Tag: United Kingdom

Martin McGuinness passed away in January 2017 and his position within Sinn Féin in Northern Ireland was taken over by Michelle O’Neill. Attempts to resolve the crisis failed and in January new elections were announced for March 2, 2017. The new election became historic. The Unionist parties lost ground and for the first time lost their majority […]

Two murders in Belfast of former IRA members in May and August 2015 deepened the crisis, especially when police suspected that the latter of the murders had been carried out by former IRA members. Prime Minister Robinson considered trying to get Sinn Féin, temporarily expelled from the provincial assembly, for violating the peace agreement. At the same […]

Cameron apologizes for “Bloody Sunday” On June 15, 2010, Lord Saville presented a report on the so-called Bloody Sunday (see  The Troubles ) in Derry / Londonderry in 1972, when 14 Catholic protesters were killed by the British military in connection with a civil rights march. The incident contributed to the escalation of violence in Northern Ireland, and […]

Towards peace The 1998 peace agreement raised hopes that three decades of bloody conflict in Northern Ireland would be over. But the process dragged on, only in 2005 did the IRA lay down its arms, and two years later the arch-enemies, the Protestant politician Ian Paisley, from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Martin McGuinness from […]

IRA weapons The IRA had access to large quantities of weapons, some of which had been donated by Libya in the 1980s. The question of what would happen to the weapons created problems during most of the peace process. A majority of Protestant Unionists argued that the IRA must give up its weapons in order for real […]

Peace talks Many attempts were made to end the violence. The Sunningdale Agreement in 1973 gave the Republic of Ireland some influence in Northern Ireland. In early 1974, a coalition government was formed between a Protestant Unionist Party, the SDLP, the Alliance Party (which seeks to unite both Protestants and Catholics), but it fell after five months, largely due […]

The island is divided From the second half of the 19th century, more and more Irish people began to demand increased self-determination, and in 1916 they revolted. The so-called Easter uprising was quickly crushed, but the British were eventually forced to realize that they had to let go of Ireland. Protestants in the Northeast opposed any […]

The latest wave of violence in Northern Ireland flared up in the late 1960s, but the roots of the conflict are several hundred years old. Even if we talk about contradictions between Protestants and Catholics, it is not about religious contradictions, but about a conflict that has political, social and economic causes. A peace agreement was concluded […]