[65], For its first fifty years, Northern Ireland had an unbroken series of Ulster Unionist Party governments. In 1607, the rebellion's leaders fled to mainland Europe alongside much of Ulster's Gaelic nobility. [46], By the end of the war (during which the 1916 Easter Rising had taken place), most Irish nationalists now wanted full independence rather than home rule. The six counties of Antrim, Down, Armagh, Londonderry, Tyrone and Fermanagh comprised the maximum area unionists believed they could dominate,[48] The area that was to become Northern Ireland included counties Fermanagh and Tyrone, even though they had nationalist majorities in the 1918 Irish general election. [150] At the 2011 census, 41.5% of the population identified as Protestant/other Christian, 41% as Roman Catholic, 0.8% as other religions, while 17% identified with no religion or did not state one. But in the north, their rebellion was regarded as a profound act of betrayal against Great Britain in its time of desperate need, and it heightened the resolve of protestantswho, of course, had been deeply loyal to the United Kingdom during World War Inot to be drawn into a united and independent Ireland. The First World War led to bitter resentment against Irish republicanism in both Britain and Ulster and it made reconciliation between Irelands Catholic and Protestant communities impossible in the aftermath of the war. The Bogsiders saw the Apprentice Boys parade as a direct provocation and prepared for a violent confrontation, barricading streets and readying Molotov cocktails. Catholic vs Protestant: The Troubles of Northern Ireland Episode 1 youth This segment comes from Episode 1: War + Peace. Of the province's 50 worst areas in terms of educational deprivation, 37 are in Belfast, with Neet rates running at between 10% and 17% of late teens in some parts of the city. Northern Ireland consists of six historic counties: County Antrim, County Armagh, County Down, County Fermanagh, County Londonderry,[b] and County Tyrone. [78] From 1967 to 1972 the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA), which modelled itself on the US civil rights movement, led a campaign of civil resistance to anti-Catholic discrimination in housing, employment, policing, and electoral procedures. And the Irish problem arose over the course of the modern period because, in the post-Enlightenment period in the 19th century, there was an intensification of Irelands Catholic identity, especially after the famine, and a deepening of Catholicism and of Irish consciousness and Irish political identity. the 1921 Irish elections were held on 24 May, in which unionists won most seats in the Northern Ireland parliament. The body of statute law affecting Northern Ireland reflects the history of Northern Ireland, including Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the former Parliament of Northern Ireland and the Parliament of Ireland, along with some Acts of the Parliament of England and of the Parliament of Great Britain that were extended to Ireland under Poynings' Law between 1494 and 1782. What was intended as a temporary solution in the face of unrest, violence, and rebellion is still in effect a . They uphold the integrity and commitment to quality education delivered within an ethos that supports the mission of the Church. Meanwhile, theres also something calling itself the new IRA, a successor to the Irish Republican Army that emerged during the War of Independence. Working class areas in the north and east of the city were particularly hard hit, and over 1,000 people were killed and hundreds were seriously injured. NIFL clubs are semi-professional or Intermediate.NIFL Premiership clubs are also eligible to compete in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League with the league champions entering the Champions league second qualifying round and the 2nd placed league finisher, the European play-off winners and the Irish Cup winners entering the Europa League second qualifying round. Not all Protestants are unionists, and not all Catholics are nationalist. Tens of thousands of people fled the city in fear of future attacks. It was the hottest day of the year for England, Wales and Northern Ireland this Saturday, just days ahead of King Charles' Coronation. The UK Government and UK Parliament are responsible for reserved and excepted matters. It can arouse irritation, particularly among nationalists, for whom the title province is properly reserved for the traditional province of Ulster, of which Northern Ireland comprises six out of nine counties. [175] It was spoken predominantly throughout what is now Northern Ireland before the Ulster Plantations in the 17th century and most place names in Northern Ireland are anglicised versions of a Gaelic name. In September 1912, more than 500,000 unionists signed the Ulster Covenant, pledging to oppose Home Rule by any means and to defy any Irish government. The nature of these political events in the region, and the history of . Northern Ireland's education system is divided between selective grammar schools, which choose the children that perform best in exams at the end of primary school, and schools that are open to all. [122] The New York Times has also used "the North".