Northern Ireland Research Paper

Words: 1864
Pages: 8

The Troubles in Northern Ireland: A Fight for Civil Rights and National Identity Northern Ireland has spent much of its history in conflict with Great Britain. As far back as the middle ages, rulers of Britain invaded Ireland in an attempt to conquer and claim the island as a British territory. Large numbers of British-Scottish settlers eventually settled in the area that is known as Northern Ireland today. Catholic and Protestant refers to more than a religious affiliation in Northern Ireland; it is how different ethnicities are defined. The Gaelic natives were largely Irish Catholic and the British-Scottish settlers were mostly Protestant. These settlers felt that they were more civilized and superior to the savage Irish natives (Brewer & Higgins, 1999) leading to discrimination. The conflict in Northern Ireland was extremely violent. Both sides were guilty of horrific offenses, killing innocent civilians and turning residential neighborhoods into war zones. Although frequently considered a religious war, the conflict in Northern Ireland from 1968 to 1998, known as the Troubles, was based on civil rights and a fight for territory. …show more content…
The governments, based in Dublin and Belfast respectively, had little contact with each other (Anderson, 2008).
The Troubles, 1968-1998 The Troubles in Northern Ireland began with a banned civil rights march on October 5, 1968 in Derry. Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA), demanded equal rights for the “marginalized and discriminated against” Catholic/nationalist minority in Northern Ireland. The protesters planned to march from a predominately Protestant area of Derry to the city center. They were met by police officers of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) using batons and water cannons to disperse the marchers (“BBC - History - Day the Troubles began,” n.d.).
Bloody Sunday,