The United Kingdom had long since left Ireland by the 1960s, so why were there still problems? Well, a section of the Northern Irish were still loyal to the British crown and their Protestant faith, but they lived alongside Catholic nationalists. There were bound to be Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Troubles in Northern Ireland Definitions
There are a lot of terms to examine before we can come to terms with the complex history that led to the period known as The Troubles. Let's take a moment to dive into them below.
Keyword | Definition |
Catholic | A branch of Christianity stemming from the Roman Catholic Church |
Protestant | A branch of Christianity stemming from 15th-century German Martin Luther |
Loyalist/unionist | Someone who wishes to remain in the United Kingdom and is loyal to the British crown |
Nationalist/republican | Someone who believes in Irish independence and a united Ireland |
Sectarian | A person strongly following a particular sect, for example, a Protestant or a Catholic |
Sovereignty | The ability of a state or country to govern itself |
Absenteeism | Refusal of government officials to attend parliament |
Diaspora | A group of people that has dispersed from their traditional homeland |
Before The Troubles, there were also two main political parties that represented the nationalists and the unionists.
| Party | Summary |
| Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) | Named after Ulster, as it represented a traditional stronghold for unionists, the Ulster Unionist Party was the dominant political force in Northern Ireland from 1921 to 1972 (the height of the Troubles). It was initially formed in 1905 with the aim of avoiding an independent Ireland and remaining loyal to the British crown. It was the foremost unionist party until the emergence of the Democratic Unionist Party in the 1970s. |
| Sinn Féin | With a name derived from the Irish "We Ourselves", Sinn Féin was the most prominent nationalist party before and during the Troubles. Also established in 1905, they wanted an Irish republic and an end to British involvement. The War of Independence and the resulting Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921 caused fragmentation within the party and the formation of Fianna Fáil. They provided political support for the militant Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the Troubles. |
Irish Catholicism dates back to the 5th-century pilgrimage of Saint Patrick, from Britain to Ireland, who brought a brand of Christianity that blended with Irish culture whilst Ireland was a separate entity from Britain. It survived several invasions before becoming seriously under threat when Protestant English and Scottish settlers arrived to set up farming plantations in the 17th century.
Fig. 1 - Statue of Saint Patrick in Slane, Leinster (Republic of Ireland)
These settlers lived primarily in the north of Ireland, forcing their religious beliefs on the population and eventually gaining political control. This culminated in the Act of Union of 1801, which suspended the Irish Parliament.
We can see, therefore, how religion and politics are intertwined, with the Protestants remaining loyal to Britain and the union as a result of their origins, whilst Catholicism was weaved into Irish identity.
History of the Troubles in Northern Ireland
The Troubles were not something that magically began overnight. Tensions had been building over centuries before they came to a head at the end of the 1960s. The issue can be traced back to British immigration to Ireland.
Seeds of Discontent
The loyalist Protestants lived in the north of Ireland from the 17th century. They were originally sent by King James I, who wanted to spread Protestantism. With an important crowning victory at the Battle of the Boyne (1690), land ownership in Ireland had transferred from the Catholics to the British Protestants across large areas of the country.
After the 1801 Act of Union and the abolition of the Irish Parliament, the Catholic nationalists redoubled their efforts to fight for their independence. Their disdain for loyalists was compounded by the fact that Britain still treated Ireland like a faraway colony, despite their involvement in the British government. This reached a boiling point when the callous indifference of the British caused a million deaths in the potato famine of the 1840s.
During World War I, Britain quashed the 1916 Easter Rising protesting for Irish independence, murdering Irish nationalists and indirectly increasing the popularity of Sinn Féin.
Fig. 2 - Plaque to commemorate the Easter Rising in a Dublin post office
The nationalists began a War for Independence that lasted two and a half years until a ceasefire in 1921. During this period, the British attempted to create the Government of Ireland Act to reunify the country with controlled freedoms.
This did not satisfy Sinn Féin, who remained adamant that an independent Irish republic was the only outcome that they would accept.
Breaking Away
The 1922 Anglo-Irish Treaty came as a compromise, creating the Irish Free State and six counties in "Northern Ireland" that remained tied to Britain. The Irish Free State had the same status within the British Empire as Canada but made its own laws.
Although they now had a level of sovereignty, some members of the Irish Free State were still angry that they remained part of the British Empire. As a result, Sinn Féin split into Pro-Treaty and Anti-Treaty parties, with the Pro-Treaty faction winning the most seats in the first 1922 election.
The Anti-Treaty members did not attend parliament, becoming absentees, but would become the dominant party (Fianna Fáil) in 1932. In 1937, a new constitution was approved by a referendum, removing all British ties and transforming the Irish Free State into the Republic of Ireland.
