Northern Ireland division of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1989 est. pop. 1,583,500), 5,462 sq mi (14,147 sq km), NE Ireland. Made up of six of the nine counties of the historic province of Ulster in NE Ireland, it is frequently called Ulster. The capital is Belfast .

Land, People, Economy, and Government

The land is mountainous and has few natural resources. It comprises 26 districts. English is the official language. The majority of the population is Protestant, and nearly 40% is Catholic. Farming (livestock, dairy products, cereals, potatoes) is the largest single occupation. Heavy industry is concentrated in and around Belfast, one of the chief ports of the British Isles. Machinery and equipment manufacturing, food processing, and textile and electronics manufacturing are the leading industries; papermaking, furniture manufacturing, and shipbuilding are also important. Northern Ireland's fine linens are famous.

The Northern Ireland Assembly has limited devolved powers from the British Parliament, and often has been suspended since its establishment in 1999. The government is based on a power-sharing arrangement that requires that its members include a minimum number of both Protestants and Catholics, and that those members have the support of the representatives elected by their respective communities. Northern Ireland has 18 representatives in the British Parliament.

History

A Troubled History

Northern Ireland's relatively distinct history began in the early 17th cent., when, after the suppression of an Irish rebellion, much land was confiscated by the British crown and "planted" with Scottish and English settlers. Ulster took on a Protestant character as compared with the rest of Ireland; but there was no question of political separation until the late 19th cent. when William Gladstone presented (1886) his first proposal for Home Rule for Ireland. The largely Protestant population of the north feared domination under Home Rule by the Catholic majority in the south. In addition, industrial Ulster was bound economically more to England than to the rest of Ireland.

Successive schemes for Home Rule widened the rift, so that by the outbreak of World War I civil war in Ireland was an immediate danger. The Government of Ireland Act of 1920 attempted to solve the problem by enacting Home Rule separately for the two parts of Ireland, thus creating the province of Northern Ireland. However, the Irish Free State, now the Republic of Ireland (see Ireland, Republic of ), which was established in 1922, refused to recognize the finality of the partition; and violence erupted frequently on both sides of the border.

The late 1960s marked a new stage in the region's troubled history. The Catholic minority, which suffered economic and political discrimination, had grown steadily through immigration from the Republic. In 1968 civil-rights protests by Catholics led to widespread violence. Prime Minister Terence O'Neill had sought to end anti-Catholic bias as part of his policy of fostering closer ties between Ulster and the Irish Republic, but opponents within his ruling Unionist party forced his resignation in Apr., 1969. His successor, James Chichester-Clark, was unable to restrain the growing unrest and in August called in British troops to help restore order.

The IRA and Sectarian Struggle

At the end of 1969 a split occurred in the Irish Republican Army (IRA), which is the illegal military arm of the Sinn Fein party; the new "provisional" wing of the IRA was made up of radical nationalists. Brian Faulkner became leader of the Unionist party and prime minister of Northern Ireland in Mar., 1971, and began a policy of imprisoning IRA and other militants. However, the IRA and the Ulster Defense Association, a Protestant terrorist group, continued and even intensified their activities.

On Mar. 30, 1972, the British prime minister, Edward Heath, suspended the government and appointed William Whitelaw secretary of state for Northern Ireland. Westminster's direct rule over the province was renewed in Mar., 1973. An assembly was formed in June, 1972, with the Unionist party, a moderate pro-British group, in the majority. In November the Unionist party formed a coalition with the Social Democratic Labour party (SDLP), the major Catholic group, and the nonsectarian Alliance party. A Northern Ireland Executive was formed to exercise day-to-day administration.

In late 1973, the British prime minister, the head of the Executive, and the Irish Republic's prime minister agreed to form a Council of Ireland to promote closer cooperation between Ulster and the Republic. However, both the IRA and Protestant extremists sought to destroy the Executive and the Council, as they found power-sharing between Protestants and Catholics unacceptable. In 1974, hard-line Ulster Protestants won 11 of the province's 12 seats in the British House of Commons and pledged to renegotiate Ulster's constitution in order to end the Protestant-Catholic coalition and progress toward a Council of Ireland.

In May, 1974, militant Protestants sponsored a general strike in the province, and the Northern Ireland Executive collapsed on May 28. The British government then took direct control of the province with the passage of the Northern Ireland Act of 1974. Meanwhile, bombings and other terrorist activities had spread to Dublin and London. In 1979 Lord Mountbatten was assassinated by the IRA, and in 1981 protests broke out in Belfast over the death by hunger strike of Bobby Sands, an IRA member of Parliament.

Throughout most of the 1980s and 1990s terrorist violence by the IRA and other groups remained a problem. An assembly formed in 1982 to propose plans for strengthening legislative and executive autonomy in Northern Ireland was dissolved in 1986 for its lack of progress. In 1985, an Anglo-Irish accord sought to lay the groundwork for talks between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Dublin agreed not to contest Northern Ireland's allegiance to Great Britain in exchange for British acknowledgment of the Republic's interest in how Northern Ireland is run. A 1993 Anglo-Irish declaration offered to open negotiations to all parties willing to renounce violence, and in 1994 the IRA and, later, Protestant paramilitary groups declared a cease-fire. Formal talks began in 1995. A resumption of violence (1996) by the IRA threatened to derail the peace process, but negotiations to seek a political settlement went ahead.

In July, 1997, the IRA declared a new cease-fire, and talks begun in September of that year included Sinn Féin. The result was an accord reached in 1998 that provided for a new Northern Ireland Assembly as well as a North-South Ministerial Council to deal with issues of joint interest to the province and the Irish Republic. The Republic of Ireland also agreed to give up territorial claims on Northern Ireland. The formation of a new government was slowed, however, by disagreement over the disarmament of paramilitary groups, but in Dec., 1999, a multiparty government was formed after further negotiations, and Britain ended direct rule of the province. Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble became leader of the Northern Irish government.

In Feb., 2000, however, Britain suspended self-government after the IRA refused to agree to disarm, but subsequent concessions by the IRA led to the resumption of self-government in May. Continued resistance by the IRA to disarming has threatened self-government and led Trimble to resign on July 1, 2001. Subsequently, Britain twice suspended the Northern Irish government in an attempt to avoid its complete collapse. Negotiations on disarming the IRA and other paramilitary groups, however, were relatively fruitless until late 2001, when the IRA began disarming; Trimble subsequently returned to office.

The arrests in 2002 of Sinn Féin government members for intelligence gathering for the IRA threatened the power-sharing government once again, leading Britain to suspend home rule once more, but in 2005 charges against the alleged spies, one of whom was a long-time government informant, were dropped, raising questions about the entire affair. The May, 2003, elections that would have reestablished the assembly were suspended by the British government. The ostensible reason was the insufficient specificity of the IRA's commitment to the peace process, but Trimble and the moderate Unionists also seem likely to suffer losses if the elections were held. Disagreements over the way the IRA's disarming was being handled continued.

When the elections were held in Nov., 2003, the more extreme Protestant and Catholic parties, Ian Paisley 's Democratic Unionists and the Sinn Féin, outpolled their more moderate counterparts. Home rule remained suspended, but in early 2004 Britain, the Irish Republic, and Northern Irish political parties began a "review" of the 1998 agreement in hopes of reestablishing a Northern Irish government. Subsequent accusations that the IRA was involved in criminal activities threatened any future participation of Sinn Féin in a government. In Apr., 2005, Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams called on the IRA to abandon the use of arms and restrict its activities to politics, and an independent report affirmed in September that the IRA had decommissioned its weapons.

