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| The conflict in Northern Ireland
The conflict in Northern Ireland
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Katrin Enzenhofer 8a. Sj.
2000/01Table of contents
Bookreports
The
Commitments............................................................................3
Characters.......................................................................6
Across the
Barricades......................................................................8
Characters......................................................................10
The problems in Northern Ireland showed by the
book.....11
Cal....................................................................................................12
Characters.......................................................................14
The problems in Northern Ireland
showed by the book.....15
The Conflict in Northern
Ireland
Historical facts for the
conflict........................................................16
Organisations and Parties in Northern
Ireland.................................21
Catholics.................................................................................21
Protestants...............................................................................23
The commitments
by Roddy Doyle
Outspan, Ray and Derek form a group called "And And And" but
after 3 days Outspan and Derek think that the band needs a new direction. There
is one guy who knows everything about music, he can tell them what is new and
what is going to be new. The guy's name is Jimmy Rabbitte.
There changes a lot. Ray is thrown out of the band, the name
is changed into "THE COMMITMENTS" and they are going to play Soul, Dublin
Soul.
The next day Jimmy starts to search for new members. After
some time they have a lot of members and instruments:
Jimmy Rabbitte - manager
Outspan Foster - guitar
Deco Cuffe - vocals
Derek Scully - drums
Dean Fay - saxophone
Joseph Fagan - trumpet
They even have 3 background singers called "THE
COMMITMENTETTES": Imelda Quirk, Natalie Murphy and Bernie
McLoughlin.
The first rehearsal takes till 3 o'clock in the morning and
isn't that bad if you think of the fact that Dean learned to play the sax just
some days before.
They rehearse three times a week. At one rehearsal Jimmy
gives stage names to everybody:
Joseph Fagan ? Joey the Lips Fagan
James Clifford ? James the Soul Surgeon
Clifford
Decan Cuffe ? Decan Blanketman Cuffe
Derek Scully ? Derek the Meatman Scully
Billy Mooney ? Billy the Animal Mooney
Dean Fay ? Dean Good Times Fay
Outspan ? L. Terence Foster
Imelda ? Sonya
Natalie ? Sofia
Bernie ? Tanya
Things are going well. Joey the Lips is the calming
influence on the rest of the band and the boss at the rehearsals.
One day the whole male part of the band is shocked because
Dean finds Joey and Natalie kissing behind the garage door. For a few minutes
"The Commitments" even brakes up but Jimmy fixes everything
again.
The boys are all jealous all of them fancy Natalie. They
think Natalie likes Joey only because he had played with so many famous people
like the Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Sinatra,....
One week after that incidents Joey and Jimmy talk a little
bit during a rehearsal. Joey explains to Jimmy that he needs rescue because
Natalie is driving him crazy. She won't leave him alone. While they talk they
smell a weird smell - hash.
Billy is smoking hash and Deco, Outspan, Dean and James are
sitting around him. Jimmy and Joey try to tell them that hash is out and that it
isn't soul. "We're supposed to be bringin´ soul to Dublin. We can't do
tha´ an´ smoke hash at the same time."
Jimmy organises the first gig. The bingo caller, Hopalong,
is in hospital so the community centre is free and Father Molly allows them to
play in the hall. The last week before the concert the band rehears every night.
They begin to be nervous only Joey keeps them short of panic stations.
The concert is great. The people, 33 persons, can't stand
still and dance the whole time.
After the concert Mickah, the bouncer, tells Jimmy that
there is a guy from the Northside News who wants a word. The first
PR-date.
From this day on Jimmy tours through pubs in Dublin to find
a place for the next gig and is successful. The Commitments are allowed to play
in a bar because the headline of the Northside News "Soul Soldiers of Destiny"
is such a good ad.
The gig is okay but there appear problems with Deco. Deco
thinks the band can't exist without him and that he can do everything. He is
talking about HIS band, doesn't introduce the members with their stage names
and and and.
The band cannot do anything because they really need Deco's
voice.
Although there are some problems inside the band they even
get a mention in the Herald.
Armed with the articles Jimmy gets the band a Wednesday
night in another pub, a bigger one called Miami Vice. They are given a month's
residency.
Even Hot Press comes to the second gig at Miami Vice and
likes the band very much.
Billy leaves the Band because he hates Deco and he never
wants to see Deco again or he kills Deco. Mickah wants to be the new drummer and
Jimmy gives him a chance.
After the next Wednesday gig at the pub Deco tells the group
that he is going on a Screen Test (= a talent show) and he applies to sing in
the National Song contest as well. The Commitments are shocked, Mickah even
stitches Deco a loaf, clean on the nose. Jimmy tries to calm them down with a
piece of pretty good news. An A&R man is going to watch them next time.
A&R means Artist and Repertory man who is a talent scout for record
companies.
