The Troubles 30770 226103817 2008-07-16T20:59:56Z Domer48 3486516 rv {{Redirect|Troubles}} {{Infobox Military Conflict |conflict=The Troubles |partof=the [[history of Ireland]] |image=[[Image:Ireland-Capitals.PNG|300px]] |caption=''Political map of Ireland.'' |date= 1968-1998<br />(sporadic violence continues) |place=[[Northern Ireland]].<br />Violence extended to England and the Republic of Ireland, as well as mainland Europe. |result=|result= Military [[Stalemate]]<ref>[[Peter Taylor (journalist)|Taylor, Peter]], ''Behind the mask: The IRA and Sinn Féin'', Chapter 21: ''Stalemate'', pp. 246-261.</ref><br />[[Ceasefire]] <br /> [[Belfast Agreement|Good Friday agreement]] <br /> [[St Andrews Agreement]] <br /> [[Devolution]] |combatant3= [[Ulster loyalism|Ulster loyalists]]'' <br /> {{flagicon|Northern Ireland}} [[Ulster Volunteer Force]] [[Ulster Defence Association]] [[Loyalist Volunteer Force]] [[Red Hand Commandos]] [[Ulster Resistance]] |combatant2= [[Irish republicanism|Irish republicans]] {{flagicon|Ireland}} [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] [[Official Irish Republican Army]] [[Irish National Liberation Army]] [[Irish People's Liberation Organisation]] [[Continuity Irish Republican Army]] [[Real Irish Republican Army]] |combatant1= ''Sovereign state security forces'' {{flagicon|UK}} [[United Kingdom]] <br /> {{flagicon|Ireland}} [[Republic of Ireland]] |casualties3= '''[[Ulster Volunteer Force|UVF]]''' 63<br />'''[[Ulster Defence Association|UDA]]''' 81<br />'''[[Loyalist Volunteer Force|LVF]]''' 3<br />'''[[Red Hand Commandos|RHC]]''' 2<br />'''[[Ulster Resistance|UR]]''' N/A |casualties2= '''[[Provisional Irish Republican Army|PIRA]]'''293<br />'''[[Official IRA|OIRA]]'''29<br />'''[[Irish National Liberation Army|INLA]]'''44<br />'''[[Irish People's Liberation Organisation|IPLO]]'''9<br />'''[[Continuity Irish Republican Army|CIRA]]'''N/A<br />'''[[Real Irish Republican Army|RIRA]]'''2 |casualties1= '''[[British Army|British Army (excluding NI regiments)]]''' 499 '''[[Ulster Defence Regiment|UDR]] & [[Royal Irish Regiment (1992)|R IRISH]] ''' 204 '''[[Royal Ulster Constabulary|RUC]]''' 301 '''[[Northern Ireland Prison Service|NIPS]]''' 24 '''[[Territorial Army]]''' 7 '''[[Law enforcement in the United Kingdom|Non RUC Police Services]]''' 6 '''[[Royal Air Force|RAF]]''' 4 '''[[Royal Navy]]''' 2 '''[[Garda Síochána|Garda]]''' 9 '''[[Irish Army]]''' 1 '''[[Civilian]]s''' 1857* <br />'''Total dead''' 3524*<br />[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/tables/Status.html] }} '''The Troubles''' ({{lang-ga|Na Trioblóidí}}) <!-- note. The definite article is ALWAYS used as part of the term. WP includes it in names of articles where it is part of the name and not merely a grammatical usage. --> was a period of conflict involving [[Irish republicanism|republican]] and [[Ulster loyalism|loyalist]] [[paramilitary]] organisations, political activist and civil rights groups, the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] (RUC), the [[British Army]] and others in [[Northern Ireland]] from the late 1960s until the [[Belfast Agreement]] of [[10 April]] [[1998]]. The Troubles<ref>"the Troubles" as a political term has a long history in both Ireland and England. In the 1960s references to "the troubles" would have usually referred to the post-World War I period of the [[Irish War of Independence]] and the [[Irish Civil War]]. In the [[Oxford English Dictionary|OED]] meaning 2: "public disturbance, disorder or confusion" first occurs in 1378, and the term was used historically for several periods of disorder. It did not become a widespread term for the troubles starting in the 60's for some years into them.</ref> have been variously described as [[terrorism]],<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.mi5.gov.uk/output/Page24.html |title = Northern Ireland |publisher = MI5 |accessdate = 2007-10-02}}</ref> [[ethnic conflict]],<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.passia.org/seminars/2004/John-Coakley-Ireland-Seminar.htm |first = John |last= Coakley |title = Ethnic Conflict and the Two-state Solution: The Irish Experience of Partition |accessdate = 2007-10-02}}</ref> a many-sided [[conflict]], a [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla war]],<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0920/p01s01-woiq.html |title= Classic Guerrilla war forming in Iraq |first = Brad |last = Knickerbocker |work = Christian Science Monitor |date = [[2004-09-20]] |accessdate = 2007-10-02}}</ref> a [[low intensity conflict]], and even a [[civil war]].<ref>[http://www.onwar.com/aced/data/india/ireland1968.htm Civil War in Northern Ireland 1968-1994] On War, [[16 December]] [[2000]]</ref> == Overview == The Troubles consisted of about thirty years of recurring acts of intense violence between elements of [[Northern Ireland]]'s [[Irish nationalism|nationalist]] community (principally [[Roman Catholic]]) and [[Unionist (Ireland)|unionist]] community (principally [[Protestant]]). The conflict was caused by the disputed status of Northern Ireland within the [[United Kingdom]] and the domination of the minority nationalist community, and discrimination against them, by the unionist majority. The violence was characterised by the armed campaigns of paramilitary groups, including the [[Provisional IRA campaign 1969-1997|Provisional IRA campaign of 1969-1997]] which was aimed at the end of British rule in Northern Ireland and the creation of a new "all-Ireland", [[Irish Republic]], and the [[Ulster Volunteer Force]], formed in 1966 in response to the perceived erosion of both the British character and [[Unionist (Ireland)|unionist]] domination of Northern Ireland. The state security forces--the [[British Army]] and the police (the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]])--were also involved in the violence. The British government's point of view is that its forces were neutral in the conflict, trying to uphold law and order in [[Northern Ireland]] and the right of the people of Northern Ireland to democratic self-determination. [[Irish republicans]], however, regarded the state forces as "[[combatants]]" in the conflict, noting [[collusion]] between the state forces and the loyalist paramilitaries as proof of this. The "Ballast" investigation by the [[Police Ombudsman]] has confirmed that British forces, and in particular the RUC, did collude with loyalist paramilitaries, were involved in murder, and did obstruct the course of justice when such claims had previously been investigated,<ref name="Ballast">[http://www.policeombudsman.org//Publicationsuploads/BALLAST%20PUBLIC%20STATEMENT%2022-01-07%20FINAL%20VERSION.pdf The Ballast report]: "...the Police Ombudsman has concluded that this was collusion by certain police officers with identified UVF informants."</ref> although the extent to which such collusion occurred is still hotly disputed, with [[Unionists (Ireland)|Unionists]] claiming that reports of collusion are either false or highly exaggerated and that there were also instances of collusion between the authorities in the [[Republic of Ireland]] and Republican paramilitaries. See also the section below on [[The Troubles#The "Long War"|Collusion by Security Forces and loyalist paramilitaries]]. Alongside the violence, there was a political deadlock between the major political parties in Northern Ireland, including those who condemned violence, over the future status of Northern Ireland and the form of government there should be within Northern Ireland. The Troubles were brought to an uneasy end by a [[Northern Ireland peace process|peace process]] which included the declaration of ceasefires by most paramilitary organisations and the complete decommissioning of their weapons, the reform of the police, and the corresponding withdrawal of army troops from the streets and from sensitive border areas such as [[South Armagh]] and [[Fermanagh]], as agreed by the signatories to the [[Belfast Agreement]] (commonly known as the "[[Good Friday Agreement]]"). This reiterated the long-held British position, which had never before been fully acknowledged by successive Irish governments, that Northern Ireland will remain within the United Kingdom until a majority votes otherwise. On the other hand, the British Government recognised for the first time, as part of the prospective, the so-called "Irish dimension": the principle that the people of the island of [[Ireland]] as a whole have the right, without any outside interference, to solve the issues between North and South by mutual consent.<ref name="Parliament">[http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199394/cmhansrd/1993-12-15/Debate-1.html Parliamentary debate]: "The British government agree that it is for the people of the island of Ireland alone, by agreement between the two parts respectively, to exercise their right of self-determination on the basis of consent, freely and concurrently given, North and South, to bring about a united Ireland, if that is their wish."</ref> The latter statement was key to winning support for the agreement from nationalists and republicans. It also established a devolved power-sharing government within Northern Ireland (which had been suspended from 14 October 2002 until 8 May 2007), where the government must consist of both unionist and nationalist parties. Though the number of active participants in the Troubles was relatively small, and the paramilitary organizations that claimed to represent the communities were sometimes unrepresentative of the general population, the Troubles touched the lives of most people in Northern Ireland on a daily basis,{{Fact|date=May 2008}} while occasionally spreading to [[England]] and the [[Republic of Ireland]]. At several times between 1969 and 1998 it seemed possible that the Troubles would escalate into a full-scale [[civil war]]--for example in 1972 after [[Bloody Sunday (1972)|Bloody Sunday]],{{Fact|date=May 2008}} or during the [[1981 Irish hunger strike|Hunger Strikes of 1980-1981]], when there was mass, hostile mobilisation of the two communities{{Fact|date=May 2008}}. Many people today have had their political, social, and communal attitudes and perspectives shaped by the Troubles. == Background == [[Image:James Craig Viscount Craigavon.jpg|150px|thumb|[[Sir James Craig]], later Viscount Craigavon<br /><small>1st Prime Minister of Northern Ireland who famously said, "All I boast is that we are a Protestant Parliament and Protestant State" (in response to his Southern counterpart [[Éamon de Valera]]'s assertion that Ireland was a "Catholic nation"). ''[[HMSO]] image''</small>]] === Historic communal divisions 1609-1886 === The origins of conflict between Catholics and Protestants in the north of Ireland lie in the British [[Settler colony|settler-colonial]] [[Plantation of Ulster]] in 1609, which confiscated native owned land and settled [[Ulster]] with (mainly Protestant) English and Scottish "planters".{{Fact|date=May 2008}} Conflict between the native Catholics and the "planters" led to two bloody ethno-religious conflicts between them in [[Irish Confederate Wars|1641-1653]] and [[Williamite war in Ireland|1689-1691]]. The British Protestant political dominance in Ireland was ensured by victory in these wars and by the [[Penal Laws (Ireland)|Penal Laws]], which curtailed the religious, legal and political rights of anyone (including both Catholics and Dissenters, such as [[Presbyterian]]s) who did not conform to the state church--the [[Anglican]] [[Church of Ireland]]. The breakdown of the Penal Laws in the latter part of the eighteenth century heralded a renewed period of communal strife. In particular, the removal, in the 1780s, of restrictions on the ability of the [[Irish nationalism|Catholic Irish]] to rent land resulted in greater competition for it. With Roman Catholics now allowed to buy land and enter trades from which they had formerly been banned, Protestant "[[Peep O'Day Boys]]" attacks on that community increased.