The Troubles

The Troubles refers to a thirty-year conflict in Northern Ireland. It took place from the 1960s to the 1990s. Although much of the violence took place in Northern Ireland, incidents also occurred in the Republic of Ireland (Ireland) and England.

The root of the conflict goes back to the 1920s, when Ireland was divided by the British government. At that time, much of Ireland was granted independence, but the northern part remained under British control. Most Irish citizens wanted to become independent from Great Britain. However, some groups in Northern Ireland wanted to remain a part of Britain based on a shared religious affiliation with the powerful nation. Most people in Northern Ireland were Protestant, a religion the area shared with Britain. However, a minority percentage (40 percent) of people in Northern Ireland were Catholic, a group that had been oppressed by Protestant rule and wanted independence.

Over time, militant groups developed on both sides in support of nationalist (mostly Catholic) and unionist (mostly Protestant) views. Nationalist groups wanted a reunified independent Ireland, while unionist groups wanted Northern Ireland to remain a part of Britain. Neither group was willing to compromise; therefore, violence between the groups became a common occurrence. In response to the violence, Britain initiated direct rule over Northern Ireland in 1972. Both the nationalist and unionist militant groups continued to conduct terrorist attacks against civilians for decades.

In 1994, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), a militant group that sought the end of British rule in Northern Ireland, agreed to a cease-fire. Many other militant groups followed suit. Britain agreed to restore self-rule in Northern Ireland, while the Irish agreed that any change in the allegiance of Northern Ireland would come from a vote, not from violence. This settlement was known as the Good Friday Agreement.

Although the Good Friday Agreement managed to curb the fighting, it failed to completely eliminate terrorist violence in Northern Ireland. It did, however, greatly reduce the number of active militants throughout the area. Over the decade following the agreement, most paramilitary groups demilitarized, either disbanding or entering legitimate politics. The IRA surrendered its weapons in 2005, marking a significant step toward lasting peace in Ireland and its northern region. Other paramilitary groups drastically shrank in size and power.

Background

Britain, a powerful European nation, once used colonies to help build its economy. In the late twelfth century, Britain founded a colony in Ireland. From that point forward, Britain maintained significant control over Ireland.

One area in Northern Ireland, Ulster, strongly resisted British control. To alter this, the British sent large numbers of Protestant settlers there. Prior to this, most Irish citizens had been Catholic. The strategy was extremely successful, and the settlers gradually took control of Ulster. In 1801, Ireland was officially declared part of the United Kingdom.

The British settlers and their descendants primarily remained Protestant. The native Irish and their descendants primarily remained Catholic. This created a major divide in Irish culture. Because the Protestants were aligned with Britain, a Protestant nation, most politically powerful positions were staffed with Protestants. They passed numerous laws discriminating against Catholics. Many of the Catholics rebelled against these restrictions, but the rebellions were quickly crushed by British forces.

Many Irish people wanted to be entirely independent of Britain. When Britain would not acknowledge this right, the two sides began to fight. Many Irish citizens began to rebel through acts of guerilla warfare against the British and their government.

In 1921, the British agreed to grant Ireland its independence. However, Britain imposed the condition that six Northern Irish counties remain under British control. The counties were predominately Protestant and wanted to maintain their association with the Protestant nation of Britain. Most Irish citizens were not pleased with this solution. They continued their guerilla warfare campaign against the British. However, this failed to stop the agreement from taking place. The British counties were declared Northern Ireland, while the rest of Ireland was granted its independence. Many Catholics in Northern Ireland were extremely displeased by this.

Overview

The relationship between Protestants and Catholics in Ireland remained tense after the division. In Northern Ireland, Catholics were still routinely discriminated against. The two sides continued to fight, and the situation grew increasingly violent in the 1960s. In 1969, the British government sent soldiers to restore order to the area. This strategy caused increased resistance to the idea of a British rule in Northern Ireland. In response, the British government dissolved the Northern Irish parliament in 1973. It imposed direct rule over Northern Ireland. It also instituted internment, a policy that meant suspected dissidents could be imprisoned without trial.

The return of direct rule incensed the Northern Irish resistance. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) was the primary militant organization responsible for violent interactions with the British. The original IRA formed to fight the British during the Irish War of Independence (1919–1921). When the war was over, and Ireland was divided into a free Catholic state and a British province, many refused to accept this as a solution. Their descendants became the organization known as the IRA.

The IRA refused to compromise in any way. The only end result the IRA would accept was a complete reunification of Ireland, completely independent from Britain. To accomplish this, the IRA was prepared to engage in a “long war.”

The long war was the IRA’s idea of a war of attrition against the British government. The IRA acknowledged that an open war with the British could not be won. However, the IRA could use guerilla tactics to wear British forces down over time. The IRA was prepared to engage in this style of warfare for decades.

