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Molly Tully
3722 S Street NW
Washington, DC 20007
mollyotully@gmail.com
(518) 879-6552
Georgetown University
Government Major
Class of 2009
The Transcendence of Conflict in
Northern Ireland
Abstract
Northern Ireland has a long history of violent conflict and has finally reached a
stable point where the conflict has been transcended. Applying the framework of Johan
Galtung, it is possible to see how attitudes, behavior, and a commitment to nonviolence
in the face of contradiction allowed for the transformation of this conflict. This paper
explores the roots of the Northern Ireland conflict, the factors that led to the landmark
Good Friday Agreement, and finally the issues left to be resolved now that a commitment
to peace has been made.
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Northern Ireland has been haunted by violent conflict since it was created by the
partitioning of Ireland in 1921. The signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 is
bringing this era of violence to a close. A new attitude in support of peace and empathy
that is quickly spreading in Northern Ireland, new governmental structures, and a
commitment to nonviolence by government leaders and paramilitaries have transformed
this conflict. Although the process of transformation and the development of a stable
peace is far from over, Northern Ireland is finally in a position to put it’s violent past
behind it and move forward. This paper investigates the origins of disagreement, the
parties involved, the ways the conflict has been transformed and the problems that still
need to be addressed. Many different terms are used essentially interchangeably to refer
to different groups; for the sake of clarity Protestant, Unionist, and Loyalist refer to the
same group of people. Catholic, Republican, and Nationalist also refer to one group of
people, the opposition to the Protestants and supporters of the Irish Free State.
I. A Long and Troubled Past
The roots of conflict in Ireland stretch back many centuries to the first contacts
made between Britain and the island. As long ago as 1170 settlers from Britain arrived in
Ireland and took up residence on Irish lands (Fitzduff). The arrival of the British
continued steadily and these settlers began to take up permanent residences. In the 1600s
the British asserted their power in Ireland through the plantation of Ulster (the
northernmost section of the island of Ireland). British Protestants divided up the land
between them and began to accumulate both political and economic power. The British
Protestants ensured that, throughout all of Ulster, they became the ruling and landowning class over the Irish Catholics (Fitzduff). This was the first major division
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between the two groups in the region. The next major event in the division of these two
parties came in 1690 with the Battle of the Boyne. In this battle, William of Orange, the
king of England, Scotland, and Ireland at the time, won a decisive victory over the
Catholic claimant to the English throne, James (Office of Public Works). The effects of
this victory resonate in the struggle between Catholics and Protestants to this day. The
immediate results of the battle’s outcome included a new Irish parliament, which barred
all Catholics from office, as well as the denial of land ownership and schooling
opportunities to Irish Catholics (Hancock). These measures maintained the position of
the Protestants as the empowered party in Ireland until 1801 when the Act of Union
abolished the Irish Parliament altogether and Ireland became part of the United Kingdom,
under the direct authority of the British Parliament (Fitzduff). This arrangement lasted
for nearly a hundred years until the Irish Catholic majority was soon weary of the
oppression of the British Protestant minority.
The Irish began to call for the establishment of an Irish free state. The Easter
Rising of 1916 was an attempt to begin a rebellion in earnest and while it failed in
establishing an Irish free state, it did play a role in the development and eventual passing
of the treaty for the partitioning of Ireland in 1921 (Fitzduff), a compromise that resulted
from the British offer of home rule to the Irish. Both the Catholics and the Protestants
were opposed to the partitioning of Ireland (Hancock). The Catholics or Republicans did
not want to settle for anything short of complete independence from the British.
The Protestants (also known as Unionists) did not want home rule because they
feared being overtaken by the Catholic majority on the island (Hancock). The Protestant
Unionists were afraid that a Catholic majority would institute policies restricting their
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religious freedom to freely practice their faith (Fitzduff). The residents of English
descent in the North also did not want to be united in an Irish Free State because they
were much wealthier than the rest of the residents of Ireland and did not want to be
brought down by Irish poverty (Fitzduff).
