Troubles in Northern Ireland from the IRA and British...

INTRODUCTION Although much of the blame for the Troubles in Northern Ireland has fallen on the IRA as a terrorist group, the British government was responsible for numerous acts of state terrorism in the period. As a result of their frustration towards the situation in the North and their desperation to stop the IRA from wreaking havoc, the British Army and police acted in ways that one would not expect from the representatives of a world power in the late twentieth century. The British government refused to recognize the legitimacy of the IRA, and instead of combating them as a military enemy, often resorted to acts of terrorism of their own. These instances of state terrorism were often a result of pent up frustration and desperation as†¦show more content†¦Years of British occupation and oppression led to a sustained campaign to regain freedom from Britain beginning in the early twentieth century. Both the loyalist (supporters of the Union with Britain) and the republican s (supporters of a united Ireland) were willing to use violence for their cause. This took form in the 1916 Easter Rising, where Irish rebels declared the independence of the Irish Republic and fought in Dublin against the British to regain control of their homeland. The rebels were unsuccessful and were forced to surrender. This lead to the later Irish War of Independence, and the introduction of the Government of Ireland Act in 1920 and the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, which resulted in the partitioning of Ireland into six counties in the North ruled by Britain and twenty-six counties in the south, newly named the Irish Free State. However, a significant minority in the North of around forty percent were Irish nationalists who wanted independence from Britain. â€Å"Therefore, from its creation in 1920, Northern Ireland was a state whose citizens differed over their national allegiance.† This situation in the North caused a great deal of tension, as the leaders of the Pr otestant, unionist majority discriminated against the Catholic, nationalist minority. So, by the 1960s, Catholic nationalist frustration was manifested in a campaign for civil rights, to which the state responded with vicious intensity. Those who wereShow MoreRelatedThe Tensions Between Northern Ireland And Ireland1245 Words   |  5 Pages The Troubles was a time period of revolt and discrimination in Northern Ireland that lasted from the late 1960s until 1998, beginning with direct British involvement in Northern Ireland and formally ending with the Good Friday Agreement. However, it can be argued that the tension that persisted during The Troubles still exists today. The Troubles stemmed from the dissolution of a long period of peaceful tension between two political groups, the Nationalists and Unionists and by extension two majorRead MoreThe Troubles in Ireland Essay1352 Words   |  6 PagesIn the summer of 2007, my family and I took a trip to Ireland. As a family we agreed to do a cross country trip around the beautiful country starting in Belfast and going north from there. Even though I was 17 at the time and loved the history of Ireland, I knew very little about what I was about to see in the troubled city of Belfast. My generation is involved with two wars simultaneously, the war in Afghanistan and in Iraq. In our history class during are time in middle and in high school,Read MoreEssay On Terrorist Violence996 Words   |  4 Pagesterrorist violence continued to be a problem into the early 90s, and British troops remained in full force. In 1981, ten IRA prison hunger strikers starved to death after they used hunger strikes to protest against losing their ‘special category’ status and against wearing prison uniforms. This democratic success persuaded Republicans of the benefits of politics instead of violence as a way of getting what they wanted. In 1985 British and Irish prime ministers Margaret Thatcher and Garrett FitzgeraldRead MoreWhy Conflict Is Northern Ireland Be Important Today?1741 Words   |  7 PagesWhy does conflict in Northern Ireland continue to be important today? Not since the 100 years’ war has a conflict had such a storied history; many people often try to determine a specific cause for the on-going violence in Northern Ireland today. However, there is a variety of catalysts; such as the atrocities of Bloody Sunday, the Good Friday Agreement and other events that have played a role in the hostilities that have scarred Irelands land and people. It is often argued that theRead MoreEssay on Bloody Sunday1409 Words   |  6 PagesBloody Sunday Troops were sent into Ireland in 1969, to sort out the troubles. Catholics in Derry’s bogside area built barricades to protect themselves in early 1969. They felt that they could expect no protection from the police. The situation continued to deteriorate in the following months, with some explosions, which damaged electricity and water supplies. The explosions were blamed on the IRA, but really were the work of the Ulster Protestants Volunteers (UPV)Read MoreProtestant and Catholic Troubles in Ireland1475 Words   |  6 PagesThe troubles emerged as the result of several years of the escalating incidents between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. The troubles have been protracted and costly in every sense of the world. From the first civil rights marches in 1968 till the signing of The Good Friday Agreement in 1998, 3,500 people died and over 35,000 were injured in Northern Ireland as the direct result of the aggressive violence , rebellion, bombings, murders, and terror tactics. The Catholic and ProtestantRead MoreThe History of Northern Ireland Essay1831 Words   |  8 PagesThe History of Northern Ireland Northern Ireland has had a volatile and tortured history. In 1969 began the conflict, which today is known as The Troubles, but Northern Irelands troubled history roots back to a much earlier period of time. The seeds of partition were really sown in the mid 19th century when the notion of two separate nations took root in Ireland. The Young Ireland movement of the 1840s promoted a new racial ideology emphasising the GaelicRead MoreTerrorism and Riots in Northern Ireland 509 Words   |  2 PagesNorthern Ireland is known for its humor, its accent, beautiful green hills, and their weather. Although Ireland seems peaceful, more violence happens in the north then you would think. There is terrorism and riots by the IRA used to prevent the British Catholics from trying to change the island of Ireland to a catholic country. All this violence started with the Act of Union over 200 years ago. In Ireland and Great Britain in 1801, the British and Irish governments passed the Act of Union, combiningRead MoreThe Trouble with Violence in Northern Ireland Essay713 Words   |  3 PagesAccording to BBC the Troubles of Northern Ireland represent one of the latest examples of religious, ethnic, geographic and political conflict. The Troubles started in the late 1960s and it is considered by many to have ended with the Belfast Good Friday Agreement of 1998. After more than 30 years of civil conflict, peace had finally been achieved. However, random violence acts have continued since then. How did the Belfast Good Friday Agreement end the Troubles in Northern Ireland and how is the countryRead MoreEssay about Bloody Sundays Lead to Bloody Years1627 Words   |  7 Pageson greed, the need for control, and religion. An example of this can be seen in the long and nasty history between that of Ireland and Britain; a history that is known to have begun as early as the 1300’s when Ireland is officially completely under the rule of Britain, (â€Å"Timeline-Northern Ireland-the Troubles†). Although there are many horrible occasions between Ireland and Britain, there is one event that still to this day has the ability to cause people to think about how the use of force and