In Apr., 2006 the British and Irish governments called for the Northern Irish assembly to begin formation of an executive in May and complete the work before the end of November; if they failed to do so, the members of the assembly would no longer receive their salaries. The assembly reconvened in May, but there was no quick progress in forming an executive. However, talks in October produced some progress, and the November deadline was pushed back to Mar., 2007. In Jan., 2007, Sinn Féin agreed to back the Protestant-dominated Northern Irish police force.

In March, elections for the assembly led to strong showings by the Democratic Unionists and Sinn Féin, and later in the month the two parties agreed to form a power-sharing government in May. Ian Paisley became first minister. Also in May the Ulster Volunteer Force, the oldest Protestant paramilitary group, announced that it was renouncing violence; it did not plan, however, to decommission its weapons. British troops ended their military mission in Northern Ireland, which began in 1969, in July, 2007.

UDA factional clashes during the summer of 2007 led to a demand that they decommission their arms or lose funding for a loyalist project associated with the UDA; the social development minister's insistence on the deadline and cutoff of funds led to tensions in the North Irish executive in Oct., 2007, with the DUP and Sinn Féin supporting a more lenient approach to the UDA. In November the UDA announced that its fighters' weapons were being put beyond use (but not decommissioned).

Paisley retired as first minister and was succeeded by Peter Robinson, the new DUP leader, in June, 2008. A dispute over the devolution of justice and policing powers subsequently deadlocked the executive, with the DUP demanding the complete disbanding of the IRA first.

Bibliography

See A. Blacam, The Black North (1938); M. Wallace, Northern Ireland: Fifty Years of Self-Government (1971); P. Arthur, Northern Ireland Since 1968 (1988); B. Rowthorn, Northern Ireland: The Political Economy of Conflict (1988); F. Gaffikin, Northern Ireland: The Thatcher Years (1990); E. Collins, Killing Rage (with M. McGovern, 1999); G. Mitchell, Making Peace (1999); P. Taylor, Loyalists (1999).

Northern Ireland, a province created by the Government of Ireland Act of 1920, made up of the six Ulster counties of Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, and Tyrone, and retained within the United Kingdom after the rest of Ireland achieved dominion status by the Anglo‐Irish treaty of 1921. Following the successful resistance of Ulster unionists to home rule in 1911–14, it was only the separation of the predominantly Protestant segment of Ulster in 1920 that made it politically possible for a Conservative‐dominated British coalition government to reach agreement with Sinn Féin on constitutional arrangements for the south. Although the Ulster Unionists sacrificed the remaining three counties of Ulster with their significant Protestant minorities, the new six‐county province included a reluctant Catholic minority amounting to more than one‐third of its population (which by the 1990s was to rise to more than two‐fifths). After some abortive attempts at minority protection through the Craig–Collins pacts, the British government gave the Unionists unequivocal support: in effect those who had objected so strongly to home rule under Dublin in 1914 were given an extended opportunity to run the north's divided society. The Unionists had wanted initially to be governed directly from London, but in 1921 accepted a devolved parliament in Belfast and came quickly to like it.

While Unionist governments delivered stability in Northern Ireland British governments of all parties let them get on with it: when this stability disappeared after 1968 the dissolution of the Northern Ireland parliament quickly followed. After 1972 Northern Ireland retained a devolved administration, but politically it was governed by direct rule from London, until a new form of self‐government was attempted in 1998. Although the constitutional arrangements of 1921–72 failed to achieve lasting or deep‐rooted communal harmony, they do represent the most sustained attempt at devolved regional government ever attempted in the United Kingdom.

The Northern Ireland parliament, created under the 1920 act, was opened by King George V in Belfast city hall on 22 June 1921, following elections to a ‘House of Commons’ on Empire Day, 24 May. It later moved to Assembly's College before occupying the imposing purpose‐built premises at Stormont (which became the standard way of referring to the Northern Ireland parliament or government), on the edge of the city, in November 1932. Partly deriving from the legislation, partly as a result of decisions taken by the first prime minister, Sir James Craig, Stormont followed the Westminster model very closely. The main differences were that the body was in practice part‐time, meeting for only a couple of months each year, and that government ministers were entitled to speak in both the House of Commons and the upper house or ‘Senate’. This consisted of the lord mayors of Belfast and Derry, who sat ex officio, and of 24 other members elected by the House of Commons. Not surprisingly, it failed to establish a reputation as an effective revising chamber. There was also a governor, representing the crown.

Returned to the first House of Commons in 1921 were 40 Unionists, 6 Nationalists, and 6 Sinn Féiners, a government majority of 28. Although the number of Unionists was sometimes reduced by challenges from the Northern Ireland Labour Party and other minor parties, only in 1925 did the party's overall majority fall below 20. Soon after the government replaced proportional representation based on nine multi‐member constituencies with first‐past‐the‐post elections in 48 single seaters; PR was retained in the four‐seat Queen's University constituency, which survived until 1968. No nationalist members took their seats prior to 1925, and organized nationalist abstention occurred frequently between 1932 and 1945. The system of majoritarian democracy, though based closely on the Westminster model, operated in the circumstances of Northern Ireland's divided society to produce a one‐party state, in which the interests of the state and the interests of the Unionist Party became dangerously intertwined. In local government, until 1973, almost 100 separate authorities operated, including an upper tier of six county councils. The local government franchise was restricted to ratepayers, and permitted multiple votes for business voters. After 1946 this was out of line with practice in Britain, where almost all adults were enfranchised compared with less than 80 per cent in Belfast (1966). Universal suffrage in local government elections was a major issue for the civil rights movement, and was attained in 1972; in the following year local government was restructured into a single tier of 26 district councils, now with far more limited powers than was the case in Britain.

The devolved powers of the Northern Ireland parliament included all major aspects of domestic policy except major taxation. By ‘the convention’ operated at Westminster, members of the United Kingdom parliament were effectively precluded from debating the internal affairs of Northern Ireland except on very isolated occasions. Defence matters, however, were reserved to the Westminster parliament (including the decision not to include Northern Ireland in the provision for compulsory military service during the Second World War). Once the British army was called out in aid of the civil power, from August 1969 onwards, it was only a matter of time before Westminster demanded control over the province's internal security policy. The refusal of Brian Faulkner's government to agree to this led to the prorogation of Stormont in March 1972, and its dissolution the following year.

The disentanglement of Northern Ireland's finances after 1921 proved more problematic than the establishment of devolved legislative powers. Revenue was allocated from the British treasury by a joint exchequer board. While the ‘imperial contribution’ soon effectively disappeared, the British government proved distinctly reluctant to make the large injection of funds necessary to raise Northern Ireland's level of welfare provision to the British level. It was agreed by the Colwyn Committee in 1925 that in future per capita welfare spending for the province would be increased ‘step by step’ with improvements in Britain, but Northern Ireland's relatively low base point meant that the great burden of inter‐war unemployment weighed very heavily on the province, while the quality and volume of urban and rural housing stock, school buildings, roads, and public health fell further behind. In effect Colwyn's arbitration of 1925 and the Unemployment Insurance Agreement of 1926, while both making financial concessions to Northern Ireland, implicitly accepted that devolution justified lower levels of provision in the province, on grounds both of historic factors and of higher per capita take‐up of welfare services than in Britain.

