Ireland and the
Conflict in Northern Ireland
Ireland is an island, of the British Isles,
the westernmost and second largest of the group, in the North Atlantic Ocean,
and separated from Great Britain
by St George's Channel on the southeast, the Irish Sea on the east, and the North Channel on the northeast. Politically, the island
is divided into Northern Ireland,
a constituent part of Great Britain,
and the Republic of Ireland, formerly Eire.
The area of the island is 84,431 sq km in extent. The population of the island
was 1997 5,3 millions.
The land
The eastern coast of Ireland is comparatively regular;
the western coast is fringed by steep cliffs, and hundreds of small islands.
The chief features are a region of lowlands, occupying the central and east
central sections. Carrantuohill (1,041 m), located in the southwestern section
of the island, is the highest point in Ireland. The principal rivers of Ireland are the Erne and the Shannon.
The flora of Ireland comes
largely from Britain and
also the Irish fauna does not differ markedly from that of Britain.
Climate
The climate of Ireland
is mild and damp throughout the year. The prevailing westerly winds from the
warm Gulf Stream are largely responsible for
the lack of extreme summer heat and winter cold.
Natural
Resources
The most valuable
natural resources of Ireland
are its fertile soils and rich pasturelands. Natural waterpower is abundant.
The chief minerals are basalt, limestone, sand and gravel, granite, chalk,
clay, and shale.
Agriculture
Small owner-occupied farms predominate in Ireland. Livestock farming is most
important; most of the land is under pasture, but the majority of farms combine
crop production with animals. Sheep and cattle are grazed on the moorland
areas.
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the leading sector of the economy after services.
Traditionally, the manufacture of textiles and clothing has been one of the
leading industries, but today the production of aircraft, ships and footwear
grows more important.
Population
The majority of the people are the descendants of Scots or English
settlers who crossed from the mainland of the United
Kingdom to north-eastern Ireland after 1607. The remainder
of the population is descended from the original Irish inhabitants, principally
those native to the province
of Ulster.
History
From 1169 Britain starts to conquer Ireland.
1541 Heinrich VIII. from England crowns himself to king of Ireland.
1649 is the year of Cromwells devastating campaign against the irish catholic
rebels, whose properties are seized.
1845-1851 there is a great hunger
because of the infestation of the potatos by some kind of pest. Nearly one
third of the population dies.
1916 the Republic
of Ireland is founded.
1918-1923 The irish
republicans make their own parliament. As an reaction the britisch government
sends troops to the Northern Ireland
to fight against the IRA that wants to stop the seperatation of Northern Ireland from the Republic of Ireland.
1949 The Republic of Ireland leaves
the britisch commonwealth.
1967-1972: A time of growing violence. The climax is reached on the bloody
sunday 1972 when 13 nationalists are killed by British soldiers.
1973 The Republic of Ireland joins the EU.
The
Conlict in Northern Ireland
The Irish war for independence started in the 12th
Century, with the first Anglo-normanic conquests and ended with the founding of
the Irish Free State, which is also called Republic of Ireland,
in the year 1922. Because of the massacres on both sides in the year 1921 the
erstwhile prime minister Lloyd George started talkings with the Sinn Féin.
After five months of discussions both sides arranged, that the Irish Free State should be founded, to which 26 of the
total 32 counties belong. The other six shires united to the political union of
North Ireland and were from now on a part of the United Kingdom.
In 1949, when Eire became the Republic
of Ireland, the British Parliament
affirmed the status of Northern Ireland
as part of the United
Kingdom unless its own Parliament decided
otherwise. In 1955, however, irregulars of the Irish Republican Army (IRA)
began a campaign of terrorism aimed at securing the union of Northern Ireland
with the republic.
From the beginning,
Catholics in Northern
Ireland were a disadvantaged minority in
matters of employment, housing, education, and effective cultural and political
participation - a situation which the British government failed significantly
to address. In 1968 an active and articulate civil rights movement emerged to
protest this discrimination, often provoking violent reactions within the
Protestant Community. British troops, sent to Northern Ireland in 1969 to help
the local police, became a permanent presence, maintaining British authority
and limiting Protestant reaction - but also becoming the focus of terrorist
attacks.
In 1972 the British government suspended the Northern Ireland Parliament
and imposed direct rule. Violence for example bombings increased in the
following years. Two Belfast women, Mairead
Corrigan and Betty Williams, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for working
to reconcile Northern
Ireland's religious communities.
As
the 1990s began, British troops were still patrolling the streets of
Londonderry and Belfast, and the Provisional IRA
continued to launch sporadic terrorist attacks on British civilians and
military personnel in the British Isles and continental Europe.
In September 1993 the British government began bilateral talks with three of
the four parties (the Democratic Unionists refused to join in). Three months
later, on December 15, 1993, the British and Irish prime ministers signed the
Downing Street Declaration, a statement of fundamental principles with regard
to the future of the province.
On
August 31, 1994, the Provisional IRA announced a complete cessation of its
military Operations, ending 25 years of fighting. In December 1994, the British
government held its first public talks with Sinn Fein. The cease-fire held into
1995, despite severe strains at times. The failure of the Provisional IRA to
hand over its arms delayed the start of all-party talks including Sinn Fein.
However, during the year, the British government first scaled down the number
of troops in Northern
Ireland, and then, in March, ended routine
patrols of British troops in the province. Then the British and Irish
governments issued a framework document for all-party talks On a durable
settlement in Northern
Ireland.
In 1997 Tony Blair's Labour Party sweeps Conservatives out of office.
The IRA announces a new cease-fire. Two months later Sinn Fein joins
multi-party peace talks in September. Blair meets with Sinn Fein chairman
Gerry Adams in London.
1998: Britain
announces an independent inquiry into the Bloody Sunday killings of 1972.
Violent actions between splinter groups kills 18 people. George Mitchell sets a
deadline of April 9th for agreement.
April
10, 1998: 17 hours after a deadline set by
Mitchell, all parties announce a deal has been struck.
Till the 14th of August peace seemed to return to Ireland to Northern Ireland but then an
other
bomb exploded in a busy shopping street of Omagh. "It was the deadliest
sectarien attack in Northern Ireland´s 30 years of Catholic-Protestant
conflict. The blast came less than three month after voter in both parts of
Ireland overwhelmingly approved plans for a new Northern Ireland government
with power shared between its majority Protestants and minority Catholics."
