Northern Ireland
From Conservapedia
Northern Ireland (Irish: Tuaisceart Éireann, Ulster-Scots: Norlin Airlann) is one of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom, which also includes England, Scotland and Wales. Geographically, Northern Ireland occupies the northern portion of the island of Ireland, with the Republic of Ireland occupying the remainder of the island. The capital of Northern Ireland is Belfast.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early Years
Northern Ireland was created by the Government of Ireland Act 1920 and its existence effectively confirmed by the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1922, which formally concluded the Irish War of Independence. The country comprises six out of the nine counties in the province of Ulster - the six which contained majority Protestant (or balanced) populations in 1920. The three counties of Ulster with clear Catholic majorities became part of the Republic of Ireland. Northern Ireland was governed from Parliament Buildings at Stormont in Belfast; Northern Ireland also elected Members of Parliament to serve at the UK Parliament in London. However, a minority on both sides of the Irish border refused to accept the partition of Ireland and continued to fight the British, largely with terrorist activities.
The most important group in this regard has been the terrorist Irish Republican Army, commonly known as the IRA. The IRA was originally formed to fight the British during the War of Independence. Many IRA members refused to accept the Anglo-Irish treaty's partition of the island into two separate countries, leading to the bloody Irish Civil War of 1922-23, in which pro-treaty forces were victorious. However, the anti-treaty forces continued to refer to themselves as the IRA after the civil war concluded, and to consider themselves the legitimate government of Ireland.
Governments of Northern Ireland were widely criticised for anti-Catholic policies, particularly during its first 40 years. The country's first prime minister, James Craig, once famously described it as "a Protestant parliament for a Protestant people."[1]
[edit] Civil Rights Movement
During the late 1960s, partially inspired by the civil rights movement in the United States, Northern Ireland Catholics began to protest against perceived discrimination by the government. Protests were initially led by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association, or NICRA, which was founded in January 1967. NICRA's demands included repeal of the Special Powers Act, the end of the paramilitary B Specials police force, an end to the gerrymandering in local elections, and an end to discrimination in terms of government housing and government employment.
Protests typically took the form of marches or other demonstrations. One of the most important protests took place on January 1, 1969, when a group from the student People's Democracy organisation organised a march from Belfast to Derry, intended to imitate Martin Luther King, Jr.'s marches from Selma to Montgomery. The march was repeatedly attacked by unionists (People wanting to retain the 'Union' of Northern Ireland with Great Britain), including off-duty policemen. The most intense violence occurred at Burntollet Bridge, where the marchers were attacked by 200 unionists while police did little to intervene.
[edit] The Troubles
"The Troubles" refers to a 30-year period of terrorism and civil unrest. The Troubles are generally considered to have begun with civil rights movement and the violent unionist response. Northern Ireland prime minister Terrence O'Neill at first responded favorably to the demands of the protestors, but this attitude was decried by other unionists, including Ian Paisley. Many unionists believed that NICRA was controlled by the IRA. Following the violence at Burntollet Bridge, nationalists in the city of Derry began to erect barricades to protect themselves. This led to the Battle of the Bogside between nationalists and police prior to a unionist march that was scheduled to pass the nationalist Bogside area of the city. The Battle of the Bogside lasted from August 12 to 14, 1969 before British troops were called to resolve the situation. In the meantime, fierce rioting broke out in other parts of the country, including Belfast, Newry, and Strabane. In total, 7 people were killed and 750 injured during the unrest in August 1969, and 1,500 Catholic families and 500 Protestant families were forced from their homes. The Northern Ireland government then requested the presence of British troops throughout the country to keep order.
The violence of the Troubles peaked during the early 1970s, spurred by an influx of recruits to various terrorist organisations, including the republican IRA and the loyalist Ulster Defence Association and Ulster Volunteer Force. A number of events combined to widen the divide between the nationalist and unionist communities. For nationalists, these included the Falls Curfew of July 1970, in which British troops cordoned off nationalist neighborhoods in Belfast, not allowing residents in or out of the area; 4 nationalists were killed in fighting between British troops and the IRA. The introduction of internment without trial in August 1971 was viewed by nationalists as discriminatory, as 348 of the first 350 people interned were nationalists. Of nearly 2,000 people interned over the next four years, 94.6% were nationalists. For unionists, IRA actions similarly hardened their positions. For example, the IRA carried out 1,300 bombings by the end of 1972, largely against commercial targets, considerably disrupting everyday life and often resulting in the deaths of uninvolved civilians. The worst example during this period is known as Bloody Friday, when the IRA set off 22 bombs on July 21, 1972, causing 9 deaths and 130 injuries. The IRA provided warnings to security forces via the media, but given the number of bombs planted did not give sufficient time to allow the security forces to evacuate the areas. In some cases, ambiguous warnings led to people being led toward, rather than away from, bombs about to be detonated.
In 1972 the UK government, deeming the Northern Ireland government unable to stabilise the situation, suspended the Northern Ireland parliament and instituted direct rule from London. While direct rule was intended as a temporary measure, it continued throughout the course of the Troubles.
[edit] Government
| Position | Current Holder |
|---|---|
| Monarch | Queen Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minster | Gordon Brown MP |
| Secretary of State | Shaun Woodward MP |
| First Minister | Ian Paisley MP MLA |
| Deputy First Minister | Martin McGuinness MP MLA |
Although constitutionally the United Kingdom is a unitary state with one sovereign, parliament and government - there has been moves to give power to national legislature in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, this has taken the form of devolution. Power for certain areas of government like education, health and the environment are fully the responsibility of their national governments. However, central government maintains the right to overturn any decision by a national assembly, as as such the Parliament of the United Kingom remains sovereign in the United Kingdom as a whole.
[edit] Devolution
The current political set-up in Northern Ireland stems form the Belfast Agreement of 1998 which provided for an elected Northern Ireland Assembly and a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive to be jointly headed by the leaders of the main Unionist and Nationalist parties.
[edit] References
- ↑ Bardon, J. (1992). A History of Ulster. The Blackstaff Press, Belfast, pp. 539.
