Religion has been bound up with Northern Ireland's history, geography and politics for so many years that it is a difficult thing to unravel. In the north of Ireland in the 1600s many native Irish Catholic people were displaced from their land, which was seized and given to loyal English Protestant gentry. All this happened in the middle of much wider political turmoil and the religious upheaval of the Reformation. Thousands of ordinary English and Scottish Protestant families, were then sent to “settle” the land. Scottish Presbyterian, Anglican and later Methodist clergy came to serve the new planted communities.
For a long time, law, language and custom ensured that native Irish Catholics were treated less favourably. Unsurprisingly, this did not go unchallenged and for several hundred years, violent clashes continued to be a feature of the religious and political landscape. This was the case right up to (and beyond) 1921, when Ireland was divided into the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, a new and smaller constituent part of the United Kingdom.
The Irish troubles began in the late 1960s and was primarily political but with strong ethnic and sectarian dimensions. A key issue was the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. Unionists/loyalists, who are mostly Protestants and generally want Northern Ireland to remain within the United Kingdom. Irish nationalists/republicans, who are mostly Roman Catholics, generally want it to leave the United Kingdom and join a united Ireland.
On Sunday January 30, 1972, members of the British Parachute Regiment shot twenty-six civil rights protesters in Derry, Northern Ireland, killing at least thirteen people. This "Bloody Sunday" massacre fermented fresh grievances for the Irish against the English and Catholics against Protestants.
By 1976, the animosity between the two groups had deteriorated to such an extent that Northern Ireland was close to a civil war. Two Roman Catholic women, Mairead Corrigan-Maguire and Betty Williams, founded a movement for peace in Northern Ireland known as the 'Peace People'. The movement involved people from both the Catholic and Protestant communities who wished to see an end to the sectarian violence that was plaguing the province. As a result of their efforts the two women shared the Nobel Peace Prize.
In the 1980s there was a persistent rumor in the UK that McDonald's was funding the Irish Republican Army. This was ultimately traced back to a U.S. talk show where the company was praised for its generosity in funding Individual Retirement Accounts.
The decision of the General Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland in 1988 to allow members the freedom to call the pope "Antichrist", or not as they preferred, won approval from the Rev D.H. Porter. He laughably described it as "a victory for Christian charity".
During a visit to Northern Ireland, U.S. President Bill Clinton spoke on November 30, 1995 in favor of the "Northern Ireland peace process" to a huge rally at Belfast City Hall. He called terrorists "yesterday's men".
The Provisional Irish Republican Army resumed a ceasefire to end their 25-year campaign to end British rule in Northern Ireland on July 19, 1997.
The conflict is deemed by many to have ended with the Belfast "Good Friday" Agreement of 1998. UK prime minister Tony Blair said: "A day like today is not a day for soundbites, really. But I feel the hand of history upon our shoulders."
In 2005 the IRA declared a formal end to its campaign and had its weaponry decommissioned under international supervision.
In July 2007, the British Army formally ended Operation Banner, their mission in Northern Ireland which began 38 years earlier, in 1969.
On Sunday January 30, 1972, members of the British Parachute Regiment shot twenty-six civil rights protesters in Derry, Northern Ireland, killing at least thirteen people. This "Bloody Sunday" massacre fermented fresh grievances for the Irish against the English and Catholics against Protestants.
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| Murder victims of Bloody Sunday" by Vintagekits at English Wikipedia. |
By 1976, the animosity between the two groups had deteriorated to such an extent that Northern Ireland was close to a civil war. Two Roman Catholic women, Mairead Corrigan-Maguire and Betty Williams, founded a movement for peace in Northern Ireland known as the 'Peace People'. The movement involved people from both the Catholic and Protestant communities who wished to see an end to the sectarian violence that was plaguing the province. As a result of their efforts the two women shared the Nobel Peace Prize.
In the 1980s there was a persistent rumor in the UK that McDonald's was funding the Irish Republican Army. This was ultimately traced back to a U.S. talk show where the company was praised for its generosity in funding Individual Retirement Accounts.
The decision of the General Synod of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland in 1988 to allow members the freedom to call the pope "Antichrist", or not as they preferred, won approval from the Rev D.H. Porter. He laughably described it as "a victory for Christian charity".
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| IRA members showing an improvised mortar and an RPG (1992) |
The Provisional Irish Republican Army resumed a ceasefire to end their 25-year campaign to end British rule in Northern Ireland on July 19, 1997.
The conflict is deemed by many to have ended with the Belfast "Good Friday" Agreement of 1998. UK prime minister Tony Blair said: "A day like today is not a day for soundbites, really. But I feel the hand of history upon our shoulders."
In 2005 the IRA declared a formal end to its campaign and had its weaponry decommissioned under international supervision.
In July 2007, the British Army formally ended Operation Banner, their mission in Northern Ireland which began 38 years earlier, in 1969.
Source Christianity magazine April 2023 pgs 70-71Troubling Times by David Smyth
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