A week later everything has changed. The A&R man liked
the show very very much and he wanted to sing them up but during the talk with
Jimmy the band broke up. Deco found Joey kissing Imelda. Imelda held the band
together because all the boys except Joey fancied her. Everything ends in
everybody slapping everybody.
Jimmy's dream ends with that.
Everybody goes his own ways again.
Joey wants to go on tour with Joe Tex, but Jimmy finds out
that Joe Tex died in 1982. (I think Joey kills himself.)
When Jimmy meets Imelda he gets to know that neither Imelda
nor Natalie have fancied Joey. It was just a game. Imelda even told Joey that
she was pregnant.
In the end Jimmy, Mickah, Derek Outspan and the girls found
a new band called The Brassers, without politics, stage names and without
soul.
Characters:
Jimmy Anthony Rabbitte
Jimmy knows everything about music. You will never see
him coming home from town without a new album. Jimmy reads all the important
music magazines lie Melody Maker, NME and Hot Press. He listens to Dave Fanning,
John Peel and to bands nobody knows.
Jimmy is the band's manager and founder. It is his dream to
have an own band and to do everything for it.
He put all his energy into this dream to realise it.
Like all the other boys of the band he fancies
Imelda.
He has a younger sister called Jackie.
Liam Terence Foster
Everybody calls him Outspan.
He has now work except on Saturday mornings he goes form
door to door in Barrytown selling frozen chickens which his cousin
steals.
Outspan's stage name is L. Terence Foster and he plays the
guitar. He has no own so he takes his brother's guitar.
He is one of the first two and one of the last two members
of the band.
Derek Scully
Derek is a calm but friendly guy.
He plays the bass because he thought it was the easiest
instrument. His stage name is Derek the Meatman Scully. Like Outspan is he one
of the first two and one of the last two members of the band.
He has a small scar on his forehead as a courtesy of Mickah
from a soccer game.
Declan Cuffe
From the first day on he has the nickname Deco.
He worked in the same shop as Jimmy and sang at a Christmas
party where Jimmy recognised that Deco had a very beautiful and interesting
voice. So he is the singer of the band with the stage name Declan Blanketman
Cuffe.
Deco isn't likeable, nobody likes him because he always
thinks that he is the leader of the band.
James Clifford
James was once a school mate of Outspan, Derek and Jimmy
but nobody liked him that days. He ratted on them.
Since he can think the has to go to piano lessons, so he is
the pianist of the band called James the Soul Surgeon Clifford.
He studies medicine and is already in the 3rd
year.
Joseph Fagan
Everybody calls him Joey the Lips Fagan. He is nearly 50
years old. He plays the trumpet. Fagan has been on tour over about 11 years and
played with famous musicians like The Beatles, Otis Redding, Joe Tex, Stevie
Wonder, Martha Reeves, Jimi Hendrix, ...........
Joey loves Soul he even is soul and has enough soul for the
rest of the band too.
He is the calming influence on the group during the
rehearsal.
Although he doesn't fancy Natalie or Imelda he kisses them
and causes the band to break up. Joey is the only one who doesn't fancy
Imelda.
Dean Fay
Although Dean can hardly play an instrument he joins the
band. Joey teaches him how to play the Saxophone. He gets a very good
player.
Like all the others he fancies Imelda and Natalie too. So he
is really a poor guy when he finds Joey and Natalie kissing behind the garage
door.
His stage name is Dean Good Times Fay.
Billy Mooney
Called Billy The Animal Mooney when he plays the drums on
stage. He isn't a member for very long because he is the first one who leaves
the band. He hates Deco so much that he never wants to see him again otherwise
it is likely that he kills the band's singer.
Billy's father is dead.
Mickah Wallace
Mickah was a school mate of some of the bands members but
he got off the school because of beating a girl.
He is first the bouncer for the band but when Billy quits he
becomes the new drummer. He even has an own idea for his stage name: Washington
D.C. Wallace. (D. C. stands for Dead Cool)
Mickah is a good addition for the band because everybody
likes him. His enthusiasm always comes at the right time.
Across the Barricades
by Joan Lingard
Sadie Jackson is on her way home when she hears somebody
calling her name. It's Kevin McCoy. They haven't met since more than 3 years
although they only live a few streets away from each other. But in Northern
Ireland that can be like thousands miles.
Sadie and Kevin have coffee together and talk abut what has
happened in the last few years.
After the coffee they go up on Cave Hill. At the bus stop
they meet Linda Mullet, who is shocked to see Sadie with a Catholic.
With that piece of news Linda immediately visits the
Jackson's. Of course Mrs. Jackson has a very big shock.
At Kevin's home Brede, his sister, and Mrs. McCoy are
worried about the kids because they always play war and fight against patrolling
soldiers.
Away from all the troubles Sadie and Kevin are sitting on
top of Cave Hill.
When Sadie comes home there is a storm. Her parents tell her
not to meet Kevin again and even Tommy, who likes Kevin, thinks that going out
with Kevin would be too dangerous.