In comparison, the Northern Ireland parliament in Stormont had jurisdiction over domestic policy through the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) but little else as they deferred power to the UK. In Northern Ireland, the two groups of sectarians - Catholic nationalists and Protestant loyalists lived together. This led to the tensions which came to a head during the Troubles.
Start of the Troubles in Northern Ireland
The 1960s was a period of great change around the world, and it was no different in Northern Ireland. Inspired by the Civil Rights Movement that was driven by African Americans in the United States, young Northern Irish Catholics created their own Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) in 1967. For many years, they had been subjected to inequality and gerrymandering.
Gerrymandering referred to the manipulation of voting boundary lines to favour one political party. This was evident in the city of Derry, where, despite there being a predominantly Catholic population, it was under loyalist governance.
Coupled with this, the government gave Protestants preference when it came to seeking work and housing. The shipyard, which was the largest employer in Belfast employed 95% Protestants. It was clear that Catholics were marginalised.
On 5th October 1968, there were protests in Derry against this injustice. The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) met the NICRA and nationalists with force, blocking them and attacking them with batons. With these images beamed around the nation, the Troubles had begun.
The Troubles: Timeline
"Troubles" had long been used in Ireland as a way of describing any violent conflict, and that is precisely what the next decades would become. Let's look at some of the important events that defined this volatile period.
It is essential to remember that there were many organisations and groups who fought the Troubles on each side.
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) were the most notorious of the paramilitary groups. They had their roots in the Pro and Anti-Treaty nationalist Sinn Féin of the 1920s. Following their marginalisation, the Anti-Treaty members went underground and followed Marxist doctrines during the period before the Troubles.
A paramilitary unit known as the Provisional IRA carried out terror during the Troubles. Funded by the republic and Irish diaspora in the United States and armed by Libyan dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi, they set about a ruthless campaign of bombings, kidnappings and killings.
On the other side, the most prominent loyalist military group was the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). A Protestant organisation that originally fought against Irish nationalism in the 1910s, it reformed in 1966 to maintain the Northern Irish position within the United Kingdom. They intended to kill IRA members, but they also ended up killing anyone on their side they deemed not passionate enough for their cause. This total ran up to over 500.
| Date | Event |
| 1st January 1969 | Inspired by Martin Luther King's March on Selma (1965), the Irish nationalists organised a march from Belfast to Derry. Derry was the focal point of much of their indignation, but they were aware that they had to go through loyalist areas on their route that could cause flashpoints. There were no issues as the protestors had an RUC escort, but as they reached Burntollet Bridge, just outside Derry, the escort began to put on their helmets and raise their shields. A torrent of rocks and missiles rained down on the protestors from around 300 loyalists, who ambushed the bridge with clubs and iron bars. The RUC stood by and allowed it to happen, with B-Specials (a unit of the RUC distinguishable by their white armbands) joining in. This mirrored the events that happened in the Selma march on Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama. |
| 14th July 1969 | Francis McCloskey, a retired farmer from Dungiven in County Derry, died from RUC baton charges that were used to stop the unrest. Sustaining serious head injuries, he became the first casualty of a conflict that was characterised by civilian deaths. |
| 12th - 14th August 1969 | On 12th August, a loyalist parade that celebrated a Protestant victory of yesteryear was organised. It would go through the Catholic area of Bogside in Derry. The local nationalists prepared their barricades and Molotov cocktails, expecting unrest and the loyalists, along with the RUC, were attacked by the residents.What ensued became known as "The Battle of the Bogside", three days of violence and unrest that spread around the country from Enniskillen to Belfast. In Belfast, loyalists burnt down 1500 Catholic houses. There were casualties, with six killed in total and many more injured. |
| 14th August 1969 | The President of Northern Ireland called Britain for help to restore order, and this began an almost three-decade-long occupation by British troops in Northern Ireland. Initially welcomed by Catholics who wanted order restored, they quickly set about constructing "peacelines" (walls that separated the two groups). |
| 9th August 1971 | With the paramilitary unit of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) reacting to the violence of the previous years, the British initiated Operation Demetrius, which also became known as "internment without trial". They rounded up Catholic nationalists on flimsy grounds of terrorism and held them in prisons without trial. In total, over 2000 people would be detained until the end of the Troubles, many of them dying. This actually served to escalate the Catholic alienation from the unionists and allowed the IRA to recruit more nationalists. |
| 30th January 1972 | The focus of the violence returned to Bogside once more. Catholic nationalists, armed by the Provisional IRA, organised a protest against the British policy of internment without trial. When the British Army was called to shut it down, the protestors refused to leave. The Army opened fire and killed 13, wounding 17 more on what became known as "Bloody Sunday" during the bloodiest year of the Troubles. |
| 24th March 1972 | In a move that infuriated the nationalists, the British introduced "Direct Rule", whereby policy would be determined directly from London, with the Northern Irish parliament suspended. |
| 21st July 1972 | The Provisional IRA stepped up its terrorist activity with 22 car bombs exploding in less than two hours, killing members of the British military and civilians in Belfast in what became known as "Bloody Friday". Nine died, and 130 more were injured. As a response to the 1972 violence, the NICRA disbanded. |
| 1974 | The Provisional IRA carried out various bombings in England, notably in Birmingham, Guildford and London and even attempted to assassinate the then Prime Minister Edward Heath. The British responded with the Prevention of Terrorism Act which allowed them to hold suspected terrorists for seven days without any charges. |
| 5th May 1981 | With so many Catholic nationalists held in jail and refusing to cooperate, Bobby Sands became the first prisoner to die of a hunger strike. The IRA weaponised him as a martyr to gain even more support, and 100,000 people attended his funeral. More prisoners followed Bobby's example. |
Fig. 4 - Peaceful times in Bogside, Derry
There were several attempts to bring the Troubles to an end, but it was difficult to negotiate all the variables; these attempts lasted over a decade.
