Misplaced Pages

The Troubles

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Demiurge (talk | contribs) at 21:17, 3 February 2006 (rv POV). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 21:17, 3 February 2006 by Demiurge (talk | contribs) (rv POV)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. (Learn how and when to remove this message)
"The Troubles" is a term used to describe two periods of violence in Ireland during the twentieth century. This article describes the latter; for the earlier Troubles, see Anglo-Irish War and Irish Civil War.

The Troubles is a generic term used to describe a period of sporadic communal violence involving paramilitary organisations, the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the British Army and others in Northern Ireland from the late 1960s until the mid-1990s. It could also be described as a many-sided conflict, a guerrilla war or even a civil war. Paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland are widely described in the Northern Ireland media and society as terrorist organisations.

Casualties : Brief Summary

Responsibility

Between 1969 and 2001, 3523 died as a result of the Troubles:

Status

Most of those killed were civilians or members of the security forces, with smaller groups of victims identified with republican and loyalist paramilitary groups. It is often disputed whether some civilians were members of paramilitary organisations due to their secretive nature. An analysis of those killed by status gives:

  • 1857 civilians
  • 1121 members of security forces
  • 394 identified as members of republican groups
  • 151 identified as members of loyalist groups

The security force members include:

Location

File:Deaths in The Troubles by area.PNG
Deaths in the Troubles by area

Most killings took place within Northern Ireland, especially Belfast, although surrounding countries were also affected. Sutton gives a geographic breakdown of deaths as follows (in alphabetical order):

Further information is available on: Conflict Archive on the Internet: Sutton database

See timeline below for chronological listing.

Injuries

Missing Persons

Background

The Troubles were another chapter in the long-running series of disputes between Northern Ireland's Unionist community, which is primarily Protestant, and Nationalist community, which is chiefly Roman Catholic. They were brought to an uneasy end by a peace process which included the declaration of ceasefires by most paramilitary organisations, the withdrawal of most troops from the streets and the creation of a new police force in a series of reforms, as agreed by the signatories to the Belfast Agreement (commonly known as the Good Friday Agreement).

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 Britain and the Republic of Ireland. Many people today have had their political, social and communal attitudes and perspectives shaped by the Troubles.

Though not itself part of the Troubles, the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association civil rights campaign in the mid to late 1960s in Northern Ireland, which was largely modelled on the American Civil Rights Movement of Martin Luther King and others in the United States, was seen by some in the unionist community as the starting point for the Troubles. They argue that it, and the violent opposition to it led by Ian Paisley and other loyalist leaders, led to a destabilisation of government and created a void filled later by paramilitary groups. Others, mainly though not exclusively nationalist, disagree, arguing that the Civil Rights campaign was a reaction to a corrupt system of government, the failure to reform the system causing the collapse in law and order that led to the Troubles. All are agreed that the Troubles were well underway by Bloody Sunday, Bloody Friday, internment, the suspension of the unionist-controlled Stormont Home Rule government, the campaigns of violence by the various paramilitary organisations, including the Dublin and Monaghan Bombings, the La Mon bombing, the killing of Lord Mountbatten and members of his family, the assassination of Sir Christopher Ewart-Biggs, the then British Ambassador to the Republic of Ireland, the attempted assassination of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet in the Brighton hotel bombing, the assassination of Airey Neave and the attempted assassination of John David Taylor, the Enniskillen and Omagh bombings, the hunger strikers in the Long Kesh prison, the creation of the Peace People organisation (which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976), and the splits in the IRA and ultimately the Belfast Agreement.

Overview

The partition of Ireland

The origins of the Troubles are complex. What is clear is that its origins lie in the centuries-long debate over whether Ireland, or part of Ireland, should be part of the United Kingdom, and the anger felt by many Irish at their treatment by the British. In 1922, after widespread political violence, the Government of Ireland Act partitioned the island of Ireland into two separate regions, one of which became "Northern Ireland". According to the majority of unionists, Northern Ireland, which became a self-governing region of the United Kingdom, was governed in accordance with "democratic" principles, the rule of law and in accordance with the will of a majority within its borders to remain part of the United Kingdom. Nationalists however saw the partition of Ireland as an illegal and immoral division of the island of Ireland against the will of its people, and argued that the Northern Ireland statelet was neither legitimate nor democratic, but created with a deliberately engineered unionist majority. Each side had their own soundbites to describe their perspective. Ulster Unionist Party Prime Minister of Northern Ireland Lord Brookborough talked of a "Protestant state for a Protestant people", while a later Republic of Ireland Taoiseach (prime minister) Charles Haughey described Northern Ireland as "a failed political entity".