<ref name="Wright">Wright, Frank (1996) ''Ulster: Two Lands, One Soil'', p 17.</ref> In the 1790s Catholics in south Ulster organised as "[[Defenders (Ireland)|The Defenders]]" and counter-attacked. This created polarisation between the communities and a dramatic reduction in reformers within the Protestant community, which had been increasingly receptive to ideas of democratic reform. Many Presbyterians, Catholics and liberal Anglicans were involved in the [[Society of the United Irishmen]], a nationalist movement inspired by the [[French Revolution]], aimed at ending [[Segregation in Northern Ireland|sectarian division in Ireland]], and to the establishment of an Irish Republic, non-sectarian and independent of Britain. However, the United Irishmen's ideal was destroyed both by the failure of the [[Irish Rebellion of 1798]] and the accompanying repression, and by continuing sectarian violence between Catholics and Protestants. Moreover, the more hard-line Protestants were actively mobilised against the radicals by the Government.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} The [[Orange Institution|Orange Order]] (founded in 1795) is a lasting manifestation of this movement.{{Who|date=May 2008}} The effect was to separate Catholics and Protestants into permanently antagonistic camps. The abolition of the [[Irish Parliament]] and incorporation of Ireland into the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] in 1801 provided a new political framework within which this dichotomy between both communities continued. Moreover, [[Presbyterians]] largely abandoned their previous attachment to radical republican politics and adopted a common identity with Anglicans as part of a "loyal" Protestant community. [[Catholic Emancipation]] in 1829, through political agitation by [[Daniel O'Connell]], largely eliminated legal discrimination against Catholics (around 75% of Ireland's population), Jews and other dissenters. However O'Connell's long-term goal (for which the Emancipation was essential) was the Repeal of the 1801 Union. He confidently, but incorrectly, declared on January 1 1843 that Repeal would come about that year.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} O'Connell's pacifist, majoritarian nationalism played an increasingly important role in Irish politics as the century went on by pressing for the restoration of the Irish Parliament (self-government known as "Home Rule"). Most Protestants, afraid of being a minority in a Catholic-dominated Ireland, tended to support continuing rule from Britain. The conflict was now represented as one between those who supported the [[Act of Union 1800|Act of Union]], the Unionists, and those who opposed it, the Nationalists, as it remains to the present day. By 1886 this transition to a modern representation of the conflict was completed when the two communities had organised into mutually opposing [[Irish nationalism|nationalist]] and [[Irish unionism|unionist]] parties. Initially, many nationalists were prepared to accept maintaining some links with Britain, with the idea of complete independence only commanding the support of a radical minority; however, throughout the late 19th and early 20th century, support for such a compromise declined. By this time, Ulster Unionism had also acquired an economic motive, since Ulster was the most industrialised part of Ireland and the one most dependent on free trade with Britain and its empire.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} The immediate roots of the present conflict are to be found in the early 20th century disputes over [[Irish Home Rule]] and independence for Ireland. === The partition of Ireland 1912-1925 === {{main|Partition of Ireland}} By the second decade of the 20th century, Home Rule, or limited Irish self-government, was on the brink of being conceded due to the agitation of the [[Irish Parliamentary Party]] who at times held the balance of power in the Westminster parliament. Unionists, mostly Protestant and concentrated in Ulster, resisted both self-government and independence for Ireland, fearing for their future in an overwhelmingly Catholic country dominated by the Roman Catholic Church. In 1912, unionists led by [[Edward Carson]] signed the [[Ulster Covenant]] and pledged to resist Home Rule by force if necessary. To this end, they formed the paramilitary [[Ulster Volunteer Force]] and imported arms from [[Germany]] (the [[Easter Rising]] insurrectionists would do the same several years later). Nationalists formed the [[Irish Volunteers]], whose ostensible goal was to oppose the [[Ulster Volunteers]] and ensure the enactment of the [[Home Rule Act 1914|Third Home Rule Bill]] in the event of British or Unionist recalcitrance. The Irish Volunteers, however, were gradually infiltrated by members of the [[Irish Republican Brotherhood]] (IRB), such as [[Patrick Pearse]]. The outbreak of the [[World War I|First World War]] in 1914 temporarily averted the crisis of possible civil war and delayed the resolution of the question of Irish independence. Home Rule, though actually passed in the British Parliament with [[Royal Assent]], was suspended for the duration of the war. The Irish Volunteers split, the majority forming the [[National Volunteers]] and following [[John Redmond]]'s call to support the [[Allies of World War I|Allied war effort]] and ensure the future implementation of home rule by voluntarily enlisting in [[Irish regiment]]s of the [[10th (Irish) Division]] or the [[16th (Irish) Division]] of the [[Kitchener's Army|New British Army]]. The men of the Ulster Volunteers joined the [[36th (Ulster) Division]]. During 1914-1918 Irish regiments suffered severe losses. But the issue was inflamed by the staging of the nationalist [[Easter Rising]] in [[Dublin]] in 1916 by Irish Republican Brotherhood elements of the Irish Volunteers who did not support the war effort. Although the rebellion was put down, the executions of fifteen of the Rising's leaders and the [[Conscription Crisis of 1918|threat of conscription]] greatly radicalised Irish nationalists. The independence question came to a head in the 1918 [[Irish (UK) general election, 1918|December general election]], when the separatist [[Sinn Féin]] party won a majority of seats in Ireland and set up the [[First Dáil]] (Irish Parliament) in Dublin, essentially seceding from the [[United Kingdom]], although at the time this was not recognised by the UK or any other country except the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]].{{Fact|date=January 2008}} At the same time, IRB volunteers, seeing themselves as the army of the Irish Republic, began armed attacks on state forces the following month (January 1919), killing two Catholic policemen who were transporting [[gelignite]] in [[Soloheadbeg]], [[County Tipperary]]. In 1920, during a [[Anglo-Irish War|guerrilla war in Ireland]] which pitted the Volunteers or [[Irish Republican Army]] (IRA) against British state forces, the [[Government of Ireland Act, 1920|1920 Government of Ireland Act]] partitioned the island of Ireland into two separate jurisdictions, [[Southern Ireland]] and [[Northern Ireland]], both devolved regions of the United Kingdom. This [[partition of Ireland]] was confirmed when the [[Parliament of Northern Ireland]] exercised its right under the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]] of 1921 to ''opt out'' of the newly established [[Irish Free State]] in December 1922. The [[Irish Free State]] was an independent [[Dominion]] within the [[Commonwealth of Nations|British Commonwealth]]. The Irish Free State was renamed '' [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]'' in 1937 and it left the Commonwealth in 1949 when it declared that it was a republic. Northern Ireland remained a part of the [[United Kingdom]], albeit under a separate system of government whereby it was given its own [[Parliament of Northern Ireland|Parliament]] and [[Devolution|devolved government]]. This system was not requested by unionists, but was included in the settlement by a government keen to rid the Westminster parliament of "[[Irish Home Rule Bill|the Irish question]]" that had dominated it for many years. Nonetheless, unionists immediately embraced the new regime and saw Northern Ireland as a state governed according to democratic principles, the rule of law, and in accordance with the will of a majority within its borders to remain part of the United Kingdom. Nationalists, however, saw the partition of Ireland as an illegal and arbitrary division of the island against the will of the vast majority of its people, and argued that the Northern Ireland state was neither legitimate nor democratic, but created with a deliberately [[gerrymandering|gerrymandered]] Unionist majority. Catholics within Northern Ireland, initially about 33% of its population,<ref>{{cite book | last = Taylor | first = Peter | authorlink = | title = Families At War | publisher = [[BBC]] | date = 1989 | pages = p. 10 | doi = | isbn = 0-563-20787-6}}</ref> did not accept the legitimacy of the new state. The roots of the Troubles lie in the failure of the Unionist state to integrate the Catholic/nationalist population in Northern Ireland, most of whom favoured a united Ireland, and the refusal of the same nationalists to eschew political [[irredentism]]. Northern Ireland came into being in a violent manner--a total of 557 people being killed in political or sectarian violence from 1920-1922, during and after the [[Irish War of Independence]]. Of these, 303 were Catholics (including IRA members), 172 were Protestants and 82 were [[Royal Irish Constabulary]] (RIC) or British Army personnel. Belfast saw the majority of the violence, 452 people being killed there, of whom 267 were Catholics and 185 were Protestants<ref name="English">English, Richard, ''Armed Struggle: a History of the IRA'', pp.39-40</ref> (See also; [[Irish War of Independence#The War in the North-east July 1920-July 1922|Irish War of Independence in the North East]].) Whereas elsewhere on the island this conflict was largely a confrontation between Irish Republican guerrillas and the British Police and Army, in the north it was marked by communal strife between Catholics and Protestants. The pattern of violence in the north was that loyalist groups, as well as an auxiliary police force, the [[B-Specials]], responded to IRA attacks on the security forces with killings of Catholics. Nationalists characterise this violence, especially that in [[Belfast]], as a "[[pogrom]]" against their community.<ref>{{cite book | last = Hart | first = Peter | authorlink = | title = The I.R.A. at war, 1916-1923 | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | date = 2003 | pages = p. 247 | doi = | isbn = 978-0199252589}}</ref> In 1920, for example, the IRA assassination of RIC district Inspector Swanzy in [[Lisburn]] outside a Protestant church following Sunday services resulted in the burning of large section of the Catholic quarter in the town.