BETWEEN TERROR AND PARLIAMENTARY RULE

Northern Ireland is an integral part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, located in the northeast of the island of Ireland. The name Ulster is quite often used, since Northern Ireland occupies a large part of the territory of this historical province of Ireland. 

Roots 

The population of Northern Ireland is about 1.5 million people, half of whom live in the towns. The largest town is Belfast, followed by Londonderry, or Derry. About three fifths of the population of Northern Ireland are Protestant, and over two fifths are Catholic. The latter make up the majority of the population in Londonderry and the counties of Fermanagh and Tyrone. The current population still reflects the aftermath of the way in which Ireland was settled by the English and the Scots in the 17th century. This campaign was carried out under the English policy of colonization: the land was taken away from the Irish landowners and handed to the English and Scottish settlers. 

Following the suppression of a powerful uprising headed by members of the large feudal nobility made up of ethnic Irish in 1609, the first colonizers of Ulster appeared: the invaders from England and Scotland received land from the landowners who had been expelled and destroyed. These people had nothing in common with the Irish linguistic and cultural tradition, and their adherence to the metropolis was marked by their their Protestant faith, which implied a different set of ethics, way of life and system of values to those of the Irish Catholics. 

An important landmark in the emergence of "Protestant" consciousness in Ulster was provided by the military victories in 1690-91 by the Protestant English King William of Orange over his rival - the Scottish King James, a Catholic by faith, who had landed in Ireland with the intention of gathering together a Catholic army from among the local population and using it in the struggle for the British throne. A consequence of the final suppression of the Irish unrest was the passing of the so-called "punitive laws", which prohibited the Irish from owning property, land and arms, and from trading, attending school and, the main thing, from espousing the Catholic faith which was inimical to the English. 

The majority of the Protestants favour a continuation of the union of Northern Ireland with the United Kingdom, while the Catholics prefer unification with the Republic of Ireland. Religious beliefs are almost entirely identified with political views and reflect a deep rift in society. 

Politics and politicians 

From 1920 Northern Ireland was governed in line with the the Government of Ireland Act. The act provided for a substantial degree of autonomy for the Northern Ireland parliament, leaving to the British parliament issues such as defence, foreign policy, provision for the royal family, navigation, the postal service, the supreme judiciary and certain taxes. 

But in 1972 the British government dissolved the Northern Ireland parliament. Legislative power passed to the British parliament, and executive power to the secretary of state for Northern Ireland, who was a member of the cabinet. In 1975 a constitutional convention was elected, dissolved in 1976, and in 1982 a constitutional assembly, which was dissolved in 1986. Throughout this period a system of direct rule continued to operate. This situation prevailed until 2000. 

The terrorist war of the 1970s and 1980s was played out against the backdrop of a rise in national consciousness on the part of the Catholics and Protestants as representatives of the Irish and English nations, and was accompanied by growing interest in the corresponding traditions and language, which was boosted by the growing vigour of the extreme nationalist parties: Sinn Fein among the Catholics and the Ulster Democratic Party among the Protestants. Only in the mid-1990s did a turning point become apparent in society, linked with a growth in influence both among the Protestants and the Catholics of moderate parties, openly declaring the priority of economic and social issues. 

An improvement in the living conditions of Catholics, the freeing of Irish political prisoners and a ban on radical paramilitary organizations on both sides made it possible to revoke direct rule from England. A coalition Protestant-Catholic government was created along with a joint parliament and a single Northern Ireland Assembly, in which the leading parties of both communities in the province - Catholics and Protestants - were represented. At the same time the mass-supported and most influential paramilitary organizations on both sides declared a ceasefire. 

Who's who 

The most influential political party in Northern Ireland was for a long time the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), which consists mainly of Protestants, supports the union with the United Kingdom and is linked to the British Conservative Party. The Unionists disintegrated into several factions in the 1970s, the most important of which are the Ulster Unionist Party and the more radical Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). The DUP has in recent years substantially reinforced its standing and seized the leadership from the UUP. 

Opposition to the union with Great Britain among the Catholic community is represented primarily by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) - an underground movement for which Sinn Fein acts as its political wing. Sinn Fein is currently the leading political force among the Catholic minority in Ulster and consistently stands for the region's unification with Ireland. 

The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), which favours the unification of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland through popular consent, is currently the second leading political organization of the Catholic minority. 

The Alliance Party is a moderate centrist party which supports the union with Great Britain and opposes Catholic and Protestant extremism.

"Good Friday Agreement" 

After coming to power in 1997, the Labour Party permitted contacts between government officials and members of the Sinn Fein leadership, which in response declared a ceasefire. In April 1998 talks between the government and the parties of Northern Ireland resulted in the achievement of the historic "Good Friday Agreement", which opened the way for the restoration of self-rule in Northern Ireland. The main contribution to this event was made by David Trimble, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, and John Hume, leader of the moderate nationalist party. They were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of their services. The agreement made provision for the following: 

1. any change to the status of Northern Ireland can only be made with the consent of the people living there;

2. a commitment on the part of the Republic of Ireland to revoke its constitutional claim to sovereignty over the entire island;

3. devolution, that is, a partial transfer of power and administrative functions from London to Belfast (capital of the province), as part of which a regional assembly was created in Northern Ireland (local parliament) with broad powers, along with a government in which ministerial posts were allocated among the political forces representing the two main communities - Protestant and Catholic - depending on the political weight of the parties in society (the percentage of votes received in elections served as the criteria here); 

4. the creation of a North-South ministerial council to develop cooperation between Belfast and Dublin, and also a British-Irish council;

5. the freeing of "political" prisoners, and also the disarmament of the paramilitaries, primarily the IRA.

It is important to stress that this agreement formed part of a number of serious changes which soon took place in the state system of Great Britain. So-called devolution was carried out in Scotland and Wales, a partial transfer of power to local authorities, or decentralization. Since 1999 the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly have been operating in Edinburgh and Cardiff respectively. The possibility of creating assemblies in the regions of England itself is currently also under discussion. 

But the differences between the unionists and the nationalists soon became inflamed again. The first minister and leader of the UUP, David Trimble, resigned from his post because of the reluctance of the IRA to carry out real disarmament, in spite of a plan for weapons decommissioning approved by the IRA leaders, thereby triggering a political crisis. The political forces of Ulster were simply unable to agree on the beginning of joint rule of the region or to conduct within the specified timescale - by 12th August - election of a new first minister in the supreme legislative body. The situation was also made worse by the fact that moderate forces both on the Protestant side and the Catholic lost their leading positions to more radical forces during elections to the regional parliament - the DUP and Sinn Fein respectively. As a result the British government suspended the Northern Ireland Assembly on 10th August 2001. And in the autumn of 2002 there occurred an event which paralysed parliamentary life in Northern Ireland for many years to come - right up to the present day. On 14th October the work of the Assembly, which is simultaneously the legislative and executive authority in Northern Ireland, was suspended following accusations against the IRA of espionage inside the Northern Ireland government. Since then London has been exercising direct rule in Northern Ireland.