The next day Kevin meets Brian Rafferty, who is a friend.
Brian wants Kevin to become a member of the Provisionals but Kevin doesn't want
to kill people since he had almost lost his sister.
On Saturday Kevin and Sadie go to Bangor. They enjoy the
peaceful atmosphere there. They want to go home with the last bus but destiny
wants that they miss it. They hitch hike and Kevin's uncle Albert gives the
couple a lift. After some miles the car breaks down. So they have to walk all
the way back to Belfast.
It's 3 o'clock when they reach the town. Kevin brings Sadie
home but a 100m before her house 3 men come to them. It 's only Tommy, Mr.
Mullet and Mr. Jackson.
They nearly have a fight but Sadie and Tommy stop them to
attack Kevin.
The next day Sadie and Kevin meet at River Lagan. They
decide to part before they come near their own areas not to have encounters like
the last night.
On the way back Brian Rafferts and two other guys beat up
Kevin shouting "Traitor".
Brede is worried about her brother, so she visits Sadie and
tells her what has happened to her brother the night before. The only conclusion
Brede sees is to stop seeing Kevin. Sadie understands but she doesn't want to
let Kevin down.
Kevin is very weak but he manages to go to the meeting point
he had arranged with Sadie. While he is waiting for her a guy with a dog walks
past him. The guy stops as he sees the pale face of Kevin, lifts Kevin up and
wants to bring him home.
They are already on the way as Sadie arrives. She recognises
the man who helps Kevin, it's her geography teacher.
Mr. Blake takes the couple to his home, a very nice house in
one of the suburbs. Mr. Blake even invites them to have dinner with
him.
The next day Sadie doesn't know where she shall go to
because she lost her job due to the fact that her boss got to know that she went
out with a Catholic guy. So she visits Mr. Blake, Moira Henderson, who offers
her a job as a domestic lady and the neighbour of Mr. Blake offers her to look
after their children.
She starts working for Mr. Blake in the morning and in the
afternoon as a nanny for Moira.
Kevin isn't allowed to work for 3 weeks because of his
injuries so he visits Sadie at work and helps Mr. Blake a little bit in the
garden.
One day Mr. Blake, Sadie and Kevin make a trip t the
countryside but they have a car accident. Somebody loosened all the wheels but
nobody is hurt seriously. That accident means the end of meeting for the young
couple.
For weeks they don't meet but on the 12th of July
they meet at Bangor by chance. Sadie and Kevin decide to meet every Wednesday at
Mr. Blake's and every Saturday somewhere outside the town.
Moira's husband Mike comes to visit Sadie and to tell her
that Mr. Blake has died. He was killed by a patrol bomb.
After that incident Kevin decides to leave Belfast and all
the troubles. He is sick of bombs, the soldiers and the troubles.
He goes to England and Sadie comes with him.
Characters:
Sadie Jackson
Sadie is the second child of a Protestant family living in
Belfast.
She is nearly 17. Her hair is long and fair. She has a
strong will and loves the excitement in her life. She is full of energy and
life.
Sadie knows almost everybody in Belfast.
What her mother doesn't like is that Sadie is headstrong and
never lets things die, she always talks them to the end.
Although she doesn't work for a long time yet she had a lot
of jobs like a job at an office, in a linen mill and at least at a hat
department.
Her father Jim Jackson is a member of the Orange
Lodge.
Her brother Tommy and she have a very good
relationship.
Kevin McCoy
The eldest son of a Catholic family which has 9 children is
nearly 18 and works for Mr. Kelly in the scrapyard.
His face isn't very broad but firm and has a suggestion of
strength about it. It's deeply tanned.
Kevin is a very handsome guy.
He is very helpful and friendly and never thinks of himself
first.
Since his sister Brede was almost killed in a fight against
a Protestant gang he has no intention to fight against protestants.
Linda Mullet
Is an old school friend of Sadie. She lives in the same
street just opposite. Linda is always gossiping and is very interested in other
people.
Goes out with Tommy.
Relationship between Sadie and
Kevin
They started as enemies, even fought with stones and fists,
then they were friends but have drifted apart because of the difficulties of
meeting.
When they meet again they become a couple. It is not easy
for them because of their religions.
The problems in Northern Ireland showed by the
book
The book shows which problems teenagers have if they live in
Northern Ireland. If two people of the two different religions want to meet they
have big troubles, Joan Lingard wrote: a few streets away is like being
thousands of miles away. But the streets are not normal like our streets: there
are burnt - out cars and busses and armoured vehicles, torn up paving stones,
barbed wire coiled to form barricades. And along the streets walk solders on
patrol with fingers on the triggers of their guns, men and women eyeing them
watchfully, suspiciously, and bands of children playing at fighting and
sometimes not just playing.
For most of the habitants of Ulster it is too difficult to
talk about the subject. There is a generation which grew up in Northern Ireland
and never had peace.