Full equalization of public spending provision did not come until 1946, when ‘step by step’ gave way to the principle of ‘parity’ of social services, so that welfare state provisions applied equally in Britain and in Northern Ireland. The impact of this was noticeable both in improved health statistics and in education, where free grammar schooling was available for the first time to those able or fortunate enough to pass the II‐plus examination. In economic policy also, the postwar era offered opportunities for devolved government to demonstrate its worth.

The staple industries of linen and shipbuilding, the major urban employers in the province, which had struggled during the interwar period, went into steep decline—linen from 1953 (due to competition from other materials and cheaper labour markets) and shipbuilding by the end of the same decade (due to over‐conservative management in the face of technological and market changes). Agriculture too, the province's largest employer, shed labour massively in the face of mechanization. These changes constituted a rigorous test for devolved regional government—could its closeness to the problems facilitate more effective responses than could have been offered by a more remote central government? Though the evidence is mixed, the overall answer must be ‘no’. Shipbuilding fared no better than in Britain. The man‐made fibre industry did constitute a major innovation, benefiting many centres in the east of the province, and in Derry City, from the 1950s to the 1970s, an achievement for which regional planning can claim some credit. But in this, the golden era of state planning, the lack of political consensus between nationalist and unionist in the province was an increasingly serious problem. While the economic case for concentrating new developments in the predominantly Protestant east of the province, as argued in the Matthew Plan for Greater Belfast (1962) and the Wilson Report (1964), may have been strong, Stormont's chances of gaining the confidence of the nationalist community were slimmer than those of central government would have been. Equally, the Unionist government and local authorities, most notably in Derry City, were reluctant to risk damaging their electoral position by economic or social policies that might increase the numerical or economic strength of the Catholic community. While it is not easy to control for the effects (negative and perhaps also positive) of the post‐1969 troubles on the regional economy, it seems clear that the suspension of political devolution after 1972 brought more effective public investment and no worse a performance in terms of economic management.

Bibliography

Buckland, Patrick , The Factory of Grievances: Devolved Government in Northern Ireland 1921–39 (1979)

A. C. Hepburn

Northern Ireland was formed by the Government of Ireland Act 1920–1. It comprises the six counties of the north-east of the island: Antrim, Down, Armagh, Londonderry, Fermanagh, and Tyrone. To ensure a protestant majority, the nine counties of the historic province of Ulster were rejected as the boundary. Fermanagh and Tyrone, though possessing small catholic majorities, were included to provide a credible geographical entity. The British government had preferred an all-Ulster option, hoping that partition would therefore be temporary. Initially, loyalist opinion was opposed to the establishment of a separate province; but once Northern Ireland had been set up, it was seen as the crucial bulwark against Irish unification.

The artificial character of the province is demonstrated by the awkwardness of its title: parts of Donegal in the Free State/Republic are further north. It is frequently referred to as ‘the six counties’, ‘Stormont’, or ‘the Northern Statelet’, terms revealing the bias of the observer. The decision to draw the boundary according to county lines made little social, economic, or geographical sense. The natural hinterland of the city of Derry is Co. Donegal; Newry was cut off from much of its locale; isolated enclaves of catholics or protestants were created; border areas such as south Armagh saw no justification for being included in the new province; the erratic border itself divided farms, towns, and communities.

The circumstances of the province's formation dictated its turbulent subsequent history. The catholic minority, always over 30 per cent of the population, never accepted partition and usually boycotted the Belfast Parliament. The emerging Free State refused to recognize Northern Ireland. An IRA offensive in early 1922 threatened to destabilize the nascent province. In the Anglo-Irish treaty of December 1921, provision was made for a boundary commission, holding out hope of a substantial alteration of frontier. The commission did not meet until 1925 and no changes were finally made. Not surprisingly, the province established itself along the lines of a protestant state for a protestant people, with a heavy emphasis on security considerations.

After 1925, the province's future seemed more assured but still few concessions were made to the minority. Economic development was retarded by over-dependence on the British Treasury and by over-reliance on declining traditional industries. The government was dominated by narrow landed and commercial interests; all were members of the Orange order and preoccupied with appeasing their protestant constituents. Sir James Craig was prime minister 1921–40, Lord Brooke 1943–63. Unionist confidence was increased by their contribution in supplying bases and ports for Atlantic convoys, contrasting with the Free State's neutrality. However, lack of foresight and general incompetence in government circles caused the effects of German bombing of Belfast to be severe; embarrassingly, fire services had to be secretly begged from Dublin.

The declaration of an Irish republic in 1948 caused the constitutional status of the province to be clarified in the Ireland Act of 1949. Dependence on Britain was increased by the new welfare state; unemployment became the worst in the UK; the disparity between west and east of the province grew wider. But the abject failure of the IRA offensive 1956–62 appeared to remove any immediate threat and increased catholic acceptance of the province. Terence O'Neill's attempts, as premier from 1963, to modernize the economy and reform the sectarian basis of the province highlighted all inherent tensions. Unionists divided over his reforms and the catholic minority demanded more substantial changes, mounting their first effective challenge via the civil rights movement from 1967. Police and special constabulary's reaction to civil rights demonstrations, together with the unionist backlash, resulted in major riots in Derry city and Belfast, and the belated intervention of British troops to restore order and ensure more fundamental reforms. The security situation deteriorated rapidly in 1969–72, resulting in further polarization of the two communities, the alienation of the catholic population from the British army, and the formation of the Provisional IRA. The British government's declaration of direct rule from Westminster in 1972 was followed by the establishment of a power-sharing executive in January 1974, which was brought down as a consequence of the loyalist strike within five months.

The 1970s and 1980s saw a continuous, if limited, IRA offensive against both the security forces and the economy; the growth of loyalist paramilitary retaliation; spates of sectarian assassinations and bombings in the province, in Britain, and occasionally in the Republic. Abortive attempts to restore some form of devolved government only revealed the extent to which violence had hardened divisions. Demands for political status for republican prisoners in 1981 led to further catholic alienation and support for Sinn Fein. While direct rule saw a considerable diminution in governmental discriminatory practices, little progress was made on economic performance. Unionist suspicions concerning British government intentions increased and the British taxpayer was progressively alarmed about the expense of continued involvement.

By 1985 and the Anglo-Irish agreement, attention turned to co-operation between the Republic and the British government on security and political matters. The level of violence, particularly by protestant paramilitaries, increased. A sense of exhaustion after 25 years of conflict, better Anglo-Irish government communications, European and American concern, and, finally, negotiations between the SDLP and Sinn Fein leaders, John Hume and Gerry Adams, all contributed to the Downing Street declaration of December 1993, the IRA cease-fire of August 1994, and the loyalist paramilitary one two months later. After a referendum, administration was handed back in 1998 to a Northern Ireland Assembly of 108 members, of which 24 represented SDLP and 18 Sinn Fein. But hopes for the peace process in the 21st cent. were jeopardized by the reluctance of the IRA to begin serious disarmament, which led to the dissolution of the Assembly in 2003 and the re-imposition of direct rule. Devolved government was restored in 2007 with the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein sharing power.

Michael Hopkinson

Bibliography

Buckland, P. , A History of Northern Ireland (Dublin, 1981);
Wichert, S. , Northern Ireland since 1945 (1991).

Northern Ireland The part of Ireland which remained in the UK following the partition under the Government of Ireland Act (1920). It is composed of the six north-eastern counties of Ireland: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry, and Tyrone. It is often referred to as Ulster, although strictly speaking the historic province of Ulster also includes three other counties which are now in the Republic of Ireland. The province was formed as a result of pressure from Unionists led by Edward Carson, who did not wish to be part of a united Ireland independent from the UK. It was governed by a Prime Minister heading a Parliament at Stormont in which the predominantly Protestant population had a built-in majority. The Protestants controlled most of the jobs and housing, and discriminated against the Catholic minority (about one- third of the population), fearing that it wished to undermine Northern Ireland's position as part of the UK.