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} However, although a disproportionate number of the victims were Catholics (58% of victims from a community making up around 30% of the population in Belfast), both sides were guilty of atrocities. Nationalists in the rest of Ireland organised a boycott of northern goods in response to the attacks on Catholics, while some (including [[Michael Collins (Irish leader)|Michael Collins]] in the new [[Irish Free State]]) had plans for a military assault on Northern Ireland.<ref name="Hopkinson">Hopkinson, Michael, ''Green Against Green'', pp.83-88: An IRA "joint offensive was actually launched along the border in April-June 1922, but proved ineffective."</ref> This was interrupted by the [[Irish Civil War]] (1922-23) between Irish nationalist factions, and during this time the Northern state instead managed to consolidate its existence. Another legacy of the Irish Civil War, later to have a major impact on Northern Ireland, was the creation of a marginalised remnant of the [[Irish Republican Army (1922-1969)|Irish Republican Army]], illegal in both Irish states and ideologically committed to overthrowing both of them by force of arms and re-establishing the [[Irish Republic]] of 1919-1921. In this context, the Northern Irish government passed the [[Special Powers Act]] in 1922; this gave sweeping powers to the government and police to do virtually anything seen as necessary to re-establish or preserve law and order. The Act continued to be used against the nationalist community long after the violence of this period had come to an end.<ref>Laura K. Dohonue, 'Regulating Northern Ireland: The Special Powers Acts, 1922-1972', The Historical Journal, 41, 4 (1998).</ref> In 1925 many nationalists expected partition to be abolished, or least to have large parts of Northern Ireland ceded to the Free State, by a [[Boundary Commission (Ireland)|Boundary Commission]]. The Commission instead recommended only minor changes in the border, effectively making partition of Ireland permanent. At this point, the [[Irish Free State]] formally recognised and accepted (albeit reluctantly) the border. In 1937, [[Eamon de Valera]] laid claim to the whole island of Ireland as territory of the Free State in [[Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution of Ireland]]. However, the articles stipulated that "pending the re-integration of the national territory" the southern state's borders were the same as those established in 1922.<ref>Collins, M.E., ''Ireland 1868-1966'', p.364</ref> === Northern Ireland 1925-1968 === Each side established its own [[narrative]]s to describe its perspective. [[Ulster Unionist Party|Ulster Unionist]] [[Prime Minister of Northern Ireland]] [[James Craig, 1st Viscount Craigavon|James Craig]] talked of a "Protestant parliament and a Protestant State" in 1937, in response to his Southern counterpart [[Éamon de Valera]]'s assertion in 1935 that Ireland was a "Catholic nation".<ref name="Bardon">Bardon, Jonathan (1992), ''A History of Ulster'', p. 538</ref> From a Unionist perspective, Northern Ireland's nationalists were inherently disloyal and were determined to force them (Protestants and unionists) into a united Ireland. In the 1970s, during the period when the British government was unsuccessfully attempting to implement the [[Sunningdale Agreement]], then-[[Social Democratic and Labour Party]] (SDLP) councillor [[Hugh Logue]] described the agreement as the means by which unionists "will be trundled into a united Ireland".<ref>[http://www.historyireland.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24&Itemid=0 History Ireland<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> This threat was seen as justifying preferential treatment of unionists in housing, employment and other fields. The prevalence of large families and a more rapid population growth among Catholics was also seen as a threat. Former [[First Minister of Northern Ireland]] [[David Trimble]] admitted that Northern Ireland had been "a cold house for Catholics" during this period. Nonetheless, until the 1990s, unionist politicians were able to point to Northern Ireland's relative economic success compared with the Southern state (and the excessive influence of the Roman Catholic hierarchy over Government policy there) as a vindication of Northern Ireland's existence. From a nationalist perspective, continued discrimination against Catholics only proved that Northern Ireland was an inherently corrupt, British-imposed state. The controversial [[Republic of Ireland]] [[Taoiseach]] (Prime Minister) [[Charles Haughey]], whose family had fled [[County Londonderry]] during the 1920s Troubles, described Northern Ireland as "a failed political entity". The unionist government ignored Edward Carson's warning in 1921 that alienating Catholics would make Northern Ireland inherently unstable. After the initial Troubles of the early 1920s, there were occasional incidents of sectarian unrest in Northern Ireland, a brief and [[Northern Campaign (IRA)|ineffective IRA campaign]] in the 1940s, and another [[Border Campaign (IRA)|abortive IRA campaign]] in the 1950s, but by the early 1960s Northern Ireland was fairly stable. 1966 saw the emergence of the [[Ulster Volunteer Force]] (UVF), an illegal loyalist paramilitary organisation, in response to a perceived revival of the IRA at the time of the 50th anniversary of the [[Easter Rising]].<ref name="ptuvf">''Loyalists'', pp.37-40.</ref> The UVF began a campaign of intimidation against a Catholic owned [[off-licence]] on the [[Shankill Road]], and sectarian graffiti such as "Popehead" and "This house is owned by a Taig" was painted on the wall of the house next to the off-licence, which was actually occupied by Protestants.<ref name="ptuvf"/> On [[7 May]] [[1966]] a petrol bomb was thrown through the window of the house, and the 77-year old Protestant widow who lived there sustained injuries that resulted in her death seven weeks later.<ref name="ptuvf"/> Historically, she was the first victim of the Troubles.<ref name="ptuvf"/> The UVF issued a statement two weeks later: <blockquote>From this day, we declare war against the IRA and its splinter groups. Known IRA men will be executed mercilessly and without hesitation. Less extreme measures will be taken against anyone sheltering or helping them, but if they persist in giving them aid, then more extreme methods will be adopted . . . we solemnly warn the authorities to make no more speeches of appeasement. We are heavily armed Protestants dedicated to this cause.<ref name="ptuvf2">''Loyalists'', pp. 41-44.</ref></blockquote> == Beginning of the Troubles == The question of when The Troubles began remains a matter of some dispute, linked to some extent to the issue of blame. The UVF was formed in 1966 as a loyalist paramilitary group and named after the Ulster Volunteers of 1912.<ref>[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/organ/uorgan.htm Abstracts on Organisations - 'U']</ref> The UVF claimed what many acknowledge as the first victim of the Troubles, when they shot dead 28-year-old storeman John Patrick Scullion in west Belfast. Barman Peter Ward, an 18-year-old from west Belfast, became the second victim of a UVF gun attack in which three other men were shot and seriously injured.<ref name="ptuvf2"/> Victor Arbuckle, aged 29, was shot dead by Loyalists during street disturbances on the Shankill Road in Belfast in October 1969, the first RUC officer to die in the troubles. The UVF was also responsible for a series of attacks on power stations and reservoirs in Northern Ireland during 1969.<ref name="psb">{{cite book | last = Taylor | first = Peter | authorlink = Peter Taylor (Journalist) | title = Loyalists | publisher = [[Bloomsbury Publishing]] | date = 1999 | pages = pp. 59-60 | doi = | isbn = 0-7475-4519-7}}</ref> It was hoped that this campaign would be blamed on the IRA, forcing moderate unionists to increase their opposition to the tentative reforms of [[Terence O'Neill]]'s government. Others prefer to date the start of The Troubles to 1968, when widespread rioting and public disorder broke out at the marches of the [[Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association]] (NICRA). This group launched a peaceful [[civil rights]] campaign in 1967,<ref>''From Peaceful Protest to Guerrilla War: Micromobilization of the Provisional Irish Republican Army'' by Robert H. White. ''The American Journal of Sociology'', Vol. 94, No. 6 (May, 1989), pp. 1277-1302.</ref><ref name=NICRA>[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/crights/nicra/nicra78.htm#contents We Shall Overcome ... The History of the Struggle for Civil Rights in Northern Ireland 1968 - 1978 by NICRA (1978)]</ref> which borrowed the language and symbolism of the [[Civil Rights Movement]] of Dr. [[Martin Luther King]] in the United States. NICRA was seeking a redress of Catholic and nationalist grievances within Northern Ireland.<ref>''Loyalists'', p.47.</ref> Specifically, they wanted an end to the gerrymandering of electoral constituencies that produced unrepresentative local councils (particularly in Derry City) by putting virtually all Catholics in a limited number of electoral wards; the abolition of the rate-payer franchise in local government elections, which gave Protestants disproportionate voting power; an end to unfair allocation of jobs and housing; and an end to the [[Special Powers Act]] (which allowed for [[Operation Demetrius|internment]] and other repressive measures) which was seen as being aimed at the nationalist community.<ref>[http://www.bloodysundaytrust.org/edubackground.htm] Background to Bloody Sunday</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Tonge |first=Jonathan |authorlink=|coauthors=|title=Northern Ireland: Conflict and Change |origyear=2002 |publisher= Longman |location= |isbn= 978-0582424005 |pages=pp. 37-38}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Various |first=|authorlink=|coauthors=|title=Politics UK |origyear=2006 |publisher= Longman |location= |isbn= 978-1405824118 |pages=p. 770}}</ref> Initially, Terence O'Neill, the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, reacted favourably to this moderate-seeming campaign and promised reforms of Northern Ireland. However, he was opposed by many hard-line unionists, including [[William Craig]] and [[Ian Paisley]], who accused him of being a "sell-out". Some Unionists immediately mistrusted the NICRA, seeing it as an [[Irish Republican Army (1922-1969)|IRA]] "[[Trojan Horse]]". Many resented the concept of Catholic equality in this "Protestant state". Violence broke out at several Civil Rights marches when Protestant loyalists attacked civil rights demonstrators with clubs. The Royal Ulster Constabulary, almost entirely Protestant, was widely accused of supporting the loyalists and of allowing the violence to occur.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} Much of the hostile loyalist reaction to the Civil Rights Movement was linked to the ability of leaders to provoke fear within the Unionist populace that the IRA was not only behind the NICRA, but was also planning a renewed armed campaign.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} In fact, the IRA was moribund, had few weapons, fewer members, negligible support, and was increasingly committed (out of necessity) to non-violent politics.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} The first bombing campaign of the Troubles (largely directed against power stations and other infrastructure) was staged by the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1969 to try to implicate the IRA.