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History of Northern Ireland


History of Northern Ireland

The population of Northern Ireland is largely made up of two groups. Although there had always been population movements between the west of Scotland and the north-east of Ireland, during the 16th and 17th centuries there was an organised settlement of people from Scotland known as the Ulster Plantation.  Most came to work on new plantations which had been established in the area. The indigenous Irish population was predominantly Roman Catholic (at a time when this was the only Western Christian religion), whilst Scottish settlers after the Reformation were predominantly Protestant. The religious difference turned into a political split: most Protestants are Unionists or (more extreme) Loyalists, supporting continued union with Great Britain, while most Catholics are Nationalists or (more extreme) Republicans.  Nationalists and Republicans both want a united Ireland, but Nationalists (politically affiliated with SDLP political party) use peaceful political means; whereas the Republican movement (politically affiliated with Sinn Fein political party) sought violence as a means to a united Ireland up until 2004.  Although segregation always existed, the situation reached boiling point in 1969 when the campaign for Civil Rights turned violent when protesters were attacked by Loyalist supporters. That was the start of the period known euphamistically as "The Troubles." In 1972, British Forces fired live rounds rather than plastic bullets at unarmed peaceful civilian protesters. 14 were laid to rest, on a day that has become known worldwide as "Bloody Sunday". The British Government gave reparations to the families of the victims. This was a major turning point in the support for the Republican movement as the civilian population felt they had nowhere left to turn.  This also effectively re-polarised segregation along religious lines. Previously inactive paramilitary groups became re-established in the province, which sat precariously on the brink of civil war for many years. In 1998, after years of sporadic negotiations between the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and the paramilitary groups and local political parties, The Agreement was signed, signalling the end of violence in the province. This is often referred to as the Belfast Agreement or the Good Friday Agreement after the place or day on which it was signed. Although there was an almost immediate drop in the level of terrorist acts and rioting, it took several years for stability to settle on the region and for agreement to be reached concerning the devolved government.

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Northern Ireland Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.

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