Moderate reforms were attempted by Prime Minister O'Neill in the 1960s, but in 1968 violence erupted after a series of demonstrations calling for equal civil rights for all. Subsequently, paramilitary organizations, such as the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), and the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), clashed. By the end of 1993, there had been 3,112 deaths as a result of political violence. The largest group to suffer was the civilian population: many of the 2,174 deaths in this group included suspected terrorists. The British army lost 443 personnel; it had been sent to Northern Ireland in 1969, initially to protect Catholics against Loyalist violence, but its presence became resented by the minority and it was thus a target for the IRA. One of the events which provoked hostility was Bloody Sunday (30 January 1972), when troops fired on a Catholic demonstration in Londonderry, killing several civilians. In March 1972, when the Stormont government proved incapable of maintaining order, the British government suspended the Northern Irish Constitution, dissolved Stormont, and imposed direct rule from London.

Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, the British government sought to establish assemblies in which the different groups in Northern Ireland would share power. However, one or more groups have always opposed each attempt, most notably in May 1974, when a strike by the Loyalist Ulster Workers' Council brought down the Northern Ireland Assembly. In the 1980s the British government sought closer cooperation in resolving the problem with the government of the Irish Republic. In 1985 this resulted in the Anglo-Irish Accord (Hillsborough Agreement), which gave the Republic a consultative role in Northern Ireland. This angered Unionists, but reassured the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP).

On 15 December 1993 the British Prime Minister, John Major, and the Irish Taoi seach, Albert Reynolds, made the Downing Street Declaration. This proclaimed the two governments' intention to promote reconciliation ‘leading to a new political framework founded on consent’. They reaffirmed their opposition to political violence, and committed themselves to bringing all democratic groups together in talks. In response, on 31 August 1994 the IRA announced a ‘complete cessation of military operations’. This was followed on 13 October 1994 by a loyalist ceasefire, and from then many British troops were withdrawn from Northern Ireland. The British government and the Unionists then made the surrender of all arms by paramilitary groups a precondition of all-party talks. This was rejected by Adams. On 9 February 1996, the IRA ceasefire was broken when it bombed Canary Wharf in the London Docklands. Sinn Féin refused to condemn the incident, whereupon the British and Irish governments broke off direct negotiations. Nevertheless, elections for representatives at all-party negotiations were held on 30 May 1996. They provided a victory for the more extremist parties, as the Democratic Unionist Party gained 18.8 per cent and Sinn Féin 15.47 per cent. By contrast, the performance of the more moderate Ulster Unionist Party (24.17 per cent) and the SDLP (21.4 per cent) was relatively disappointing.

It was not until the IRA finally declared a ceasefire on 9 Sept. 1997 that negotiations could resume, headed by Clinton's envoy, George Mitchell. After an ultimatum presented by the British and Irish governments, the parties consented to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. Elections to the new Northern Irish Assembly were won by the Ulster Unionist Party with 28 seats, followed by the moderate Catholic SDLP with 24. The UUP's leader, David Trimble, became First Minister, with the SDLP's Seamus Mallon as his deputy. The government was based on a broad coalition of Protestant and Catholic parties, including Sinn Féin but excluding the Democratic Unionists. While the administration of day-to-day matters proved surprisingly smooth, the issue of decommissioning of weapons held by the IRA and the reform of the Royal Ulster Constabulary continued to be extremely contentious. As the IRA refused to honour its original promise to decommission its arms within two years of the Good Friday Agreement, David Trimble resigned in summer 2001. This led to the suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly. David Trimble briefly returned as First Minister, but he resigned again in October 2002 over the slow progress of Sinn Féin's decommissioning of weapons. Self-rule was suspended once more. After Gerry Adams announced the provisional IRA's intention to disband, elections on 26 November 2003 produced a further stalemate: the largest party was now Ian Paisley's DUP, which refused any contact with Sinn Féin.

Northern Ireland A unit of the UNITED KINGDOM comprising the six north-eastern countries of Ulster.

Physical

Structurally, it is a south-westward extension of Scotland, separated by the North Channel of the Irish Sea. The central expanse of Lough Neagh is drained to the north by the River Bann, separating the Sperrin Mountains to the west and the Antrim Hills to the east. In the south-east are the Mourne Mountains, while in the south-west lies Lough Erne.

Economy

The traditional linen and ship-building industries have declined but remain important, along with engineering and chemical industries. There is some mining. Many people are now employed in the service sector. Agricultural products include barley and potatoes; sheep and cattle are raised.

History

Northern Ireland was established as a self-governing province of the United Kingdom by the Government of Ireland Act (1920) as a result of pressure from its predominantly Protestant population. Economic and electoral discrimination by the Protestant majority against the largely working-class Catholics (about one-third of the population) erupted in violence in the 1960s, heralding the decades of ‘the Troubles’ in Northern Ireland. Extremist Unionist reaction to protest marches organized by the civil rights movement (1968) led to riots, and violence escalated with paramilitary groupings such as the IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMY clashing with ‘Loyalist’ militant organizations such as the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). In 1969 British soldiers were sent to the province to keep the peace, at the request of the STORMONT government, and have remained there ever since. The British government suspended (1972) the Northern Irish constitution and dissolved the Stormont government, imposing direct rule from London. In 1973 a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive was established, responsible to a more representative Assembly. It collapsed in 1974, however, when Unionist leaders, such as the Reverend Ian Paisley, together with the Ulster Workers Council, organized a general strike that paralysed the province. After 1979 closer cooperation between the Republic of Ireland and Britain developed, leading to the Anglo-Irish Accord (the Hillsborough Agreement), signed in 1985, which gave the Republic a consultative role in the government of Northern Ireland. Sectarian terrorism continued, claiming over 3000 lives by the early 1990s. In 1991–92 all party talks (with the exception of Sinn Féin) took place, including, for the first time, representatives from the Irish Republic. In 1993 the DOWNING STREET DECLARATION was signed by John MAJOR and Albert Reynolds, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland, paving the way for negotiations with Sinn Fein (as well as other political groups) on condition that they commit themselves to peaceful and democratic means. In 1994 the IRA declared a ‘complete cessation’ of military activities, which was followed by similar declarations by Loyalist paramilitary groups. However, little progress was made in peace negotiations during 1995 as a result of the UK government's refusal to negotiate with Sinn Fein until decommissioning of IRA weapons took place. In February 1996 the IRA broke the ceasefire by launching bomb attacks on London and Manchester. Sinn Fein was then excluded from the talks, which began in June 1996, but was admitted, following a new IRA ceasefire, in September 1997. In January 1998 The British and Irish governments issued, as a basis for negotiation, a joint document containing proposals for the future government of Northern Ireland, including: (1) a Northern Ireland Assembly to be elected by proportional representation,(2) a north-south ministerial council linking the two parts of Ireland, and (3) an intergovernment council linking assemblies in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales with representatives of the British and Irish governments. In April 1998 a peace agreement based on these proposals, known as the Good Friday Agreement, was signed by the British and Irish Prime Ministers and the leaders of the negotiating parties. The agreement allowed for the phased release of paramilitary prisoners and required the decommissioning of terrorist weapons within two years. Following elections David Trimble became Northern Ireland's First Minister. However, devolution of power to the new bodies was postponed in 1999 when Trimble refused to appoint an executive that included Sinn Féin members until the IRA began decommissioning of weapons.

