Conflict in Northern Ireland

Conflict in Northern Ireland

For over three decades there has been conflict in Ireland. The

disagreement

between the Republicans/Nationalist and Loyalist/unionists sill

continues to this

day. The key issue remains should the North stay part of the United

Kingdom with its own developed assembly or should it join the south as

part of a united and independent Ireland?

Ireland is a small country and has a population of 1.5 million. Yet

despite this small number, the north and south of Ireland have been in

bitter conflict with each other which has been going on for decades.

This is mainly due to the main difference in the beliefs of the

people. The two main groups in Ireland are the Republicans and

Unionists. The Republicans/ Nationalist mostly made up of Catholics in

the south belief that Ireland should be free of British rule and that

the North and south of Ireland should be united within itself and have

no connections with Britain. These people want to see an independent

Ireland with its own laws, government and sense of ownership. However

the Loyalist/Unionists mostly made up of Protestants in the north

believe that the North should maintain the union of United Kingdom.

This group believes in being loyal to the crown and abiding by the

laws and rules of Britain. Because of these different beliefs within

the people there has been much hatred between the two groups in

Northern Ireland and as a result of this up to 3000 innocent people

have been killed over the last 36 years.

There are many different political groups within the two sides, which

have many different views on how the problems should be solved. In

Northern Ire...

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...mands.

After the Hunger strikes of 1981 the Nationalist received much

international sympathy. Also much support for the IRA increased which

was shown when over 50,000 people attended the funeral of Bobby Sands.

The support for Sinn Fein also grew in consequence to the Hunger

strikes. The hunger strikes fueled much discontent among the people.

Conclusion

In my view out of all the four events which I have talked about I

think that the Easter rising was the most important event in shaping

how the Loyalist and Nationalist go about fighting for what they

believe is right. I think that even though many of the nationalist who

took part in the rising knew that there chance at success was almost

impossible, but they fought anyway shows the great determination and

sacrifice they made for a cause they thought was right.