The History of Ireland - Essay Example

History of Ireland Table of Contents Introduction 3 The Past 4 The Troubles 5 Republican Violence: The Barrier to Solution 7 Conclusion 13 Bibliography 14 Introduction The history of Ireland, one of the most developed nations of the world, is rocked by political disturbances. The nation that was divided on the basis of catholic and protestant groups experienced huge loss of wealth and lives till the recent past. The most disturbed years were those in between 1965 to 1998 that was also known as ‘The Troubles’. Though it cannot be said that all the crises have been solved in the present day but still it has reduced by considerable extent pertaining to the ‘Good Friday’ agreement of 1998. It is often assumed that the long period of disturbance that Ireland experienced was because of the violence that was propagated by the Republicans. The Republicans are that group of people who wanted to have a unified Ireland under the name of Republic of Ireland. But as it has been, the north six districts of the country are with the United Kingdom. The Republicans, in order to make the six districts part of the unified Ireland, time and again, took refuge under strategy of violence against the Unionist forces (the group that predominantly ruled Northern Ireland and supports Northern Ireland’s inclusion with United Kingdom) as well against the British forces. But many of the research scholars upon the history of Northern Ireland do not agree with the fact. According to them, the Republican enthusiasts only retaliated when they were suppressed or attacked by the Unionists and the British and therefore the responsibilities of the long years of trouble also bestows upon the British administration and the Unionists. In order to understand the reasons of such conflicts and the thereby impacts, the essay delves deep into the political happenings of the past century along with analysing the role of United Kingdom in the affairs of Ireland. The Past Like many of the other Christian nations, Ireland was also affected by the differences between the two conflicting groups of Christianity i.e. the Catholics and the Protestants. Since the yearly years of 18th century, the trend suggested that majority of the Catholic population left Ireland and settled in other parts of the world rendering Protestants the majority. In between the years of 1695 to 1728, many laws were passed in the country and that were particularly motivated against the Catholics. The laws included prohibitions in the rights of education to the Catholics, ban on serving as Member of Parliament, preventing them from buying rent and property and many others. In a major happening in the history of Ireland, in the year of 1801, the two neighbouring countries of Ireland and Great Britain were formally united and named the United Kingdom, which according to many scholars, was the first step towards the prolonged political disturbances in the country that would take the shape of Republicans and Unionists in the later stage. The Troubles ‘The Troubles’ was referred to a period of time in which the tension in between the two Irish parts and the British government was at its all time high. It is basically the years in between the 1965 to 1998. As it has been studied earlier that the two groups (the unionists and the republicans) were getting involved in repeated infighting, the Catholics i.e. the republicans formed Irish Republican Army (IRA) in order to launch violent attacks for their independence. British government at last granted full independence to the Irish Free State in the year of 1948 though the six northern districts were still under the purview of British government. The major trouble again commenced during the decade of 1960s and it was in the Northern Ireland where Unionists have been on power. The Unionists were predominantly Protestants and therefore hostile toward the Catholics and tried to suppress them, the religious and the political conflict collided and the IRA (Irish Republican Army) launched number of attacks on the Northern Ireland. Also, the political font of IRA i.e. the Sinn Fein launched number of civil rights march in the areas. One such march on 30th January of 1972 turned out to be the ‘Bloody Sunday’ as police opened fire upon the rally which further worsened the situation. Such a happening increased the prevailing tension and the British embassy at Dublin was set on fire. In order to control violence, British government suspended the provisional government and it was directly ruled from Westminster. But the result did not yet the expected benefits as violence on the part of IRA increased. To combat the increasing violence, the British government legislated POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) in 1974 though which any suspect could be detained for seven days without any trial. The implementation of POTA led to many imprisonments of political leaders and workers. The British government also lifted the special prisoner status of the political prisoners. The political prisoners vehemently protested against the maltreatment. Firstly, they refused wearing the dress meant for normal prisoners and initiated similar measures but later they went for hunger strike. In the course of the movement, few of the top leaders of the movement died in 1981 including Bobby Sands because of hunger strike but still the British government did not grant the special status to the prisoners. The incident led to increased support toward the IRA’s provisional group. At last, in the 1985 the leaders of both the groups i.e. the Ireland and the British met and it was decided to grant certain authorities regarding Northern Ireland to Irish Free States. But this could not be implemented as Unionists protested against the decision. As the agreement could not be implemented in letter and spirit, there was little progress on the issue. In the year of 1996, in a major turnaround multi party meeting chaired by George Mitchell, US Senator, decision was taken in favour of immediate disarmament but this time Irish Republican Army did not keep the promise of cease fire and again the meeting failed. At last, it was the year of 1997, when the British authorities again proposed for commencement of peace dialogue. As a precondition Sinn Fein and its radical wing IRA adhered to cease fire. After rounds of meetings, finally a settlement was reached on the Good Friday of 1998 and is