The only way to beat the British Monarch is to
refuse its existence and believe that the Irish
Republic is real and alive. Now, if I die, who
will take my place? These powerful words were said
by an Irish martyr, Michael Collins, whos
unyielding determination as a Nationalist and a
Catholic served as inspiration to continue in the
struggle that the province of Northern Ireland is
still engaged in today. But, from where did this
all originate, what steps have been taken towards
peace and why is Northern Ireland so reluctant to
be ruled by England? The history of the troubles
that haunt Northern Ireland are not due to any one
particular incident but rather a series of
incidents beginning back when the island of
Ireland was conquered by the Anglo-Normans troops
in the late 12th century. English rulers then
tried to colonize the island by any means
possible, making enemies out of the Irish.
Throughout history England has ruled Ireland. A
drastic change took place in 1921, when the
country was divided. Northern Ireland remained
part of the UK, while the remainder of the country
became the Republic of Ireland.

The English
progressed into Ulster Country with hopes of
colonizing it. However, a clash of cultures
erupted due to the animosity that Ireland, as a
whole wanted to be the Republic of Ireland. The
Irish Republic Army fought in hopes of driving the
Protestant British out of Catholic Ireland and
they only secured 26 out of 32 counties. The
desire to drive the British out inspired rebellion
on the behalf of the Irish Catholics. They were
the domination of Ireland, and now being
discriminated against on their own land. They were
punished and taxed due to their behavior.

They
wanted to keep their culture; sacred, their
religion; majority and their home, home. From a
political standpoint this is a conflict of the
Unionists and the Nationalists. The Unionists
(Protestant) who believe in maintaining Northern
Irelands political union with Great Britain. (Path
to Peace) While the Nationalists (Catholic) were
exiles from the Irish nation; in their exclusion
they clung to their religion as a mark of cultural
identity; politically; they dealt with the
Northern Ireland State by ignoring it.(4 Holland)
In 1968, a civil rights movement in Londonderry
which bore striking resemblance to the civil
rights act in the US targeting discrimination
against Blacks. As Blacks were treated as
second-rate citizens in the US, Catholics were
finding similar discriminations in Northern
Ireland. The campaign for social justice wrote to
the members of Parliament in the House of Commons
regarding the current issues.

The Prime Minister
of Northern Ireland, Captain Terence O’Neill
reforms in electoral law and public housing. What
started off as a fundamental desire for equality
transformed into marches, protests and
uncontrollable riots broke out in the streets of
Derry. As a result of the rebellion, the
parliament found it within their best interest to
set up troops in Northern Ireland to maintain
order. A hasty witch-hunt erupted in 1971, known
as internment. Brian Faulkner (Prime Minister)
decided to activate the Special Powers Act and
impose this internment, targeting activist. The
British were given permission where they had
probable cause that someone was an activist, they
would be arrested and accused without conviction.
The British took in hundreds of people.

The result
of the internment was more violence breaking out.
A massive campaign grew in opposition to the
internment. On Sunday 30th January 1972, in
defiance of a government ban, a large
anti-internment march began in Creggan. This is
known all-to-familiarly to Irishmen as Bloody
Sunday British paratroopers shot dead 14 unarmed
men, who were later falsely accused of being armed
as the justification of their death. These men
were marching in a peaceful assembly. The
causalities of this event directed new law
enforcement. Stormont, as the Northern Irish
government and parliament were known, was
suspended and direct rule from London was
introduced by the British Prime Minister, Ted
Heath.

Later, The period of the military
cease-fires did result in a number of changes in
policing. For example, some RUC patrols in
nationalist areas which were usually accompanied
by military escorts, now patrolled alone.(Rose 56)
In 1984 the Sunningdale Agreement was produced by
the British describing the new approach to how
Northern Ireland would be governed. They had
decided that the Nationalists and the Unionists
would share power. Faulker agreed to the
compromising circumstances, despite his strict
Unionist beliefs. Many, left the Unionist to
develop their own branch of the Unionist group
known as: the Vanguard Unionist Progressive Group
due to fear of the separation of the union. Around
this time started a series of strikes; a number of
hunger strikes, the dirty and no-wash protest,
then the blanket protest were all caused due to
the lack of severity that the Northern Irish
prisons took from the Republican prisoners seeking
political recognition like that they have
possesses since 1976.

The Anglo-Irish Agreement
was signed to iron-out the issues that the
Republicans as well as other groups had.
Taoiseach, the Irish Prime Minister, Garret
FitzGerald and British Prime Minister Margaret
Thatcher on 15 November 1985 at Hillsborough, the
former residence of the Governor General of
Northern Ireland. The Agreement consists of
thirteen articles dealing with the status of
Northern Ireland the political, security and legal
matters, cross-border co-operation relations. The
Agreement recognized that Northern Ireland’s
constitutional status within the United Kingdom
could not change without the consent of the
majority of its citizens and gave the Irish
government a consultative role in the affairs of
Northern Ireland. (Hollard 186) In the
mid-nineties, the Good Friday Agreement was born
bringing order to such concerns such as:
constitutional issues, British and Irish
intergovernmental issues, rights and equality,
security, policy making and prisoners. This
agreement was between the governments of Great
Britain, Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom
to settle the differences and create peace. This
conflict of the Unionists and the Nationalists has
haunted Northern Ireland for quite some time.

Is
it possible that the fighting will end and that
peace will prevail? Its an age-old conflict of
Landlords (England) and tenants (N. Ireland) and
the problems that come when ownership, government
and a clash of culture. The path to peace is only
long as compromise falls short..

Research essay sample on A Histroy Of The Troubles In Northern Ireland