domestic policy - Northern Ireland Flashcards
What was Thatcher’s general stance on the northern ireland conflict?
-she took a strongly unionist stance
-she didn’t understand the significance/complexity of northern ireland
who became Sinn Fein leader in 1983, and what strange thing did he do with his seat when he became MP?
-Gerry Adams
-he didn’t attend parliament as he refused to accept the queen’s sovereignty
how did Gerry Adams want to secure the republican cause?
-through democratic means
-(although he did use the ‘twin track’ strategy - ‘the armalite (gun) and the ballot box’
who was assassinated in 1979? (part of shadow government)
-Airey Neave, shadow N.I. minister
-he had taken a hard line against republicanism, so was killed by an offshoot of the IRA
-this event hardened Thatcher’s attitude towards N.I.
who was assassinated in 1979/ (part of royal family)
Lord Mountbatten
when was the Bobby sands hunger strike?
1981
describe Bobby Sands and the hunger strike:
-he was imprisoned for IRA activtity
-he wanted special category status as he was a political prisoner but this was denied
-therefore he (and many others) refused to wear prison uniforms, destroyed his cell and went on hunger strike
-he was elected an MP from prison
-his death caused uproar amongst nationalists, but also angered unionists because his death made the republican cause more militant, making peace harder to achieve
name places hit in the republican bombing campaign:
-Hyde Park and Regents park, 1982
-Harrods, 1983
describe the successfulness of how Thatcher handled the N.I situation:
-not successfully
but why was it not a problem for her in the 1983 election?
-English voters didn’t see N.I. as a particularly important issue