Every day happens something, the newspapers are full of
headlines like: "Shop gutted by bomb, two killed, one injured".
Joan Lingard also tells you about the worried mothers. If
the children are late they are very anxious because it could happen that they
get mixed up with the IRA.
So it is not easy to understand the people who live there
but if you read this book you have an idea what every day's life must look
like!
Cal
by Bernard MacLaverty
Cal and Shamie McCluskey are the only Catholic family who
are left in the whole estate. Fear has driven the others out but Cal's father
won't move. The family is excluded and isolated.
Cal has no work and so he likes to spend his time at the
library. One day he notices a new woman behind the counter. He falls in love
with that woman who's name is Marcella Morton.
At home his father tells Cal that Crilly, a friend and a
former school mate of Cal, wants to meet him. Cal visits Crilly, who is member
of the IRA. Finbar Skeffington and Crilly are already waiting for Cal. The
reasons why they want to see him his that they need a driver when they rob some
places.
Cal doesn't want to help them he wants out of that group but
as he mentions that they only laugh at him.
After that meeting Cal goes home and finds a note which
says: "Get out you Fenyan scum or we will burn you out. This is your second
warning there will be no others. UVF".
It's the idea of people whose faces Cal doesn't know hating
him that makes his skin crawl. To be hated not for yourself but for what you
are.
From this night on Cal can't sleep anymore and expects a
petrol bomb to be thrown in every second.
It also becomes a regularly thing that Cal has to drive
Crilly when he robs shops or something like that.
To earn some money and to give Cal some work Shamie buys a
tree which Cal sells after he made small logs of the tree. He sells them to Mrs.
Morton who invites him to work for her.
A week after he got the job at the Morton Farm he finds his
house burning. Thanks God that nothing has happened to his father. A cousin of
Shamie, Dermont Ryan, offers the two homeless guys to stay with him. Cal has
another plan. On the farm is a cottage which is empty. That's the ideal place
for him to say because neither Crilly nor somebody else of the IRA will find him
there. It is the only way to get out of everything which has started a year ago
when Cal was the driver and Crilly killed Marcella's husband Robert Morton. Now
he loves that woman and can't forget the bad thing he did to
her.
After some days the army gets him out of the cottage asking
him what he is doing there. He tells them that he is working at the farm and
that he is burned out of his own home.
The army takes him to Marcella who allows Cal to live at the
cottage and even helps him with furniture for the house. Cal has nothing so she
even gives clothes to him, clothes which belonged to her dead
husband.
With Cal everything is fine but Shamie can't cope with the
fact that he lost all the memories of his dead wife and his
house.
Shamie gets so depressed that he first stops to work and a
little later the doctor puts him in for treatment.
When Marcella's mother and father in law go to Belfast for a
week she invites Cal to have dinner with her.
The wine makes Cal brave and so he kisses her but she
doesn't respond. Some days later she apologises for it and tells him that she is
fond of him. A little later they lie in bed and make love.
The day Cal buys the Christmas presents he goes to the
library to wit for Marcella, but she isn't there. He takes some magazines and
looks at them as suddenly a voice behind him says "Good to see you, Cal".
Without turning around Cal knows that it is Crilly. Before Crilly takes Cal with
him, he shows Cal the bomb he is hiding at the library.
Skeffington wants to have a word with Cal, so they visit
him. They have once again the talk about Cal wanting out but the police
interrupts them. The three guys try to run away but Crilly and Finbar are caught
only Cal is able to escape without being seen.
On his way back to the farm he informs the police that there
is a bomb at the library.
After an hour walk he arrives at home and is welcomed by
Marcella.
Again they enjoy a night together.
The next day, Christmas Eve, the police comes and arrests
Cal.
Characters:
Cal McCluskey
Cal is a Catholic. He is 19 years old and has long hair.
Because of the length of the hair he has developed some female gestures. He
loves music and to play the guitar. He has no job and so he likes to go to the
library. Cal is a heavy smoker. Of his family only his dad is left. Cal's elder
brother Brendan also died in an car accident. A little later his mother, Gracie,
died. Cal was only 8 years old. Shamie tried to replace her but he
failed.
Cal has no friends. There is Crilly, but he is not his real
friend.
Shamie McCluskey
He is Cal's father. During the day he works at the
abattoir and at night he loves to watch westerns. He changed totally after he
lost the house and the garden he liked so much. He lost all interests. Shamie's
strong voice lost all the strength and in a couple of weeks he aged like in 20
years. In the end the doctor put him in for treatment.
Marcella Morton (former
D'Agostino)
Marcella is from Italy. She is small, has dark hair and
very brown eyes. It is difficult to guess her age but Cal thinks she is in her
late 20ies. After her husband dies she starts to work at the library. Her
husband, Robert Morton, was a Protestant to whom she was married more than 5
years. Like Cal she is a Catholic. Her daughter Lucy is the most important thing
for her in her life.
