T2 Northern Ireland

Question 1

Northern Ireland’s Protestant Rulers

Answer 1

• The majority of people in Ireland as a whole were Catholic, but the majority of the people in Northern Ireland were Protestant.
• This meant that the Northern Ireland parliament at Stormont and the whole socio-economic system of Northern Ireland was dominated by Protestants.
• By the mid-1960s there was mounting evidence that that Catholics in Northern Ireland were being discriminated against in the drawing up of electoral boundaries (which were deliberately drawn to prevent Catholics being elected), housing, education and policing (the Royal Ulster Constabulary or RUC was dominated by Protestants).

Question 2

The Civil Rights Movement

Answer 2

• In 1964, the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland started to challenge this.
• Various groups began to emerge protesting the Northern Ireland government and its de facto segregation policies against Catholics.
• The Catholic civil rights movement, inspired by Martin Luther King and the 1960s African American civil rights movement, wanted equality for all citizens in the terms of equal job, housing, voting and policing reforms.
• Civil Rights marches were held in 1968 to protest the discrimination of Catholics.
• As the movement continued into 1969, clashes with the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) became more frequent and fiercer, forcing the British government to introduce the British Army onto the streets of Northern Ireland.

Question 3

The Battle of Bogside (1969)

Answer 3

• The beginning of the Troubles is a date that is disputed – some people believe that the turning point was the deployment of the British Army onto the streets of Northern Ireland after the Battle
  of the Bogside in August 1969.
• On 12th August 1969, the loyalist Protestant Apprentice Boys went ahead with their provocative annual march in the of Derry and were attacked by nationalists in the Catholic area of Bogside.
• The RUC tried to storm the Bogside but were held back in two days of rioting.
• Television pictures broadcast around the world showed RUC officers beating Catholics.
• Rioting also broke out across Northern Ireland, most notably in Belfast.

Question 4

The British Army is deployed to the streets of Northern Ireland

Answer 4

• On 14th August 1969, after three days of rioting following the Battle of Bogside, the Wilson government sent in the British army troops into Northern Ireland to keep the peace.
• At first the presence of British troops on the streets of Northern Ireland were welcomed by the Protestant and Catholic communities.
• Both the Protestants and Catholic communities believed the army would defend them from the other side as a neutral force.
• Residents cheered and clapped as the British soldiers encircled the Catholic Bogside area of Derry with protective barbed wire.
• The happy relationship was not to last and soon the British army was seen by the Catholic community as an occupying military force that was taking the side of the Protestant loyalist and unionist community.

Question 5

Rise of the Provisional IRA

Answer 5

• In response to the Battle of the Bogside, riots broke out all over Northern Ireland which resulted in the deaths of seven people.
• In Belfast, many Catholics were burned from their homes by loyalist mobs. In nationalist areas where such incidents occurred, the Irish Republican Army were criticised for failing to protect these communities.
• This criticism led to a pivotal split in the IRA.
• In December 1969, the Provisional Irish Republican Army formed, breaking away from the IRA (who became known as the Official IRA).
• They began a violent campaign against the RUC, British Army and state of Northern Ireland.
• Their aim was to rid Northern Ireland of British rule and unite it with the Republic of Ireland.