Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is a country that is a member 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.

Early Years

Northern Ireland was created by the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1922, which formally concluded the Irish War of Independence. It was governed from Stormont Castle in Belfast, and both Catholics and Protestants debated their membership. During this time, MP's would travel to and from the Houses of Parliament where they served on Her Majesty's Government. 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 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^{[Citation Needed]}.

The government of Northern Ireland has been widely criticized for anti-Catholic policies, particularly during its first 40 years^{[Citation Needed]}. The country's first prime minister, James Craig, once famously described it as "a Protestant parliament and a Protestant state."

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 discrimination. 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 organization organized 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 (those wishing for Northern Ireland to remain in the United Kingdom), 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.