Northern Ireland was formed by the Government of Ireland Act 1920–1. It comprised the six counties of the north‐east of the island: Antrim, Down, Armagh, Londonderry, Fermanagh, and Tyrone. To ensure a protestant majority, the nine counties of the historic province of Ulster were rejected as the boundary. Fermanagh and Tyrone, though possessing small catholic majorities, were included to provide a credible geographical entity.

The circumstances of the province's formation dictated its turbulent subsequent history. The catholic minority, always over 30 per cent of the population, never accepted partition and usually boycotted the Belfast Parliament. The emerging Free State refused to recognize Northern Ireland. The new province established itself along the lines of a protestant state for a protestant people, with a heavy emphasis on security considerations.

After 1925, the province's future seemed more assured. But economic development was retarded by over‐dependence on the British Treasury and by over‐reliance on declining traditional industries. The government was dominated by narrow landed and commercial interests; all were members of the Orange order. Sir James Craig was prime minister 1921–40, Lord Brooke 1943–63. Unionist confidence was increased by their contribution in supplying bases and ports for Atlantic convoys, contrasting with the Free State's neutrality.

The declaration of an Irish republic in 1948 caused the constitutional status of the province to be clarified in the Ireland Act of 1949. Terence O'Neill's attempts, as premier from 1963, to modernize the economy and reform the sectarian basis of the province highlighted all inherent tensions. Police and special constabulary's reaction to civil rights demonstrations resulted in major riots in Derry city and Belfast, and the belated intervention of British troops to restore order and ensure more fundamental reforms. The security situation deteriorated rapidly in 1969–72, resulting in the alienation of the catholic population from the British army, and the formation of the Provisional IRA. The British government's declaration of direct rule from Westminster in 1972 was followed by the establishment of a power‐sharing executive in January 1974, which was brought down as a consequence of the loyalist strike within five months.

The 1970s and 1980s saw a continuous IRA offensive against both the security forces and the economy; the growth of loyalist paramilitary retaliation; spates of sectarian assassinations and bombings in the province, in Britain, and occasionally in the Republic. Demands for political status for republican prisoners in 1981 led to further catholic alienation and support for Sinn Fein.

By 1985 and the Anglo‐Irish agreement, attention turned to co‐operation between the Republic and the British government on security and political matters. A sense of exhaustion after 25 years of conflict, better Anglo‐Irish government communications, European and American concern, and, finally, negotiations between the SDLP and Sinn Fein leaders, John Hume and Gerry Adams, all contributed to the Downing Street declaration of December 1993, the IRA cease‐fire of August 1994, and the loyalist paramilitary one two months later. After a referendum, administration was handed back in 1998 to a Northern Ireland Assembly of 108 members, of which 24 represented SDLP and 18 Sinn Fein. But hopes for the peace process in the 21st cent. have been jeopardized by the refusal of the IRA to begin serious disarmament. Assembly was suspended and direct rule reimposed.

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

Northern Ireland

Culture Name

Northern Irish

Alternative Names

Ulsters, Ulster Unionists, Protestant Ulsterites, Loyalists; Republican, Nationalist

Orientation

Identification. The island of Ireland is known as Eire in Irish Gaelic. The name of the capital city, Belfast, derives from the city's Gaelic name, Beal Feirste, which means "mouth of the sandy ford," referring to a stream that joins the Lagan River.

The state of conflict in Northern Ireland is manifested in the names by which the Northern Irish identify themselves. Ulsters or Ulster Unionists identify themselves by ethnicity, religion, and political bent. These residents are generally Protestants from England who colonized the country in the nineteenth century and earlier supported William of Orange when he wrested the throne of England from the Catholic James II. The Nationalists are native Irish who were ruled by Irish chiefs. They are Roman Catholics who want Northern Ireland to be reunited with the Republic of Ireland, removing the northern counties from the sovereignty of England. The Ulster Unionists remain politically, religiously, and culturally loyal to England, yet feel that Northern Ireland is their homeland. Nationalists believe that the land is theirs, and their loyalty is to their compatriots in the Free State of Southern Ireland.

Location and Geography. Northern Ireland is the smallest country in the United Kingdom, situated on the second largest island of the British Isles. It occupies one-sixth of the island it shares with the independent Republic of Ireland. Northern Ireland is composed of six of the twenty-nine counties of Ireland, covering about 5,452 square miles (14,120 square kilometers). It is separated from the Republic of Ireland by a three-hundred-mile-long artificial boundary. Northern Ireland makes up the northwestern corner of the island; the entire island is bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, on the east by the Irish Sea, and on the south by the Celtic Sea. The waters around Northern Ireland's coast are shallow.

The climate is mild as a result of Atlantic Ocean breezes and the Gulf Stream, with comfortable summers and temperate winters. Snow is uncommon, and temperatures dip below freezing only a few times a year. However, rainfall is heavy. Low mountains with steep cliffs dropping off to the sea and fertile lowlands are the principal topographic features. The two major mountain ranges are the Sperrin Mountains and the Mourne Mountains. Most of the farmable land, in the middle of the country, is used as grazing pastures for livestock. Lough Neagh, in central Northern Ireland, is the largest lake in the British Isles.

Until seven thousand years ago, Ireland was linked to Europe by a land bridge, but the ocean eroded that bridge and separated Ireland from the continent. Scotland lies just thirteen miles east of the island across the English Channel.

The Upper Bann River begins in the Mourne Mountains and flows northwest for twenty-five miles before entering Lough Neagh. The Erne River, which is seventy-two miles long, starts in the Republic of Ireland and flows northward into Northern Ireland. The Foyle River, marking the northwestern boundary with the Republic of Ireland, passes through Londonderry and empties into the Atlantic Ocean, becoming a bay called Lough Foyle.

Soggy areas called peat bogs have developed in parts of the country. The bogs contain layers of vegetation that have partly decayed in the moist earth. As the layers build up, they form a thick crust of turf that is called peat. This turf, originally cut by hand, is now cut by machine. The resulting briquettes are burned for fuel and remain the major source of heat and electricity in rural areas.

Demography. In 1998, the Annual report of the Registrar General for Northern Ireland reported the population of Northern Ireland to be 1,668,000. The population is most dense in the east. In the 1980s, the population was described as being 70 percent Protestant and 30 percent Catholic, but 60 percent Protestant and 40 percent Catholic may be more accurate. The population breakdown is difficult to ascertain because many residents are reluctant to indicate their religion.

Catholic families have a higher birthrate because of their religious beliefs and their desire to surpass the population of the Unionists. Stability in the population has resulted from the fact that many Catholics were forced to go to London to escape unemployment.

Linguistic Affiliation. English is spoken throughout the country, and the native language of Gaelic, or Gaeltacht, is disappearing. Many Gaelic speakers died in the Great Famine of the 1840s, and Gaelic was replaced by English, which was needed to achieve social mobility. Gaelic still carries a stigma as the language of the poor.

Gaelic is a Celtic language that probably was introduced by Celts in the last few centuries b.c.e. Similar to Scottish Gaelic, it shares common structures with Welsh and Breton. It is an idiomatic language with a complex grammatical system that is considered rich in terms of warmth and expressiveness. Irish is required at some schools but is taught with an emphasis on grammar rather than conversation. The Gaelic League, formed in 1893, is a revivalist organization, that attempts to propagate the Irish language and culture. In the 1920s, the Gaelic League attempted to deanglicize the country by gaelicizing the schools. It wanted to require that all teachers at teacher training colleges have a background and proficiency in Irish. However, the league realized that Gaelic would languish if it was not also used in the home environment.