In order to address these problems the British decided to partition Ireland into
two sections, the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland. The Irish Free State, in which
Catholics would be the majority, comprised of the twenty-six southern counties on the
island, under a new home rule system (Fitzduff). The Irish Free State was still a part of
the United Kingdom, and under the new treaty would be an autonomous state therein,
until it declared itself the Republic of Ireland and completely separate from the UK in
1949 (Hancock). Six of the nine counties of Ulster (the other three were part of the Irish
Free State) were then declared Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland remained a full
member of the United Kingdom and under direct control of the British Crown. The six
counties were chosen because they were the six counties where Protestants made up at
least thirty percent of the population (Hancock). This ensured that Protestants would be
the controlling community within Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland was organized with its own parliament separate from the British
Parliament. This Northern Ireland Parliament was called Stormont. It had complete
power over all Northern Irish affairs except for minting money, conducting foreign
policy, and raising an army (Hancock). Northern Ireland did set up paramilitary police
auxiliaries though, which in effect was the same as having their own army (Hancock).
These paramilitary police played a role in a period later in Northern Ireland’s history, the
Troubles. The first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland was Sir James Craig and he
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wasted no time in making sure that the Protestants were the ruling class. He made the
proclamation that the state had “a Protestant Parliament for a Protestant People
(Fitzduff).” In 1922 the political districts throughout Northern Ireland were redrawn in
order to ensure that Catholics would be unable to gain any kind of control within the
government, even in areas where they made up the majority (Hancock). The state
actively discriminated against the Catholic community in housing, employment, and
political representation (Fitzduff).
Policies, institutions, and personal practices began to segregate the two
communities within society. The main reason for this was the educational systems.
Religious denominations remained in charge of running schools after the partition. Since
religion and religious service attendance was an important aspect to life in Northern
Ireland, children almost always attended religious schools. People wanted to live close to
their schools and churches and, as a result, communities became segregated along
sectarian lines (Hancock). The separation of these two communities and the lack of
communication between the two led to deep-seated feelings of mistrust and suspicion
between them (Hancock).
II. Parties to the Violence of Northern Ireland
Differences in ultimate goals of the various activists in Northern Ireland led to the
formation of a vast number of paramilitary groups, which were a main avenue used to
express opinions in Northern Ireland throughout this time period. The oldest and most
influential of the Republican paramilitaries was the Irish Republican Army (IRA), which
was a revival of the IRA that fought in support of the formation of the Irish Free State
and defense of the Republic in the Irish Civil War. The Sinn Féin party, the largest
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Republican Party in Northern Ireland today, represents the political arm of the IRA. The
goal of the IRA is to oust British control from Northern Ireland and reunify the island
under the Republic of Ireland (Melaugh, List).
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the policing force in Northern Ireland
formed in 1922 (Melaugh, List). RUC members were trained in military tactics and the
use of heavy weapons and also carried arms with them at all times. The RUC was
intended to be comprised of at least one-third Catholics to maintain a proportional
representation of the society it served. Catholics however, never comprised more than
twelve percent of the RUC. This was not necessarily because of discriminatory hiring
practices, but more likely because Catholics saw the RUC as a partisan group subject to
political pressures and, as a result, did not want to be involved with it (Hancock). The
only stated goal of the RUC seems to be that of a police force, but during the period of
the Troubles, the RUC was responsible for an estimated fifty-two deaths, thirty of which
were civilians; most of these civilians were Catholic (Melaugh, List). This statistic lends
some support to the feelings of many that the RUC was a partisan organization.
A paramilitary faction, the Ulster Special Constabulary (USC), of the RUC also
existed. The USC was originally formed in 1920 by the British Administration (Melaugh,
List). This organization originally consisted of three divisions: the A, B, and C Specials.
The A and C Specials were disbanded not long after the group’s formation, in 1925, but
the B Specials were retained to be used in opposition to IRA campaigns (Melaugh, List).
They were exclusively Protestant and displayed open ties with the Orange Order (an
influential Protestant organization founded in 1795 (Melaugh, List)) as well as the Ulster
Volunteer Force discussed below (Hancock). The B Specials were well known for their
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use of violence in carrying out their duties, which included manning roadblocks and
protected buildings and places where violence was suspected on the part of the IRA
(Hancock).
The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) was the main Unionist paramilitary group in
the conflict. It had its roots in the resistance to home rule in the early 1900’s opposing
the IRA (Fitzduff). The UVF re-established itself in 1966 in opposition to reforms that
were being considered in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s and early 1970s (Melaugh,
List). The main goal of the UVF is to protect and maintain the constitutional position of
Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom and the efforts of the UVF to achieve this
goal have resulted in scores of assassinations and some bombings (Melaugh, List).
