Week 6: “No Surrender”?: Conflicts within and Beyond

Writing Ireland

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Bernard MacLavertyRead more at:

http://www.bernardmaclaverty.com/index.htm

http://literature.bureau-va.com/bernard-maclaverty

http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/learning/getwritingni/wh_maclaverty.shtml

1919British prime minister Lloyd George outlines the government's proposals for home rule in Ireland.

1922Partition. Six counties in the north of the island opt to stay in the United Kingdom when the rest of Ireland becomes independent and later a republic. Many of the inhabitants are descended from Protestant settlers brought in by James I in the 17th century, although there is still a large Catholic minority, just as there continues to be a significant Protestant minority in the Republic.

Setting the scene

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/mar/08/northern-ireland-timeline/print

1968The civil rights movement. Catholics complain of unfair treatment at the hands of a largely Protestant political establishment, saying among other things that electoral boundaries are gerrymandered to ensure Protestant majorities. On 5 October, a civil rights march is stopped by the RUC. Rioting follows and the province's government agrees to undertake reforms.

1969The battle of the Bogside. A loyalist parade passing through the nationalist Bogside area of Derry on 12 August sparks two days of rioting. As sporadic violence spreads across the province, troops are called in. At first they are welcomed by the Catholic community, but sectarian violence continues. The Provisional IRA becomes more active, and the army increasingly concentrates on fighting it.

1971-75Internment. Nearly 2,000 people are arrested and held without trial on suspicion of involvement in terrorism.

1972Bloody Sunday. A protest against internment in Derry on 30 January is fired upon by British troops. Thirteen people are shot dead and another dies later. Troops say they were fired upon first.

Direct rule. Edward Heath suspends the Northern Ireland parliament on 24 March and introduces direct rule from Westminster

1993It becomes apparent that the British government has been in secret contact with the IRA for years. In a Downing Street statement on 15 December, the British prime minister and Irish Taoiseach, agree in principle on talks on the future of Northern Ireland. Any party that "renounces violence" is invited to take part, opening the way for Sinn Fein if it can prove the IRA is committed to giving up its weapons.

1994IRA announces a ceasefire in August and loyalist groups follow suit in October. The first formal talks between the British government and Sinn Féin begin in December.

1996The IRA declares an end to its ceasefire at about 7am on 9 February, after the Major government insists on decommissioning as a condition of talks. A few moments later the IRA explodes a bomb at Canary Wharf, killing two people and causing millions of pounds worth of damage.

1997The IRA announces a second ceasefire in July. Tony Blair, now British prime minister, announces that decommissioning will take place in parallel with talks from September. Talks begin at Stormont, but it takes until 7 October to convince the unionists to sit down at the table with Sinn Féin. The talks are hampered by paramilitary killings on both sides. At one point the Ulster Democratic party walks out rather than be suspended for its links to the Ulster Freedom Fighters; at another Sinn Féin is suspended for a month. But talks continue until April 1998.

1998 Good Friday agreement 10 April. The deal includes the restoration of a devolved assembly at Stormont and a role for the Republic of Ireland in the affairs of the north. A referendum later approves the deal.On 15 August a car bomb kills 29 people in Omagh, County Tyrone. The Real IRA, a breakaway group, claims responsibility.

2000The devolved assembly is suspended on 11 February when the IRA refuses to prove its commitment to decommissioning. The assembly is restored in May when the IRA agrees to puts its weapons "verifiably beyond use".

2001David Trimble, the first minister and leader of the Ulster Unionist party, resigns on 1 July over lack of progress on the arms issue. In the following months, General John de Chastelain, the head of the body set up to oversee arms decommissioning, says the IRA has given him a disarmament plan. This fails to convince the unionists, and John Reid, the new Northern Ireland secretary, twice suspends the assembly to give time for talks. By October, De Chastelain says he has seen decommissioning taking place. The institutions are restored in November.

2002Sinn Féin's offices at Stormont are raided by police who suspect they are being used by the IRA to spy on the government. Ten days later devolution is again suspended.

2004Attempts in December to reconcile Sinn Féin and the DUP fail when the unionists again refuse to accept the lack of transparency in the IRA's commitment to disarm.On 21 December more than £26m is stolen from a bank in Belfast city centre. The IRA is suspected.

2005Robert McCartney, a former bouncer, is killed outside a bar in Belfast city centre on 30 January. His family blames the IRA, which later announces that it has suspended some of its members.On 6 April the Sinn Féin leader, Gerry Adams, challenges the IRA to "fully embrace" democratic means and give up its arms.On 28 July the IRA makes a detailed statement in which it declares its armed campaign over. It promises to resume disarmament and pursue its aims through politics.On 26 September, De Chastelain announces inspectors' confirmation that all the IRA's weapons have been put beyond use. The IRA confirms that all its weapons have been taken out of action.

2006On 15 May, the Stormont assembly sits for first time since its suspension in 2002. However, hopes of a political breakthrough remain with disputes over policing and power-sharing.On 4 October, the Independent Monitoring Commission says the Provisional IRA has undergone a "transformation", disbanding military structures, standing down volunteers and following through on its political strategy of renouncing terrorism and crime.

On 24 November, the loyalist murderer Michael Stone forces the suspension of the inaugural meeting of Northern Ireland's transitional assembly when he storms into the entrance hall of the parliament building armed with a knife, a handgun and what police said was a "viable" bomb. He is later sentenced to 16 years in prison.

2007On 7 March, Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist party wins in the assembly elections but comes under intense pressure to enter a power-sharing government with Sinn Féin. Paisley and Adams hold their first face-to-face meeting and agree to start sharing power on 8 May, with Paisley as first minister and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness as his deputy.

2008On 4 March, Paisley announces he will step down as first minister and as leader of his Democratic Unionist party in May. He is replaced by Peter Robinson.On 3 September the IRA's ruling body, the army council, no longer has an army to command and control, the Northern Ireland secretary, Shaun Woodward, declares. The latest IMC report says the IRA's seven-man army council has fallen into "disuse".On 10 November, the IMC reports that IRA dissidents were behind a more concentrated period of attacks than at any time since 2004.

2009On 31 January, police destroy a bomb packed with 300lb of explosive in Castlewellan, south of Belfast. A splinter republican group claims responsibility.On 4 March, Northern Ireland's most senior policeman, Sir Hugh Orde, confirms that the level of threat from dissident republican terrorism is at its highest since he became chief constable seven years ago.On 7 March, dissident republican paramilitaries shoot dead two British soldiers outside their barracks near Antrim and wound four other people, two of them pizza delivery men. The dead men are the first British troops killed in Northern Ireland by terrorists since 1997.On 9 March, Stephen Carroll, 48, a PSNI police officer from Banbridge, County Down, is shot dead as he responds to an emergency call to the nationalist Drumbeg housing estate in Craigavon, County Armagh, 26 miles south-west of Belfast. He is the first police officer murdered in Northern Ireland since 1997, when two community constables were shot dead.

Cal

Symbolism of sacrifice Differences and patterns Religion and guilt Violence and desire

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