Northern+Ireland++-+Bri

**Northern Ireland During the 1980's and 1990's **



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History: The conflicts between the Ireland's is centuries old. It all started back in the 17th century when England finally succeed in gaining control of the island after numerous rebellions. A lot of land in the North was colonized by the English and the Scottish. =====

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Northern Island and Southern Ireland drifted apart during the 1880s because of economic differences. Factories and manufacturing became popular in the North, while the South still used referred to farming. =====

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Even do to these differences, political separation of Ireland didn't come until the 19th century. This was caused by the issue of independence. Most Irish Catholics (who mostly lived in the South) wanted to be set free from Britain, but the Irish Protestants (who mostly lived in the North) feared being ruled by Catholic majority. =====

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In an attempent to bring peace to both sides, the British passed the __Government of Ireland Act__, leading to the seperation of Northern and Southern Ireland. The act was accepted by the North, but the South still demanded a free, independent, nation. =====

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The IRA: The IRA stands for the Irish Republican Army. The IRA was devoted to a free, independent Ireland. It was against the separation of Ireland as well. It was organized by Michael Collins. The IRA used Guerilla warfare tactics against the British, and after fighting they came to an agreement and signed a treaty, creating the Irish Free State. This became an independent republic in 1949. The remaining counties made up Northern Ireland, which was ruled by the United Kingdom. =====

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The Troubles: Although armed fights were stopped between the Cathlolics and the Protestants, they started up again in the 1960's. Bloody riots broke out in Londonderry as well as Belfast before British troops were called in. The British tried to help, but the IRA continued to bomb Northern Ireland and commit other acts of terrorism, while Northern Ireland bombed them back. This conflict continued all the way to the 1990's, and has become known as "The Troubles". =====

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Bloody Sunday: On January 30, 1972, peaceful civilians were protesting interment in Bogside, Derry, Ireland. According to British autorties, protesting interment was "illegal" and that led to open fire. The British Army First Parachute Regiment fired on these peaceful citizens, killing 13 and wounding many others. The circumstances behind the shooting were controversial, and in turn produced an overwhelming support for the IRA, who used violence against the British to get them out of Northern Ireland. =====

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Peace Talks: The first attempt at Peace Talks was in 1985 between Margaret Thatcher, the British Prime Minister and Garrett Fitzgerlad, the Irish Prime Minsiter. They signed the __Anglo-Irish Agreement__, which gave the Republic of Ireland right to affairs in Northern Ireland. However, the Protestant politcans who opposed this agreement stopped it from ever happening. Similar talks were held all throughout the 90's, but then in August of 1994, the peace process recived a boost. The pro-catholic IRA announced a cease fire.=====

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This led to the first publicly announced talks between the British officals and Sinn Fien, the politcal arm of the IRA. Great Britian said that they would withdrawl from Northern Ireland as long as the IRA gives up their weapons. However, this plan was not put into action. In December 1995 former US Senator George Mitchell became a mediator for peace talks. His report in January of 1996 recomended gradual disarmament from the IRA. Because of him, the deadlock caused by IRA refusing to give up weapons was broken. Full scale peace talks started in Belfast on October 7, 1997.=====

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__The Good Friday Agreement__ was signed on April 10, 1998. It was signed by both parties. __The Good Friday Agreement__ called for a cross-party cabinet that handled issues pertaining to both the Republic of Ireland, and Northern Ireland. With the signing of this agreement, hope ran high for offical Peace. However, the hope vanished when the IRA refused to arm until the new government was established. In July of 1999, the goverment was soupposed to form, but when it ended up not forming on time, everything went to a complete halt.=====

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By December 2, 1999, the new goverment was formed and the Bristh parliment handed everything over to the Northern Irish Parliment. But, Sinn Fein refused to give up weapons by the deadline, and on Febuary 12, 2000 the British parliment placed everybody back under direct rule. As of now, there is still no major progress.=====

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Music: "Sunday Bloody Sunday" is song by the Irish rock band, U2. The song was written as a protest song about the horrific event on January 30. It is one of, if not the most memorable, songs about the events happening in Ireland right now.media type="custom" key="3903301"=====