The rampant violence among all of these Catholic and Protestant groups led to the
deployment of the British Army on the streets of Northern Ireland in 1969 (Fitzduff). In
the time period from 1969 through 1971 the British Government tried to quell violence
by instituting many of the reforms that the Republicans called for. These included the
redrawing of electoral districts, universal suffrage, the disbanding of the B Specials, and
new housing executives to distribute housing on the basis of need (Hancock). These
reforms were not effectively instituted though and led to the emergence of more unrest
and the formation of more factions and violent groups. The reforms did disband the B
Specials as well as disarm the RUC, however many of the former members of these
organizations joined a newly formed attachment of the British Army, the Ulster Defense
Regiment (UDR). This caused great strain on the relationship between the Catholics and
the British Army as the army was seen as more of an oppressor rather than a mediating
force (Hancock).
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1971 brought the formation of yet another paramilitary organization, the Ulster
Defense Association (UDA). This group was also known as the Ulster Freedom Fighters
(UFF) and quickly grew into the largest loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland.
They often targeted Catholic pubs or specific people under the pretense that they were
active members or parties in the IRA (Fitzduff). The group used the pseudonym UFF in
order to claim responsibility for the killing of Catholics, and the UDA itself supported
initiatives that called for an independent Northern Ireland (Melaugh, List). The state of
affairs in Northern Ireland that led to the formation of so many polarized groups was
undoubtedly dire and the lack of neutrality on the part of the government of Northern
Ireland only served to exacerbate these problems.
III. Discrimination on the Part of the Northern Ireland Government
The Protestant government in place in Northern Ireland after the partition ensured
that Protestants would remain the controlling faction within society. They accomplished
this through government measures and acts. The government also allowed for large
amounts of institutional segregation to take place, especially in the housing and job
markets. Soon after the partitioning structural and cultural violence became common in
Northern Ireland, followed by what is considered the first incident of direct violence, the
death of a Catholic civilian after being hit on the head with a baton by a member of the
RUC, in 1968 (McKenna).
The Stormont Parliament immediately took on a discriminatory air with the
passage of the Special Powers Act of 1922. The stated objective of this act was to “stem
the tide of Nationalist violence,” and it provided the government of Northern Ireland with
broad powers of search and seizure, as well as questionable amounts of flexibility in the
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guidelines for conduct towards suspects (Hancock). The enforcement of the Special
Powers Act was the jurisdiction of the RUC and it was widely believed (and for good
reason) that the Act specifically targeted the Catholic community (Hancock). The
Catholic community also experienced disadvantages in both the housing and job markets.
The job market was skewed in favor of the Protestant community. Discriminatory
hiring practices led to Catholics occupying most of the lower end manufacturing jobs
such as textiles while the higher end manufacturing jobs such as shipbuilding and
engineering were overwhelmingly held by Protestants (Hancock). White Collar jobs
were also unequally distributed with Catholics kept in clerical positions and Protestants
dominating the managerial ones (Hancock). Unemployment rates by religion also show
the disparities between the two communities.
Percentage Rate of Unemployment, by Religious Affiliation (1971-1987)
Protestant (%)
Catholic (%)
Male
Female
Male
Female
1971
7
4
17
7
1981
12
10
30
17
1983-84
15
11
35
17
1985-87
14
9
36
15
Source: Gallagher A.M., Employment, Unemployment and Religion in Northern Ireland.
The Majority Minority Review. No.2 University of Ulster, Coleraine. 1991.
Retrieved from <http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/ni/employ.htm> on 11 Nov 2008.
Local Housing Authorities were set up to distribute public housing to those who
were in need. Often due to their inability to obtain higher paying jobs, members of the
Catholic community were in greater need of public housing, and yet still unable to get it.
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Frequently this was due to concerns about the electoral balance in an area and the desire
to keep Protestant officials in office (Melaugh, Majority). The Local Housing Authorities
were usually completely run by Protestants and displayed discriminatory practices in the
awarding of housing, with Protestant families often receiving houses even if a Catholic
family displayed a greater need (Hancock). Housing related concerns led to the
formation of many groups active in the Northern Ireland Civil Rights movement
discussed later (Melaugh, Majority).
The linking of education and religion in Northern Ireland led to discriminations in
the educational system. The educational system supported by the state espoused
Protestant ideals and, as a result, the children of many Catholics were sent to private,
lesser-funded Catholic schools (Hancock). This placed the Catholic community at a
disadvantage. The lack of funding from the state, on top of the reality that Catholic
community was concentrated in the lower echelons of the socioeconomic scale, would
lead to the Catholic schools to have significant funding shortages. Funding shortages in
all likelihood constrained the resources available to students and caused detriment to their
education. Segregation of schools also ensured that from a young age Catholic and
Protestant children would have limited amounts of contact between them, perpetuating
stereotypes of the opposite community and contributing to disagreement and dislike.
