TheTroublesNorthernIreland

(1968-?)The unemployment in our bonesErupting in our hands like stones;The thought of violence a reliefThe act of violence a grief;Our bitterness and loveHand in glove

“Derry” Seamus Deane

Northern Ireland - Before

“The Nationalist majority . . . stands at 3,684. We must ultimately reduce and liquidate that majority. . . This county is . . . a Unionist county.” E.C. Ferguson, Unionist MP, Femanagh, 1948

Fermangh Protestant CatholicPopulation 47% 53%Administration 33 1Education 120 4Health & Welfare 88 21Other 97 6

Alleged liquidation campaign

• Make new housing available primarily to Protestants

• Make employment scarce for Catholics

Reaction

• 1963 Homeless Citizens, League, Dungannon

• 1964 Fermanagh Civil Rights Association

• Dr. Conn and Mrs. Patricia McCluskey

• 1965 Campaign For Social Justice In Northern Ireland

Activities

• Presentations, pamphlets, pickets• Occupied pre-fab bungalows due for

demolition • First protest march of the civil rights

movement in Dungannon in June 1963.

Background - Derry

• February 1967 Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association formed– Derry City Council dominated by Unionists

despite majority Catholic population– High unemployment in area (~20%)

• Caledon squatting– Council houses generally denied to Catholics– Catholic squatters evicted; House given to a 19-

year old Protestant woman with connections– Aug. 24, 1968 Local march wo incident

Voting – Northern Ireland

• Parliament – 1921, 1925 - Proportional representation– 1929 Eliminate proportional representation– 1973 Single transferable vote

• Local elections (1960s)– ~1.5% have more than one vote– 25% have no vote (lodgers, grown children at

home)

Disproportionate Representation

• Derry (1957) Nationalists– 61.6 % of parliamentary electors– 54.7 % of local government electors

• Belfast (1967) Nationalists– 49 % of local government electors– 62 % of non-electors

Derry: Voters and RepresentativesCatholic Voters Other Seats

North Ward: 2,530 3,946 8 UnionistsWaterside Ward: 1,852 3,697 4 UnionistsSouth Ward 10,047 1,138 8 Non-UnionistsTotal: 14,429 8,781

Derry

Grievances

• Franchise• Gerrymandering, • Allocation of houses and jobs by local councils• Discrimination by private firms • Lack of economic aid leading to high rates of

unemployment in Catholic areas.

Civil Rights - Oct. 5,1968 • Derry Housing Action

Committee and Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association plan march in Derry along traditional Protestant route

• Home minister bans march

Derry March• March held anyway• Royal Ulster

Constabulary (RUC) baton marchers including two MPs

• Stones and placards thrown at police

• Batons and water wagons used against marchers

Banned March

Apprentice Boys March

Apprentice BoysMarch Route

Bogside

• BBC Battle of the Bogside

1972 Protestant Riots

More Protests and Response

• More rallies, marches, and counter demonstrations– Newry riot

• Nov. 22 Reforms Package announced byTerence O'Neill, NI Prime Minister– Omsbudsman; Derry Housing Council to allocate

on need; Abolish special powers of police when safe

• Cameron report

1969 Cameron report

The police handling of the demonstration in Londonderry ... was in certain material respects ill co-ordinated and inept. There was use of unnecessary and ill controlled force in the dispersal of the demonstrators, only a minority of whom acted in a disorderly and violent manner. There are at work within Northern Ireland persons whose immediate and deliberate intention is to prepare, plan and provoke violence, reckless of the consequences to persons or property. ... From the aimless and vicious hooligans of the streets and alleys to the extremists of right or left, of whatever creed, Catholic or Protestant, all would appear to bear a share of blame for the tragic events which have occurred.

Bloody Sunday

Bloody Sunday Before

Arrests during lull

Victims

After

Internment

Internment Protest

“Interrogation in Depth”I. wall-standing: forcing the detainees to remain for periods of some hours in

a "stress position",

II. hooding: putting a dark bag over detainees' heads

III. subjection to noise

IV. deprivation of sleep

V. deprivation of food and drink

– Compton report: the techniques constituted physical ill-treatment but not physical brutality

– PM Heath: “Government, having reviewed the whole matter with great care and with reference to any future operations, have decided that the techniques ... will not be used in future as an aid to interrogation."

European Court for Human Rights holds (1978)

• Five techniques constituted a practice of inhuman and degrading treatment but not torture

• That there existed at Palace Barracks a practice of inhuman treatment

• That it cannot direct the respondent State to institute criminal or disciplinary proceedings against those members of the security forces who have committed the breaches...found by the Court and against those who condoned or tolerated such breaches

IRELAND v. THE UNITED KINGDOM

1972- 1985

• 1972 UK suspends Northern Ireland government (Stormont) – Direct rule

• 1974 Prevention of Terror Act– Hunger strikes

• Bombings, snipings, random acts of unkindness

Organizations - Militia

• Republican– Official IRA, Provisional IRA (1972) – Irish National Liberation Army (1974), Continuity

IRA (1996), Real IRA (1997)• Loyalist– Ulster Volunteer Force (1966)– Ulster Defence Association - Ulster Freedom

Fighters (1971)

Organizations - Political

• Official Sinn Féin → Sinn Féin the Workers Party → The Workers' Party → Workers' Party of Ireland.

