Unit 2 A Brief Introduction to Northern Ireland

1、Unit 2 A Brief Introduction to the United Kingdom IIMajor Points Population and physical features of Northern Ireland History of Northern Ireland Troubles Solutions Northern Ireland Today It is the smallest of the four nations with 1,775,000 people in 2009. Physically, it is mostly rural, with low h

2、ills, a beautiful lakes district in the south-west, and a rugged coastline.Population and Physical FeaturesThe Most Famous Landmark in Northern Ireland-the Giants Causeway It is a rocky promontory made up of black hexagonal columns formed by cooling lava millions of years ago. Legend has it that the

3、 giant Finn MacCool built it to cross the sea to Scotland. In a 2005 poll of Radio Times readers, the Giants Causeway was named as the fourth greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom . It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986.Northern IrelandA Land of Troubles Economical Problems

4、 Political Problems Conflicts between Protestants and Roman Catholics Conflicts between Unionists /Royalists and nationalists/Republicans Etc.History Ireland has been divided by a long and bloody conflict as a result of Irelands colonial history. From the time of Queen Elizabeth I (from the late 159

5、0s), the new settlers (Loyalists and Protestants) were granted land, position, and privileges which had been systematically taken away from the indigenous, Roman Catholic population. This results in a systematic and ingrained resentment of the British which is almost endemic in the native Irish cult

6、ure which is evident even today.Irelands Colonial History The whole island of Ireland have been politically integrated with Great Britain since 1801. Until 1921 the full name of the UK was “the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland”, not only “Northern Ireland”. In 1921, the southern 26 counti

7、es formed an independent “free state”, while the 6 north-eastern counties remained part of the UK. 6 Counties of Northern Ireland Northern Ireland consists of six historic counties: County Antrim, County Armagh, County Down, County Fermanagh, County Londonderry, County Tyrone.Pursuing Irish independ

8、ence: political conflict However, Irish desires for an independent Irish state were never lost. They campaigned in parliament for the “home-rule”, Irish political control of Irish affairs. Besides political campaign, some other groups engage in guerrilla or terrorist activities against British insti

9、tution and the British military forces. About Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) was an Irish republican revolutionary military organization descended from the Irish Volunteers. Its aim is to overthrow the British rule in Ireland and unify Northern Ireland with the Southern one, f

10、orming an independent Republic of Ireland. It was established on 25 November 1913, and in April 1916 it staged the Easter Rising. After the Easter Rising, the IRA waged a guerrilla campaign against British rule in Ireland in the Irish War of Independence from 19191921. The original IRA split into th

11、e Official IRA and the Provisional IRA in 1922. The Official IRA thought enough progress have been made that they could concentrate on a political process, while the Provisional IRA felt that armed forces was the only way to get the British out. It is this group who continued the conflict for the la

12、st 30 years.the Easter Rising of 1916 The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing an Irish Republic. In the Rising, the rebels took over the Dublins Post

13、 Office, forcing the British to retake it by military means. The leaders of the Rising were executed. the Easter Rising of 1916Conflicts between Protestants and Catholics Ireland was not invaded by the Romans, nor settled by the Anglo-Saxons. The majority of Irish people were descendants of the orig

14、inal Celtic people who inhabited the British Isles before the Roman Invasion, thus they were ethnically distinct from the majority of British people. In addition, ,most Irish people were Catholics, while most British people became Protestants. In the 17th century, the English government, trying to i

15、ncrease its control of Ireland, encourage people from Scotland and Northern England to emigrate to Northern Ireland. These people saw themselves different from the rest of the Irish people, and thought of themselves as British, and wished to remain a part of the British state. (loyalists/Unionists)

16、The problem was that in Northern Ireland, the population was not purely Loyalists or Unionists. About 1/3 of the population was Roman Catholics, many of whom resented the Norths separation from the south and identical with the nationalists cause.Troubles The Protestants, being the majority, controll

17、ed the local democratically-elected parliament, and used that power to support their own economic and social dominance in the province. The Catholics found it hard to get jobs, or to benefit from social programs. Schools and sporting events were segregated. (see p.24） The Roman Catholics revolt in N

18、orthern Ireland was triggered by the Civil Rights Movement in the US. The aim was to regain civil rights for those Roman Catholics. The revolts was conducted by means of marches, speeches, and sits-in. Groups of Protestants began to organized counter-demonstrations, and riots broke out. The police w

19、ere overwhelmed by the fighting, and the Northern Irish Prime Minister asked London for soldiers to help restore orders. In 1969, the first British soldiers were seen on Northern Ireland, and they had been there until 2007. The British soldiers first came to protect the Catholics. However, the longe

20、r they stayed, the more they were seen as the symbol of British rule in Northern Ireland.Results of the conflicts between IRA and Protestants The protestants formed their own illegal paramilitary groups and took revenge on Catholics and murdering individuals at random. The result is that now Norther

21、n Irish cities are ghettoized into exclusively Protestant and exclusively Catholic areas. The children attend separate schools. Thousands of people were killed, most of them were civilians. (See Figure 1 on P. 25)Three Attempts to solve the problems1. Setting up the power-sharing mechanismIn 1974, a

22、 power-sharing mechanism was set up, which involved representatives from the Republic, the North of Ireland, and Great Britain in the governance of the North. However, the power-sharing group collapsed as a result of the prolonged strike by the Protestant workforce. At this point, the Northern Irish

23、 Parliament was replaced by the “direct-rule” from London.2. The Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985 In 1985, the Anglo-Irish Agreement was signed between the British government and Irish government. Under the agreement, the Dublin government was able to make representations to the British government on m

24、atters affecting the northern, Catholic minority. Also, it guaranteed the loyalists Protestant community their rights to decide their futureeither to joint the South, or to remain part of the UK. This agreement is still in effect. 3. the Good Friday Agreement As a result of multi-party negotiation,

25、aided by the intervention of the US Senator George Mitchell, the Good Friday Agreement emerged on 10 April 1998. This agreement assures the loyalist community that Northern Ireland “remains part of the UK and shall not cease to be so without the consent of the majority of the people of Northern Ireland.” The Irish Government also expressed the hope that Ireland would once more be united, and a united Ireland should be brought about only by peaceful means with the consent of