trobles in N.I
...en NICRA was formed, many unionists believed that it was a front for the IRA, who wanted a united Ireland. Although this was not strictly true, many Protestants were afraid of the civil rights movement. Basil Brooke explained that unionists believe everything they did to control Catholics was out of self-defence. When British troops were sent into Ireland many Catholics rejoiced: they believed the army would be a fairer police force than the RUC. However, the army soon began to get tough. They policed Catholic areas as if it were a huge military operation, raiding houses whilst searching for artillery belonging to the IRA. The alienated Catholic community began to see the British army as another weapon the unionist government could use against them. However, it was the introduction of internment in 1971 which sparked the biggest increase in bitterness between Catholics and Protestants. It also sparked one of the most horrific events in human history: Bloody Sunday. It was on 30th January 1972 in Londonderry when 13 civilians were massacred by British soldiers during a civil rights march. All were apparantly unarmed, and an investigation into the incident blamed the soldiers, accusing them of 'reckless behaviour'. Despite this, no further action was taken against the soldiers. This caused outrage and disgust for people throughout the world. Today the civil rights issue has been addressed by the 'Good Friday Agreement'. It has various clauses to help ensure that no sections of the community are treated unfairly, but how effective is it? Elections are prevented from being fixed using proportional representation. This helps to ensure that minority groups are represented in government. This does not seem to cause a problem any longer. The issue of policing however, is a different matter. Catholics in Northern Ireland have protested about their abuse from the RUC very passionately for years. The Good Friday Agreement states that in order to stop this from happening in the future, the RUC will be reformed. Unfortunately, many unionists disagree with this, believing that the RUC is the only bulwark (barricade) against the IRA. They believe that if the RUC is made softer to help Catholics they are at risk of terrorism. This has caused much friction between Nationalists and Unionists over how biased or sympathetic the police force should be. The main thing which still causes problems is 'Bloody Sunday'. As the mystery remains unsolved as to why 14 seemingly harmless men were shot dead, Catholics will blame Protestants and Protestants will blame Catholics. In 1998 Tony Blair announced a new enquiry into Bloody Sunday, attempting to relieve the tension caused by it. However, until it is resolved once and for all, the scars caused by Bloody Sunday cannot heal. Question 3: Previous Attempts to Bring Peace to Northern Ireland Have Failed. What Problems Will Need To Be Overcome if The Current Peace Talks Are To Succeed? The amount of violence in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s rose to a terrible and unacceptable level. After the tension caused by Bloody Sunday, the British government decided to introduce Direct Rule in March 1972. This meant that a British government minister, The Northern Ireland Secretary, controlled Northern Ireland. This was intended as a temporary measure, and ever si...