Marcella studied at Glasgow.
The relationship to her mother in law, Mrs. Morton isn't
very good. Sometimes Marcella is even afraid of her husbands
mother.
Crilly
Crilly is a friend and a former school mate of Cal. If he
wants he really can be nasty. He is very tall and has large ears which stick out
at the right angles.
He is a kind of bully boy and obviously a member of the IRA.
Finbar Skeffington
Finbar is about 30 years old and a teacher. He is small,
has a round face and teeth like a rabbit. It seems as he is the boss of the
organisation which is in close contact with the IRA or a part of the
IRA.
The problems in Northern Ireland showed by the
book
Cal is not only the story of a young guy between two parties
who just wants to be left in peace. Springing out of the fear and violence of
Northern Ireland, Cal is a sad love story in a land where tenderness and
innocence can only flicker briefly in the dark. The author describes the lives
of the characters with tremendously moving skill.
The way how Bernard Mac Laverty describes the troubles in
Northern Ireland and how it is reflected in the habitants lives: the tv is full
of stories, for example: "The Army had shot a deaf mute, saying that he had been
seen carrying a weapon, but by the time they had reached the dead man an
accomplice had removed the gun. A Catholic father of three had been stabbed to
death in a Belfast entry. The police said that there was no known motive for the
killing." Every day Catholics are shot dead for no apparent reason, as the
police says. But not only killed before they die they have to suffer from
torture.
People say that the group who wins the propaganda war will
win the rest too. So everybody who isn't member of an organisation is "keeping
the Brits there".
A united Ireland? One island one country? What's so bad? In
Protestants' opinion they will be ruled from Rome then and say that Ulsterman
would die rather than live under the yoke of Roman Catholicism.
The Conflict in Northern
Ireland
In order to understand the situation it’s important to
know that the conflict today is the result of about 800 years of hatred and it
is by no means merely a religious conflict.
Historical facts for the
conflict
The first settlers arrived during the Stone Age. From the
first century BC onwards, Gaelic people invaded Ireland. They gradually took
control over the country. The Island was divided into a few small kingdoms,
grouped into 4 provinces: Ulster, Leinster, Muster and
Connacht.
The Gaelic invasion made a lasting impression on Ireland.
The language the Gaels spoke is still taught in Catholic schools and is called
“Irish”.
Christianity was brought to Ireland by St. Patrick. In the
5th century the Gaels became Christians and religion has been a powerful
influence on Irish life ever since.
Today Irish nationalists are very proud of their Gaelic past
because they feel it clearly set them apart from the British.
In 1169 the British conquered parts of Ireland. Two years
later Anglo-Norman invaders gained control of most of Ireland (the origin of the
English-Irish conflict).
Four thousand years later, 1536, Henry the 8th attempted to
impose the reformation on the Irish but it was unsuccessful (the origin of the
religious conflict).
Edward the 6th and Elisabeth the 1st encouraged English
settlers to live in Ireland. They also began introducing Protestant bishops,
bibles and prayer books but most of the Irish people refused to accept the
English religion or the English rules.
The provinces of Ulster and Munster rose in rebellion.
Elisabeth sent her armies to defeat the rebels. The military force wasn’t
the best way to gain control in Ireland so the English kings started to
“plant” colonies of loyal Protestants from Scotland and give land to
them --> Plantation of Ulster.
From 1607 onwards, thousand of Scottish Protestant farmers
came over to Ulster and settled on land taken from local Irish Catholics. (the
origin of the Ulster problem).
In 1641 a great rebellion against the new settlers took
place. Large numbers of Protestants were killed and the rebellion continued
until the arrival of the English leader, Oliver Cromwell slaught the Catholic
inhabitants of two towns in 1649.
In 1690 the Battle of Boyne took place. To understand what
has happened you have to know that towards the 17th century there
were two claimants for the English throne - William of Orange and James the
second. James was a Catholic, William a Dutch Protestant.
In July 1690 James and William led their armies against each
other. The Battle near the river Boyne ended on the 12th of July and
a defeated James. So William became King of Great Britain and Ireland, called
King Billy. The battle became the symbol of Protestant supremacy in the North of
Ireland. In the following years laws were passed that kept Catholics from public
office and deny them the right to buy or inherit land.
To this day each July 12, Protestant "Orangemen" (?William
of Orange) in Ulster march to commemorate the victory.
1800 Act of Union: Ireland became part of the UK so they had
a shared parliament with 32 Irish Peers.
Times of oppression and misery followed. Among the most
difficult phases for the Irish were periods of starvation – “The
Great Hunger” 1845 to 1849 where the potato crop was destroyed by a
disease. During that 4 years one third of Ireland’s population starved or
emigrated to the USA, Canada and Britain.