[123]. Some words and phrases are shared with Scots Gaelic, and the dialects of east Ulster those of Rathlin Island and the Glens of Antrim were very similar to the dialect of Argyll, the part of Scotland nearest to Ireland. On August 14, the overwhelmed prime minister of Northern Ireland called on the British government to send in troops to restore order. Approximately 57.5% of the total electorate voted in support, but only 1% of Catholics voted following a boycott organised by the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). The large-scale Catholic migration to the largely Ulster Protestant Belfast led to sectarian rioting across the city, with the Falls and Shankill areas often finding themselves at the centre of the conflict. He ruled from Emain Macha (now Navan Fort near Armagh), and had a fierce rivalry with queen Medb and king Ailill of Connacht and their ally, Fergus mac Rich, former king of Ulster. There are approximately 100 such barriers, known as "peace walls," found across Northern Ireland in places where Catholics and Protestants live in close proximity so-called "interface areas." These barriers are both a poignant reminder of the conflict and an integral part of peoples' lives and sense of safety. There is often tension when these activities take place near Catholic neighbourhoods, which sometimes leads to violence.[190]. The nationalist activists wanted to draw attention to discriminatory housing policies that resulted in de facto segregation along sectarian and religious lines. These figures were largely unchanged from the 1998 results.[164][165]. The largest course and the only Motor Sports Association-licensed track for UK-wide competition is Kirkistown Circuit.[214]. This is where I start on the topic of Irish partition in my course. Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, 1999; Module:Community Relations, Variable:IRISH, Demographics and politics of Northern Ireland, "L219252024 Public Attitudes to Devolution and National Identity in Northern Ireland", "Chapter 7 > A changed Irish nationalism? There was a major munitions strike in 1944.[73]. The Troubles came to an end, at least officially, with the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, which created a framework for political power-sharing and an end to decades of violence. Belfast is the most diverse local government district (7.1%) followed by Mid Ulster (4%) and Lisburn and Castlereagh (3.9%). The UK's submission to the 2007 United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names defines the UK as being made up of two countries (England and Scotland), one principality (Wales) and one province (Northern Ireland). In addition, the upper house of the UK parliament, the House of Lords, currently has some 25 appointed members from Northern Ireland. The cycle centres on the reign of Conchobar mac Nessa, who is said to have been the king of Ulster around the 1st century. A Northern Irish unionist clashes with police in Belfast in April 2021 near a peace wall separating the nationalist and loyalist communities. In the context of institutional discrimination, the 18th century saw secret, militant societies develop in Ulster and act on sectarian tensions in violent attacks. Integrated schools try to balance the proportion of pupils from each 'community' they admit, aiming for at least 40% Catholic and at least 40% non-Catholic Christian (i.e. 356 species of marine algae have been recorded in the northeast of Ireland. According to the 2011 Census, out of 1.8 million inhabitants, 40.76 per cent stated their religion as Roman Catholics, 19.06 per cent as Presbyterians, 13.74 per cent as Church of Ireland, 3 per cent as Methodists, 5.76 per cent were from other primarily Protestant denominations, 0.82 per cent other religions, 10.11 per cent no religions and 6.75 per cent did not state any religion. The only preserved line of this gauge on the island is the Downpatrick and County Down Railway, which operates heritage steam and diesel locomotives. What is the main language spoken in your own home? This is the main cause of the recent surge in unionist protest in Belfast. As a consequence of the worsening security situation, the autonomous regional government for Northern Ireland was suspended in 1972. Disagreement on names, and the reading of political symbolism into the use or non-use of a word, also attaches itself to some urban centres. Supporters of unionism in the British media (notably The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Express) regularly call Northern Ireland "Ulster". However, in the 19th century, the language was seen as a common heritage, with Ulster Protestants playing a leading role in the Gaelic revival. The Protestant population is older and passing away and has dropped to 42%. The Government of Ireland Act was designed to create two separate Home Rule territories, both of which would remain in the United Kingdoma Northern Ireland and a Southern Irelandthat would both be quasi-autonomous, self-governing entities of the United Kingdom. The Republic is an independent nation covering a little more than 80% of the island. There's been two catholics shot dead in recent weeks. The RUC and the reserve Ulster Special Constabulary (USC) were militarized police forces due to the perceived threat of militant republicanism. [110] Authors writing specifically about Northern Ireland dismiss the idea that Northern Ireland is a "country" in general terms,[12][14][111] and draw contrasts in this respect with England, Scotland and Wales. The full line-up of candidates standing in May's local government election has been