<ref name="psb"/> Communal disturbances worsened throughout 1969, escalating in January after a march by the [[People's Democracy]] from Belfast to [[Derry]] was attacked by loyalists in [[Burntollet]], [[County Londonderry]]. The RUC were accused of failing to protect the marchers. Barricades were erected in nationalist areas of Derry and Belfast in the following months. This disorder culminated in the [[Battle of the Bogside]] ([[August 12]] [[1969]]-[[August 14]] [[1969]]), a huge communal uprising in Derry between police and nationalists. The riot started in a confrontation between Catholic residents of the [[Bogside]], police, and members of the [[Apprentice Boys of Derry]] who were due to march past the Bogside along the city walls. Rioting between police and loyalists on one side and Bogside residents on the other continued for two days before British troops were sent in to restore order. The "Battle" sparked vicious sectarian rioting in Belfast, [[Newry]], [[Strabane]] and elsewhere, starting on [[August 14]] [[1969]], which left many people dead and many homes burned. The riots began with nationalist demonstrations in support of the Bogside residents and escalated when a [[grenade]] was thrown at a police station. The RUC in response deployed three [[Shorland armoured car|Shorland]] [[Armored car (military)|armoured cars]] mounted with [[Browning Arms Company|Browning]] [[heavy machine gun]]s, and killed a nine year old boy, struck by a tracer bullet fired by a Browning machine gun as he lay in bed in his family's flat in Divis Tower in the nationalist Divis Street area of Belfast.<ref name="Lost Lives">Lost Lives 2007 edition, ISBN 978-1-84018-504-1</ref> Loyalist crowds attacked Catholic areas, burning down much of Bombay Street, Madrid Street and other Catholic streets (see [[Northern Ireland riots of August 1969]]). Nationalists {{Fact|date=May 2008}}alleged that the Royal Ulster Constabulary had aided, or at least not acted against, loyalists in these riots. The IRA had been widely criticised by its supporters for failing to defend the Catholic community during the Belfast troubles of August 1969, when eight people had been killed, about 750 injured and 1,505 Catholic families had been forced out of their homes--almost five times the number of dispossessed Protestant households.<ref>[http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/mick_fealty/2007/07/about_turn.html About turn]</ref> One Catholic priest reported that his parishioners were contemptuously calling the IRA "I Ran Away". The [[Executive Committee of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland|government of Northern Ireland]] requested that the [[British Government]] deploy the British Army in Northern Ireland to restore order and to prevent [[sectarian]] attacks on Catholics.<ref>{{cite book | last = McKernan | first = Michael | authorlink = | title = Northern Ireland Yearbook 2005 | publisher = Stationery Office | date = 2005 | pages = p. 17 | doi = | isbn = 978-0954628420 }}</ref> Nationalists initially welcomed the Army, often giving the soldiers tea and sandwiches, as they did not trust the police to act in an unbiased manner, but relations soured due to heavy-handedness by the Army<ref>{{cite book | last = English | first = Richard | authorlink = Richard English | title = Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA | publisher = [[Pan Books]] | date = 2003 | pages = p. 136 | doi = | isbn = 0-330-49388-4}}</ref> == The peak of violence and the collapse of Stormont == The years 1970-1972 saw an explosion of political violence in Northern Ireland, peaking in 1972, when nearly 500 people lost their lives. There are several reasons why violence escalated in these years. Unionists claim the main reason was the formation of the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] (Provisional IRA), a group formed when the [[Irish Republican Army (1922-1969)|IRA]] split into the Provisional and [[Official IRA|Official]] factions. While the older IRA had embraced non-violent civil agitation,{{Fact|date=May 2008}} the new Provisional IRA was determined to wage "armed struggle" against British rule in Northern Ireland. The new IRA was willing to take on the role of "defenders of the Catholic community",<ref>''Armed Struggle'', pp. 134-135.</ref> rather than seeking working-class unity across both communities which had become the aim of the "Officials". Nationalists argued that the upsurge in violence was caused by the disappointment of the hopes engendered by the civil rights movement and the repression subsequently directed at their community. {{Fact|date=May 2008}} They point to a number of events in these years to support this opinion. One such incident was the [[Falls Curfew]] in July 1970, when 3,000 troops imposed a curfew on the nationalist Lower Falls area of Belfast, firing more than 1,500 rounds of ammunition in gun battles with the IRA and killing four people. Another was the 1971 introduction of internment without trial--out of over 350 initial detainees, not a single one was a Protestant.<ref>{{cite book | last = Walker | first = R. K. | authorlink = | title = The Hunger Strikes | publisher = Lagan Books | date= 2006 | pages = p. 27 | isbn = 1904684181}}</ref> Moreover, due to poor intelligence,<ref>{{cite book | last = Bonner | first = David | authorlink = | title = Executive Measures, Terrorism and National Security: Have the Rules of the Game Changed? | publisher = Ashgate | date = 2007 | pages = p. 89 | doi = | isbn = 978-0754647560}}</ref> very few of those interned were actually republican activists, but some went on to become republicans as a result of their unfortunate experiences.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} Between 1971 and 1975, 1,981 people were detained; 1,874 were Catholic/republican, while 107 were Protestant/loyalist.<ref>[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/intern/sum.htm Internment - Summary of Main Events]</ref> There were widespread allegations from the nationalist community of abuse and even [[torture]] of detainees. Most emotionally of all, nationalists also point to the fatal shootings of 14 unarmed nationalist civil rights demonstrators by the British Army in Derry in January 1972 on what became known as [[Bloody Sunday (1972)|Bloody Sunday]]. The Provisional IRA (or "Provos", as they became known), formed in early 1970, soon established itself as more aggressive and militant in its response to attacks on the nationalist community by loyalists and the police, gaining much support in the nationalist ghettos in the early 1970s as "defenders" of those communities. Despite the increasingly [[reformist]] and [[Marxist]] politics of the Official IRA, they nonetheless began their own armed campaign in reaction to the ongoing violence and the deteriorating relationship between the Catholic community and the British military. From 1970 onwards, both the PIRA and OIRA engaged in armed confrontations with the British Army. {{Fact|date=May 2008}} By 1972, the Provisionals' campaign was of such intensity that they had already killed more than 100 soldiers, wounded 500 more and carried out 1,300 bombings,{{Fact|date=May 2008}} mostly against commercial targets that they considered "the artificial economy".<ref>''Armed Struggle'', p. 137</ref><ref name="jbb">{{cite book | last = Bowyer Bell | first = J. | authorlink = J. Bowyer Bell | title = The Secret Army: The IRA | publisher = Transaction Publishers | date = 1997 | pages = p. 381 | doi = | isbn = 1560009012}}</ref> The bombing campaign killed many civilians, notably on [[Bloody Friday (1972)|Bloody Friday]] in July 1972, when 22 bombs were set off in the centre of Belfast. The Official IRA, who had never been fully committed to armed action, called off their campaign in June 1972. The Provisionals, however, despite a temporary ceasefire in 1972 and talks with British officials, were determined to continue their campaign until the achievement of a united Ireland. The loyalist paramilitaries, including the Ulster Volunteer Force and the newly-founded [[Ulster Defence Association]], responded to the increasing violence with a campaign of sectarian assassination of nationalists, whom they identified simply as Catholics.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} Some of these murders were particularly gruesome, as in the case of the [[Shankill Butchers]], who beat and tortured their victims before killing them. Another feature of the political violence was the involuntary or forced displacement of both Catholics and Protestants from formerly mixed residential areas. For example, in Belfast, Protestants were forced out of Lenadoon, and Catholics were driven out of the Rathcoole estate and the Westvale neighbourhood. In Derry City almost all the Protestants fled to the predominantly loyalist Fountain Estate and Waterside areas.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} The UK government in London, perceiving that the Northern Ireland administration was incapable of containing the security situation, suspended the unionist-controlled [[Parliament of Northern Ireland|Stormont]] [[Home Rule]] government in 1972 and introduced "Direct Rule" from London.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} Their government addressed many of the concerns of the civil rights movement: re-drawing electoral boundaries to make them more representative, giving all citizens the vote in local elections, and transferring the power to allocate public housing to an independent [[Northern Ireland Housing Executive]], for example. Direct Rule was initially intended as a short-term measure, the medium-term strategy being to restore self-government to Northern Ireland on a basis that was acceptable to both unionists and nationalists. Agreement proved elusive, however, and the Troubles continued throughout the 1970s and 1980s within a context of political deadlock. == The Sunningdale Agreement == <!-- Unsourced image removed: [[Image:Sunningdale_signing.jpg|thumb|The Sunningdale agreement being signed.]] --> In June 1973, following the publication of a British [[White Paper]] and an abortive [[Northern Irish sovereignty referendum, 1973|referendum]] in March on the status of Northern Ireland, a new parliamentary body, the [[Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973|Northern Ireland Assembly]], was established. [[Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1973|Elections]] to this were held on [[28 June]]. In October of that year mainstream nationalist and unionist parties, along with the British and (Southern) Irish governments, negotiated the [[Sunningdale Agreement]], which was intended to produce a political settlement within Northern Ireland, but with a so-called "Irish dimension" involving the Republic of Ireland. The agreement provided for "power-sharing" between nationalists and unionists and a "Council of Ireland" designed to encourage cross-border co-operation. [[Seamus Mallon]], the [[Social Democratic and Labour Party]] (SDLP) politician, has pointed to the marked similarities between the Sunningdale Agreement and the Belfast Agreement of 1998. Famously, he characterised the latter as "Sunningdale for slow learners".<ref name="Ó Ceallaigh">Ó Ceallaigh, Daltún, ''[http://homepage.eircom.net/~mheas/id-art.htmprof# Along The road to Irish unity?]''