Symbolism. The Union Jack flag and the British crown are associated with the Unionists both by their Protestant supporters and by their Catholic opponents. Members of the Orange Order have a picture of the crown on the huge drums that are used in the parades in which Orangemen celebrate the victory of William of Orange over James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. Another image associated with the rivalry between Loyalists and Nationalists is the Ulster emblem of a right hand severed at the wrist from which no blood should flow.

Northern Ireland is recognizable by its lush green countryside and stout mountains leading down to a steep and craggy shoreline. The flag of the Free State of Ireland, which has equal vertical bands of green, white, and orange is a symbol of the Irish nation.

History and Ethnic Relations

Emergence of the Nation. Prior to 1920 the island of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Government of Ireland Act of 1920 founded the Irish Free State and allowed six Ulster counties to remain part of the United Kingdom, becoming Northern Ireland. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) opposed the establishment of the Irish Free State. In 1925, an agreement among the Irish Free State, Northern Ireland, and Great Britain partitioned Ireland and defined the borders. Catholic residents of Ulster did not want to see Ireland divided, but Protestant business leaders wished to remain linked to England. In 1936, the Irish Free State proclaimed its complete independence, and in 1949 it renamed itself the Republic of Ireland. Since 1974, the United Kingdom has ruled Northern Ireland directly.

National Identity. The Northern Irish see themselves as distinct from the English but connected to their compatriots in the Republic of Ireland. The Northern Irish see the British of Northern Ireland as interlopers and oppressors.

Ethnic Relations. Violent antagonism between Catholics and Protestants developed in the nineteenth century and resulted from history and religion. The influx of settlers from England and Scotland was not welcomed by the native Irish, since the newcomers were awarded the best parcels of land. At first, the minority Ulster Protestants could not dominate the Catholic majority, but after the victory of the Protestants supporting William of Orange at the Battle of the Boyne, they prevailed.

Urbanism, Architecture, and the Use of Space

Particularly in Belfast, most decisions involving public planning are made to preserve public security in the midst of "the Troubles." Many of the busiest streets in that city have control zones where only pedestrians can travel. Automobiles are not allowed in those zones to reduce the risk of car bombings. Cars that are parked in commercial parking lots are given a quick inspection for potential bombs. The boundaries that separate Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods are enforced by the police.

Graffiti and wall murals appear throughout urban areas, depicting the sentiments of Unionists and Nationalists. In the case of the Nationalists, IRA propaganda and images of men with guns tell supporters to "fight back" and state that "we will meet force with force." Catholic children learn from graffiti the strong views and potential for violence held by the Nationalists.

In a sign welcoming travelers to the County of Londonderry, Nationalists have expressed their anti-British feelings by scratching out the word "London" and identifying the county as Derry, as it is known among Catholics. At Free Derry Corner, two large murals commemorate the events of Bloody Sunday, in which thirteen people were killed and another fourteen were injured, after British soldiers opened fire during an illegal demonstration in 1972.

The Ulster Architectural Heritage Society is an organization that educates the public and lobbies for historic buildings in nine counties in Northern Ireland.

Food and Economy

Food in Daily Life. The diet is rather simple. Porridge or oatmeal often is eaten at breakfast. At midmorning, one stops for a cup of tea or coffee with cookies or biscuits. Most people eat the main meal at midday. This meal generally is meat-based, featuring beef, chicken, pork, or lamb. Fish and chips are eaten for a quick meal, and a rich soup with plenty of bread can be bought in taverns at lunchtime. Potatoes are a staple, but onions, cabbage, peas, and carrots are eaten just as frequently. Irish stew combines the chief elements of the cuisine with mutton, potatoes, and onions.

Bakeries carry a variety of breads, with brown bread and white soda bread served most often with meals. White sliced bread is called pan in Irish. Belfast's soda bread enjoys an excellent reputation; made of flour and buttermilk it is found throughout the country. In the evening, families eat a simple meal of leftovers or eggs and toast.

A drink generally means beer, either lager or stout. Guinness, brewed in Dublin, is the black beer most often drunk. Whiskey also is served in pubs, and coffee is also available.

Food Customs at Ceremonial Occasions. Food customs of the Northern Irish are not really different from the practices of the Irish in the Republic of Ireland. Christmas supper includes meat such as chicken and ham followed by plum pudding. Being a strongly Catholic country, the Friday night prohibition of meat is observed by Catholics. Since fish is permitted, the Friday evening meal generally features trout or salmon.

Basic Economy. The economy of Northern Ireland is based on agriculture and manufacturing. The agriculture sector benefits from rich farming soil. Agriculture contributes to manufacturing through processing of livestock and dairy products. Northern Ireland's principle industries are textiles, shipbuilding, and engineering.

Unequal resources and unequal opportunities resulting from colonization have created conflict. The ethnic and religious strife is really a matter of an uneven distribution of economic resources and opportunities.

Land Tenure and Property. The current distribution of land between Catholics and Protestants can be traced back to the settlement patterns of the seventeenth century. The eastern counties of Antrum and Down were settled by the Scottish because of their proximity to Scotland. The settlers who later came from the north of England got land in Monaghan. In the 1600s, the incoming Protestants took the best land for farming, leaving the Catholics with less fertile and more mountainous parcels. As a result, a majority of Protestants established roots in Antrum and Down as well as Armagh and Londonderry.

Commercial Activities. The Industrial Revolution occurred in Belfast during the twentieth century and made the country the world's major linen center and the home of two flourishing shipyards. The success of shipbuilding spawned related industries in engineering and rope making.

Major Industries. Northern Ireland, Belfast in particular, has always been an industrial center. Early in the twentieth century, the major industries were shipbuilding and rope making. The success of Belfast's industries kept it inextricably bound to Great Britain, from which it imported its raw materials. The owners and managers of most industries were Protestants, reinforcing the paternalistic relationship to England.

Trade. As much as 80 percent of external trade is with England. Textiles, in particular linen, are the major export. Grain also is exported; during the Great Famine, grain and foodstuffs were exported to England, with little done to relieve the starving Irish people.

Division of Labor. Catholics generally are excluded from skilled and semiskilled jobs in shipyards and linen mills. They historically were restricted to menial jobs on the docks, earning lower wages than the Protestants who worked in skilled jobs and management positions. Ulster Unionists tend to own businesses. Many Catholic Republicans are unemployed.

Social Stratification

Classes and Castes. The class structure renders Protestants superior in that they dominate the professional and business classes, tending to own the majority of businesses and large farms. Catholics tend to be unskilled workers or work small farms. Catholics tend to be poorer than Protestants as a result of economic inequality that often is attributed to ethnic and religious roots. The general enmity between the two groups is exacerbated by long standing prejudices. Protestants generally believe that Catholics are lazy and irresponsible. Social separation contributes to these perceptions. Protestant and Catholic families live in separate enclaves and worship separately, and their children study in segregated schools.

Irish Catholics may tend to drink, whereas Protestants are viewed as more British and puritanical. On Sundays, Catholics often engage in leisure or recreation activities after mass, while Protestants scorn Sunday leisure activities, often choosing not to garden in deference to the sabbath.

