks, there
wouldn’t be the current peace talks.
When the Republic of Ireland began to be involved in the peace talks, Sinn Fein were
happier. This was because when the Catholics in Northern Ireland could see that the
country they wanted to be part of was being taken into considering during peace talks,
it made them feel generally more confident.
Splinter groups of the IRA, e.g. the Real IRA who want a unified Ireland are
influencing things as well. For instance the violence that they are showing has
prevented them from being a part of the talks.
The Protestants have influenced people a lot using the press. For instance after a
protest bomber fired shots into an IRA funeral, The Sun printed the headline “IRA
funeral bomber shoots at mourners”. This suggests that the IRA did the shooting,
when in fact they should have put a comma after “IRA funeral”. The funeral was one
for three IRA ‘martyrs’ who had been shot in Gibraltar the week before. The
newspaper was printed on Thursday, March 17, 1988.
The quote “Take this you IRA scum”, was printed in the same newspaper, referring to
the same event.
The IRA also printed their own newspaper as none of the national newspapers ever
printed anything that the IRA wanted to say.
“Execution of Soldier Mountbatten
In claiming responsibility for the execution of Lord Mountbatten (former Chief of the
United Kingdom Defence Staff, cousin of the Queen of England and symbol of all that
is imperial), the Irish Republican Army stated that the bombing was a ‘discriminate
operating to bring to the attention of the English people the continuing occupation o
our country.
The British Army acknowledge that after ten years of war it cannot defeat us but yet
the British Government continue with the oppression of our people and the route of
our comrades in the H-blocks. Well, for this we will tear out their sentimental
imperialist heart.”
This quote is the IRA explaining why they killed the Queen’s uncle. It is clearly
biased.
Various events in the past have caused many different effects on the current situation
in Northern Ireland, and also previous situations. Some things have effects that
directly effect events today, whereas others have sparked off chains of events in the
past, which themselves affect today’s Northern Ireland.
One of the most important events in my oppinion was when the British troops were
brought into Northern Ireland in 1969. In the summer that same year, the
Londonderry Apprentice Boys’ march was followed by large-scale riots between
police and residents of the Catholic Bogside area. This became known as the Battle
of the Bogside, which lead to violence in Belfast. This affected thousands of people,
with their homes being destroyed, and led to the British government agreeing to send
in troops in order to keep the various factions apart. This was decided in August
1969.
Many people from both sides at the beginning welcomed the idea of the troops.
However the troops soon began to clash with both the Catholics and Protestants, and
were often accused of being unnecessarily violent. An example of this is when they
killed two Protestants during a protest on the Shankill Road in October 1969.
In addition to the fact that the people of Northern Ireland were not happy with the
British troops being there, events such as this next one really make the inclusion of
the troops important. Bloody Sunday was the outcome of a huge protest against
internment on Sunday 30 January 1972. It was organised by the civil rights
movement. The march consisted of fifteen thousand people defying a ban on
marchers and gathering in the centre of the city. Troops of the Parachute Regiment
sealed off the area, and were met with a hail of stones thrown by youths. The events
that followed are a very confusing set to work out. The soldiers’ story goes that they
were fired upon, and therefore returned fire. This resulted in thirteen marches, all
apparently unarmed being killed. Some of them were even shot in the back – which
shows that they were in fact running away. One of the worst things about this event,
and something which has brought about a great amount of distrust from the Catholic
point of view, is that the soldiers version of the story was simply accepted, and no
further enquiries were made. The most that was said from the official investigation
was that the shooting by the troops was ‘bordering on the lines of reckless’. The
distrust and argument that followed was something that continued for 26 years, and
eventually led to the British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced a new inquiry into
the events. This is a clear example of the importance of the British Troops, as it can
be shown that their being in Northern Ireland has led to other events, as well as
explaining some reasons for distrust within Northern Ireland.
Another important event that has affected the situation in Northern Ireland were the
IRA hunger strikes in 1981. Before the 1980s Sinn Fein was a relatively unimportant
part of the republican movement. However one of the key things that increased their
importance were the hunger strikes. In 1980 and 1981, republican prisoners in the
Maze prison went on a hunger strike, and demanded that they should be treated as
political prisoners. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was determined to give
no concessions, however many Nationalists who didn’t even support the IRA
violence, agreed with the prisoners that they should be treated as political rather than
ordinary prisoners. The hunger strikes showed how non-violent action could create
massive public attention, which was good, unlike setting bombs off. One of the
strikers, Bobby Sands, died in May 1981. His funeral brought with it 20% of the
Catholic population of Northern Ireland, which is about 100,000 people.
After he died, his election agent Owen Carron was elected to Westminster as a Sinn
Fein MP. This has had a major effect on the situation in Northern Ireland, as it caused
Sinn Fein to gain ten percent of the vote in Northern Ireland local elections. In June
1983, the Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams won the West Belfast seat with 73 percent of
the vote in that section. In addition, Sinn Fein picked up 13.4 percent of the vote
across the whole province. If Sinn Fein hadn’t gained so much public support like it
did, then the peace talks of today wouldn’t be in operation at all.
The Good Friday Agreement in 1998 was another very important event in Northern
Ireland. The early part of 1998 saw some remarkable events. In January there was a
crisis, when it seems that the loyalist paramilitary prisoners would revoke their
support for the peace process. As this would be such a major blow, both David
Trimble – the Ulster Unionist leader – and the Northern Ireland Secretary Mo
Mowlam visited them in the Maze prison to regain their support, which they
succeeded in doing. This sort of act demonstrated that most loyalist and republican
paramilitaries were prepared to end the conflict. However there was of course the
minority of paramilitary groups who were still prepared to fight. The different parties
taking part in the talks agreed a deadline of 9th April to reach an agreement. The day
after the deadline the talks Chairman, Senator Mitchell, announced that they had
reached their agreement.
“I am pleased to announce that the two governments and the political
parties of Northern Ireland have reached an agreement.”
One important thing that the people of the Republic were asked was whether or not
they were prepared to allow the articles claiming the North as part of the Republic to
be removed from the agreement. An incredible 94 percent of the Republic agreed
with this, and even a majority of 71 percent of the North agreed. This Agreement has
lasted up until today, which is a total of over 5 years of peace. However despite the
overwhelming public support that it got, many outsiders to Northern Ireland have
simply seen this Agreement as the achievement of politicians. But could politicians
have really reached an agreement such as this without the agreement and co-operation
of ordinary people?