IV. Attempts at Reform
A period of intense depression in the 1950s led to reforms and a move toward
equality for the Catholics in Northern Ireland, as unemployment skyrocketed to more
than twice the levels in the rest of the UK, due to the decline in demand for Northern
Ireland manufacturing as the economies of other countries recovered from war
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(Hancock). In effort to recover from this economic downturn, Stormont introduced many
state sponsored welfare programs in hope that they would help to stimulate the economy.
These programs helped to close the gaps that existed between the Catholics and
Protestants, but not enough to achieve equality (Hancock). Multinational plants began to
establish themselves in Northern Ireland in the mid 1960s and the economy began to
revive itself. These multinational plants did not have a background or a stake in the
conflict and as a result their hiring practices were much less discriminatory, helping to
bring about a greater equality in employment opportunities in Northern Ireland
(Hancock).
Northern Ireland Prime Minister O’Neill, whose term ran from 1963-1969, though
he was a Protestant Unionist, tried to gain support for the Unionist party from Catholics
in addition to the Protestant support the party already garnered. To do this he instituted
many reforms that promoted equality across the two groups. His reforms were not met
with widespread approval from his fellow Protestant Unionists. Ian Paisley, a politician
who is currently the First Minister in power sharing government in Northern Ireland
today, arose as the most vocal leader against the policies of O’Neill and claimed that
O’Neill was “selling the Protestants down the river with his reform campaigns”
(Hancock). The differing opinions caused a fragmentation within the Unionist political
party and the fundamental Protestant Unionists along with their leader Ian Paisley
founded the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in 1971 (Hancock).
The continued segregation of the Protestant and Catholic communities,
discrimination on the part of the Protestant government, and the taste of change that led
Catholics to believe more reforms were possible (Hancock), caused the Catholics of
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Northern Ireland to begin a formal campaign for civil rights in the late 1960s (Fitzduff).
Inspired by the United States civil rights movement; Catholic activists in Ireland founded
the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) (Hancock). Ian Paisley believed
that NICRA was just a cover for the IRA (Hancock). This main goal of NICRA was to
obtain greater equality through the current political systems that were in place. At the
time, this was a different route than many other organizations, such as the IRA and other
paramilitaries, whose preferred methods were attacking the legitimacy of the state, or
attempting to opt out of the state altogether (Hancock). Past violence between the
Catholic and Protestant groups in Northern Ireland, namely the Catholic uprisings of
1641, which seem to hold a mythical status in the minds of many Irish, contributed to a
culture of fear on the part of the Protestants that they would be victims of a cultural
“genocide” if a union with the Republic of Ireland was forced upon them. This fear of
Catholic domination came to the surface in the face of 1968 demonstrations by NICRA
(Hancock). As a result of this fear the Catholic and Protestant communities rapidly
polarized, local vigilantes arose, paramilitary groups, both Catholic and Protestant,
reorganized (Fitzduff) and Northern Ireland was rapidly launched into a cycle of violent
conflict that has come to be known as “The Troubles.”
V. The Troubles, 1971-1972 Internment, Bloody Sunday, and Direct Rule from
Westminster
Tensions and violence came to a head in 1971 due to many attempts at reform and
the promotion of equality on the part of Prime Minister O’Neill, and the response of the
government of Northern Ireland to the violence that ensued was the introduction of
imprisonment without trial or “internment” (Fitzduff). This policy was introduced under
the Special Powers Act of 1922 and as soon as it went into effect 342 men were picked
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up in the first dawn raids. The British Army was responsible for the enforcement of
internment and the raids, which led to the Army being a main focus of Catholic anger and
demonstrations (Hancock). An anti-internment demonstration in Derry in 1972 led to
one of the most well known acts of violence in the Northern Ireland Conflict, Bloody
Sunday, and led to a sharp increase in support of the Republicans and their goals
(Fitzduff). The British Army fired into the crowd of unarmed Catholic demonstrators
(there is only speculation as to why they fired), killing thirteen and injuring others
(Hancock). Within two months of Bloody Sunday, in March of 1972, the Stormont
Parliament of Northern Ireland was dissolved and Northern Ireland came under the direct
rule of Westminster and the British Government once again (Hancock).
