The Disadvantages Faced by Catholics in Northern Ireland in the Mid-1960’s

The Disadvantages Faced by Catholics in Northern Ireland in the Mid-1960’s

Since the partition of 1921 the Catholics and Protestants in Northern

Ireland had been unable to live on equal terms together. The North

became Northern Ireland and the south the Republic of Ireland. It was

not really an event, for decades Britain had resisted Home rule but by

1919 the attitudes were altering. A majority of Northern Ireland were

Protestants, the Catholics only made up 33% of the population, and the

66% left were Protestants. The Protestants wanted to remain a part of

Britain but the Catholics wanted to become independent and separate

form Ireland. This abhorrence between Catholics and Protestants

resulted in the Catholics having a number of disadvantages. The

tension steadily rose to a high in the 1960’s. Catholic hopes for

strong Unionist opposition hindered better conditions in their lives.

The mainly protestant police saw a wave of violence through clashes

which erupted badly in 1968. This was the start to all the troubles,

which are still experienced today.

The political disadvantages faced by Catholics were caused mainly by

the structure of the elections. There were three types of elections

throughout Northern Ireland. The first was a General Election where

each adult, whether Catholic or Protestant had one vote each. Then

there was the Stormont Election. The Stormont Parliament was meant to

look after not only the interests of the Protestants but of the

Catholics as well. But as the Protestants were a majority of the

population, the Catholics were neglected. This election was where you

could only have two votes if you owned a business o...

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...e Protestants.There are a number of images showing

the circumstances surrounding Cathlic Housing, a picture of Catholics

living in a shed with only a metal roof and with a bath outside and a

bucket to use as a toilet. New council housing tended to be built in

Protestants areas. As many Catholics didn’t own houses they lost some

of their rights to two votes as much as Protestants.

Catholics faced many disadvantages in Northern Ireland in the

mid-1960s. I can see this from their general civil rights and how

appalling they were. They were disadvantaged from the Protestants in

many ways and this continued.

The Protestants made sure that the Catholic population could have no

say in the way that their country was run so that they would remain

down trodden and couldn’t get into high positions in work or social

status.