Northern Ireland -- Flashcards
(131 cards)
1
Q
Define the Troubles
A
Describes the cycle of violence from 1960s-1990s whose main feature was terrorist conflict between the nationalists and unionists. Mainstream groups condemned violence but it was carried out by extremist groups
2
Q
What was the Easter Rising?
A
1916 when Republican supporters attacked British troops
3
Q
When was the Anglo-Irish war?
A
1919-1921
4
Q
What was the Anglo-Irish war also known as?
A
the Irish war of independence
5
Q
What did the 1921 treaty lead to?
A
A partition between independent southern Ireland and six countries in Ulster which became Northern Ireland
6
Q
Who was Stormont dominated by?
A
It was a belfast parliament and socio-economic system was dominated by protestants
7
Q
What was the religious divide in Ireland?
A
As a whole was predominantly Catholic but the majority in Northern Ireland was Protestant
8
Q
What had the protestants done by the 1960s and what did the Catholics believe?
A
They had monopolised the best housing, schools and jobs.
Catholics believed there was political corruption as Protestant councillors and officials were operating a system of favouritism and patronage to ensure only protestants held influential positions and that the constituency boundaries had deliberately been adjusted to prevent Catholics from being elected
9
Q
What accusations were there agains the Royal Ulster Constabulary?
A
They were biased against the Catholics
10
Q
Who were the Royal Ulster Constabulary?
A
The Northern Irish police force
11
Q
What was the Northern Ireland Situation 1951-64?
A
It was not a threat to the conservative governments
12
Q
When did Northern Ireland become more of an issue?
A
When the civil rights movement began in 1964
13
Q
Why did the Civil rights movement 1964 begin?
A
As Cathoolics began to challenge the situation in Northern Ireland
14
Q
Who were the IRA?
A
Irish Republic Army
15
Q
Why was there increased tensions in 1964?
A
Unionists feared the IRA as they were a new violent campaign
16
Q
What did the Unionists do in retalliation of the setting up of the IRA?
A
They set up parliamentary organisations to defemd the union of Great Britian and Northern Ireland
17
Q
When was NICRA founded?
A
1967
18
Q
What does NICRA stand for?
A
Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association
19
Q
What was NICRA?
A
An organisation founded mostly by students which condemned the political corruption and called for a fair distribution of resources across the whole population
20
Q
What happened in October 1968?
A
Civil rights marches held by Catholic nationalists to protest against discrimination. They were attacked by Protestant loyalists and Catholics failed to protect them - viewed as the start of the troubles
21
Q
When was the battle of bogside?
A
1969
22
Q
What was the battle of bogside?
A
- Loyalist Apprentice boys did their annual march in derry and were attacked by Catholic nationalists
- RUC tried to storm the bogside but were held back by two days of rioting
- RUC officers were seen on TV beating Catholics
- This led to mass rioting across the country
23
Q
When was the battle of bogside?
A
1969
24
Q
What was bogside?
A
A Catholic area in Derry
25
Who emerged as the leader of anti-Catholic unionism after the battle of bogside?
Reverend Ian Paisley
26
When did the first deaths occur due to the troubles?
Summer 1969
27
What did Callaghan's foreign secretary do in August 1969?
Sent the British army to Northern Ireland
28
What happened when British troops were sent to Northern Ireland in August 1969?
- initially welcomed by the Catholics as bogside was encircled by protectuve barbed wire
- IRA which had been dormant reorganised and decided to lead the struggle
- Targeted British troops as a representative of a hated Imperialist government as believed it was the root of all the problems
29
What did Heath do in 1971?
Supported Brian Faulkner in his policies of night-time curfews and internment
30
Who was Brian Faulkner?
Ulster Unionist party leader
31
What was internment?
The arresting of suspected trouble makers and holding them without trial
32
What was believed internment would lead to?
Reduced tensions as the violent men would be removed from the community
33
What were the consequences of internment?
