Ireland

A political boundary separates one country from another. It outlines the jurisdiction of these regions and governs the people contained within them. In Northern Ireland, which is owned by England, there are two major groups that are struggling against one another. The (English) Protestant unionist community wishes to remain a part of the United Kingdom, while the (Irish) Catholic nationalists want to separate from England and have Ireland as a whole be united. This situation has come to be known as “The Troubles.” Three decades of violence plagued this region, beginning in 1969. The Catholics were discriminated against, and staged a civil rights movement. They formed the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) and modeled their peaceful demonstrations after those of Martin Luther King Jr.’s movement in America. However, many of their marches turned into riots as the Protestants struggled to maintain control. The violence peaked in 1972 when over five hundred lives were lost—half of them were civilian casualties. In 1973, the Sunningdale Agreement was reached, and the “Council of Ireland” was designed for power to be shared between the groups. While this encouraged them to work together, the Protestants eventually won the majority of seats and ended the agreement. The cycle of protests, hunger strikes, cease-fires, negotiations, and breaking of agreements continued throughout the decades. Between 1969 and 2001, 3,526 lives were lost to “The Troubles.” While the conflict is all but resolved, the violence has slowed down considerably. Crimes are committed behind closed doors rather than having all-out riots in the streets.