--Some sources strongly disagree with Mallon: "As one political scientist has put it, the remark about Good Friday being 'Sunningdale for slow learners' is 'as misleading as it is diverting, since the Agreement is a much more subtle and inclusive bargain than was reached at Sunningdale...' Also, a European Studies expert has said: "...there are... significant differences between them [Sunningdale and Belfast], both in terms of content and the circumstances surrounding their negotiation, implementation, and operation." More pertinently, it has been observed: "In one sense, it could be argued that mainstream unionism could only lose in the talks and the question was really how much would be lost."</ref> Unionism, however, was split over Sunningdale, which was also opposed by the IRA, whose goal remained nothing short of an end to Northern Ireland's existence as part of the United Kingdom. Many unionists opposed the concept of power-sharing, arguing that it was not feasible to share power with those (nationalists) who sought the destruction of the state. Perhaps more significant, however, was the unionist opposition to the "Irish dimension" and the Council of Ireland, which was perceived as being an all-Ireland parliament-in-waiting. The remarks by SDLP councillor [[Hugh Logue]] to an audience at [[Trinity College Dublin]] that Sunningdale was the tool "by which the Unionists will be trundled off to a united Ireland" ensured its defeat. In January 1974, [[Brian Faulkner]] was narrowly deposed as Unionist Party leader by his own party and replaced by [[Harry West]]. A UK general election in February 1974 gave the anti-Sunningdale unionists the opportunity to test unionist opinion with the slogan "Dublin is only a Sunningdale away", and the result galvanised their opposition: they won 11 of the 12 seats, winning 58% of the vote with most of the rest going to nationalists and pro-Sunningdale unionists. Ultimately, however, the Sunningdale Agreement was brought down by mass action on the part of loyalists (primarily the Ulster Defence Association, at that time over 20,000 strong) and Protestant workers, who formed the [[Ulster Workers' Council]]. They organised a [[general strike]]--the [[Ulster Workers' Council Strike]]. This stopped all business in Northern Ireland and cut off essential services such as water and electricity. Nationalists argue that the UK government did not do enough to break this strike and uphold the Sunningdale initiative. In the event, however, faced with such determined opposition, the pro-Sunningdale unionists resigned from the power-sharing government and the new regime collapsed. The failure of Sunningdale led on to the examination in London of the option of a rapid British withdrawal by the new government of [[Harold Wilson]]. This was also considered in Dublin by [[Garret FitzGerald]] in a memorandum of June 1975, on which he commented in 2006.<ref>[http://www.ria.ie/cgi-bin/ria/papers/100573.pdf FitzGerald.qxd<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> This concluded that the [[Republic of Ireland|Irish]] government could do little on such a withdrawal with its army of 12,500 men, with the likely result of a greater loss of life. The violence continued through the rest of the 1970s. The Provisional IRA declared a ceasefire in 1975 but returned to violence in 1976. By this time they had lost the hope that they had had in the early 1970s that they could force a rapid British withdrawal from Northern Ireland, and instead developed a strategy known as the "Long War", which involved a less intense but more sustained campaign of violence that could continue indefinitely. The [[Official IRA]] ceasefire of 1972, however, became permanent, and the "Official" movement eventually evolved into the [[Workers Party (Ireland)|Workers Party]], which rejected violence completely. However, a splinter from the "Officials" in 1974--the [[Irish National Liberation Army]]--continued with a campaign of violence. By the late 1970s, war weariness was visible in both communities. One manifestation of this was the formation of group known as "[[Peace People]]", which won the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] in 1976. The Peace People organised large demonstrations calling for an end to paramilitary violence. However, their campaign lost momentum after they appealed to the nationalist community to provide information on the IRA to security forces. The Army and police were so unpopular in many nationalist areas that this was not seen as an objective stance. == The Hunger Strikes and the emergence of Sinn Féin == [[Image:Belfast mural 13 (edited).jpg|thumb|300px|right|An IRA mural in [[Belfast]] depicting the [[1981 Irish Hunger Strike|hunger strikes of 1981]].]] Successive British Governments, having failed to achieve a political settlement, tried to "normalise" Northern Ireland. Aspects included the removal of [[internment]] without trial and the removal of political status for paramilitary prisoners. From 1972 onwards, paramilitaries were tried in juryless [[Diplock courts]] to avoid intimidation of jurors. On conviction, they were to be treated as ordinary criminals. Resistance to this policy among republican prisoners led to over 500 of them in the [[Maze prison]] initiating the [[blanket protest]] and the [[dirty protest]]. Their protests culminated in [[hunger strikes]] in 1980 and 1981, aimed at the restoration of political status. In the [[1981 Irish Hunger Strike]], ten republican prisoners (seven from the Provisional IRA and three from the [[Irish National Liberation Army]]) starved themselves to death. The first hunger striker to die, [[Bobby Sands]], was elected to Parliament on an [[Anti-H-Block]] ticket, as was his election agent [[Owen Carron]] following Sands' death. The hunger strikes proved emotive events for the nationalist community--over 100,000 people attended Sands' funeral mass at St. Luke's, [[Twinbrook]], West Belfast, and crowds also attended the subsequent funerals. From an Irish republican perspective, the significance of these events was to demonstrate a potential for political and electoral strategy.<ref>''Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA'', p. 200.</ref> In the wake of the hunger strikes, Sinn Féin, the Provisional IRA's political wing, began to contest elections for the first time in both Northern Ireland and the Republic. In 1986, Sinn Féin recognised the legitimacy of the Irish [[Dáil]], which caused a small group of republicans to break away and form [[Republican Sinn Féin]]. From a unionist perspective, the hunger strikes appeared to show that the nationalist community supported terrorism and this perception deepened sectarian antagonism.{{Fact|date=May 2008}} == The "Long War" == The PIRA's "Long War" was boosted by large donations of arms to them from [[Libya]] in the 1980s (see [[Provisional IRA arms importation]]) due to [[Moammar Qaddafi]]'s anger at [[Margaret Thatcher|Thatcher]]'s government for assisting the [[Reagan Administration|Reagan]] government's [[Bombing of Libya|bombing of Tripoli]], which killed one of Qaddafi's children. In the mid to late 1980s loyalist paramilitaries, including the Ulster Volunteer Force, the Ulster Defence Association and [[Ulster Resistance]], imported arms and explosives from [[South Africa]].<ref>''Loyalists'', pp. 188-190.</ref> The weapons obtained were divided between the UDA, the UVF and Ulster Resistance, and led to an escalation in the assassination of Catholics, although some of the weaponry (such as [[rocket propelled grenade]]s) were hardly used. {{Fact|date=May 2008}}These killings were in response to the 1985 [[Anglo-Irish Agreement]] which gave the [[Irish government]] a "consultative role" in the internal government of Northern Ireland. ===Collusion by security forces and loyalist paramilitaries=== One particularly controversial aspect of the conflict has been allegations of [[collusion]] between the state security forces and loyalist paramilitaries, traditionally from Irish nationalist or pro-Irish republican media and news outlets, both print and online, such as the [[Irish News]], ''[[An Phoblacht]]'', the Irish People (USA), [[Slugger O'Toole]], the [[Pat Finucane Center]], ''et al'', but also ''[[The Guardian]]'' and, more recently, the [[BBC]].{{Fact|date=January 2008}} ====The UDR and loyalists==== One problem, highlighted by documents declassified in 2004, is that British government documents from the early 1970s show overlapping membership between the [[Ulster Defence Regiment]] (UDR) and loyalist paramilitary groups. The documents include a report titled "Subversion in the UDR" which details the problem. The documents state that: * an estimated 5-15% of UDR soldiers were directly linked to loyalist paramilitary groups. * it was believed that the "best single source of weapons, and the only significant source of modern weapons, for Protestant extremist groups was the UDR." * it was feared that UDR troops were loyal to "Ulster" alone rather than to "Her Majesty's Government". *The British Government knew that UDR weapons were being used by loyalist paramilitaries, including the killing of a Roman Catholic civilian and other attacks<ref name="caindoc">[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/publicrecords/1973/subversion_in_the_udr.htm CAIN Archive:Public Records: Subversion in the UDR] Although initially written in 1973, the report was only declassified in 2004.</ref><ref name="in">[[May 2]] [[2006]] edition of the Irish News available [http://www.nuzhound.com/articles/irish_news/arts2006/may2_subversion_colluson_UDR.php here.]</ref> Despite knowing that the UDR had problems and that over 200 weapons had been passed from British Army hands to loyalist paramilitaries by 1973, the British Government went on to increase the role of the UDR in maintaining order in Northern Ireland.<ref name="in"/> ====Special Patrol Group and the Glenane allegations==== In the mid-1970s, a Royal Ulster Constabulary "anti-terrorist unit", the [[Special Patrol Group (RUC)|Special Patrol Group]], was implicated in aiding and participating in a number of sectarian murders in the mid-Ulster area, including the [[Reavey and O'Dowd killings]] of 1976. Two SPG members, John Weir and [[Billy McCaughey]], were convicted in 1980 of a 1977 murder, an attack on a pub in [[Keady]], and the kidnap of a Catholic priest. They implicated their immediate colleagues in at least 11 other killings and alleged that they were part of a wider conspiracy involving the RUC Special Branch, British military intelligence, and the UVF.<ref>[http://www.seeingred.com/Copy/2.1_CODE_weiraff.html SeeingRed [John Weir's Affadavit&#93;<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The Special Patrol Group was stood down after the men's conviction. The nationalist Pat Finucane Centre has claimed that the group of British Army, RUC, UDR and UVF members that Wier and McCaughey referred to, which they called the "[[Glenane]] gang", was responsible for 87 killings in the 1970s, including the [[Dublin and Monaghan bombings]] of 1974 and the [[Miami Showband killings]] of 1975.<ref>[http://www.serve.com/pfc/sarmagh/sarmagh.html Collusion in the South Armagh / Mid Ulster Area in the mid-1970's<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> ====Collusion in the 1980s and 1990s==== Elements within the Army and police have been shown to have leaked intelligence to loyalists from the late 1980s to target republican activists. In 1992, a British agent within the UDA, [[Brian Nelson]], revealed Army complicity in his activities which included murder and importing arms.