Religion and class

For the most part a clear divide exists in terms of religion and some times a left-right divide between the various communities. Most though not all Protestants are unionists, while most though not all Catholics are nationalists. While the mainstream organisations representing nationalists and unionists tended to be quite conservative, more politically and religious radical groups emerged associated with republicans and loyalists, with Sinn Féin adopting a Marxist perspective of the political situation, defining it in terms of "class struggle". Loyalists in the 1970s even advocated forms of an "independent Ulster" which they compared to the then apartheid-style regimes of Rhodesia and South Africa, in which one community's dominance could be ensured. There is little support for this idea today.

Except for hard-line unionists, most of the political spectrum argued that the Northern Ireland of the 1960s needed change. Moderate nationalists in the Civil Rights movement, under figures like John Hume, Gerry Fitt and Austin Currie advocated an end to the gerrymandering of local government and the end to discrimination over access to council housing. They pressed for wide reforms, whereas some unionists saw these concessions as part of a process whereby nationalists would bring down Northern Ireland and force Irish unity. Republicans adopted a more violent approach to force more radical change, which resulted in a violent reaction from loyalists, the British army and the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

Policing

The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), the police force in Northern Ireland, was largely, though not totally, Protestant for a number of reasons. Catholics did not join in the numbers expected by the British when the force was first created. Because of the influence of the Orange Order, those that did reported a strongly "hostile to Catholics" and unionist working environment. Those Catholics who did join were often targeted as traitors by the various republican groups, yet some Catholic police officers did play a part in the constabulary. One served as Chief Constable, while the current leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, Mark Durkan is the son of a Catholic RUC officer.

The result was that critics of the unionist and loyalist communities saw the police force as the "Unionist police force for a Unionist state." Unlike the unarmed police force in the South, An Garda Síochána, the RUC was never a normal police force.

A policing review, part of the Good Friday Agreement, has led to some reforms of policing, including more rigorous accountability, measures to increase the number of Catholic officers, and the renaming of the RUC to the Police Service of Northern Ireland to avoid using the word "Royal". While most of the reforms have been introduced, Sinn Féin continues to withhold its support from the new Police Service of Northern Ireland until they are "implemented in full".

Timeline

Deaths related to conflict (1990-2004) Number of deaths listed as "conflict-related (uncertain if conflict-related)" ( ).

Year Deaths
2004 2 (2)
2003 10 (2)
2002 11 (4)
2001 15
2000 19
1999 8
1998 53
1997 21
1996 17
1995 9
1994 60
1993 84
1992 85
1991 94
1990 76


Bloody Sunday

Main article: Bloody Sunday (1972)

Bloody Sunday in January 1972 was one of the key events during the Troubles.

Bloody Friday

Bloody Friday July 21, 1972. 22 bombs are planted by the IRA in and around Belfast, resulting in multiple deaths of civilians and soldiers as well as numerious injuries.

The Special Powers Act

From 1971 until 1975, under the Special Powers Act, hundreds of men were interned without trial (see Long Kesh).

Situation in 2004

The Irish and British governments continue to seek a solution. It was widely held in Britain and Ireland that the Troubles came to an end in the late-nineties with the various paramilitary cease-fires that were established. The period that came after the Troubles is known as the Northern Ireland peace process, the Good Friday Agreement.

File:Www.wesleyjohnston.com-users-ireland-maps-drumcree parade.gif

Inter-communal tensions rise in particular during the "Marching Season" when the anti-Catholic Orange Order parade through various neighbourhoods. The parades are held to commemorate William of Orange's victory in the Battle of the Boyne and the start of the Protestant Ascendancy. One particular flashpoint that has caused repeated strife is the Garvaghy Road area in Portadown, although that parade has now been banned indefinitely. Recently, it is in Belfast that the disputes have occurred.

Directory

The whole of Northern Ireland has, in some way, been caught up in the Troubles and subsequent peace process. While not a comprehensive guide, the following directory introduces the main players on the scene of its society.

1. Cultural / Religious Groupings

Main Churches

Protestant / Unionist

Catholic / Nationalist

2. Political Parties

Listing includes brief summary of general policy outlook.

Nationalist / Republican

Unionist / Loyalist

Other

The British Labour Party accepts members from but does not organise in Northern Ireland. The Liberal Democrats are associated with the Alliance Party. Fianna Fáil, the largest party in Ireland, has recently opened a cumann in Derry, but has not contested elections in Northern Ireland since the 1930s.

3. Security Forces

United Kingdom

Northern Ireland

Republic of Ireland

4. Paramilitary Groups

Membership of all the following groups is banned (proscribed) by law in both jurisdictions in Ireland.

Republican

See Irish Republican Army for a discussion of how some of these are related.

Loyalist

Further reading

  • David McKittrick, Seamus Kelters, Brian Feeney and Chris Thornton (1999), Lost Lives: The stories of the men, women and children who died as a result of the Northern Ireland troubles, Mainstream Publishing Company. ISBN 1 84018 227 X.
  • Greg Harkin and Martin Ingram (2004), Stakeknife: Britain's secret agents in Ireland, O'Brien Press
  • Richard English (2003), "Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA, Oxford University Press,

External links

Categories: