A map of Northern Ireland districts colour coded according to the difference between the percentage of people stating they were British and the percentage of people stating they were Irish in the 2011 census. Date 14 November 2014. Author: SkateTier.
Northern Ireland: A 1976 BBC Panorama report looking at British Army operations in the south of County Armagh. Ending with an interview with then Prime Minister Harold Wilson.
Overview[]
To explain the troubles of Ireland in the 1960s you have to go back to the 1790s.
The Irish rebellion of 1798[]
The Irish rebellion of 1798 happened when Ireland wanted independence from the united kingdom. It unsurprisingly ended with a British victory. For Several reasons but one of them might've been was that not everyone in the island of Ireland wanted to leave. Most of the island wanted independence, were mostly catholic, and identified as Irish, they were known as nationalists but in the northeast it was quite different. There people were mostly protestant, identified as British, and wanted to be part of the united kingdom, they were called unionists.
the border in the 1920s[]
The united kingdom made a border finally using that data to make a border where the nationalist parts gained independence but the unionists stayed. Even with this border, Ireland and the UK continued to be hostile. Custom checks were at the border, the countries turned into a trade war. tariffs were put on agriculture, and other goods. By the 1960s things turned violent.
the troubles of the 1960s[]
"violence like this hit northern Ireland after years of simmering bitterness between the Catholic minority and the ruling protestant regime."
In northern Ireland many extremist groups attacked each other. nationalist extremist groups like the Irish republican army believed that northern Ireland was Irish. Unionist extremist groups fought back defended northern Ireland's place in the UK. They Both engaged in violence, burning buildings, car-bombs, street fighting, etc.
There were several attacks at the border. the UK also put a strict wall and checkpoints between the border. it decreased but it lasted until 1997. When They made peace where they said northern Ireland would be British, but people there could apply for both British and Irish citizenship.