The Troubles In Northern Ireland: Why Did It All Happen?

The Troubles in Northern Ireland: Why Did it All Happen?

The Troubles refer to the thirty-year time span between the civil rights march in Londonderry on the 5th of October 1968 and the Good Friday Agreement of the 10th of April 1998. These thirty years were the most violent in the history of Ireland causing over 3,700 dead and many more injured. One even described the period as, “…the transition, chaotic and rapid, from a civil rights movement (1966-68) to a bloody inter-communal strife (1969).” (“The Making of the Troubles in Northern Ireland”) Despite the troubles being widely known, the causes of these tensions amongst the two sections of the island are often forgotten in the study of this subject. The main cause of The Troubles lies
The Irish Press had identified the event by stating, “On Saturday 5 of October 1968, civil rights marchers in Derry were blocked by the RUC and attacked without ‘justification or excuse’.” (“North South Relations and the Outbreak of Troubles in Northern Ireland, 1968-9: The Response of the Irish Press). The story received mass media coverage despite Northern Ireland only having a small presence in Irish newspapers at the time with a maximum (average) of four stories from the North in a paper. The march was organized by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA), formed in 1967, which aimed to protest the discrimination held by the mainly Protestant-Unionist authority figures against the mainly Catholic-Nationalist population of Londonderry at the time. They also were attempting to protest the unfair housing allocation of the time. The protest turned violent and police began to use force to stop them. Some of the people attacked during the march were Gerry Fitt and members of Parliament in Westminster. This began the 30 year period known as The Troubles in Northern Ireland. After there was some initiative to change the housing allocations they were protesting against which was loved by Catholics of Northern Ireland but was poorly received by protestants in the area. Four years later (1972), British Paratroopers killed 13
Throughout Irish history there had always been tension amongst the Protestants and the Catholics, however, the term religion became a bit more synonymous with political party, which caused many people to forget that despite their bias, the two religions are very similar. It is definite that religious affiliation played an extremely important role in The Troubles however religious ‘belief’ may not have played as a factor at all. Typically religion is supposed to be, “to give its adherents knowledge of the afterlife and to educate them in how to obtain it.” (“The Devil, Miracle, and The Afterlife: The Political Sociology of Religion in Northern Ireland”) However, the way that religion has played out historically seems to be much different especially in the case of Northern Ireland and The Troubles. Throughout history religion has, “frequently intruded into the real world, and has produced attitudes with distinct social and political consequences.” (“The Devil, Miracle, and The Afterlife: The Political Sociology of Religion in Northern Ireland”) In Northern Ireland you can see the difference between political religion and religion in practice. The mix of these two seemingly different practices began during the plantation of Ulster in the 17th century. During this time many poor Catholics were forced to relocate due to a large amount of Scottish and English settlers moving to Northern Ireland. A majority of those