- 1971-75: 95% of those interned were Catholic
- claimed to be 'among the best recruiting tools the IRA ever had'
- increased tension
- increased Catholic belief in their persecution
- Strained British government relations with Irish government
- Destroyed cross party understanding on Northern Ireland as many Labour MPs opposed it and called for withdrawal of British troops
34
When was Bloody Sunday?
30th January 1972
35
What was Bloody Sunday?
NICRA organised a prohibited march which ended with British soldiers firing live ammunition
36
How many people were shot during bloody sunday?
- 26 unarmed were shot
- 13 died
37
When was the British Embassy in Dublin burnt down?
1972
38
Why was the British Embassy in Dublin burnt down?
- burned down after Bloody Sunday
- was the bloodiest year of the troubles
39
What were the consequences of 1972?
- 1382 explosions
- 10628 shooting incidents
- 480 people were killed
40
What happened in March 1972?
Heath suspended Stormont parliament and bought in direct rule from Westminister. Willie Whitelaw was appointed Secretary of State and Heath nw tried to negotiate with all the main political parties to find a solution
41
What investigated Bloody sunday?
The widgery report
42
When was the Widgery Report?
May 1972
43
What did the Widgery report conclude?
'the shots that had been fired at the soldiers before they started the firing that led to casualties'
44
What did Republicans see the Widgery report as?
An attempt to whitewash what had happened and condone the British Army's actions
45
When was the Sunningdale Agreement?
1973
46
Who was the Sunningdale Agreement between?
- Heath and Whitelaw
- SDLP
- Alliance
- UUP patries
- Dublin government
47
What were the main proposals of the Sunningdale agreement?
- a power-sharing executive of nationalist and unionists guaranteeing representation for both sides
- A Northern Ireland assembly elected under proportional representation
- A council of Ireland that would get some input from Republic of Ireland
48
What were the consequences of the Sunningdale Agreement?
- violence continued with frequent IRA attacks on the police and Army
- On both sides extremists saw the agreement as a sell-out
- UUP voted to pull out of the agreement in January in 1974
- In February 1974 general election the parties opposing Sunningdale only put up one candidate between them in each constituency ensuring solid anti-sunningdale vote - pro-sunningdale votes split between parties therefore 11/12 constituencies therefore elected an anti-sunningdale MP
49
When were the protest against Sunningdale in NI?
May 1974
50
When did power-sharing collapse?
28th may
51
What did the collapse of power sharing cause?
Wilson was forced to impose direct rule
52
How long were the protests in NI against Sunningdale?
15 days
53
When was the Northern Ireland Act?
1974
54
What was the Northern Ireland act?
Created a constitutional convention - a way of re-introducing the power sharing principle
55
What was the consequence of the collapse of power sharing?
Wilson was forced to impose direct rule
56
When was the Prevention of Terrorism act?
Late 1974
57
What was the Prevention of Terrorism act passed in response to?
Guildford and Birmingham pub bombings
58
What did the Prevention of Terrorism Act do?
Gave the police and authorities extended powers of search and arrest
59
When were the first constitutional convention elections?
July 1975
60
What was the turnout of the first constitutional convention elections?
66%
61
What did the turnout of the first constitutional convention elections suggest?
People were willing to follow a peaceful path
62
When was the first constitutional convention dissolved and who by?
The British government in 1976
63
what happened with the prisoners from schemes such as internment in 1976?
The prisoners had their 'special category status' removed meaning they were treated like ordinary criminals not political prisoners
64
What did the removal of 'special category status' lead to?
- Blanket protests
- Dirty protests
65
What were the Blanket protests?
Where prisoners refused to wear their prison uniform
66
What were the dirty protests?
When prisoners refused to leave their cells and smeared excrement up the walls
67
How many prisoners were taking part in the protests by 1979?
250 prisoners which led to the growing calls to return their political prisoner status
68
When did the dirty protests begin?
1978
69
When was Airey Neave killed?
March 1979 - 2 months before Thatcher became PM
70
Who was Airey Neave?
