Ulster Troubles (Part 14 of 24)

The Troubles consisted of about 30 years of repeated acts of intense violence between elements of Northern Ireland's Nationalist community (principally Roman Catholic) and Unionist community (principally Protestant). The conflict was caused by the disputed status of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom, and the alleged domination of the minority nationalist community, and discrimination against, by the unionist majority. The violence was characterised by the armed campaigns of paramilitary groups. Most notable of these was the Provisional IRA campaign 1969--1997 which was aimed at the end of British rule in Northern Ireland and the creation of a new all-Ireland Irish Republic. In response to this campaign and the perceived erosion of the British character and unionist domination of Northern Ireland, loyalist paramilitaries such as the UVF and UDA launched their own campaigns against the nationalist population. The state security forces - the British Army and the police (the Royal Ulster Constabulary) - were also involved in the violence. The British government point of view is that its forces were neutral in the conflict and trying to uphold law and order in the North. Irish republicans, however, regarded the state forces as "combatants" in the conflict and point to evidence of repeated collusion between the state forces and the loyalists as proof of this.

Alongside the violence, there was a political deadlock between the major political parties in Northern Ireland, including those who condemned violence, over the future status of Northern Ireland and the form of government there should be within Northern Ireland.

The Troubles were brought to an uneasy end by a peace process which included the declaration of ceasefires by most paramilitary organisations, the corresponding withdrawal of most troops from the streets and the reform of the police, as agreed by the signatories to the Belfast Agreement (commonly known as the Good Friday Agreement). This reiterated the long-held position that Northern Ireland will remain within the United Kingdom until a majority votes otherwise. It also established a devolved power-sharing government within Northern Ireland (currently suspended), where the government must consist of both unionist and nationalist parties.

Though the number of active participants in the Troubles was relatively small, and the paramilitary organisations that claimed to represent the communities were sometimes unrepresentative of the general population, the Troubles touched the lives of most people in Northern Ireland on a daily basis, while occasionally spreading to Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland. In addition at several times between 1969 and 1998, for example in 1972, after the Bloody Sunday, or during the Hunger Strikes of 1981, when there was mass, hostile mobilisation of the two communities and it seemed possible that the Troubles would escalate into a genuine civil war. Many people today have had their political, social and communal attitudes and perspectives shaped by the Troubles.

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• ulster
• irish
• northern
• ireland
• sinn
• fein
• republic
• rising
• british
• celtic
• brits
• belfast
• catholic
• protestant
• army
• derry

[andyhowpog]

The British Army should have stayed on the streets for 12 months maximum then pulled out and a UN Force placed there instead. Unfortunately, they stayed too long and gradually sided with the protestants. It could all have been handled so differently...

[DrussTheSnoop]

RTE were more bias towards British opinion than the fuckin BBC where they after all enforced a gagging order on Sinn Fein long before the BBC did

[BintCrusher]

I Ran Away HAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

[andyhowpog]

@MrJojo1690 He was still single then and hadn't met my "maw" up to that point, dickhead.

[MrJojo1690]

@andyhowpog in the raf ma baws man!!! wis the local priest pumpin yer maw?

[sinwow33]

lol i love how the narraor says the catholics rebeled against a protestant state that neglected them. SUrely they ment to say a British state that deliberately neglected them. I am sure that all the leaders of NI upto this point were all English, they all sounded English when I hear them speak.

[andyhowpog]

@RepublicOf32 Thanks mate. My Dad was over there in the RAF on National Service from 1955-57 before the years of the Troubles. He was appalled about how the situation deteriorated years later. Long live the peace process.

[RepublicOf32]

@andyhowpog

That is possibly the best statement I've heard towards a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

[celticlofts]

RTE did not decide to gag Sinn Fein, the Irish Government did. RTE had no choice or say in the matter.

[kealyc]

Between 1921 and 1968, Westminster systematically avoided getting involved in the way in which Protestant Councillors and MPs governed the province. It was governed as a colony, interms of Housing, education and employment. It was also policed as a colony.

[piotrlis]

Do you think the british soldiers had orgasm while they shot with their weapons to armed (if rocks can be called a weapon) crowd? UP THE RA!