Symbols of Social Stratification. Protestants tend to comport themselves as British, members of the United Kingdom. In regard to owning land and businesses, Protestants constitute the economic, social, and political elite. Their accent and manners are in keeping with those of Great Britain. Catholics, who tend to be poorer and have larger families, speak Gaelic, although not fluently. Most Protestants belong to the Orange Order, which is dedicated to maintaining the Protestant religion and Protestant social superiority.

Political Life

Government. Northern Ireland is symbolically headed by the British monarch but it is governed by an elected parliament. The Ireland Act of 1920 established a parliament that was suspended in 1972 because of the ethnic violence. The makeup of the parliament is intended to include fifty-two delegates in the Northern Ireland House of Commons who serve five-year terms. The House selects twenty-four Senate members who serve eight-year terms. House members choose the prime minister from the political party that holds the most seats.

The judicial system is similar to that of England, in which the courts base decisions on parliamentary legislation and common law. A magistrate hears minor cases, and more serious cases are heard by the Crown Court, which is made up of a judge and jury. Any appeals go before a nine-judge court in the British House of Lords.

There is no written constitution. The three viable political options are the continuance as part of the United Kingdom, association with the Republic of Ireland, and independence. The country has the right to self-determination under the Northern Ireland Constitution Act of 1973, but unless there is a majority vote for independence or a formal alliance with Ireland, it will remain part of the United Kingdom.

Leadership and Political Officials. Each of the twenty-six districts has an elected council. Belfast and Londonderry have their own councils, which focuses on education, public works, local planning and public health. Protestants tend to hold most elected positions, and this has led to an uneven distribution of resources.

In the 1830s, the Catholic Emancipation Act allowed Catholics to seek election to the British legislature. However, Protestant leaders in Northern Ireland gerrymandered the voting districts so that the Catholics were always a minority in every district.

Social Problems and Control. Most violence results from the civil unrest between Catholics and Protestants. Bombings and individual attacks generally are motivated by the politically charged atmosphere and segregation. Nonpolitical crimes are generally based on socioeconomic inequity. Burglary and theft accounted for nearly three-quarters of all recorded crime in Northern Ireland in 1995. Between 1990 and 1995, the number of arrests for drug-related offenses more than tripled.

Military Activity. The presence of British police and military personnel is pervasive. There are police checkpoints, and citizens must carry documents routinely. The Ulster Volunteer Force is a Unionist military organization that is highly secretive and has been labeled a terrorist group since it is openly anti-Catholic. The Ulster Defense Association was a legal organization until 1991. The Royal Ulster Constabulary and the British Army are responsible for keeping the peace; the Royal Ulster Constabulary employs a special branch of army intelligence to anticipate and prevent all terrorist attacks.

The Irish National Liberation Army is composed of older, more experienced members. The Provisional Irish Republican Army is a descendant of the original IRA. In this secretive group, which is a military wing of the IRA, each member knows only the names of his immediate colleagues. The IRA has detonated bombs under cars, striking at the moment a police patrol passes. The IRA has killed twenty to thirty soldiers and police officers per year since the 1980s.

Young Nationalists are recruited for paramilitary service. First they join Fionna Eireann as a scout or recruit. To prove themselves, young initiates must participate in the beating or kneecapping of a Protestant.

The military carries out regular security patrols in Unionist and Loyalist areas on foot or in police or army vehicles. The 1974 Prevention of Terrorism Act was passed to prevent the IRA from extending its attacks to Great Britain; it authorizes detention for up to seven days for anyone seemingly engaged in terrorism in Northern Ireland, Great Britain, or the Republic of Ireland.

Social Welfare and Change Programs

Social insurance benefits exist for orphans, widows, pensioners, and persons on disability or maternity leave. The state, the employer, and the employee all contribute to the fund that provides these benefits. Health services and medicines are free to all persons with long-term illnesses. Beyond that, there are two kinds of entitlements: free health services for those who have a low income and a lower level of services for people with higher incomes.

Nongovernmental Organizations and Other Associations

Most nongovernmental organizations operating in the country, including the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Northern Ireland Assembly, are concerned with human rights and human rights violations resulting from violent attacks by the IRA and the British Army. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, which was established by the Northern Ireland Act of 1988, has the duty and power to ensure the human rights of all residents and to counter human rights violations.

Gender Roles and Statuses

Division of Labor by Gender. The position of women in the economic structure shifted during the period of direct rule, with more women entering the workforce between 1952 and 1995 as the number of jobs expanded. Typically, women work in low-paid, part-time jobs in the service sector, and even though their participation in the workforce has increased, it has remained below that of men.

The most dramatic increase in women's employment was that of married women after a constitutional revision. In 1937, the constitution reflected religious bias by stating that a working woman who married had to resign from her job. It was not until 1977 that an Employment Equality Act made that practice illegal.

The Relative Status of Men and Women. Women have become increasingly involved in the peace movement. The Northern Ireland Peace Movement, which began in 1976, allied Protestant and Catholic women who marched together through both Loyalist and Republican parts of Belfast. Two of the founders, Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for their efforts to unite Catholics and Protestants to halt the violence.

Marriage, Family, and Kinship

Marriage. Premarital chastity is valued by both religions, especially in rural areas. Young people are expected to abstain from sex until after they are married in a religious ceremony in a church. Marriages often are brokered by a matchmaker since the economic aspects of marriage require experienced calculation. In the 1920s, postfamine marriages were infrequent, with many young people abstaining from marriage; there were more single than married people in the age range of twenty-five to thirty. Farmers who had small plots of land wanted to keep it and they discouraged early marriages of their children to avoid the need to subdivide the land.

In the 1970s, marriage rates increased, but Ireland was joining the West in embracing the nuclear family model. While more marriages occurred, married couples were having smaller families. By 1977, the birthrate had declined by one-third. This trend toward nuclear families applied to both Catholics and Protestants, although Catholics still had larger families. Even after marriage, contraception, which is forbidden by the Roman Catholic Church, is not legally obtainable in much of the country.

Since the 1600s, when the Scots and English arrived, very little intermarriage between those ethnic groups and the original Irish inhabitants has occurred. However, it is said that as many as one-fifth of marriages in Belfast today are between a Catholic and a Protestant; this figure may be exaggerated.

Domestic Unit. Families tend to live together in nuclear units in government housing projects that reinforce the separation of Catholics and Protestants. Catholics get smaller, older houses, while Protestant government officials award new or upgraded dwellings to other Protestants. Catholics tend to have larger families, making their homes more crowded. The government once talked about altering family assistance to favor smaller families but decided that move would lead to charges of religious discrimination from Catholics.

Inheritance. Inheritance customs changed after the 1920s. After the famine, farmers felt betrayed by the land, and the generations of birthright to a family's land stopped. Farmers who had small plots wanted to hold on to what they had and were reluctant to subdivide their parcels to hand down to their sons.

Generally the father would give his land to one son, not necessarily the oldest. Only then could that son take a bride. Often this did not take place until the father reached the age of seventy, at which time an old age pension allowed him to bequeath his land. In the meantime, the grown children who were not going to inherit land had no place in the home and usually emigrated or looked for work as craftsmen in a neighboring town.

Parents enjoy a patriarchal status and the father claims the best chair near the fire. Historically, when parents retired and passed their land to a son, they stopped sleeping in the kitchen and moved to a smaller room in the back of the house, where they would display heirlooms and religious pictures that previously were kept in the main hearth area.