often known as the Good Friday Agreement. This time, it was decided that the populace of Ireland will decide their fate and not the handful of the leaders. A plebiscite was held on May 23, 1998 and the people of Ireland unanimously voted in favour of the agreement. This event has put a formal end in the problems of the region and marked the end of ‘The Troubles’ though the problem still persists in dormant and reduced state. Republican Violence: The Barrier to Solution It has been a well debated topic in the politics of the Europe and also in the other parts of the world that the attitude of Republicans was the greatest barriers in the settlement of dispute in between Ireland and Great Britain especially within the time period of 1965 to 1998 i.e. the ‘Trouble’ years. The statement has points both in favour as well as against of it. There was no doubt of the fact that the measures initiated by Republican enthusiasts destroyed the agreements and the ambience of peace talks time and again. The Republicans were obstinate in their demand of unified Ireland and formed two groups namely the Sinn Fein (the political party) and the Irish Republican Army (the radical wing). While the political party continued pressurizing the north Irish authorities and the British administration for the unification, the IRA tried to create terror and attack British and UVR properties. The Republicans organised several marches for the installation of civil rights in the Northern Ireland. Even after the promise of keeping those peaceful, the group attacked the British troops that led to ‘Bloody Sunday’ on 30th January of 1972. Prior to that, in the month of January of 1967, an organisation was established by the Republican enthusiasts of the Northern Ireland named Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association. The association demanded to abolish certain rules and laws that prevailed in the Northern Ireland which was dominated by the Unionists i.e. the anti – Republicans. NICRA primarily aimed to remove the anti – catholic laws that existed in the Northern Ireland which was a part of United Kingdom. In order to continue the movement, the Republican or the Catholics conducted quite a few Marches or better known as Civil Right Marches as they were largely influenced by the Civil Rights Movement of the United States of America. The two marches were organised in the year of 1968, one in the month of March and the other in October. The authorities of the Northern Ireland thought the marches to be another ploy of Irish Republican Army and they used heavy forces against those civil marches. It created a state of terror among the civilians. The British Authorities chipped in as the international community condemned such actions of the Unionists and the British government compelled them to employ certain reforms regarding the anti – catholic laws. The Northern Irish authorities put a ban on all sorts of rallies and marches for the entire period of 1969 to 1971. Despite the ban of rallies, the Republicans protested continuously through the Civil Rights Movement which often turned out to be offensive. Similar situation occurred on 9th August of 1971, when IRA attacked the deployed British troops resulting in a death of a soldier. Such a situation opened up whole lot of violent activities that resulted in the considerable degradation of the law and order problems of the region that invariably reduced the mutual trust among the three concerned parties i.e. the Unionists, the British and the Republicans which prolonged the troubled years. The Republicans protested against the Direct Rule that was imposed on the Northern Ireland in order to prohibit violence by suspending the Provisional Government. The Republicans often created hassles that interrupted the peace process. In a recent example, when a multi party meeting was conducted under the chairmanship of the US Senator, George Mitchell and it was almost decided that disarmament would commence from immediate effect to restore peace, the Republicans did not agree and broke the cease fire. The republican always viewed British rule as the foreign invasion and tried their best to oust British troops not only from the Irish Free State but also from the counties of Northern Ireland. But the entire blame for the non – settlement of the Irish politico – ethnic problem cannot be transferred to the Republican group either. The British administration decided to partition Ireland into two parts namely the Northern Ireland and the Southern Ireland. The Northern Ireland consisted of six counties that were predominantly inhabited by Protestants and the cadres of UVF. Two different parliaments were established, one in Dublin and the other in Belfast. The Dublin parliament served the twenty-six counties of southern Ireland where as the parliament of Belfast served for the six counties of Northern Ireland. The area ruled by the Dublin parliament was known as the Irish Free State where as those within the periphery of the Belfast Parliament were known to be under the Provisional Government. A Council of Ireland was established that was meant to oversee all the affairs related with Ireland. Though the pact was signed between the leaders of both the nations i.e. the Great Britain and that of Ireland, yet the problems were far from over. In fact, the partition meant for commencement of another set of problems that continues till the present day. It can be said from the above details that the Republicans and the Unionists were not just divided on the basis of their loyalty but also on the basis of their religious beliefs and faiths. While Republicans were predominantly Catholics, the group of Unionists was primarily Protestants. It has been discussed earlier how the Catholics were mal – treated in Ireland in the past years of 17th century. The anger over the English feudal lords and the Protestants businesspersons persisted in the minds of the Catholics for generations. The Republicans or the Catholics did not forget the days when the their predecessors were left with no food by the lords of England as they exported all most all of the production for high prices and left the local pollution virtually to starve on the potatoes. And the potato famine in the years of 1845 to 1848, led lots of death in the country, yet no support arrived from the neighbouring state. In the initial years, Charles Stewart Parnell demanded just ‘home rule’ for Ireland but