Troubles

• The discrimination and unfair treatment by Protestants to Catholic communities in the North led to the outbreak of conflict in the late 1960s.At this time the Northern Irish government was under Terrence O’Neill as he began to treat Catholics better; Unionists didn’t like his idea of bridging the gap. Paisley(unionists) launched a campaign’O‘Neill was betraying them. So his say was disregarded.
• Catholics began to campaign for an end to discrimination ; housing + employment + gerrymanding (rigging the government). A group called the northern Ireland civil rights Association used protest marches and civil disobedience in their campaign for equal rights.
• Loyalists opposed these changes. This led to increasing violence, riots and sectarian attacks. Paramilitary organisations became more active, including the loyalist Ulster Volunteers and the nationalist Irish Republic Army. 

  In trying to control the rise of violence, Northern Ireland’s police force (the Royal Ulster Constabulary) did not treat both sides equally; the treatment of the nationalists was harsher.

  Pressure continued to build and in 1969 a significant riot broke out in Derry, known as ‘the Battle of the Bogside’. This is considered to be the beginning of the 'Troubles'.
• Paisley - Founder of the democratic union party
• Internment - Imprisonment on suspicion [of terrorism]
• Violence that broke out when catholic residents of the Bogside tried to

  prevent the Apprentice Boys marching in their area (in August 1969)/ Clash

  (in Derry) between Bogside nationalists and the RUC (and Apprentice Boys).
• Voting Rights:

  The state of Northern Ireland was designed to be a 'Protestant State for a Protestant People', this often involved the use of Gerrymandering of election

  districts ('Wards') in places like the city of Derry/Londonderry where the Unionists, who were in a minority, held control of the city council by ensuring that the majority of Nationalist voters were 'packed' into the South Ward area.

  This meant that they had a big surplus of votes in that area. Other Nationalist voters were thinly distributed,
• Employment & Housing:

  In the early years of N.I. approximately 10,000 Nationalist had been forced out of their jobs in the shipyards and linen mills of Belfast, but the discrimination continued with the Civil Service (including the RIC and 'B-Specials') being made

  up almost completely by Unionists. In housing, Nationalist and Unionists lived in segregated areas, such as the Nationalist Falls Rd and Unionist Shankill Rd in Belfast.
• Housing policy that discriminated against Nationalist often meant that large Catholic families often shared a house and Unionist applicants for

  "Council Housing' were often moved to the top of the list.
• Identity:

  Unionists and Nationalists saw themselves as having separate identities,

  attending different church-run schools, playing different games (Nationalists

  played GAA, whereas Unionists mostly played Rugby), and worked in different

  jobs.
• To resolve some of those differences, John Hume and Gerry Fitt set up the Campaign for Social Justice and the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association

  (NICRA). Their aims were to achieve:

  "One man, one vote" in Local Elections

  End Gerrymandering

  End discrimination in employment and housing.
• Religion - nationalists were from a catholic background, whereas most Unionists were from a Protestant or Presbyterian background
• The Sectarian State

  • Discrimination Against Catholics: Gerrymandering ensured Unionist electoral victories, and Catholics faced double the unemployment rate of Protestants. The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and B-Specials (a part-time anti-Catholic unit) were predominantly Protestant.
  • Housing and Education: Protestants were favored in public housing, and Protestant schools received more funding than Catholic schools.
• Sectarianism: in NI the systematic and intentional discrimination of one group of people by

  another on religious grounds
• The Sunningdale Agreement (1973)

  • Power-Sharing: Signed by Unionist, SDLP, British, and Irish leaders, it established a power-sharing executive and cross-border Council of Ireland. The Ulster Workers’ Council Strike (1974) led to its collapse and the resumption of direct rule from Westminster.
• The Search for Peace, 1985-1998

  The Anglo-Irish Agreement (1985)

  • Signed by Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald and UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, it aimed to increase security cooperation and give the Republic a role in Northern Ireland’s affairs, facing Unionist opposition.
• John Hume (1937-2020)

  • John Hume was a key civil rights leader and SDLP (social democratic Labour Part) founder, advocating for peaceful change. He played a crucial role in the Good Friday Agreement and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize alongside David Trimble. Hume is regarded as one of Ireland’s greatest leaders.
• Legacy of the Troubles

  • The Good Friday Agreement ended most violence, but the Troubles resulted in 3,500 deaths and left Northern Ireland a divided society with deep-rooted grievances.