Conservative spokesman on Northern ireland
71
How was Airey Neave killed?
The IRA planted a car bomb in the house of commons car park
72
When was Earl Mountbatten killed?
August 1979
73
Who was Earl Mountbatten?
King Charles' uncle
74
Who else was killed along with Earl Mountbatten?
Earl Mountbatten's daughter, grandaughter and 2 friends
75
How was Earl Mountbatten killed?
The IRA smuggled a bomb onto his holiday yacht
76
What happened at the same time of the death of Earl Mountbatten?
2 remote-controlled bombs were detonated at Warrenpoint in Northern Ireland killin 18 british soldiers
77
Why was the regiment at Warrenpoint targeted?
Because they were involved in Bloody Sunday
78
What was Thatcher's approach to Northern Ireland?
- tough - she had strong unionist sympathies and was not prepared to give into terrorism
- she believed in negotiation and co-operation when possible
79
When did the hunger strikes begin?
1981
80
Who was Bobby Sanders?
A member of the Provisional IRA and convicted bomber who led the hunger strikes
81
Why did the hunger strikes begin?
In continuation in the hope to have special category status restored
82
Describe Bobby Sanders involvement in the hunger strikes
- Led the protest
- died after 66 days
- was elected an MP whilst in prison
83
What were the consequences of the hunger strikes?
- Thatcher claimed that the strikes were a defeat for the IRA - did not achieve the reclaiming of 'special category status'
- Thatcher became a hate figure whilst Sands was a hero when it came to the Republicans
- Electoral success of Sands and increased votes for Sinn Fein helped republicans see that political action was important
84
When was Thatcher targeted by the IRA?
October 1984
85
Where was Thatcher targeted by the IRA?
At the Grand Hotel in Brighton during the conservative party conference
86
What were the consequences of Thatcher being targeted by the IRA?
- 5 people were killed by Thatcher was not harmed
- the conference continued and Thatcher gave a speech that night insisting that democracy would not bow to terrorism
87
When was the Anglo-Irish Agreement signed?
1985
88
When was the Anglo-Irish Agreement signed?
1985
89
Who was the Anglo-Irish Agreement signed by?
Thatcher and Garret Fitzgerald, the Irish premier
90
Where was the Anglo-Irish Agreement signed?
Hillsborough
91
What were the 3 main provisions of the Anglo-Irish Agreement?
- Republic recognised Northern Ireland as being constitutionally part of the UK
- British government gave assurances that it supported full civil rights for all Northern Ireland citizens
- The 2 governments committed themselves to close co-operation on cross-border security matters
92
What were the consequences of the Anglo-Irish Agreement?
- viewed now as a significant advancement towards a peace agreement
- at the time reactions were violent
- loyalists and unionists were furious with that Irish Government had a say in Northern Ireland and led to 200,000 people attended protest rally in Belfast
- Ulster Resistance was set-up leading to a series of atrocities on both sides
- Republicans rejected the agreement because it confirmed Northern Ireland's continuation as part of the UK - pledged to continue the 'armed struggle'
93
Who was Ulster Resistance?
A unionist parliamentary organisation
94
When was Ulster Resistance set-up?
1986
95
What happened in November 1987?
IRA bomb exploded at a Rememberance Day Service in Enniskilled, killing 11 people and maiming 60
96
When was the Central Community Relations Unit established?
1987
97
What was the Central Community Relations Unit?
To foster greater understanding and contact between Catholics and Protestants
98
When was 'Death on the Rock'?
March 1988
99
Where was 'Death on the Rock'?
Gibraltar
100
What was 'Death on the Rock'?
The SAS shot and killed 3 IRA members before they had time to detonate a car bomb that was meant to harm british troops
101
What happened at the funerals of the victims from 'Death on the Rock'?
- 5000 attendees were fired on
- By Michael Stone - loyalist gunman
- 3 died and 50 died
102
What happened 3 days after the funerals of the victims from 'Death on the Rock'?
