Exploring the Disadvantages Catholics Faced in Northern Ireland in the Mid 60’s

Exploring the Disadvantages Catholics Faced in Northern Ireland in the Mid 60’s

In Northern Ireland during the 60’s Catholics faced a lot of

disadvantages, in areas of Employment, Education, Housing, and

Politics; there is evidence that even the Police Force was biased in

favor of the Protestant community.

Employment was a major area in which Catholics faced discrimination.

Protestants held most of the civil service, government and local

government posts in Northern Ireland and even if a catholic did get

employment, many would simply feel too uncomfortable in the midst of

all the Protestants. The main companies were privately owned and

although anti-catholic prejudice was often suspected among foremen or

personal managers, it was a hard thing to prove. One fact that can be

confirmed however is that, of 10,000 workers in a Belfast shipyard

(the biggest single source of employment in the city), just 400 were

Catholic.

A similar pattern of employment can be seen in Fermanagh County

Council where 322 of 370 employees were Protestant, including most of

those in the ‘top’ positions. Within the Education Authority, the most

sought after jobs in Fermanagh were for school bus drivers because of

the long rest and holidays; all but seven of these places out of 75

were given to Protestants. Such facts are made all the more astounding

considering more than half of the population of Fermanagh County were

actually Catholic.

Education was another area where Catholics faced discrimination. Dr

McChuckey’s description of the results in Dungannon in 1964states

“there were two secondary schools: “St.Patrick’s”, the Catholic

institution, and ...

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...alled in by the

Unionists, to act like a police force/army. Catholic marches were

banned. Student demonstrations ended up in violence. They treated

Catholic civilians harshly which increased hatred between the two

religious groups. Only 14.5% of Catholics were in the police force but

they formed 40% of Northern Ireland's population.

In conclusion there were many differences between Catholics and

Protestants in the 1960s. Most of these differences were in opinion

and in Politics. Nationalist politicians were always out numbered by

Unionist politicians in large Nationalist areas. Therefore, Catholics

could not have their views expressed and always lost out if it came to

a majority vote. This unfair treatment halted progress to achieve

peace in Northern Ireland and they are still trying to achieve peace

to this day.