A catholic party, Sinn Fein (translated: ourselves alone or
we ourselves) was founded 1907 and gained political support. The Catholics
demanded for Home Rule but the Protestants formed the Ulster Volunteers to
resist the Home Rule Bill, which would have created an independent
Ireland.
IN 1912 some 1,000 rebels from the Irish Volunteers and the
socialist Irish Citizen Army - led by Patrick Pearse proclaimed an Irish
Republic on Easter Monday. After five days of fighting were over 400 people died
and more than 2,500 were wounded. The leaders of the rebellion are executed in
May. The more people were executed the more the Irish nationalist feeling grew.
After the Easter Rebellion Michael Collins organised the
"Irish Republican Army" which is a nationalist organisation dedicated to the
unification of Ireland.
In 1919 the British Government prepared to leave Ireland but
the protestant ruling class dislikes that idea so bloody battles to place till
it was decided that Ireland should be divided into two parts (1921 the got
divided).
They divided Ireland into: the northern part - Ulster - with
Belfast as capital and all 6 provinces as a part of the UK.
The south - Republic of Ireland - is an independent country
with its own government.
The UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force) and other radical
Protestants feared that the division of Ireland would be abolished and
consequently the Protestants would lose their dominant position.
With the division the British Government regarded the
Ireland problem as solved till the Catholic community started the civil rights
movement, highlighting the abuse of power and demanding equality in employment,
housing and education.
1969 bloody fights between Catholics and Protestants broke
out. British troops were sent to Northern Ireland to maintain law and
order.
1972: Fourteen men died after British troops opened fire on
a civil rights demonstration in Derry (Londonderry). This day is called "Bloody
Sunday". Two months later the parliament of Ulster was dissolved by the Prime
minister to get a fairer distribution of power between Catholics and
Protestants. This idea failed and Ulster was ruled directly by the British
Government again.
Six months after the Bloody Sunday the IRA set off 22 bombs
in Belfast that killed 11 people. That was the beginning of a long series of
bombings, assassinations and shootings.
As the 1990s began, British troops were still patrolling the
streets of Londonderry and Belfast, and the Provisional IRA continued to launch
sporadic terrorist attacks on British civilians and military personnel in the
British Isles and continental Europe.
In September 1993 the British government began bilateral
talks with three of the four parties (the Democratic Unionists refused to join
in). Three months later, on December 15, 1993, the British and Irish prime
ministers signed the Downing Street Declaration, a statement of fundamental
principles with regard to the future of the province.
On August 31, 1994, the Provisional IRA announced a complete
cessation of its military Operations, ending 25 years of fighting.
In December 1994, the British government held its first
public talks with Sinn Fein. The cease-fire held into 1995, despite severe
strains at times. The failure of the Provisional IRA to hand over its arms
delayed the start of all-party talks including Sinn Fein. However, during the
year, the British government first scaled down the number of troops in Northern
Ireland, and then, in March, ended routine patrols of British troops in the
province. Then the British and Irish governments issued a framework document for
all-party talks on a durable settlement in Northern Ireland.
1996: political life in Ireland was dominated by efforts to
sustain the faltering peace process in Northern Ireland. This progress made
during the previous years was abruptly terminated in February 1997 by the ending
of the IRA cease-fire and by the detonation of a bomb in London's Docklands. In
a struggle to reinstate the process, Irish Prime Minister Burton and the British
Prime Minister Major tried to set dates for all-party talks. The majority
Unionist parties which favoured the continued unification of Northern Ireland
and Great Britain objected to the talks, however, and endless meetings failed to
break a deadlock. Further violence followed.
In October 1997 an IRA bomb attack on the British army-base
in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, restored the full cycle of violence. This left the
Irish government with their overall peace strategy in ruins. There was all-party
consent in the Republic that Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA, would be
excluded from talks while IRA violence continued. In spite of a working
agreement on talks between the Ulster Unionists and Northern Ireland's Social
Democratic and Labour Party (which sought reunification with Ireland) all
political parties in the Republic remained convinced that talks without Sinn
Fein would make only limited progress and that the only route forward depended
on a permanent IRA cease-fire.
Finally, in April 1998, on Good Friday a Northern Ireland
peace agreement was reached. Copies of the proposed plan were mailed to every
household in Northern Ireland. On Friday the 22nd of May in 1228 polling
stations 71 percent of the voters said YES to an agreement that will transform
the politics of Northern Ireland and redefine the historically contentious
relations between London, Dublin and Belfast. The Good Friday Agreement, it
should change the face of unionism forever and open the way to a sharing of
government between Unionists and Nationalists.
The key points of the Good Friday Agreement
- A new political body of 108 members elected by
proportional representation will administer Northern Ireland.
- A North - South Ministerial Council must be set up within
a year.
- A new body drawn from the assembly and from the Irish
Parliament will deal with common issues such as roads and agriculture. Dublin
will hold a referendum to amend these two articles to the Irish constitution
claiming that the North is an integral part of the Republic.