VI. The Peace Process
By the early 1990s it was becoming clear to all parties involved that any kind of
military victory for either side would be impossible considering the number of groups
involved in the fighting and the terrorist nature of the violence itself. This led to a much
more concerted effort for peace, especially on the part of Sinn Féin (Fitzduff). Sinn Féin
and the Social Democratic and Labor Party (SDLP, the second largest Nationalist
political party) began to collaborate and pursue common Nationalist goals, such as the
most prominent Nationalist goal of a united Ireland, through peaceful means (Fitzduff).
Other factors that contributed to a movement towards peace were continued efforts for
equality in employment, housing, and education as well as greater involvement of the
international community including South Africa, which had experience with conflict and
peace processes as well (Fitzduff).
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In the early 1990’s the peace process began to take hold and gain momentum. In
1990 the British government secretly opened back channels of communication with the
IRA in order to find out what actions could lead to a declaration of ceasefire (Darby).
These secret communications resulted in progress and led to the publishing of the
Downing Street Declaration on December 15, 1993. This declaration most notably said
that if the people of Ireland, both north and south, wanted a united Ireland all that was
needed was the consent of both territories (Darby). In August of 1994, the IRA declared
a ceasefire and the main Loyalist/Unionist paramilitary groups followed suit in October
of that year (Darby). This was a landmark occasion because it was a commitment to the
peace process and a step away from the use of violence.
Peace talks were the next step in the process for all those involved. The IRA was
hoping that these would get off the ground quickly and progress would be made. The
British Prime Minister John Major along with many of the Loyalist groups were too slow
to get the peace talk process off the ground in the opinion of the IRA though (Darby). As
a result the IRA abandoned its ceasefire in 1996 and detonated a bomb in London’s
Canary Wharf. The IRA believed that John Major had squandered an opportunity to
finally bring resolution to the conflict (Darby). The peace talk process continued in light
of the abandonment of the ceasefire. Sinn Féin, seen as the political branch of the IRA
was banned from participating in the peace talks. In early July 1996 the peace talks were
postponed as a result of tensions and violence surrounding an annual Orange Order
Parade at Drumcree (Darby).
The entrance of Tony Blair into the office of British Prime Minister in May of
1997 brought a renewed energy and fervor to the peace talk process. Blair immediately
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brought Sinn Féin back into the peace talk process even though the Unionist parties still
refused to engage directly with Sinn Féin (Darby). These talks would lead to the eventual
drafting of the Good Friday Agreement passed in April of 1998 (Darby).
VII. The Good Friday Agreement- 1998
The Good Friday Agreement, or Belfast Agreement, was a landmark action and
set up the government of Northern Ireland, as it still exists today. There were five major
provisions of the Belfast Agreement. First of all, the future constitutional status of
Northern Ireland would be in the hands of the citizens of Northern Ireland. Second, if the
people of Ireland wanted to unite into one republic, they would be allowed to do so as
long as both the north and the south voted upon it. Third, the current constitutional status
of Northern Ireland would remain within the United Kingdom. Fourth, Northern Irish
citizens would be allowed to identify themselves as British, Irish, or both if they wished
to do so. Lastly, the Republic of Ireland would drop its territorial claim on the lands of
Northern Ireland and identify its nation solely by its people and not the land that it
occupies (Darby). The agreement set up a power sharing assembly in Northern Ireland
with representation from both the Unionists and the Republicans. The North-South
Ministerial Council was established in order to deal directly with Northern IrelandRepublic of Ireland relations (Darby). The agreement set up a British-Irish Council as
well, with membership from the British government, the Northern Irish government, as
well as the devolved governments of Scotland and Wales, to deal with issues relating to
Northern Ireland within the UK (Darby). This agreement would not solve any of the
aforementioned problems in Northern Ireland immediately, nor would it specifically meet
the goals of any of the different paramilitaries. The agreement did provide a mechanism
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for discussion and a forum where every group would have a voice and this was meant to
allow for the resolution of problems without direct violence.
