Northern Ireland Conflict

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communities didn't mix -> lived in separate quarters, physical borders PROBLEM: • most newcomers: Protestants • native Irish: Catholics, saw Protestant newcomers as invaders/occupiers ·land occupied by hostile groups • religious, cultural, territorial differences how the Protestants saw the Irish: • rude, undereformed, aggressive • ungrateful traitors • they must be tamed • opponents of progress Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland Berpant THE CREATION OF NORTHERN IRELAND: • Irish rebellion against English administration in Ireland • pressure on British government to grant independence to island • Protestants: wanted to maintain union with Britain, feared poorer economic state • Catholics living in North: wanted independence from Britain, united Ireland • 1916: attempts to overthrow British rule • times of deep division between Catholics and Protestants • civil war-like clashes →> tensions burst into civil war, protest turned into 3 day riot - British army sent in -> violence escalated, demonstrations that started peacefully led to death and wounding of numerous people • 1921: compromise: country partitioned into two sections, Protestants North and Catholics South, NI remained part of GB, rest of the island Republic of Ireland Irish resistance too strong for British to conquer whole island, but northern part totally dominated by British colonization TROUBLES IN THE NORTH: • consequences Catholics: discrimination against the Catholic minority in North (e.x. in jobs, political representation) membership in 00 (access to the in forbidd . • consequences Protestants: dominated local councils, other important institutions • existence of discrimination against Catholics -> civil rights campaign (late 1960s in the streets of Belfast and Derry), strongly supported by NI's Catholics • aim: not to unite Ireland but to be given the same rights as other citizens of Britain right to vote / employment / good housing / fairness under law • Protestants opposed movement, threat to their status IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMY: IRA • mission: defend Catholics in NI • goal forcing a unification of Ireland by any means necessary freedom fighters: • honorable goal most important-> justified • violence last resort to get attention • necessary to free Ireland from colonial rule • had terror tactics used against them (British) possible to be both →> used terrorist tactics in pursuit of freedom for a group →> depends on how you define terrorists/ freedom fighters -> freedom fighters who sadly felt that they had to resort to those tactics reasons for partition -> THE GUILDFORD PUB BOMBING: organized themselves in political party Sinn Féin, splinter group separated from the IRA →backbone of Irish nationalist movement what forms did the violence take? Bloody Sunday • massacres • sectarian violence: murder, beating • street fights • sniper attacks • sensational bombings • roadblocks • interment without trial • mistrust . neighborhood enmity -> absurd nature of many violent acts -> people still struggling with enormity of violence today terrorists: • no official legal/military status • can't fight violence with violence • should try to find other ways to bring change, solve conflict without violence • killed a lot of people, used terror tactics • brought a lot of unnecessary suffering on a lot of innocent people • reckless, methods example of terrorism: killing random people counts as terrorism • shouldn't romanticize what happened • terrible period of suffering, bloodshed •IRA bombs ripped through two pubs in Guildford, November 1974 • claiming the lives of people, injuring people • 4 people were wrongly arrested for being the Guildford bombers (suspicious, spent time in London, Catholics) • police/detectives blackmailed him/threatened to kill family if he didn't confess -> confessed under pressure/torture -> life sentence murder although innocent • police: under heavy public pressure to find bombers • kept them in prison although declared innocent, evidence was withheld from defense -> unfair, cruel, illegal treatment BLOODY SUNDAY: • massacre where British soldiers shot 26 unarmed civilians during protest march • violent clash in January 1972 • thousands of people gathered to protest, organized by NI Civil Rights Association • intended route blocked by British troops • violent street fights began, rocks were thrown • march was violently shut down by British Paratroop Regiment shot in crowd, unarmed protesters shot by army -> what started out as a protest turned into a guerilla war, local political protest →guerilla war: turning point ->years of violence followed murder British politicians (civil • reaction IRA: saw this as a proof that they were needed, started to assassinate, servants, bomb places they consid- • during Troubles: many people killed by IRA ered legitimate military targets THE GOOD FRIDAY AGREEMENT: •pathway to peace • ended the conflict officially on 10th of April 1998 agreement between British and Irish government on how NI should be governed addressing issues, which had caused the conflict during previous decades •demanded equality of power for both sides • Northern Ireland Assembly was founded CHALLENGES IN IRELAND TODAY: • Brexit, Corona: peace in danger politically part of the UK, geographically part of island of Ireland • Protestants: try to maintain ties with Britain • Catholics: seek union with RoI problem: -> NI: belongs to EU →> ROI: does not belong to Britain, will not leave EU • still segregated • neighborhood of the same denomination • feeling of belonging to one of the communities have increased • people still feel marginalized bc of who they are • still the potential there for people to get outraged and turn to violence • peace is fragile, wounds still visible, divided by painful memories THE NORTHERN IRELAND CONFLICT AND THE BREXIT: • vote, negotiations caused confusion •NI one of the biggest Brexit problems ·border between ROI and NI: big problem Republic of Ireland custom checks concors arifs serected goods • renewed outbreak of violence: direct consequence of Brexit, lack of attention in London to problems of NI, result of haste, didn't go into detail what Brexit would mean UK single customs territory • Irish border will become external EU border->return of hard border: could bring back a lot of trouble, border was keeping peace for many years • Brexit imposed on people of NI • rising riots about post-Brexit situation between Protestants and Catholics • unrest threat to GFA • risk that NI will get in same cycle like 20 years ago torifs on trade the border in the Irish sea • GFA removed security checkpoints from border, helped make border invisible -> customs checks could undermine much of that progress • border in Irish sea so that that there is no way of making a mockery of EU tariff rules • custom checks/controls/EU tariffs on selected goods crossing from UK to NI decision • leave NI in the Customs Union and draw border in Irish sea • NI trade with ROI: NI will continue to be part of EU customs rule -> no terifs/restrictions on goods • rest of UK will have tarifs on trade with ROI PROGNOSIS FOR THE FUTURE: • still small remnants of radical groups • Irish unification more likely, reunification: one of most heatedly debated questions •sea border can lead to disagreement and further conflict • peace is fragile • conflict will not be solved in near future