- A new charter for human rights to protect the Nationalist
minority, plus restructuring of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
- A commission will be appointed to review the sentences of
those convicted of terrorist-related charges during the Troubles and speed their
release.
- A program to get weapons held by Catholic and Protestant
paramilitary groups turned in and destroyed will be
implemented.
- he Irish language will get an official
standing
- A committee will be set up to reform the Royal Ulster
Constabulary, the Northern Irish police force, hated by the Catholic
community.
On the 15th August 1998 exploded a car bomb in a busy
shopping district in Omagh, a small town seventy miles west of Belfast.
Twenty-nine people were killed and 220 were injured in this attack. A month
later the new Northern Ireland Assembly meets for the first time in the Stormont
Assembly chamber.
In March 1999 the British government extends Northern
Ireland's deadline to comply with the 1998 Good Friday Agreement amid debate
over IRA disarmament. In the interim, the two countries sign four treaties
designed to increase political co-operation between Britain and Northern
Ireland.
The final deadline passes and the English prime minister's
plan for returning control of Ireland back to a local executive collapses. Tony
Blair, who had reignited the possibility of peace in the region, announces that
Northern Ireland will continue to be ruled by London.
In early September, Senator Mitchell returns to a peace
process in which all parties seem to have lost confidence.
However, after ten weeks of difficult negotiations an
agreement is reached. On Saturday, the 27th of November 1999, the Ulster
Unionist Party agrees to establish a power-sharing executive with Sinn Fein
before decommissioning begins. In exchange, the IRA agrees to appoint a delegate
to a decommissioning board. They are expected to begin handing over their
weapons by February 2000.
On December 1, the new Northern Ireland Assembly meets to
appoint members to the executive (cabinet). The new executive is made up of six
Protestants and six Catholics. With the establishment of this new government,
power transfers from London to Belfast, and the people of Northern Ireland begin
governing themselves for the first time since 1972.
Britain suspends the Northern Ireland Assembly due to the
IRA's refusal to begin decommissioning its weapons on the 11th of February 2000.
The province is again governed by the British Parliament. The agreement had
required the IRA to begin decommissioning by February. When this does not
happen, David Trimble, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, vows to resign -
an event that almost certainly would lead to the collapse of the peace process.
In order to prevent such a collapse, Britain suspends the Assembly. If a new
procedure for decommissioning can be worked out, the Assembly will be
reinstated.
On the 27th May 2000 the UUP met to approve or to
refuse the new establishment of a coalition with Sinn Fein.
IRA's offer to make their weapons accessible to independent
inspectors and the promise to be peaceful made it possible to think of a new
Northern Ireland Assembly.
The voting ended with a narrow majority (53,2%) to trust the
IRA and to make a new coalition with the catholic Sinn Fein.
That step undid the suspension from the 11th
February 1999.
After three and a half months Northern Ireland gained Home
Rule again.
A month later in June the IRA showed two inspectors the
secret ordnance depots which meant that they kept their promise.
At the beginning of July after more than 2 years British
troops had to intervene again in Belfast's streets. Protestants all over
Northern Ireland fought against the RUC because the Orange Order of Portadown
wasn't allowed to march through catholic streets.
On the 21st of August the British Army started to
patrol Belfast's streets again.
Since autumn 2000 the peace talks have come to a deadlock.
Organisations and Parties in Northern
Ireland
____________|____________
__________________________
| | |
| | | |
IRA Sinn Fein SDLP DUP UVF
PUP Orange Order
Catholics (Republicans /
Nationalists)
IRA = Irish Republic Army
It is not possible to say when exactly the IRA was founded
because there have been a lot of violent groups but Michael Collins is said to
be the founder. First the IRA only protected the Catholics but then they became
a militant army.
In 1922 the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain prohibited
the IRA.
In 1969 the IRA accepted their inferiority and divided into
the "Official IRA", which retains the traditional idea, and the "Provisional
IRA", which tried to achieve their aims with paramilitary attacks against the
British Army.
The split was led by the IRA's northern command who felt
that the ideological swing to the left by the southern based leadership was
detrimental to the movement as a whole.
With the traditional enemy, in there form of the British
Army, on the streets of Northern Ireland, the Provisionals felt that, it was
time to leave politics behind and respond in a military
fashion.
From 1969 on they wage a restless war against the British
Army and RUC and also attack civilians.
The official IRA was allied to "Official" Sin Fein and was
more Marxist than its provisional counterpart. The official IRA has ceased to
operate since it called a cease-fire on May 29, 1972, but strongly contested
allegations have persisted that the group continued to exist and carried out
robberies and assassinations well into the 1980s.
Means of the IRA protest:
•
burning tyres in the streets, blocking roads with burning
vehicles
•
stoning police patrols, sniping at the security forces
•
hijacking vehicles, placing bombs in them and driving them to designated targets
(army barracks, police stations, or pubs frequented by British
soldiers)
•
going on hunger strikes
Originaldokument enthält an dieser Stelle eine Grafik!