Kin Groups. Kinship is reinforced by religion, class, and socioeconomic status. Catholics feel a kinship among themselves as the minority as well as links to their coreligionists in the Republic of Ireland. Protestants associate with their British heritage and identify with their compatriots in Great Britain in terms of religion, socioeconomic status, and class. Nuclear families are the main kin group, with relatives involved as kin in the extended family. Children generally adopt the father's surname. The first name is generally a Christian name, usually the name of a saint.

Socialization

Infant Care. Infant mortality as measured in the 1926 Dublin census was high. In the 1990s the infant mortality rate fell to a level lower than that in Europe as a whole.

Child Rearing and Education. The mother raises younger children. However, when a boy makes his first communion, generally at age seven, his father rears him alongside his older brothers. Education is compulsory from ages six to fifteen. Schools are segregated, with Catholics attending parochial schools and Protestants attending public schools.

Higher Education. Queen's University in Belfast, which was founded in 1845 and originally was called Queen's College, is the most prestigious university. About eight thousand students study there, mostly in the sciences. The Union Theological College was founded in 1853. In 1968, the New University of Ulster opened in Colraine; two thousand students are enrolled. Vocational schools include the Belfast College of Technology, Ulster Polytechnic in Newtownabbey, and the Agricultural College. Assembly College, founded in 1853, is a Presbyterian training school.

Etiquette

Rules of etiquette are situational and are affected by status and class. While political conversations in pubs may be intense, political discussions occur only among friends and people with similar views. People are reluctant to discuss their political, religious, social, and economic views with outsiders.

Religion

Religious Beliefs. For Catholics, Good Friday, Easter, and Christmas are the most holy days and are observed by attending church services and spending time with the family. While Catholic-Protestant conflict has worsened in the last century, the religious and political history between the two groups goes back centuries. In 1534, King Henry VIII of England established himself the leader of a new church of Protestantism that he tried to impose in Ireland. He offered to increase the landholdings of Irish nobles who would recognize the new church. However, few of the Irish, and none in Ulster, accepted the offer. In 1541, Henry declared himself king of Ireland and outlawed monasteries. In 1547, Edward VI, his son and successor, declared Protestantism the official religion of Ireland and dispatched troops to enforce the new law. Those troops arrested Irish nobles and seized the property of those who refused to convert. Edward gave the confiscated land to the English Protestants who were settling there. Elizabeth I continued that policy and enforced Protestantism. In 1560, she was named head of the Irish Church and insisted that English, not Gaelic, be used in religious services.

Religious Practitioners. The Catholic clergy provide a link between God and the Catholic congregants. This represents a significant difference between Roman Catholics and Protestants. Catholic clergy participate in the civil rights movement in an attempt to equalize the volatile conflict. However, Protestants complain that the Catholic clergy exacerbate the situation by interfering with politics when they support Nationalist candidates and participate in demonstrations against the British Army.

Rituals and Holy Places. The headquarters of the Catholic and Protestant churches are located in Armagh. Each religion has a cathedral named for Saint Patrick, a fifth century missionary who brought Christianity to the Celts of the island.

Death and the Afterlife. Protestants believe that the Catholic Church teaches that salvation is found only in their religion, which means that the Protestants are heretics damned to eternal damnation. Catholics killed in "the Troubles" are venerated as martyrs.

Medicine and Health Care

A national health care program was started in the 1950s. The Department of Health and Social Services administers the health care system by using tax revenues. Many services are free, such as hospitalization and maternity coverage.

Secular Celebrations

Saint Patrick's Day is the most widely celebrated secular holiday and is characterized by vigorous parades. New Year's Day is celebrated on 1 January. The controversial annual pride parade of the Orange Order is held on Orange Day on 12 July to celebrate and commemorate the victory of Prince William of Orange over King James II. This Protestant organization had about ninety thousand members in the 1990s. The public parade and celebration evoke tension in Belfast, often provoking Nationalists to violence.

The Arts and Humanities

Support for the Arts. Since the partition of Ireland is artificial, there is no real distinction between the two cultures.

Established in 1962, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland is the prime distributor of public support for the arts. Its mission is to develop and improve the knowledge, appreciation, and practice of the arts; to increase public access to and participation in the arts; and to encourage and assist artists.

Literature. Most Irish literature has been written by authors in and around Dublin. However, Northern Ireland produced the Nobel Prize-winning poet, Seamus Heaney, who has published many collections of poems. His career parallels the violent political struggles of his homeland, but he is fascinated primarily by the earth and the history embedded there. His verse incorporates Gaelic expressions as he explores the themes of nature, love, and mythology. His poems use images of death and dying, and he has written elegiac poems to friends and family members lost to "the Troubles." Northern Ireland is also the birthplace of C. Day Lewis, who wrote novels and verse and taught and translated classical literature. Lewis was named poet laureate of the United Kingdom in 1970.

Graphic Arts. Celtic designs can be seen in artistic and everyday images. The Celtic influence appears in the lettering on shop signs, letterheads, jewelry, and tombstones.

Performance Arts. Irish music incorporates fiddles, bagpipes, drums, flutes, and harps. Folk music is performed in pubs and parades. The Ulster National Orchestra in Belfast and the Philharmonic Society are the leading classical musical groups. Traditional Irish music has grown very popular outside the country in the last decade.

The State of the Physical and Social Sciences

Queen's University has a strong reputation in the sciences. Many of the eight thousand members of the student body receive undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in agriculture, food science, and horticulture. The university has research programs in livestock production and crop and grass production as well as food quality and processing to improve the competitiveness of the beef, sheep, and pig livestock sectors.

Bibliography

Barritt, Denis P., and Charles F. Carter. The Northern Ireland Problems: A Study in Group Relations, 2nd ed., 1972.

Boyle, Kevin, and Tom Hadden. Northern Ireland: The Choice, 1994.

Brown, Terence. Ireland: A Social and Cultural History, 1922 to the Present, 1985.

Buckland, Patrick. A History of Northern Ireland, 1981.

Callaghan, James. A House Divided: The Dilemma of Northern Ireland, 1973.

Coogan, Tim Pat. The Troubles: Ireland's Ordeal 1966–1996 and the Search for Peace, 1997.

Darby, John, ed. Northern Ireland: The Background to the Conflict, 1983.

Finnegan, Richard B. Ireland: The Challenge of Conflict and Change, 1983.

Harkness, David. Ireland in the Twentieth Century: Divided Island, 1996.

Hennessey, Thomas. A History of Northern Ireland 1920–1996, 1997.

Hughes, Michael. Ireland Divided: The Roots of the Modern Irish Problem, 1994.

Mullan, Don. Bloody Sunday: Massacre in Northern Ireland, 1997.

Murphy, John A. Ireland in the Twentieth Century, 1975.

Murray, John, Sean Sheehan, and Tony Wheeler. Ireland: A Travel Survival Kit, 1994.

Robertson, Ian. Blue Guide: Ireland, 1992.

Ruane, Joseph, and Jennifer Todd. The Dynamics of Conflict in Northern Ireland: Power, Conflict and Emancipation, 1996.

See, Katherine O'Sullivan. First World Nationalisms: Class and Ethnic Politics in Northern Ireland and Quebec, 1986.

Shivers, Lynne, and David Bowman. More Than the Troubles: A Common Sense View of the Northern Ireland Conflict, 1984.

Taylor, Peter. Loyalists: War and Peace in Northern Ireland, 1999.

—S. B. Downey

See Also: United Kingdom

Northern Ireland see Ireland, Northern .

Ireland, Northern See NORTHERN IRELAND.

Ireland, Northern see Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland, UK See Ulster.

Northern Ireland See Ireland