VIII. The Bombing of Omagh
There was opposition to the Belfast Agreement from both Republicans and
Unionists alike. Fundamental Republican opposition made its statement with the
bombing of Omagh, a city in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, in August of 1998. A
group that called themselves the Real Irish Republican Army (rIRA), a breakaway faction
of the IRA, claimed responsibility for the bombing (Melaugh, List). Its hope was to
destabilize the Belfast Agreement and undermine its legitimacy, because rIRA did not
want to accept any solution other than a united Ireland (Beyond Omagh). This goal was
nearly realized; Unionists only passed the Belfast Agreement by a bare majority and the
detonation of the bomb caused Unionist leadership to face increased pressure from their
parties and constituents to abandon the agreement (Keenan). The bombing of Omagh
was the single largest act of terror in the Northern Ireland Conflict, resulting the death of
twenty-nine, including eleven children, twelve women, and over two hundred injured
(Beyond Omagh). The idea that the worst violence of the entire conflict could come just
months after a landmark peace agreement was devastating to all parties in the conflict
(Beyond Omagh).
The bombing can be viewed as a major turning point in the peace process. The
British and Irish governments showed unity in their response to the bombing, in their
condemnation of all of those involved in it, and displayed their commitment and resolve
to make the peace agreement work this time around (Beyond Omagh). It was also a
turning point for the Sinn Féin party, which condemned the actions of the rIRA and
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isolated the rIRA as a rogue faction not to be associated with the majority of Irish
Republicans (Beyond Omagh). The British Prime Minister Blair and Irish Prime
Minister Ahern were also careful to not overreact in response to the bombing. The two
PMs made sure that their pledge for tighter security and a renewed commitment to
security was heard, but avoided falling prey to the calls for emergency laws or a return to
internment, which could just exacerbate the situation (Beyond Omagh).
It has been ten years since the bombing of Omagh and there has been no largescale violence in Northern Ireland in its wake. The responses to this bombing played a
vital role in bringing an end to the violence in Northern Ireland. Omagh was just one
tragic episode surrounding the epicenter of the conflict, which was disagreement over the
governmental structure that will best meet the needs of the people of Northern Ireland
(unity with the Republic of Ireland versus membership in the United Kingdom), but the
responses to Omagh were the first true commitment to “peace by peaceful means” as
Galtung supports. The Northern Ireland Conflict is still far from over, there are issues
left to be resolved, but it is moving along the road to transcendence and for the past ten
years done so successfully.
IX. A Conflict Transcended
The framework of Conflict Transformation espoused by Johan Galtung identifies
conflict as the result of incompatible goals. These incompatible goals relate somehow to
the ability of a person to fulfill their basic needs. Galtung’s basic needs consist of wellbeing (housing, education, health, water, medicine), identity (something to live for),
freedom (ability to choose how to identify oneself), and survival (Galtung 197). The
major incompatible goal in the Northern Ireland conflict was the desire of the Unionists
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to remain a part of the British crown versus the desire of the Republicans to break free of
the crown and join the Republic of Ireland.
A divided Ireland deprived the Republicans of their basic needs in ways that a
united Ireland would not have. Under the government of Northern Ireland, the
Republicans were a powerless class. Catholics were deprived of their well-being.
Discrimination in hiring practices and jobs available for Catholics disallowed them from
realizing their full potential economically. The Local Housing Authorities distributed
housing in a manner that favored Protestants over Catholics and deprived Catholics of
their need (Hancock). The educational systems granted better funding and state-support
for Protestant schools over Catholic educational facilities (Hancock). Catholic children
were not able to receive the same quality of education that Protestant children were. Not
all people meet the second basic need of identity, or something to live for, uniformly but
for a society such as the one that existed in Northern Ireland it is likely that religion was a
main source of identity for people. Under the governmental structures that existed in
Northern Ireland, Catholics felt deprived of their religiosity due to the fact that
Protestants held all the power within society and the fear of sectarian violence. Galtung’s
third need, the freedom to choose how to identify oneself, was not a freedom Republicans
living in Northern Ireland had. Republicans desired to be identified as Irish, but Northern
Ireland’s position within the UK disallowed them of this. Those living in Northern
Ireland attained the final human need of survival in most cases, but terrorism and
paramilitary attacks did kill many and instilled fear into many that their survival was in
question.
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The Unionists on the other hand dreaded the idea of a unified Republic of Ireland.
Under this circumstance they would be deprived of their basic needs. A united Ireland
would place Protestants in the minority and they feared that this would result in the
inability for them to freely practice their religion (Fitzduff). It is also not unlikely to
think that, given the treatment of Catholics under the government of Northern Ireland, a
government with a Catholic majority would in turn institute policies that discriminated
against Protestants in much the same way that Catholics had been discriminated against.
If this happened the Protestants would be deprived of their basic needs and the same
conflict would exist, but in reverse.