British parliament failed to pass the bill despite efforts from the Prime Minister of Great Britain. And when, it was passed i.e. in the year of 1912, the Republicans already united themselves under the political organisation named ‘Sinn Fein’. So, the Republicans should not be blatantly charged for the unrest as the British government had enough chance to deal with the entire issue from a different perspective and it could have been much effective compared to what they had adopted. Again, it was the Unionists (under the group of UVR) that led the first charge and opposed to the home rule in Ireland in 1913, when it was already declared in 1912 to be effective from 1914. It could have well been a scheme of Great Britain to create rift among the two conflicting groups. In order to solve the problems, the Great Britain initiated the plan of partition, which is according to the experts of the related fields of study, was the core of the problem. As the nation was getting divided into two parts, it was quite expected that the Irish populace will fight against the ruling forces. If one turn his attention to another great nation that was ruled by the same Great Britain, the sub continent of India, it can be observed that there too Great Britain partitioned the country twice. Once the state of Bengal was partitioned in the year of 1905 and then the sub continent itself was partitioned in 1947 into Indian and Pakistan. So, it can be said that ‘divide and rule’ was one of the effective policies of the British Administration and when it happened in the case of Ireland too, the Republicans protested. During the dispute that arose between the British Forces and the Irish Republican Army because of the killing of one British Soldier on the August 9th of 1971, the British Forces immediately detained at least 350 people including many civilians. Such a measure definitely contributed towards the long term violence of the two conflicting parties. It was surely a case of mal-treatment as 350 people cannot be involved in the killing of any single soldier. Such an incident resulted in mass uprisings that actively continued for the following 48 hours resulting in killing of more than 15 people including at least 10 civilians. Now, such a measure from the law keepers was not helpful for the peace talks. Also, it proves that not the violence of the Irish Republican Army was only responsible but also the following violence of the UVFs or the British Forces and the Northern Irish authorities were equally responsible as the barrier for the long period of troubles in the region. Also, there were many instances in the history of Ireland which showed that British did not treat the Irish public at par with the norms. For example, those imprisoned under the Prevention of Terrorism Act of 1974 were definitely political prisoners. Several of the top brass leaders of the Irish Republicans were charged under POTA, the law that was enacted to prohibit political disturbances and thorough which one could be imprisoned for seven days without trial. Most importantly, the political prisoners were not granted ‘political’ or ‘special’ status and were treated at par with the petty thieves and dacoits. The hunger strike that was initiated by the imprisoned leaders of the Republican group also could not end the deadlock over the status of the prisoners which in turn led to the death of the nine leaders that infuriated the Republicans all the more. There were also other instances that depict the clear picture that Republicans were time and again provoked by the Unionists and the British forces to behave in a more violent ways and the blames for such behaviour always fell on the Republicans Conclusion The period of 1965 to that of 1998 has great relevance in the history of Ireland. The years are also known as ‘The Troubles’. The fighting that began in between two groups of people of different religious beliefs (i.e. the Protestants and the Catholics) of the same country (Ireland) involved Great Britain by a huge extent. The partition that was effected was a fatal step. It would not be prudent to hold responsible only the Republicans for the entire era of distrust and confusion among the people of same country. It is true that the Republicans, especially that of Irish Republican Army, was involved with violent means and pondered the peace process time and again but at the same time also it is the fact that the UVR and the Protestants along with the British forces launched several attacks against the Republicans apart from not granting them the basic rights like that of ‘special’ or ‘political’ status in the prison for those who were held because of political reasons. It can be said without much hesitation that both the conflicting groups had several drawbacks that led to the delay in the settlement of the dispute. Bibliography Arthur, P. Peer Learning: Northern Ireland As A Case Study. Wilson Center. [Online] Available at: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/subsites/ccpdc/pubs/art/2.htm [Accessed March 31, 2010]. Bairner, A., 1986. The battlefield of ideas: the legitimation of political violence in Northern Ireland. European Journal of Political Research. [Online] Available at: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119497885/abstract [Accessed March 31, 2010]. BBC, 1972. Official IRA declares ceasefire. Home. [Online] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/30/newsid_2973000/2973759.stm [Accessed March 31, 2010]. BBC, 2008. Troubles not war motion passed. News. [Online] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7249681.stm [Accessed March 31, 2010]. Coakley, J., 2004. Ethnic Conflict and the Two-Stae Solution: The Irish Experience of Partition. PASSIA. [Online] Available at: http://www.passia.org/seminars/2004/John-Coakley-Ireland-Seminar.htm [Accessed March 31, 2010]. Delaney, B., 2008. Out of trouble: How diplomacy brought peace to Northern Ireland. CNN. [Online] Available at: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/03/12/northern.ireland/index.html[Accessed March 31, 2010]. History on the Net, No Date. Northern Ireland. Timeline. [Online] Available at: http://www.historyonthenet.com/Chronology/timelinenorthernireland.htm [Accessed March 31, 2010]. Marxist, 2007. Karl Marx On Ireland. Ireland – An Overview 1967 – 2007. [Online] Available at: http://www.marxist.com/ireland-an-overview-1967-2007.htm [Accessed March 31, 2010]. Read More