Northern Ireland -- Flashcards
Define the Troubles
Describes the cycle of violence from 1960s-1990s whose main feature was terrorist conflict between the nationalists and unionists. Mainstream groups condemned violence but it was carried out by extremist groups
What was the Easter Rising?
1916 when Republican supporters attacked British troops
When was the Anglo-Irish war?
1919-1921
What was the Anglo-Irish war also known as?
the Irish war of independence
What did the 1921 treaty lead to?
A partition between independent southern Ireland and six countries in Ulster which became Northern Ireland
Who was Stormont dominated by?
It was a belfast parliament and socio-economic system was dominated by protestants
What was the religious divide in Ireland?
As a whole was predominantly Catholic but the majority in Northern Ireland was Protestant
What had the protestants done by the 1960s and what did the Catholics believe?
They had monopolised the best housing, schools and jobs.
Catholics believed there was political corruption as Protestant councillors and officials were operating a system of favouritism and patronage to ensure only protestants held influential positions and that the constituency boundaries had deliberately been adjusted to prevent Catholics from being elected
What accusations were there agains the Royal Ulster Constabulary?
They were biased against the Catholics
Who were the Royal Ulster Constabulary?
The Northern Irish police force
What was the Northern Ireland Situation 1951-64?
It was not a threat to the conservative governments
When did Northern Ireland become more of an issue?
When the civil rights movement began in 1964
Why did the Civil rights movement 1964 begin?
As Cathoolics began to challenge the situation in Northern Ireland
Who were the IRA?
Irish Republic Army
Why was there increased tensions in 1964?
Unionists feared the IRA as they were a new violent campaign
What did the Unionists do in retalliation of the setting up of the IRA?
They set up parliamentary organisations to defemd the union of Great Britian and Northern Ireland
When was NICRA founded?
1967
What does NICRA stand for?
Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association
What was NICRA?
An organisation founded mostly by students which condemned the political corruption and called for a fair distribution of resources across the whole population
What happened in October 1968?
Civil rights marches held by Catholic nationalists to protest against discrimination. They were attacked by Protestant loyalists and Catholics failed to protect them - viewed as the start of the troubles
When was the battle of bogside?
1969
What was the battle of bogside?
- Loyalist Apprentice boys did their annual march in derry and were attacked by Catholic nationalists
- RUC tried to storm the bogside but were held back by two days of rioting
- RUC officers were seen on TV beating Catholics
- This led to mass rioting across the country
When was the battle of bogside?
1969
What was bogside?
A Catholic area in Derry
Who emerged as the leader of anti-Catholic unionism after the battle of bogside?
Reverend Ian Paisley
When did the first deaths occur due to the troubles?
Summer 1969
What did Callaghan’s foreign secretary do in August 1969?
Sent the British army to Northern Ireland
What happened when British troops were sent to Northern Ireland in August 1969?
- initially welcomed by the Catholics as bogside was encircled by protectuve barbed wire
- IRA which had been dormant reorganised and decided to lead the struggle
- Targeted British troops as a representative of a hated Imperialist government as believed it was the root of all the problems
What did Heath do in 1971?
Supported Brian Faulkner in his policies of night-time curfews and internment
Who was Brian Faulkner?
Ulster Unionist party leader
What was internment?
The arresting of suspected trouble makers and holding them without trial
What was believed internment would lead to?
Reduced tensions as the violent men would be removed from the community
What were the consequences of internment?
- 1971-75: 95% of those interned were Catholic
- claimed to be ‘among the best recruiting tools the IRA ever had’
- increased tension
- increased Catholic belief in their persecution
- Strained British government relations with Irish government
- Destroyed cross party understanding on Northern Ireland as many Labour MPs opposed it and called for withdrawal of British troops
When was Bloody Sunday?
30th January 1972
What was Bloody Sunday?
NICRA organised a prohibited march which ended with British soldiers firing live ammunition
How many people were shot during bloody sunday?
- 26 unarmed were shot
- 13 died
When was the British Embassy in Dublin burnt down?
1972
Why was the British Embassy in Dublin burnt down?
- burned down after Bloody Sunday
- was the bloodiest year of the troubles
What were the consequences of 1972?
- 1382 explosions
- 10628 shooting incidents
- 480 people were killed
What happened in March 1972?
Heath suspended Stormont parliament and bought in direct rule from Westminister. Willie Whitelaw was appointed Secretary of State and Heath nw tried to negotiate with all the main political parties to find a solution
What investigated Bloody sunday?
The widgery report
When was the Widgery Report?
May 1972
What did the Widgery report conclude?
‘the shots that had been fired at the soldiers before they started the firing that led to casualties’
What did Republicans see the Widgery report as?
An attempt to whitewash what had happened and condone the British Army’s actions
When was the Sunningdale Agreement?
1973
Who was the Sunningdale Agreement between?
- Heath and Whitelaw
- SDLP
- Alliance
- UUP patries
- Dublin government
What were the main proposals of the Sunningdale agreement?
- a power-sharing executive of nationalist and unionists guaranteeing representation for both sides
- A Northern Ireland assembly elected under proportional representation
- A council of Ireland that would get some input from Republic of Ireland
What were the consequences of the Sunningdale Agreement?
- violence continued with frequent IRA attacks on the police and Army
- On both sides extremists saw the agreement as a sell-out
- UUP voted to pull out of the agreement in January in 1974
- In February 1974 general election the parties opposing Sunningdale only put up one candidate between them in each constituency ensuring solid anti-sunningdale vote - pro-sunningdale votes split between parties therefore 11/12 constituencies therefore elected an anti-sunningdale MP
When were the protest against Sunningdale in NI?
May 1974
When did power-sharing collapse?
28th may
What did the collapse of power sharing cause?
Wilson was forced to impose direct rule
How long were the protests in NI against Sunningdale?
15 days