2 off-duty British soldiers were dragged from their car and killed after they drove into an area where an IRA paraed was being held
103
What did Thatcher do in October 1988?
- Imposed a broadcasting ban on the IRA
- aimed to deny them the 'oxygen of publicity'
- blanked out voices of IRA terrorists but faces could still be seen
- pointless as could still get their message across
104
When was the Fair Employment Act?
1989
105
What did the Fair Employment Act do?
Required employers who had more than 25 workers on their books not to discriminate when allocating jobs and promotions
106
What did the IRA bomb in July 1989?
The London Stock Exchange
107
What did the Northern Ireland Community Relations Council do in 1990?
Extended support and resources granted to the community relations unit
108
What happened in Major's time in prime minister when it came to the troubles?
The attacks were more violent
109
What happened in february 1991?
Three mortar shells were fired at 10 downing street by the IRA
110
What happened in January 1992?
There was an IRA landmine attack on protestant civillians working at a British Army base at Teebane crossroads
111
What happened in february 1992?
The ulster defence association (a loyalist group) retaliated to the landmine attack on protestants by shooting 5 Catholics in a betting shop
112
What happened at the Baltic Exchange, London April 1992?
There was a bombing that killed 3 people
113
When was the Warrington bomb?
March 1993
114
What was the Warrington bomb?
The IRA planted a bomb that killed 2 children and injured 50 people
115
What happened with the Bishopsgate lorry bomb?
- April 1993
- In city of London
- 1 killed and 40 injured
- a billion pounds worth of damage
- was detonated by the provisional IRA
116
What did the government begin to receive from 1993?
Secret messages hinting that Sinn Fein was ready to discuss a peace agreement
117
What were the key features of the downing street declaration?
- British government announced its sole concern was to listen to the democratically expressed wishes of the people in Northern Ireland
- Accepted that if the people wanted to bring about a united Ireland then they could
- Reynolds said that the Irish Republic accepted the right of the majoirty in Northern Ireland to decide its future and if a democratic settlement could be agreed then the South would drop its claim to Northern Ireland
118
When was the Downing Street Declaration?
1993
119
When did the IRA declare a ceasefire?
August 1994
120
What happened in october 1994?
Loyalist parliamentary groups announced their own ceasefire having been assured by Major that the British Government had no intention of forcing the North to reunite with the South
121
Why was the ceasefire fragile?
Neither side trusted the other to stick to it
122
Why was it difficult to reach a final political agreement after the ceasefires?
There was a lack of trust from both sides
123
What happened in the end with the political agreement after the ceasefire?
The IRA got impatient and returned to violence:
February 1996 - London Docklands bombings killed 2 people and injured more than 100
June 1996 - Manchester city centre bomb led to 212 injured but 0 injured
124
What principles were set out by Senator George Mitchell?
- total disamament of all paramilitary organisations and their renunciation of force
- agreement by all parties to accept as binding any agreement reached in an all-party negotiation
125
What did peace need to be seen as by both sides?
A politically profitable as violence
126
What were the key elements of the Good Friday Agreement?
- Both Uk and Irish Republic would give up their claim to Northern Ireland and let the Northern Irish people decide on who they wanted to be part of
- a devolved assembly with a power-sharing executive would be set up
- links between Ireland and Northern ireland and Britian and Ireland would be strengthened
- parties would use influence to ensure the decommissioning of arms
- independent commission to oversee reform of policing
- Early release of prisoners where parliamentary organisation were committed to peace
127
When was the Good Friday referendum?
22nd May 1998
128
What was the result of the Good Friday referendum?
- Northern Ireland - 71% of people voted for the agreement
- Ireland - 94% people voted yes
129
When was the Omagh bombing?
August 1998
130
What was the Omagh bombing?
- 30 dead, 200 injured
- deadliest single incident of the troubles
- Carried out by the real/continuity IRA
131
Who were the real/continuity IRA?
A splinter group of the provisional iRA who opposed the ceasefire and the good friday agreement
