Northern Ireland

• Ireland and Northern Ireland split

  1921
• 1/8 moved away during the 1950s for work
• In Derry by 1968, unemployment fell by almost half to 12.7% but some were still victims of discrimination
• NI tried to adopt a proportional representation system, but it failed, so they switched to the first past the post system


  1921
• Gerrymandering was used to favour protestant vote
• Catholics could not buy housing due to unemployment and bias so therefore could not vote
• First civil rights march in a housing estate in Caledon

  24th august 1968
• HCL and CSJ set up


  1960s
• NICRA set up


  1967
• Civil rights march in Londonderry had clashes between police and protesters

  5th October 1968
• Bomb destroyed the water supply to Belfast


  24th April 1969
• Terence O'Neill resigns


  28th April 1969
• Troubled times
• The republic of Ireland suffered severe economic challenges, and emigration increased as people left to find jobs
• 'Operation Harvest' by the IRA aimed to unite north and south but drove them apart more – convinced protestants of catholic violence, created a landslide of policies created by unionists to protect their position in Northern Ireland
• Children were separated by religion: catholic schools (run by catholic church) and protestant schools (run by govt) – divided society
• In NI, cotton industries decline, Britain no longer competitive against India, Ship Building decline (affects Belfast a lot)
• Unemployment among catholic men was a major reason for discontent
• O'Neill's investment programme only visible in protestant areas of NI
• Despite Catholics being a greater part of the population, protestant vote dominated the political system
• Policy was mostly set by unionists – power propped up by gerrymandering. (Election results manipulated)
• Only primary occupants of property could vote ->Religion often dictated if people could get housing – removes a lot of catholic votes because they cannot get housing
• Ian Paisley – responsible for making problems worse, encourages violence
• London does not intervene because conservatives have made a broad agreement with unionist party to not intervene with their politics – Wilson has a completely different attitude and needs the support of the newly created democratic party that votes for him, so he meddles. He does his best but complicates it and makes it worse
• Change in attitudes in catholic society - middle class Catholics new generation (they create NICRA)
• Ulster stands at the crossroads
• Albert Kennedy, Inspector General of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) appealed to home minister Craig that people were getting confused between civil rights marches and members of the IRA and the IRA could take advantage of the situation


  1968
• NI's Prime Minister Terence O'Neill faced pressure to respond to the civil rights movement in a way that was beneficial for both Catholics and Protestants. He broadcast a speech in December 1968 compelling people to come together
• The People's Democracy marched from Belfast to Derry in January 1969
• Five of the Civil Rights association demands were met
• The general election in February 1969 and the Ulster Unionist party were put under pressure for the first time. O'Neill won
• A bomb destroyed the water supply to Belfast protesting O'Neill's reforms. He resigned 4 days later


  24th April 1969
• There was a growing feeling that police officers were biased
• By 1971 – 68 had been killed
• Brian Faulkner becomes PM and introduced internment. This increases violence


  1971
• Operation Demetrius


  9th August 1971
• In Ballymurphy, 10 civilians shot and killed by army


  1. 11 August 1971
• 16,000 households withheld rent with SDLP
• Bloody Sunday. 13 killed, 15 injured


  30th January 1972
• Lord Widgery's report found nothing wrong with the army's actions on Bloody Sunday