In accordance with Galtung’s framework three aspects of conflict lead to either
violence or transcendence depending on how they are dealt with: attitudes, behavior, and
contradiction (Galtung 72). Until the bombing of Omagh these three aspects were
oriented in a manner enabling the violence to continue. The attitudes of people in
Northern Ireland were of hatred between the two religious sects. Catholic and Protestant
communities lived in complete separation from one another sometimes with the
construction of “peace walls” between the communities to physically prevent outbreaks
of direct violence. The behavior of the people was of direct violence. There were
numerous paramilitary organizations on both sides of the conflict that used acts of
terrorism on a regular basis to try to make their voices heard. The contradiction between
the two parties was solely whether Northern Ireland would remain a part of the UK or
unite with the Republic of Ireland. No other option was presented. These three aspects
combined together could only lead to the intensification of the conflict and violence. The
attitudes, behavior, and contradiction did not remain stagnant.
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In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s behavior began to slowly evolve. Leadership,
paramilitaries, and civilians in Northern Ireland started to realize that a “war” fought in
the way it was being fought in Northern Ireland, with terrorism as a major tactic and so
many paramilitary actors, was unable to be won by either side (Fitzduff). These feelings
are a major part of what led to the first ceasefires in 1994. This also shows the
beginnings of a change in behavior from direct violence to non-violence.
Contradiction was the next aspect to change. Instead of seeing the conflict as
having only two possible outcomes, the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998
showed that there were other possible outcomes amenable to both sides. The Good
Friday Agreement along with other reforms addressed many of the needs that the
Catholic community was being deprived. The power sharing government set up by the
Good Friday Agreement ensures that discrimination on the part of either of the two
parties would be much more difficult than it had been formerly. Both Republicans and
Unionists are guaranteed representation in the government, which will help to ensure
equal rights to all of the citizens of Northern Ireland. It gives people the ability to
identify themselves as British, Irish, or both if they so choose (Darby). This choice
removed the necessity for a united Ireland because those living in Northern Ireland who
wished to be identified as Irish citizens now could be identified in that manner. The
agreement shows a response to the contradiction with creativity rather than just an
attempt to resolve one overarching issue.
Attitudes are the third aspect that needed to change. This happened over a long
period of time but the moment when most everyone in Northern Ireland committed to a
new attitude was in the wake of the 1998 Omagh bombings. It was at this point that
Tully 21
people were tired of the violence and ready to lay down their weapons for good.
Unionists and Republicans alike stood up and condemned the perpetrators of the
bombing. Sinn Féin publicly reprimanded those responsible for the bombings separating
fundamentalist factions like the RIRA from the majority of Republicans (Beyond
Omagh). There is no doubt that there were reactions of anger in response to the Omagh
bombings but for the first time the overwhelming response from all sides was the
condemnation of the act and an outpouring of empathy towards the victims and families.
This newly evolved outlook in Northern Ireland comprising of empathy, nonviolence, and creativity is the exact atmosphere that brings about transcendence
according to Galtung (Galtung 110-111). Galtung also highlights the necessity of
dialogue in the transformation of a conflict (Galtung 75). Dialogue was vital in the
Northern Irish Peace Process and it is unlikely any type of progress could have come
without it. The banning of Sinn Féin from peace talks after the 1996 bombing of Canary
Wharf inhibited the ability for the peace talks to make any significant progress because
this removed a major party to the conflict from the dialogue completely, ensuring the
needs of Sinn Féin would not be met. Prime Minister Tony Blair’s role in the facilitation
of dialogue was crucial in the formulation of the Good Friday Agreement. Blair was the
person responsible for ensuring that Sinn Féin was included in the peace talk process
(Darby). He understood that in order for any agreement made to have lasting
significance, all parties to the conflict must be included in the formation of that
agreement.
The transcendence of the conflict does not in any way imply that the conflict is
over. There has been more violence since 1998 and the power sharing government set up
Tully 22
by the Good Friday Agreement has been suspended multiple times. Maintaining and
sustaining a commitment to the Good Friday Agreement, and the empathetic non-violent
ideals it espouses, even through the disagreement surrounding it has kept Northern
Ireland on the path of transcendence. The revitalization of the power sharing government
in March of 2007 by Gerry Adams of Sinn Féin and Ian Paisley of the Democratic
Unionist Party (Month by Month) is yet another endorsement of the Good Friday
Agreement. Continued support like this is essential for the continued success of the
peace process. Conflict transformation is a long-term process and Northern Ireland still
faces challenges to the peace that must be addressed for the process to continue to move
forward.
