A History of Ireland

Northern Ireland's fragile peace: how the Troubles paused and mutated since its official “end” in 1998

“…Despite Britain returning 28 counties of the Irish Isles to an Irish Free State in 1920, thereby partly fulfilling demands of republican Irishmen, there is still debate over the sovereignty of the remaining six counties (often referred to as Ulster) which are currently Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom. The fight for control of this land was most recently seen in the 1969 to 1998 conflict, the Troubles (Cronin, 2001;Hennessey, 1997;Melaugh, 2018;Ranelagh, 1983). This paper will argue that this conflict never truly ended in 1998, as suggested by the Good Friday Agreement.…”

“…Such comments and political exchanges again raise the issue of the sacred values Atran (2019) touched upon, increasing the chance of individuals entering the arms of paramilitary groups to defend their identity. This would continue the cycle of recruitment seen during the Troubles, therefore disputing the argument that the Troubles have ended, as history from the Troubles shows that a lack of governmental control and direction led to escalating street violence and disorder, which eventually took the form of inter-communal attacks (Cronin, 2001). This shows that the outcome of the Stormont stalemate holds the possibility of violence recommencing, as a lack of governmental leadership holds no possibility of discussions and democratic decisions, if the violence were to be sparked by paramilitary activity, as seen in the past.…”

“…Diminished rights of Catholics are still lingering today. In 1968 NICRA protested against the secondary citizen status of Catholics when applying for jobs and housing, which is still an issue today, with as much as 90% of residents living in areas where they share one religion due to Catholic displacement as a result of threats and violence from Protestants (Capener, 2017;Cronin, 2001;Nolan, 2017;O'Hagan, 2018). This issue of inequality within the political housing system has not changed between 1968 and the present day.…”

“…During the Troubles, Northern Irish streets saw a persistent presence of British soldiers who were there to protect residents from paramilitaries such as the loyalist UVF and UDA and the republican Provisional Irish Republican Army (referred to as the IRA in this text) (Cronin, 2001;Ginty, Muldoon, and Ferguson, 2007;Peterkin, 2008). Ginty et al (2007) suggest that because the IRA has disarmed, and many British military personnel are no longer in Northern Ireland, the Troubles are over.…”

“…Nationalists saw the police as an oppressive and colonial institutution, which was exacerbated by the fact that Catholics only represented 7.5% of RUC staff, compared with their 40% population in Northern Ireland (McGarry and O'Leary, 1999;McGloin, 2003;Perry, 2011). This lack of representation for Catholic nationalists, and the fact that the RUC was regarded as "stubbornly male, Protestant, British, Unionist and laddish," led to Lord Scarman concluding in 1972 that the RUC had lost the support of the Catholic population (Cronin, 2001;McKitterick, 1997).…”