Original document contains a graphic at this position!
Sinn Fein
is the oldest surviving political party in Ireland, dating
back to 1905. It is used to be widely regarded as the political wing of the IRA,
but today the party insists that the two organisations are completely
separate.
Its original aim remains unchanged - the right of Irish
people as a whole to attain national self-determination. For Sinn Fein's main
goal (an United Ireland) they will carry out whatever means
necessary.
Like the IRA the Sinn Fein split up into Provisional and
Official Sinn Fein in 1969. Later the Provisional Sinn Fein became the Worker's
Party.
At the 1997 general election Sinn Fein won 17.6% of the
vote. It has 18 seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly and two seats on the
executive.
Sinn Fein's leader is the West Belfast man, Gerry
Adams.
Originaldokument enthält an dieser Stelle eine Grafik!
Original document contains a graphic at this position!
SDLP = Social Democratic & Labour
Party
is the largest nationalist party in Northern Ireland.
The party is left of centre and has always espoused
non-violence in the pursuit of its aims. It also has been a longstanding critic
of all paramilitary groups and the British military presence in Northern
Ireland.
At the general election in 1997 it won 22% of the vote. With
24 seats in the Assembly the SDLP is the second-largest party.
Its leader John Hume was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in
1998.
Radical Catholics say:
? we have suffered form the consequences of English
conquest and oppression, for several hundred years. Today the British practise
neo-colonialism. Their troops are on army of occupation
? we are under-represented in social and political
fields and discriminated against in housing, employment, etc.
? the IRA is a genuine political movement with Sinn
Fein as its political mouthpiece. It represents the opinions of large section of
the population.
? we are fighting for a just cause: that of expelling
the British from Ulster and of reunifying Ireland under Catholic
rule.
? the more of us are killed by British soldiers or
the Ulster police, the more martyrs are created; each time there are more of us
ready to revenge their deaths. The armed struggle of the IRA causes bloodshed
and human suffering, but these are unavoidable consequences of the fight for
self-determination
Protestants (Unionist /
Loyalists)
Orange Order
was founded in September 1795. It came into existence as a
Protestant response to the relaxation of the anti-Catholic penal laws at the end
of the 18th century. It comprised Protestant males who pledged their
allegiance to the Crown and their Protestant faith.
The Order commemorates the Battle of Boyne with marches at
different country centres throughout Northern Ireland on the 12th of
July.
It has played a significial role in Irish politics
(harnessed Protestant opposition to Home Rule).
Originaldokument enthält an dieser Stelle eine Grafik!
Original document contains a graphic at this position!
DUP = Democratic Unionist
Party
was founded in 1971 by the Reverend Ian Paisley and William
Boal. Under Reverend Paisley's leadership the DUP has strongly opposed the Good
Friday Agreement. It is similar by against any other move which it interprets as
an attempt to weaken the union or as a concession to nationalists or the
Republic.
The DUP is strongly anti-Catholic in the religious sense and
it boycotted peace talks.
UVF = Ulster Volunteer Force
was formed to oppose the implementation of Home Rule by
military force if necessary. The outbreak of World War I and the suspension of
Home Rule resulted in the UVF becoming the 36th (Ulster) Division of
the British Army.
Following partition the force was disbanded and its members
recruited by the RUC.
The UVF was re-established in 1966 and immediately declared
war on the IRA but was banned some months later.
PUP = Progressive Unionist
Party
is seen as a political wing of the UVF.
The party dislikes what it sees as too many concessions to
Republicans during the peace process. However, it supports the Good Friday
Agreement and has been outspoken in its belief that the Northern Ireland
Assembly and executive should go ahead without delay.
The party's leader is Hugh Smith.
Extremist Protestants say:
? the IRA glorifies death violence, blood and
sacrifice; our counter-at-tracks are only a reaction to their terror: IRA terror
tactics are condemned world-wide; we refuse to give in to IRA
terrorism
? if the British troops withdraw, there will be even
more turmoil and bloodshed
? Ulster is British; most of us are descendants of
the English or Scottish planers of the 17th century; we have the same
right to our (Protestant) homeland as the descendants of the (more recent)
settlers in the USA or Australia have to their native
countries.
Results of the Election
for
the New Northern Ireland
Assembly
|
Party
|
Percentage of Vote
|
Number of Seats
|
|
Ulster Unionist Party
|
21.3%
|
28
|
|
Social Democratic and Labour Party
|
22%
|
24
|
|
Democratic Unionist Party
|
18.1%
|
20
|
|
Sinn Fein
|
17.6%
|
18
|
|
Alliance
|
6.5%
|
6
|
|
United Kingdom Unionist Party
|
4.5%
|
5
|
|
Other
|
10%
|
7
|
|
Total
|
100%
|
108
|
|
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