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/766926.stm BBC News]</ref><ref>[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/collusion/chron.htm CAIN website]</ref> Factions within the British Army and RUC are known to have cooperated with Nelson and the UDA through the British Army Intelligence group called the [[Force Research Unit]]. Since the late 1990s, some loyalists have confirmed to journalists such as [[Peter Taylor (Journalist)|Peter Taylor]] that they received files and intelligence from security sources on Republican targets.<ref>[http://www.birw.org/justice.html British Irish Rights Watch<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch99.htm CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1999<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> In a report released on [[22 January]] [[2007]], the Police Ombudsman [[Nuala O'Loan]] stated that UVF informers committed serious crimes, including murder, with the full knowledge of their handlers.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/22_01_07_ballast.pdf Statement by the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland on her investigations into the circumstances surrounding the death of Raymond McCord Junior and related matters]</ref> The report alleged that certain [[Special Branch]] officers created false statements, blocked evidence searches and "baby-sat" suspects during interviews. [[Democratic Unionist Party]] (DUP) councillor and former Police Federation chairman Jimmy Spratt said if the report "had had one shred of credible evidence then we could have expected charges against former Police Officers. There are no charges, so the public should draw their own conclusion, the report is clearly based on little fact".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6286657.stm BBC News, Monday, [[22 January]] [[2007]]. ''Reaction to Ombudsman's report'']</ref> However, the then [[Secretary of State for Northern Ireland]], [[Peter Hain]], said that he was "convinced that at least one prosecution will arise out of today's report".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6286695.stm BBC News, Monday, [[22 January]] [[2007]]. ''NI police colluded with killers'']</ref> Peter Hain also said, "There are all sorts of opportunities for prosecutions to follow. The fact that some retired police officers obstructed the investigation and refused to co-operate with the Police Ombudsman is very serious in itself. There will be consequences for those involved and it is a matter for the relevant bodies to take up".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6286657.stm BBC News, Monday, [[22 January]] [[2007]]. ''Reaction to Ombudsman's report'']</ref> ====Shoot-to-kill allegations==== In addition, republicans allege that the security forces operated a policy of "[[shoot-to-kill policy in Northern Ireland|shoot-to-kill]]"--killing rather than arresting IRA suspects. The security forces denied this and point out that in incidents such as the [[Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade|killing of eight IRA men]] at [[Loughgall]] in 1987, the paramilitaries who were killed were heavily armed. Others argue that incidents such as the shooting of three unarmed IRA members in [[Gibraltar]] by the [[Special Air Service|SAS]] ten months later confirmed suspicions among republicans, and in the British and Irish media, of a tacit British "shoot-to-kill" policy of suspected IRA members.<ref>[http://www.rcgfrfi.easynet.co.uk/larkin_pubs/older/motr/motr_all.htm ''Murder on the Rock'' by Maxine Williams]. The article also includes a list of suspected shoot-to-kill victims between 1982-1986.</ref> == The paramilitary ceasefires and peace process == {{main|Northern Ireland peace process}} ===The paramilitaries' activities=== Since the late 1980s, while the IRA continued its armed campaign, its political wing [[Sinn Féin]], led since 1983 by [[Gerry Adams]], sought a negotiated end to the conflict, although Adams knew that this would be a very long process. In the 1970s he himself predicted that the war would last another 20 years. This was manifested in open talks with [[John Hume]]&mdash;the [[Social Democratic and Labour Party]] leader--and secret talks with Government officials. Loyalists were also engaged in behind-the-scenes talks to end the violence, liaising with the British and Irish governments through Protestant clergy, in particular the Presbyterian Rev. [[Roy Magee]] and the Anglican Archbishop [[Robin Eames]]. After a prolonged period of political manoeuvring in the background, the loyalist and republican paramilitaries declared ceasefires in 1994. The year leading up to the ceasefires was a particularly tense one, marked by atrocities. The UDA and UVF stepped up their killings of Catholics (for the first time killing more civilians than Republicans in a year in 1993). The IRA responded with the [[Shankill Road bombing]] in October 1993, which aimed to kill the UDA leadership, but in fact killed nine Protestant civilians. The UDA in turn retaliated with the [[Greysteel massacre]] and shootings at Castlerock, County Londonderry. On [[June 16]] [[1994]], just before the ceasefires, the Irish National Liberation Army killed three UVF members in a gun attack on the Shankill Road. In revenge, three days later, the UVF killed six civilians in a shooting at a pub in [[Loughinisland]], [[County Down]]. The IRA, in the remaining month before its ceasefire, killed four senior loyalists, three from the UDA and one from the UVF. There are various interpretations of the spike in violence before the ceasefires. One theory is that the loyalists feared the peace process represented an imminent "sellout" of the Union and ratcheted up their violence accordingly. Another explanation is that the republicans were "settling old scores" before the end of their campaigns and wanted to enter the political process from a position of military strength rather than weakness. Eventually, in August 1994, the Provisional IRA declared a [[ceasefire]]. The loyalist paramilitaries, temporarily united in the "[[Combined Loyalist Military Command]]", reciprocated six weeks later. Although these ceasefires failed in the short run, they mark an effective end to large-scale political violence in the Troubles, as they paved the way for the final ceasefire. <!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: [[Image:Private-eye-9July1999.jpg|thumb|right|100px|Rare image of [[Gerry Adams]], [[Martin McGuinness]], and UUP leader [[David Trimble]] all together. 1999.]] --> ===The second ceasefire=== On [[9 February]] [[1996]], less than two years after the declaration of the ceasefire, the IRA revoked it with the [[Docklands bombing]] in the Canary Wharf area of London, killing two people and causing £85 million in damage to the city's financial centre. Sinn Féin blamed the failure of the ceasefire on the UK government's refusal to begin all-party negotiations until the IRA decommissioned its weapons.<ref>[http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/9602/n_ireland/10/index.html CNN - IRA claims responsibility for London bombing - Feb. 10, 1996<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> [[Image:SouthKey bombing - 9.2.96.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The destruction immediately following the attacks in [[South Quay DLR station|South Quay]]]] The attack was followed by several more, most notably the [[1996 Manchester bombing|Manchester Bombing]] which destroyed a large area of the centre of the city on [[15 June]] [[1996]]. It was the largest bomb attack in Britain since World War II, and while the attack avoided many fatalities due to the rapid response of the emergency services to an earlier telephone warning made to a local television station, over 200 people were injured in the attack, many of them outside the established cordon. The damage caused by the blast was valued at £411 million. The last British soldier to die in the Troubles, [[Lance Bombardier]] Stephen Restorick, was also killed during this period, on [[12 February]] [[1997]], by the "[[South Armagh Sniper (1990-1997)|South Armagh sniper]]". The IRA reinstated their ceasefire in July 1997 as negotiations for the document that would become known as the Good Friday Agreement were starting without Sinn Féin. In September of the same year Sinn Féin signed [[Mitchell Principles|The Mitchell Principles]] and was invited into the talks. The UVF was the first paramilitary grouping to split as a result of their ceasefire, spawning the [[Loyalist Volunteer Force]] (LVF) in 1996. In December 1997, the INLA assassinated LVF leader [[Billy Wright (terrorist)|Billy Wright]], leading to a series of revenge killings of Catholics by loyalist groups. In addition, two hardline splinter groups from the Provisional IRA, the [[Real IRA]] and the [[Continuity IRA]], who rejected the Provisionals' ceasefire, continued a bombing campaign. In August 1998, [[Omagh bombing|a Real IRA bomb]] in [[Omagh]] killed 29 civilians. This bombing, the single worst of the entire Troubles, largely discredited "dissident" Republicans and their campaigns in the eyes of most nationalists. They are now small and non-influential groups.{{Fact|date=July 2007}} The INLA also declared a ceasefire after the Belfast Agreement was passed in 1998. Since then, most paramilitary violence has been directed inwards, at their "own" communities and at other factions within their organisations. The UDA, for example, has feuded with their fellow loyalists the UVF on two occasions since 2000, and has also seen internal feuding between "Brigade commanders" over power within the organisation and involvement in organised crime.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/jul/30/northernireland.henrymcdonald New feud rips apart the UDA]</ref> The Provisional IRA has been accused of killing at least one double-agent ([[Denis Donaldson]]) and its members have also been accused of intimidating and expelling Catholics, assaulting men and women, and, in the most extreme cases, killing men such as [[Murder of Robert McCartney|Robert McCartney]], Matthew Ignatius Burns and Andrew Kearney. ===The political process=== After the ceasefires, talks began between the main political parties in Northern Ireland with the aim of establishing political agreement. These talks eventually produced the Belfast Agreement of 1998. This Agreement restored self-government to Northern Ireland on the basis of "power-sharing", and an executive was formed in 1999 consisting of the four main parties, including Sinn Féin. Other reforms included reform of the RUC, which was renamed as the [[Police Service of Northern Ireland]] and required to recruit a minimum quota of Catholics. However, the power-sharing Executive and Assembly were suspended in 2002, when unionists withdrew following the exposure of a Provisional IRA spy ring within the Sinn Féin office (which was later revealed to have been started by undercover British agent Denis Donaldson). This was on top of ongoing tensions between unionists and Sinn Féin about the Provisional IRA's failure to disarm fully and sufficiently quickly. PIRA decommissioning has since been completed (in September 2005) to the satisfaction of most, but the Democratic Unionist Party continued to be wary over republican claims that the "war was over". <!