- In 1985, the Anglo-Irish Agreement was signed by the United Kingdom and Ireland in an attempt to halt the violence of the Troubles. This gave the Catholic nationalists a say in the future of Northern Ireland but was a big blow to the loyalists who wanted assurances that they would remain in the United Kingdom.
- The Downing Street Declaration of 1993 stated that Northern Ireland would be allowed to decide its destiny, with Sinn Féin providing a seat in the Northern Irish parliament should violence from all paramilitary groups subside. This brought about a ceasefire between the republicans and the loyalists.
- The United States helped broker the peace talks, but these collapsed after they asked for IRA disarmament. An IRA bomb in Manchester injured 212 people in 1996; it was the largest bomb to go off in the UK since World War II.
Finally, after almost thirty years of the Troubles, Ireland and the United Kingdom drafted the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. It stated that:
- Ireland could only be reunited with the consent of Northern Ireland.
- A Northern Ireland government would be elected by proportional representation.
- A North-South Ireland administration would help negotiate border cooperation.
- An independent police force to protect nationalists and loyalists was to be created.
- Paramilitary groups had to be disbanded. The IRA and the UVF were among those "proscribed" by the UK government.
- Prisoners from the Troubles would be released.
Number of Deaths in the Northern Ireland Troubles
Despite the Good Friday Agreement, there was still some violence from various military groups after 1998, although not on the same scale. Now let's see the human cost of the Troubles from 1969 to 2010.1
| Group | Deaths |
| Civilians | 1879 |
| British Army | 1117 |
| Republican/Nationalist Groups | 399 |
| Loyalist/Unionist Groups | 162 |
| Irish Security | 11 |
| Total | 3568 |
Impact of the Troubles in Northern Ireland
Though the Good Friday Agreement brought an end to the Troubles, the wounds that they caused still remain open, and there has been terrorist activity since their end. With such a high death toll and the release of political prisoners who were never trialled, there is still a sense that nobody has been held accountable for the sheer number of deaths. In other words, history has not been stared in the face. Timothy White reiterates this perspective:
Reconciliation must include a process that confronts the atrocities of the conflict so that those who perceive themselves as victims and those who admit their crimes can move beyond the past and envision a different future. 2
The Troubles in Northern Ireland Today
The decision of the UK to leave the European Union with their 2016 Brexit vote has served to heighten the tensions between loyalists and nationalists once more. The UK now wishes to amend the Northern Ireland Protocol, proposing a border in the Irish Sea so that goods do not need to be checked in Belfast and could move directly to the Republic of Ireland, which is part of the European Union.
This has infuriated the EU and unionists, who believe that their place in the UK weakens as a result. On 7 April 2021, the worst violence in a decade broke out in Belfast when loyalists set fire to a bus, causing riots. One thing is for sure, the future hangs in the balance, with a decision yet to be made on this.
Troubles in Northern Ireland - Key takeaways
- After the creation of the Republic of Ireland, Irish nationalists remained in Northern Ireland, living alongside loyalists who desired to remain in the UK.
- Living in close quarters brought tension, and there was a clear pattern of prejudice against the Catholic nationalists.
- When they protested in 1968, they met a violent reaction from unionists and the RUC, who eventually called in the British Army to help in 1969.
- During the next decades, the violence between the British, the republicans and the loyalists caused over 3500 deaths, the majority of them civilians.
- The Good Friday Agreement formally ended the Troubles, but some violence has continued.
- The worst violence in a decade occurred in 2021, with Brexit and the Northern Ireland Protocol leaving a lingering sense of uncertainty among unionists.
References
- Nial McCarthy, 'Northern Ireland's Violent History', Statista (2019).
- Timothy White, 'Generational Change and Redefining Identities: Post-Conflict Peacebuilding in Northern Ireland', Peace Research, 45.2 (2013), pp. 105-117.
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