What are the main differences between the beliefs of the republicans/ nationalists and the loyalists/ unionists?
...rence is that they want to do this but not as a part of the Irish Republic. Firstly I will state the difference between the political beliefs. The unionists are generally Protestants and the nationalists are generally Catholics, this straight away is showing a barrier between the two groups of people. The Protestants believe that if they form a union with Britain then it will help them economically but on the other hand the Catholics do not want this to happen. Also the Protestants think that if there was a united Ireland then they would be discriminated against. At the moment the Protestants own most of the industries in Northern Ireland. They believe that if Ireland became united then Catholics from the rest of Ireland would out number the Protestants and take all of their jobs and housing. At the moment Catholics are being discriminated against by the Protestants as the Catholics have the smallest homes, the cheapest foods and waters, and the cheapest clothes whereas the Protestants enjoy all of their luxuries. The SDLP try to campaign for equal rights for the Catholics but this is not succeeding. The SDLP use peaceful methods to get their point across; they do things such as hold parades and charities. Whereas the IRA use violent methods to get what they want. This has a higher percentage factor of working but devastates some of Ireland in the process. Another group is involved to try and help the Catholics this is called the ‘Loyal Orange Party’ this group do marches in the summer, charities and community work. This group is very influential in Northern Ireland. The Ulster unionist party is also completely against violence like the SDLP but it also only represents unionist views. The Catholic Church insisted on maintaining independent schools in Northern Ireland. They do not want Catholics and Protestants going to school together. The government of Northern Ireland and Great Britain use this as an excuse to offer no financial support for catholic schools. When you contrast catholic schools and protestant schools the catholic schools are seriously under funded in comparison. To add to the problem between the Catholics and the Protestants there was an unfair election system. In 1961 out of 52 councillors, 35 were protestant unionist councillors. This is an unfair advantage to the Protestants over the Catholics. Also 19.3% of Catholic housing in Northern Ireland had no water supply and 22.6% had no flush toilets. The Catholics are living in poverty. Understandably this makes Catholics frustrated and angry that because of who they are they have to live in this state. The Protestants had all of the major jobs leaving only the jobs in the workhouses for the Catholics and also then if the Catholics were to take these jobs they would have to work under the command of a Protestant. As well as the political problems betwee...