Ireland, Northern

Ireland, Northern Part of the United Kingdom, 26 districts occupying the ne of Ireland, traditionally divided into the six counties of Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone; the capital is Belfast. Other major towns include Derry, Coleraine, Ballymena, Lisburn, Newry, Armagh and Enniskillen. (For land and climate, and pre-1922 history, see Ireland.)

History

In 1920, the six counties of Ulster became the self-governing province of Northern Ireland with a separate, Protestant-dominated parliament. The British government affirmed the inclusion of Northern Ireland within the UK under the principle of self-determination. The Irish Free State (now Republic of Ireland) constitution upheld the unity of the island of Ireland. In 1955, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) began a campaign of violence for the creation of an independent, unified Ireland. In 1962, the Republic of Ireland condemned the use of terrorism. Northern Catholics felt aggrieved at discrimination in employment, housing and political representation. In 1967, the Civil Rights Association was established to campaign for equal rights. In 1968, civil-rights marches resulted in violent clashes, especially in Derry. Catholic fear of the increasing Protestant domination of local security forces was compounded when the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was supplemented by the sectarian Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR). The British Army was brought in to protect the Catholic populations in Belfast and Derry. The IRA and Protestant Loyalist paramilitary organizations, such as the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), increased their campaigns of sectarian violence. In 1972, the Northern Ireland parliament (Stormont) was suspended and replaced by direct rule from Westminster. On January 30, 1972 (‘Bloody Sunday’), British troops shot and killed 13 civil-rights' demonstrators. In 1974 the Council of Ireland, formed by the British and Irish governments to promote cooperation between Ulster and the Irish Republic, quickly collapsed under pressure from a Unionist-led general strike. The IRA campaign widened to include terrorist attacks on Great Britain and British military bases in w Europe. In 1981, hunger strikes by IRA prisoners were more successful in gaining worldwide sympathy. In 1985, the Anglo-Irish Agreement gave the Republic of Ireland a consultative role in the government of Northern Ireland. In 1986, a Northern Ireland Assembly was re-established, but quickly failed under the Unionists' boycott. In 1993, following secret talks between the British government and Sinn Féin, the Downing Street Declaration offered all-party negotiations following a cessation of violence. In 1994, Provisional IRA and Loyalist paramilitaries announced a cease-fire, raising hopes of an end to a sectarian conflict that had claimed more than 2700 lives. In 1996, disputes over the decommissioning of arms stalled the process and the IRA resumed its terrorist campaign on the British mainland. In July 1997, another cease-fire was agreed and, in October, Sinn Féin and Unionists took part in joint peace talks for the first time since partition.

http://www.ni-assembly.gov.uk; http://www.nio.gov.uk