-
(#6) March 30, 1972: The Parliament Of Northern Ireland Is Suspended So That The UK Can Directly Run The Government
It soon became clear sending British troops to Northern Ireland was doing little to stabilize the country. Consequently, the London-based government of the United Kingdom sought greater control over Northern Irish affairs, especially as tensions mounted with Ireland in the wake of Bloody Sunday.
In March 1972, Northern Ireland's parliament - which had existed since 1921 - was dissolved, and London assumed direct governance over Northern Ireland.
-
(#14) April 10, 1998: The Good Friday Agreement Supposedly Brings An End To The Troubles
In response to pressure from the republican political party Sinn Féin, the IRA announced a ceasefire in 1997, opening a path for peace talks. Representatives from Northern Ireland, Ireland, and the United Kingdom signed off on the Good Friday Agreement the next year. In it, the competing political parties in Northern Ireland agreed to share power, thus reducing sectarian tension and strife. Political and paramilitary prisoners were also released.
Though some criticized the agreement, it went to a public referendum and proved popular in both Ireland and Northern Ireland.
-
(#9) August 27, 1979: Members Of The IRA Slay The Queen's Cousin
The IRA's campaign of tactics wasn't limited to public places - they also went after high-ranking individuals. Lord Louis Mountbatten - the queen's second cousin - was vacationing with his family in Ireland in August 1979. They decided to go fishing, and shortly after starting the boat, an incendiary device went off. Lord Mountbatten, his teenaged grandson, and two others were slain as a result.
Members of the IRA had planted the device on Mountbatten's boat and activated it remotely.
-
(#10) May 5, 1981: Republican Prisoner Bobby Sands Passes After Going On A 66-Day Hunger Strike
Belfast-born Bobby Sands joined the IRA as a teenager and was sentenced to a 14-year prison term in 1976. Five years later in 1981, Sands led nine others on a strike in which they refused to eat in protest of not being given the status of political prisoners. In Sands's view, their struggle was undeniably political, and he believed the IRA was locked in a "perennial war fought between Irish people and an alien, oppressive regime that refuses to withdraw from our land."
United Kingdom Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher did not budge in her refusal to confer political status on the IRA prisoners - in her eyes, they were merely delinquents. She said, "It is not political, it is crime." Her unyielding attitude sparked international outrage and condemnation.
The hunger strike stretched on for weeks. Sands's weight fell to 95 pounds, and after 66 days he perished on May 5, 1981.
-
(#5) January 30, 1972: The British Army Slays 13 Civil Rights Protestors On 'Bloody Sunday'
In an attempt to quiet protestors, the government banned a Derry march intended to oppose the internment of suspected Irish nationalists. But the ban didn't stop demonstrators - the rally went ahead as scheduled on January 30.
British Army troops met the protestors en route, and things quickly spiraled out of control. Soldiers shot into the crowd and slew 13 people, including several teenagers. For Catholics and nationalists, "Bloody Sunday" became a pointed example of a state act of aggression against them.
-
(#13) December 15, 1993: Downing Street Declaration Affirms The UK's Willingness To Let Go Of Northern Ireland
The 1990s marked a turning point for Northern Ireland. On December 15, 1993, British Prime Minister John Major and Irish Prime Minister Taoiseach Albert Reynolds discussed the best way to bring about peace and stability in Northern Ireland, and they finalized the Downing Street Declaration.
Though the declaration did not change the status of Northern Ireland or its membership in the United Kingdom, it did proclaim the UK's willingness to let Northern Ireland go if a majority of the Northern Irish wished it. In other words, the United Kingdom agreed to allow the people of Northern Ireland to determine whether or not they wanted to stay in the UK or unite with the Republic of Ireland.
New Random Displays Display All By Ranking
About This Tool
Catholicism and Protestantism have experienced a century of confrontation in Northern Ireland. 60% of Northern Ireland’s population are descendants of British immigrants who believe in Protestant Christianity, and the remaining 40% are descendants of indigenous people on the island of Ireland who believe in Catholicism. For a long time, they lived separately and did not communicate with each other.
Political problems have led to serious sectarian conflicts in the history of Northern Ireland. Protestant descendants in Northern Ireland for hundreds of years have vowed to resist any political control of the Catholic Republic of Ireland. The random tool introduced 16 important times of the feud between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.
Our data comes from Ranker, If you want to participate in the ranking of items displayed on this page, please click here.