What you need to know about the issues (2023)

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During theFirst World WarOn April 24, 1916, Irish Republicans seized notable buildings in Dublin and proclaimed the Irish Republic in what became known as the Easter Rising. The British army clashed with rebels in the streets of Dublin and buildings in the city centre, including the General Post Office, were all but destroyed by British artillery. The uprising was crushed within a week. More than 2,000 people, including civilians, were killed or wounded.

The British response to the rebellion, which included the execution of 15 of its leaders and a long period of martial law, furthered support for the republican cause in Ireland.

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In 1919, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) launched a guerrilla campaign against the British army and loyalist forces. After more than two years of conflict, the Government of Ireland Act was passed in May 1921, dividing Ireland in two. A ceasefire followed in July. The Act brought 6 counties together to form the self-governing region of Northern Ireland, the majority of whose population was Loyalist and Protestant.

The Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921 formally ended the Irish War of Independence. The treaty also provided for the creation of the Irish Free State in southern Ireland. The Irish Free State was intended to exist as a dominion within the British Empire, but this changed in 1949 when Ireland officially became a republic.

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The Catholic minority in Northern Ireland was more economically and politically disadvantaged compared to the Protestant community.

Tensions spilled over in August 1969 during the annual march of the Apprentice Boys of Derry. The march's route passed through the predominantly Catholic Bogside area of ​​Derry. Attempts by the Royal Ulster Constabulary to separate residents from the protesters sparked two days of rioting. The event became known as the Battle of Bogside and caused riots across Northern Ireland. The British Army was deployed to restore order.

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During the 1960s and early 1970s, paramilitary organizations grew in membership. One group broke away from the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and formed the Provisional IRA. Loyalist paramilitaries such as the Ulster Defense Association (UDA) and the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) also increased in number.

As violent attacks and bombings became more frequent, the British Army erected "walls of peace" to separate the two communities.

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The second half of the 1970s and 1980s was marked by assassinations and terrorist attacksloyalist and republican paramilitaryThe group.

Loyalist action was largely centered in Ireland. The Ulster Volunteer Force and the Ulster Defense Association carried out shootings at Catholic civilians and bombed bars and pubs in Belfast. The Dublin and Monaghan bombings of May 1974, in which two car bombs were detonated in Dublin and one in Monaghan, killed 33 civilians - the greatest death toll of any single action by The Troubles. The UVF only confessed to the crime in 1993.

The Provisional IRA also carried out most of its attacks in Northern Ireland. In 1972, nine people were killed in a series of bombings in Belfast. The attacks were carried out in response to Bloody Sunday and became known as Bloody Friday. The Provisional IRA also carried out several high-profile attacks in England. The 1974 Birmingham pub bombings killed 21 civilians, the highest death toll in England during The Troubles. Targets included London department stores such as Selfridges and Harrods, and public buildings such as the Old Bailey (1973) and the Houses of Parliament (1974). In 1982, 11 soldiers and 7 horses were killed when bombs detonated in Hyde Park during the changing of the guard and during a concert in Regents Park. In 1984 a bomb targeted the Grand Hotel in Brighton at the Conservative Party Conference, killing five people.

One of the most prominent victims of IRA attacks was Lord Louis Mountbatten, a cousin of the Queen. In August 1979, Mountbatten was among the dead in County Sligo, Ireland, when a bomb was planted on his fishing boat.

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Despite ongoing violence, negotiations between political parties in Northern Ireland and between the British and Irish governments had begun by the early 1990s. theDowning Street statementof 1993 was signed by Prime Minister John Major and Taoiseach Albert Reynolds. The declaration established important principles, including that unification of Ireland could only take place with the consent of a majority of the people of Northern Ireland and that only Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland had the right to settle their differences. The statement was endorsed by Republican Party Sinn Fein, the political wing of the Provisional IRA.

By 1997 both the Provisional IRA and the loyalist paramilitaries had declared ceasefires and the majority of the main parties in Northern Ireland were seated at the negotiating table.

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DieGood Friday Agreementwas signed on April 10, 1998. It was the culmination of talks between trade union parties, the political wings of the UVF and UDA, Sinn Féin and the UK government. The agreement created a plan for a power-sharing Northern Ireland Assembly and outlined plans for future relations between Ireland and Great Britain. It was approved by a referendum in Northern Ireland and Ireland the following month. Elections were held in June and she formally assumed power in December 1999.

The Good Friday Agreement can be described as the end of The Troubles.

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The 1997 ceasefire led to a split in the IRA. Those who opposed the truce broke up and formed The Real IRA.

In August 1998, four months after the Good Friday Agreement, The Real IRA carried out the deadliest attack since The Troubles began. At least 29 people were killed and several hundred injured in a car bomb blast in Omagh, an event condemned by Sinn Féin and the IRA.

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