X. Unresolved Issues and Challenges for the Future
The main issues left to be resolved stem from the situation surrounding the
policing and justice system in Northern Ireland. Policing also has an extremely sensitive
and volatile past in Northern Ireland, especially for the Catholic community. From the
time of the partition through the majority of the Troubles policing was done by the RUC,
which often displayed discriminatory treatment and was seen as a Protestant partisan
group by the Catholics (Hancock). Many deadlines have been set for the Northern Irish
assembly to work out a system allowing for the devolution of policing and justice. None
of these deadlines have been met and devolution is still yet to occur. The problem with
devolution of policing and justice is mostly that the system needs to be reworked from
top to bottom. There are questions over funding, the structure of the court system, and
the membership of policing boards among hundreds of others (Devolving Policing and
Justice…).
Tully 23
Problems with policing are also a major contributing factor to another important
unresolved issue. That is the issue of justice and closure for those that have been affected
by the violence of the Troubles. In 2002 it was noted that almost one hundred people
have died due to sectarian violence since 1998, in that same time period only one person
has been convicted of murder in relation to this violence (Konnikova 38). Throughout
the Troubles it is estimated that about half of the populations of Northern Ireland was
closely associated with someone killed or injured and in the majority of killings carried
out by paramilitaries there were no convictions (Fitzduff).
The aftermath of the Omagh bombing is one of the most pervasive examples of
the public need for closure and some sort of justice in response to the violence. The tenyear anniversary of the bombing in August of 2008 brought to light the failure of any
organization to prosecute those responsible for the bomb (Keenan). In efforts to respond
to this there has been a call for new investigation into the bombing and a more concerted
effort to bring resolution. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has asked to reopen inquiry into
claims that the British government intercepted phone calls on the day of the bombing that
if properly attended to could have led to the prevention of the event (Jordan). In the wake
of the ten-year anniversary of Omagh, Northern Irish politicians have asked for the full
disclosure of all information from all parties to the conflict that could lead to the
apprehension of those responsible (Moriarty).
The decommissioning of arms on the part of all of the paramilitary group in the
conflict also would do much in the proliferation of peace as well as make a clear public
commitment to nonviolence. Sinn Féin did immediately step forward to condemn the
acts of the rIRA in the Omagh bombing but made no efforts to call for the
Tully 24
decommissioning of the mainstream IRA as a display of their disapproval of violence
(Beyond Omagh). Deadlines for decommissioning have been set and disregarded by all
of the paramilitary groups at one point or another. This could be a result of the lack of
devolution of policing and justice as well. The decommissioning of arms is still in the
hands of the British Irish Council until devolution is achieved (Konnikova 38). Until
devolution of policing happens and is proved successful though paramilitary groups will
be reluctant to decommission because they possibility of a disintegration back to violence
is a lurking fear.
The education system in Northern Ireland is still largely segregated but schools
are much more equal now under the power sharing government. There is much more
regulation of the education system by the government with ten different Statutory Bodies
responsible for the management and administration of the educational system, one of
which is dedicated entirely to Catholic maintained schools (Nugent). There are also a
number of voluntary bodies as well as the Department of Education that help to ensure
that quality education is received by all youth in Northern Ireland, across sectarian lines
(Nugent). Protestants in Northern Ireland are still employed at a higher percentage than
Catholics are but that gap is closing. Between 1992 and 2005, the number of
economically active Catholics rose by 51,000, while the increase was only 7,000 for
Protestants (Office of the First Minister). Statistics still show a higher percentage of
Catholics (25%) living in low-income housing than Protestants (18%) (New Policy
Institute), but there is no evidence of discrimination in the distribution of public housing.
The continued success of the Northern Ireland peace process is now in the hands
of the new power sharing government as well as the citizens of Northern Ireland. The
Tully 25
Good Friday Agreement set forth the framework for transcendence of the conflict and as
long as people remain firmly committed to nonviolence, empathy, and creative problem
solving there is no reason why direct violence cannot continue to decline. Citizens of
Northern Ireland must fully commit to Northern Ireland and realize that it is possible for
all parties to meet their needs under the Good Friday Agreement. There will continue to
be rebellious factions that do not agree with this but the condemnation of these groups
and the hope and desire for peace from the majority will allow for these factions to be
quieted and a lasting peace to finally come to Northern Ireland.
Tully 26
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