The idea of the long war gained support after the infamous Bloody Sunday. On January 30, 1972, in Northern Ireland, a group of Northern Catholic civil rights activists held a protest against the internment of suspected Irish nationalists without trial. Britain denied the protestors the right to march. However, the protestors carried out their demonstration anyway. In response, British soldiers fired their weapons at the protestors, killing thirteen of them.

The killings caused angry protests to erupt across Ireland. Some protests were nonviolent, but others caused property damage. In Dublin, protestors lit the British embassy on fire. Later that year, the IRA detonated twenty bombs, killing numerous British military personnel and civilians. Unionist paramilitary groups struck back against the IRA, causing more violence. The British engaged in secret talks with IRA leadership in an attempt to negotiate a cessation of violence, but the talks quickly failed.

As the activities of the IRA rose in prominence after the Bloody Sunday attack, the group received support from other militant organizations around the world. The IRA acquired stockpiles of weapons and explosives, and used them to fight against the British and their supporters. They conducted numerous terrorist attacks against British forces, attempting to wear down the army’s morale. The group used bombings, assassinations, and surprise attacks to kill and injure British soldiers and their supporters.

The IRA created a nonviolent wing of its organization called the Sinn Féin. The Sinn Féin conducted itself as a legitimate political organization, and did not directly contribute to the violent actions of the IRA. However, the group was tasked with supporting the goals of the IRA through legitimate political actions. Sinn Féin was able to engage with the British government and other organizations that refused to openly negotiate with the IRA.

Unionist militarized groups who wanted Northern Ireland to remain a British province opposed the IRA. The two largest unionist paramilitary groups were the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). The UVF was a single large-scale organization, while the UDA was a network of smaller groups throughout Northern Ireland. Like the IRA, these militants used surprise attacks, shootings, and bombings to spread terror and harm their rivals. In one of their most violent attacks, the UVF used a pair of bombs placed in Dublin and Monaghan to kill thirty-three civilians in 1974.

In 1973, the British government gathered a group of Irish political parties together to discuss the ending of direct rule in Northern Ireland. These talks were called the Sunningdale Agreement. Only a few political parties were willing to participate, and representatives from militant or extremist groups were not invited. Britain was not willing to offer complete independence for Northern Ireland. However, it was willing to accept a shared rule. This would drastically increase the representation of Catholics and Irish nationalists in the government, giving them a much larger say in Northern Irish affairs.

This agreement failed to please extremists on either side. The IRA and Sinn Féin were displeased with any solution that did not result in a reunified, independent Ireland. The unionists had demanded formal recognition of Northern Ireland, and had demanded a further crackdown on any suspected IRA militants. When these demands were not met, opposition to the Sunningdale Agreement continued to mount. Although a joint government was created, many groups withdrew their support from it. Others sent representatives to disrupt the affairs of governance, eroding any sense of legitimacy held by the assembly. Eventually, the Ulster Workers’ Council set out to destroy the new government. They organized a massive strike, causing many of Ireland’s industries to suddenly stop. Unionist militants also assisted in the strike, intimidating many others to participate.

Several further attempts were made by the British government to reach a compromise in the region. Most compromises alienated either the IRA or the unionist groups. Neither the Sinn Féin nor the unionist political organizations were willing to compromise. Violence between the IRA and the unionist paramilitary organizations continued to be a regular occurrence.

By the 1990s, many paramilitary groups had begun to wonder if their conflict could be won with weapons. By that time, thousands of people had been killed in the violence. More than three thousand deaths occurred over the three decades of the Troubles, the majority of those killed were civilians.

In 1994, the IRA announced a formal cease-fire. It would not attack any other groups nor conduct any new bombings. Some other paramilitary groups, including major unionist groups, also agreed to set aside their weapons and draft an agreement. This allowed genuine peace talks to begin.

Northern Ireland returned to self-government in 1998, and both groups agreed that any further changes in Northern Ireland’s allegiances or constitutional status would come as a result of voting. This compromise was part of the Good Friday Agreement and marked the end of the Troubles.

The Good Friday Agreement, also known as the Belfast Agreement, officially declared that Northern Ireland would remain part of the United Kingdom. However, it also declared that a vote could be called to check if the majority of Northern Irish citizens wanted to reunify with Ireland. Should the citizens vote to become a single country again, Britain would be bound to honor the results.

Although the agreement did not completely eliminate violence throughout Northern Ireland, most paramilitary groups disarmed over the next decade. Some entered politics as nonviolent political parties, such as the Sinn Féin. In 2005, the IRA officially disarmed. The group surrendered its weapons to a group of independent weapons inspectors, delivering them from secret locations to regional authorities. Although many in Northern Ireland failed to believe that the IRA was truly disarming, the move marked a major step toward a peaceful Northern Ireland. The few remaining paramilitary groups significantly shrank in both size and influence.

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