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: [[Image:Trimble-paisley-1998-bbc-newsline.jpg|thumbnail|left|The Agreement caused a schism in Unionism. Heated debate between DUP leader [[Ian Paisley]] and David Trimble in 1998.]] --> A feature of Northern Irish politics since the Agreement has been the eclipse in electoral terms of the relatively moderate parties such as the Social Democratic and Labour Party and [[Ulster Unionist Party]] by more extreme parties--Sinn Féin and the DUP. Similarly, although political violence is greatly reduced, sectarian animosity has not disappeared and residential areas are more segregated between Catholic nationalists and Protestant unionists than ever.{{Fact|date=January 2008}} Because of this, progress towards restoring the power-sharing institutions has been slow and tortuous. Though the "peace process" is slow-going, movements have formed which give those affected by The Troubles a voice in their communities. In particular, the [[Corrymeela Community]] in [[Ballycastle]] teaches the [[prejudice-reduction model]], which has been adopted by the [[Ulster Project|Ulster Project International]] to improve relations between Protestant and Catholic families across the country. Recently, Gerry Adams and Ian Paisley have announced the formation of a power-sharing government, ending the 5 year stand-off. == The parades issue == [[Image:Www.wesleyjohnston.com-users-ireland-maps-drumcree parade.gif|right|200px|thumb|Drumcree dispute map (enlarge to study)]] Inter-communal tensions rise and violence often breaks out during the "marching season" when the Protestant [[Orange Institution|Orange Order]] parades take place across Northern Ireland. The parades are held to commemorate [[William III of England|William of Orange]]'s victory in the [[Battle of the Boyne]] in 1690, which secured the [[Protestant Ascendancy]] and British rule in Ireland. One particular flashpoint that has caused repeated strife is the Garvaghy Road area in [[Portadown]], where an Orange parade from [[Drumcree|Drumcree Church]] passes by a predominantly nationalist estate off the Garvaghy Road. This parade has now been banned indefinitely, following nationalist riots against the parade, and also loyalist counter-riots against its banning. In 1995, 1996 and 1997, there were several weeks of prolonged rioting throughout Northern Ireland over the impasse at Drumcree. A number of people died in this violence, including a Catholic taxi driver, killed by the [[Loyalist Volunteer Force]], and three (of four) nominally Catholic brothers (from a mixed-religion family) died when their house in [[Ballymoney]] was petrol-bombed.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/06/world/europe/06mcgoldrick.html Michael McGoldrick, 64, Activist in Ulster, Dies]</ref><ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2005/aug/05/uk.northernireland1 Police hold six over loyalist turf war deaths]</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/12/newsid_2500000/2500503.stm 1998: Children die in Drumcree protests]</ref> Disputes have also occurred in Belfast over parade routes along the Ormeau and Crumlin Roads. Orangemen hold that to march their "traditional route" is their civil right. Nationalists argue that by parading through predominantly Catholic areas, the Orange Order is being unnecessarily provocative. Symbolically, the ability to either parade or to block a parade is viewed as expressing ownership of "territory" and influence over the government of Northern Ireland. Many commentators have expressed the view that the violence over the parades issue has provided an outlet for the violence of paramilitary groups who are otherwise on ceasefire. == Casualties: brief summary == === Responsibility === Between 1969 and 2001, 3,523 people were killed as a result of the Troubles. Approximately 60% of the victims were killed by republicans, 30% by loyalists and 10% by the British, Irish and Northern Irish security forces. {| border="2" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="400px" align="center" !colspan="2" style="background:#ffdead;" align="center" |Responsibility for killing [http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton] |- !colspan="1" style="background:#ffdead;" align="left" |Responsible party !colspan="1" style="background:#ffdead;" align="right" |No. |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | Republican Paramilitary Groups || align="right" | 2055 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | Loyalist Paramilitary Groups || align="right" | 1020 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | Security Forces || align="right" | 368 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | Persons unknown || align="right" | 80 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | '''Total''' || align="right" | '''3523''' |- |} <br clear=all> === Status === Most of those killed were civilians or members of the security forces, with smaller groups of victims identified with republican and loyalist paramilitary groups. It is often disputed whether some civilians were members of paramilitary organisations due to their secretive nature. Several PIRA paramilitaries were claimed to be civilians by [[CAIN]] but are now claimed by the IRA as their members, Padraig O'Seanachain (Patrick Shanaghan) for example.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/bloodysunday/article/0,,718401,00.html Bloody Sunday victim did volunteer for us, says IRA] The Guardian [[19 May]] [[2002]]</ref> At least three [[Ulster Volunteer Force]] (UVF) members killed were also [[Ulster Defence Regiment]] (UDR) soldiers.<ref>See the following quotes of 1975's chapter of Sutton chronology:[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1975.html] *[[27 July]] [[1975]] William Hanna (46) Protestant Status: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) Also off duty Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) member. Shot outside his home, Houston Park, Mourneview, Lurgan, County Armagh. *[[31 July]] [[1975]] Harris Boyle (22) Protestant Status: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) Also Ulster Defence Regiment member. Killed in premature explosion while planting bomb on minibus belonging to Miami showband, Buskhill, near Newry, County Down. *[[31 July]] [[1975]] Wesley Somerville (34) Protestant Status: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), Killed by: Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) Also Ulster Defence Regiment member. Killed in premature explosion while planting bomb on minibus belonging to Miami showband, Buskhill, near Newry, County Down. </ref> At least one civilian victim was an off-duty member of the [[Territorial Army|TA]].<ref>Robert Dunseath, killed in the Teebane massacre was a member of the [[Royal Irish Rangers]]: [http://www.palacebarracksmemorialgarden.org/Royal%20Irish%20Rangers%20(V).htm#prof www.palacebarracksmemorialgarden.org]</ref> {| border="2" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="400px" align="center" !colspan="2" style="background:#ffdead;" align="center" |Deaths by status of victim [http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/tables/Status.html] |- !colspan="1" style="background:#ffdead;" align="left" |Status !colspan="1" style="background:#ffdead;" align="right" |No. |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | Civilian || align="right" | 1855 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | Members of security forces (and reserves) || align="right" | 1123 |- !colspan="2" style="background:#efefef;" align="center" |of whom: |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | [[British Army]] (excluding Northern Ireland regiments) || align="right" | 499 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] || align="right" | 301 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | [[Ulster Defence Regiment]] || align="right" | 197 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | [[Northern Ireland Prison Service]] || align="right" | 24 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | [[Garda Síochána]] ([[Republic of Ireland]] police) || align="right" | 9 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | [[The Royal Irish Regiment (27th (Inniskilling) 83rd and 87th and Ulster Defence Regiment)|Royal Irish Regiment]] || align="right" | 7 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | [[Territorial Army]] || align="right" | 7 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | [[Policing in the United Kingdom|English police forces]] || align="right" | 6 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | [[Royal Air Force]] || align="right" | 4 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | [[Royal Navy]] || align="right" | 2 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | [[Irish Army]] || align="right" | 1 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | Members of Republican Paramilitary Groups || align="right" | 394 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | Members of Loyalist Paramilitary Groups || align="right" | 151 |- |} === Location === Most killings took place within Northern Ireland, especially Belfast, although surrounding counties, [[Dublin]] and large English cities (such as [[London]] and [[Birmingham]]) were affected, albeit to a lesser degree than in Northern Ireland itself. Occasionally, violence also took place in western Europe, especially against the [[British Army]] in [[Germany]]. {| border="2" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="400px" align="center" !colspan="2" style="background:#ffdead;" align="left" |Geographic distribution of deaths in Northern Ireland conflict[http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton] |- !colspan="1" style="background:#ffdead;" align="center" |Location !colspan="1" style="background:#ffdead;" align="right" |No. |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | [[County Antrim]] || align="right" | 207 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | [[County Armagh]] || align="right" | 276 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | [[East Belfast]] || align="right" | 128 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | [[Belfast|North Belfast]] || align="right" | 576 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | [[County Tyrone]] || align="right" | 339 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | [[West Belfast]] || align="right" | 623 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | [[County Down]] || align="right" | 243 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | [[County Fermanagh]] || align="right" | 112 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | [[Derry|Derry City]] || align="right" | 227 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | [[County Londonderry]] || align="right" | 123 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | [[Republic of Ireland]] || align="right" | 113 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | [[England]] || align="right" | 125 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | Continental Europe || align="right" | 18 |} === Chronological listing === {| border="2" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="200px" align="center" !colspan="2" style="background:#ffdead;" align="center" |Deaths related to Northern Ireland conflict (1969-2006). Number of deaths listed as "conflict-related (uncertain if conflict-related)" ([http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton]). |- !colspan="1" style="background:#ffdead;" align="center" |Year !colspan="1" style="background:#ffdead;" align="right" |No. |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 2006 || align="right" | 3 (5) |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 2005 || align="right" | 5 (7) |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 2004 || align="right" | 2 (3) |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 2003 || align="right" | 10 (3) |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 2002 || align="right" | 11 (5) |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 2001 || align="right" | 16 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 2000 || align="right" | 19 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1999 || align="right" | 8 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1998 || align="right" | 55 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1997 || align="right" | 21 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1996 || align="right" | 18 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1995 || align="right" | 9 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1994 || align="right" | 64 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1993 || align="right" | 88 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1992 || align="right" | 89 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1991 || align="right" | 96 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1990 || align="right" | 81 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1989 || align="right" | 75 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1988 || align="right" | 104 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1987 || align="right" | 98 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1986 || align="right" | 61 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1985 || align="right" | 57 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1984 || align="right" | 69 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1983 || align="right" | 85 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1982 || align="right" | 110 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1981 || align="right" | 113 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1980 || align="right" | 80 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1979 || align="right" | 121 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1978 || align="right" | 81 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1977 || align="right" | 111 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1976 || align="right" | 295 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1975 || align="right" | 260 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1974 || align="right" | 294 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1973 || align="right" | 253 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1972 || align="right" | 479 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1971 || align="right" | 171 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1970 || align="right" | 28 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="center" | 1969 || align="right" | 16 |} === Additional statistics === {| border="2" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="400px" align="center" !colspan="2" style="background:#ffdead;" align="center" |Additional estimated statistics on the conflict{{Fact|date=February 2007}} |- !colspan="1" style="background:#ffdead;" align="center" |Incident !colspan="1" style="background:#ffdead;" align="right" |No. |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | Injury || align="right" | 47,000 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | Shooting || align="right" | 37,000 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | Armed robbery || align="right" | 22,500 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | Persons imprisoned for paramilitary offences || align="right" | 19,600 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | Bombing and attempted bombing || align="right" | 16,200 |- | style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | Arson || align="right" | 2,200 |} == Timeline == {{main|Chronology of the Northern Ireland Troubles}} == Directory == {{main|Directory of the Northern Ireland Troubles}} ==See also== * [[Segregation in Northern Ireland]] * [[Northern Irish murals]] * [[List of topics related to Northern Ireland]] * [[CAIN]] == Responses to the Troubles in popular culture == === Films about or related to the Troubles === * ''[[A Prayer for the Dying]]'' (1987) * ''[[An Everlasting Piece]]'' (2000) * ''[[Angel (1982 film)|Angel]]'' (1982) * ''[[Bloody Sunday (film)|Bloody Sunday]]'' (2002) * ''[[Breakfast on Pluto (film)|Breakfast on Pluto]]'' (2005) * ''[[Cal (film)|Cal]]'' (1984) * ''[[Children in the Crossfire]]'' (1984) * ''[[Elephant (Alan Clarke film)]]'' (1989) * ''[[The Long Good Friday]]'' (1980) * ''[[H3 (film)|H3]]'' (2001) * ''[[Harry's Game]]'' (1982) * ''[[Hidden Agenda]]'' (1990) * ''[[Hunger (2008 film)|Hunger]]'' (2008) * ''[[In the Name of the Father (film)|In the Name of the Father]]'' (1993) * ''[[Johnny Was]]'' (2006) * ''[[Mickybo and Me]]'' (2004) * ''[[My Brother's War]]'' (1998) * ''[[Nothing Personal]]'' (1997) * ''[[Omagh (film)|Omagh]]'' (2004) * ''[[Omagh the Legacy: Claire and Stephen's Story]]'' (1999) * ''[[Patriot Games (film)|Patriot Games]]'' (1992) * ''[[Patriots (film)|Patriots]]'' (1998) * ''[[Resurrection Man (film)|Resurrection Man]]'' (1997) * ''[[Ronin (film)|Ronin]]'' (1998) * ''[[Some Mothers Son]]'' (1996) * ''[[Sunday (TV programme)|Sunday]]'' (2002) * ''[[The Boxer (film)|The Boxer]]'' (1997) * ''[[The Crying Game]]'' (1992) * ''[[The Devil's Own]]'' (1997) * ''[[The General (1998 film)|The General]]'' (1998) * ''[[The Informant (film)|The Informant]]'' (1997) * ''[[The Railway Station Man]]'' (1993) * ''[[Titanic Town (film)|Titanic Town]]'' (1998) ===Novels about or related to the Troubles=== * ''Breakfast on Pluto'' by [[Patrick McCabe]] (1998) * ''Eureka Street'' by [[Robert McLiam Wilson]] (1996) * ''No Bones'' by [[Anna Burns]] (2001) * ''Ourselves Alone'' by Anne Devlin (1985) * ''The Bombmaker'' by [[Stephen Leather]] (1999) * [[Joan Lingard]]'s children's series: ''The Twelfth Day of July'', ''Across the Barricades'' (1973), ''Into Exile'', ''A Proper Place'', and ''Hostage to Fortune'' * ''Belfast Diaries: War as a Way of Life'' by John Conroy (1995) * ''Stand by Stand by: Chris Ryan * ''Northern Protestants- an unsettled people. by: Susan McKay === Songs about or related to the Troubles === * "Alternative Ulster" by [[Stiff Little Fingers]] * "Armagh" by [[Au Pairs (band)|Au Pairs]] * "Banana Republic" by [[The Boomtown Rats]] * "Belfast" by [[Boney M]] * "[http://www.eltonography.com/songs/belfast.html Belfast]" by [[Elton John]] * "Belfast Child" by [[Simple Minds]] * "Belfast (Penguins and Cats)" by [[Katie Melua]] * "Belfast to Boston (God's Rifle)" by [[James Taylor]] * "Broken Land" by [[The Adventures]] * "Crimson Days" by [[Silent Running]] * "Each Dollar a Bullet" and others by [[Stiff Little Fingers]] * "Ether" by [[Gang of Four (band)|Gang Of Four]] * "Forgotten Sons" by [[Marillion]] * "[[Give Ireland Back to the Irish]]" by [[Paul McCartney]] * "God Kicks", "Potato Junkie" and "Church of Noise" by [[Therapy?]] * "Hang the IRA" by [[Skullhead]] * "[[Holy Wars... The Punishment Due]]" by [[Megadeth]] * "[[The House of Orange (song)|The House of Orange]]" by [[Stan Rogers]] on ''[[From Fresh Water]]'' * "[[Invisible Sun]]" by [[The Police]] * "It's Going To Happen" by [[The Undertones]] * "It's Only Tuesday" by [[Eric Bogle]] * "Last Night Another Soldier", "Brighton Bomb" and "Soldier" by [[The Angelic Upstarts]] * "Letter from Louise" by [[The Saw Doctors]] * " [[Little Armalite|My Little ArmaLite]]" by Unknown * "[[Oliver's Army]]" by [[Elvis Costello]] * "Pie Jesu" by [[Andrew Lloyd Weber]] * "Shankill Butchers" by [[Decemberists]] * "Smash the IRA" by [[Skrewdriver]] * "Soldier" by [[Harvey Andrews]] * "[[Some Time in New York City|Sunday Bloody Sunday]]" and ''The Luck of the Irish'' by [[John Lennon]] and [[Yoko Ono]] * "[[Streets of Sorrow/Birmingham Six]]" and "Flogging Molly" by [[The Pogues]] * "[[Sunday Bloody Sunday (song)|Sunday Bloody Sunday]]", "[[Please (U2 song)|Please]]", "[[Peace on Earth (U2 song)|Peace on Earth]]" and "North and South of The River" by [[U2]] * "[[Sunrise]]" by [[The Divine Comedy]] * "The Greening of Belfast" by [[Michael Card]] * "The Island" by [[Paul Brady]] * "The Men Behind the Wire" by [[Barleycorn]] * "The More I See (The Less I Believe)" by [[Fun Boy Three]] * "[[There Were Roses]]" by Tommy Sands * "The Town I Loved So Well" by [[Phil Coulter]] * "The Troubles" by [[The Roches]] * "The Troubles" by [[XTC]] * "Theme from Harry's Game" by [[Clannad]] * "This Is a Rebel Song" by [[Sinéad O'Connor]] * "Through the barricades" by [[Spandau Ballet]]<ref>[http://arts.guardian.co.uk/fridayreview/story/0,12102,880592,00.html Belfast: the war against cliché | | guardian.co.uk Arts<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>http://hometown. aol. co.uk/KHA200/Irish_History_Song.pdf</ref> * "Ulster" by [[Sham 69]] * "[[Zombie (song)|Zombie]]" by [[The Cranberries]] === Poems about or related to the Troubles === * ''[[Ceasefire]]'', by [[Michael Longley]] * ''[http://mysongbook.de/msb/songs/b/bofclaud.html Ballad of Claudy]'', by [[James Simmons (poet)|James Simmons]] * ''[[Belfast Confetti]]'' by [[Ciaran Carson]] * ''Casualty'' by [[Seamus Heaney]] * ''Punishment'' by [[Seamus Heaney]] ==Notes== {{reflist|2}} ==Bibliography== * David McKittrick, Seamus Kelters, Brian Feeney and Chris Thornton (1999), ''Lost Lives: The stories of the men, women and children who died as a result of the Northern Ireland troubles'', Mainstream Publishing Company. ISBN 1-84018-227-X. * Greg Harkin and [[Martin Ingram]] (2004), ''[[Stakeknife]]: Britain's secret agents in Ireland'', O'Brien Press * Richard English (2003), ''Armed Struggle: The History of the IRA'', Oxford University Press, * Kevin Myers (2006), ''Watching the Door A Memoir 1971-1978'', Lilliput Press, Dublin. * Tim Pat Coogan, 'Ireland in the Twentieth Century', Palgrave Macmillan ([[February 16]], [[2006]]), ISBN 1-4039-6842-X * Peter Taylor, ''Behind the Mask: The IRA and Sinn Féin'', TV books, Inc., New York, 1997, ISBN 1-57500-061-X * Kevin Toolis, ' ' Rebel Hearts: Journeys Within the IRA's Soul, Picador 2000, ISNB 978-0330346481 ==External links== * [http://www.ark.ac.uk/elections NI Elections Archive] * [http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/ NI Conflict Archive on the Internet] * [http://www.guardian.co.uk/Northern_Ireland Guardian Special Report on Northern Ireland] * [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/default.stm BBC Northern Ireland News] * [http://www.irelandstory.com Ireland Story (source of images above)] * [[Belfast Exposed]] [http://www.belfastexposed.com/archive/archive.php Image Archive.] * [http://encarta.msn.com/media_461546445/Belfast_Riots.html MSN Encarta video of 1970s riot.] * [[Linen Hall Library]] [http://www.linenhall.com/northernIrelandPoliticalCollection.asp Northern Ireland Political Collection] {{The Troubles|state=collapsed}} [[Category:The Troubles in Northern Ireland| ]] [[Category:History of Belfast]] [[Category:Wars involving Ireland]] [[Category:Guerrilla wars]] [[Category:Internments]] [[Category:Politics of Belfast]] [[cs:The Troubles]] [[da:Konflikten i Nordirland]] [[de:Nordirlandkonflikt]] [[es:Conflicto de Irlanda del Norte]] [[eu:Ipar Irlandako gatazka]] [[fr:Conflit nord-irlandais]] [[ga:Na Trioblóidí]] [[it:Conflitto nordirlandese]] [[he:הצרות]] [[nl:The troubles]] [[ja:北アイルランド問題]] [[no:Konflikten i Nord-Irland 1968–1997]] [[fi:The Troubles]] [[sv:Konflikten i Nordirland]] [[vi:Xung đột vũ trang tại Bắc Ireland]] [[zh:北爱尔兰问题]]