• Sinn Féin (associated with Provisional IRA)

1981 Hunger Strikes

1981 Hunger Strikes - Funeral

Innocents

Bystanders

Army

IRA

The Toll – One estimate9 % of those killed by the IRA are other republicans

9% of those killed by UVF are other loyalists

Distribution

Path to Peace

1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement

“We say never, never, never” Ian Paisley

"...the formal recognition of the partition of Ireland...[is] a disaster for the nationalist cause” Gerry Adams Irish opinion 59 % pro, 29% anti

Path to Peace

• 1993 Downing Street Declaration– Informal talks

• 1994 Formal talks• 1998 Belfast (or Good Friday) Agreement• Complication - Decommissioning

Negotiators

Sides

Gerry Adams, Sinn Fein David Ervine, Progressive Unionist

Martin McGuiness, Sinn Fein, IRAIan Paisley, Democratic

Unionist

Mitchell Principles

Negotiators commit to:a. Democratic and peaceful means of resolving political issuesb. Total disarmament of all paramilitary organizations;c. Verifiable disarmament to the satisfaction of an

independent commission; d. Renounce and oppose use of force, or threat to use force,

to influence negotiations;e. To agree to abide by the terms of any agreement f. Urge that 'punishment' killings and beatings stop and take

effective steps to prevent such actions.

Drumcree March, Portadown

• Commemorate Battle of the Boyne

• 1995 RUC blocks Garvagny Rd. – Loyalist riots

• March permitted– Nationalist riots

• Still blocked– Annual protests

Blocking the Route (1998)

Ian Paisley

They breed like rabbits and multiply like vermin.Ian Paisley on Catholics, to loyalist rally in 1969I denounce you, Anti-Christ! I refuse you as Christ's enemy and Antichrist with all your false doctrine. Ian Paisley to Pope John Paul II on a visit to the European Parliament 1988

“Sitting with the devil”

“I will never sit down with Gerry Adams . . . he'd sit with anyone. He'd sit down with the devil. In fact, Adams does sit down with the devil.” Ian Paisley Independent, February 13 1997 Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams,

March 2007

Devolution – Excepted MattersReserved for central government

• the Crown• Parliament• international relations• Defence• national security• immigration and

nationality• taxation

• national insurance• elections• currency• nuclear energy• space

Devolution – Reserved PowersMay be transferred at a later date

• navigation (including merchant shipping)

• civil aviation• Coastline• postal services• import and export controls• minimum wage• financial services, markets• intellectual property• units of measurement

• telecommunications, broadcasting, internet

• National Lottery• xenotransplantation• surrogacy• human fertilisation and

embryology, human genetics

• consumer safety in relation to goods

Devolution – Transferred PowersCurrently controlled by North Ireland

• Agriculture and rural development

• Culture, arts, leisure • Education • Employment and

learning• Enterprise, trade and

investment• Environment

• Finance and personnel• Health, social services

and public safety• Justice• Regional development

(including transport)• Social development

(including housing)

First Devolved Government

1968: Which of these best describes the way you think of yourself?

% Catholic Protestant

British 15 39Irish 76 20

Ulster 5 32Northern Irish - —

Other 4 9

Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, Queen's University Belfast and University of Ulster

1991: Which of these best describes the way you think of yourself?

% Catholic Protestant

British 10 66Irish 62 2

Ulster 2 15Northern Irish 25 14

Other 1 3

2009: Which of these best describes the way you think of yourself?

% Catholic Protestant No religion

British 6 63 40Irish 66 3 21

Ulster 0 3 2Northern Irish 23 29 28

Other 5 1 9Don't know 0 0 0

2009: And are you in favor of more mixing or more separation in people's marriages?

%Catholic Protestant None

Much more mixing 38 20 49Bit more mixing 34 32 27

Keep things as they are 20 30 13Bit more separation 1 3 0

Much more separation 1 5 1Can't choose 8 10 10

2009: If the majority of people in Northern Ireland ever voted to become part of a United Ireland do you think you …

% Catholic Protestant None

Would find this almost impossible to accept, 2 19 12

Would not like it, but could live with it if you had to, 27 54 34

Or, would happily accept the wishes of the majority? 69 26 49

Don't know 2 0 5

2009: Would you say that relationships are better than they were 5 years ago, worse, or about the same?

% Catholic Protestant No religion

Better 61 59 62Worse 2 5 3

About the same 36 35 34Don't know 1 1 1

2010- Northern Ireland Government

Mrs. Robinson and First Minister Peter Robinson

2011 Gerry Adams

• Resigns as MP (Westminster)

• Resigns from NI Assembly• Runs in Republic

Headlines – Belfast Times, May 4

• Use your vote for peace, says family of murdered policeman Ronan Kerr

• Semtex found during raids• Man jailed over £3.5m cocaine plot