confirmed. [1] English is a de facto official language. In the 1918 Irish general election, the pro-independence Sinn Fin party won the overwhelming majority of Irish seats. (National Library of Ireland on The Commons @ Flickr Commons). It decided that two devolved governments should be establishedone for the nine counties of Ulster and one for the rest of Irelandtogether with a Council of Ireland for the "encouragement of Irish unity". There are a lot of reasons that still make me think Ireland will eventually reunite. As in all of the UK, the economy of Northern Ireland was negatively impacted by the lockdowns and travel restrictions necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Main railway lines linking to and from Belfast Great Victoria Street railway station and Lanyon Place railway station are: The cross-border road connecting the ports of Larne in Northern Ireland and Rosslare Harbour in the Republic of Ireland is being upgraded as part of an EU-funded scheme. Also in north Antrim are the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, Mussenden Temple and the Glens of Antrim. Both the national flag and the national anthem of present-day Ireland drive origins directly from the Rising. The police charged the protestors and simultaneously cut off their retreat. The Government of Ireland Bill 1886 and Government of Ireland Bill 1893 were defeated. At first, it still appeared as if the revolutionaries would take over the old symbols because on the roof of their headquarters, the Dublin General Post Office, a green flag with the harp was hoisted next to the republican tricolour although with the inscription 'Irish Republic'. Northern Ireland is served by three airports Belfast International near Antrim, George Best Belfast City integrated into the railway network at Sydenham in East Belfast, and City of Derry in County Londonderry. The BBC has two regional radio stations which broadcast in Northern Ireland, BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio Foyle. The tourism and hospitality industry was particularly hard hit. A lower level of recognition was accorded to Ulster-Scots, under Part II of the Charter.[171]. In all, 90 per cent of children in Northern Ireland still go to separate faith schools. For 30 years, Northern Ireland was scarred by a period of deadly sectarian violence known as . After mounting tensions between Catholic nationalists and Protestant loyalists, particularly in Belfast and Derry, violence broke out in the late 1960s. 1824, completed 1846. Events and IPPV's throughout Northern Ireland.[218]. Of course, theyre all Irish, but they just have fundamentally different conceptions of what that means, says Weaver. Information on Census 2021 in Northern Ireland. riage was rising in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s. How do other sports in the island cope with the situation? [58] A truce between British forces and the IRA was established on 11 July 1921, ending the fighting in most of Ireland. The whole conflict that led to partition reduces fundamentally to the failure of the Reformation in Ireland and the fact that it threw up a confessional divide between the British generally: between the English, the Welsh, the Scotsand the Irish, who remained largely Catholic. It developed into an ethnic conflict between Irish Catholics and British Protestant settlers and became part of the wider Wars of the Three Kingdoms (163953), which ended with the English Parliamentarian conquest. Parades are a prominent feature of Northern Ireland society,[188] more so than in the rest of Ireland or the United Kingdom. [208] Two of the three major international road race meetings are held in Northern Ireland, these being the North West 200[209] and the Ulster Grand Prix. In time, two opposing forces coalesced in Northern Ireland largely along sectarian lines: the Catholic nationalists versus the Protestant loyalists., READ MORE: How Northern Ireland Became Part of the United Kingdom. Northern Irelands response to having an unreconciled, unhappy, large Catholic minority in their midst, was essentially to create a Protestant unionist one-party state, which governed with a heavy hand, to say the least. European route E01 runs from Larne through the island of Ireland, Spain, and Portugal to Seville. Londonderry, known to locals as Derry, is Northern Ireland's second largest city. Half of the city's houses had been destroyed, highlighting the terrible slum conditions in Belfast, and about 20 million worth of damage was caused. The valley of the River Lagan is dominated by Belfast, whose metropolitan area includes over a third of the population of Northern Ireland, with heavy urbanisation and industrialisation along the Lagan Valley and both shores of Belfast Lough. The partition of Ireland, which became effective in May 1921, was not intended to remain in place for long. In May 2022 it was announced the population had risen to 1.9 million,. The census reports do not distinguish between Protestant and other non-Catholic Christian faiths. [113], "Region" is used by several UK government agencies and the European Union. [96], For the most part, Protestants feel a strong connection with Great Britain and wish for Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom. The Irish Language Act officially repealed legislation from 1737 that banned the use of Irish in courts. The year 2021 marks 100 years since the Government of the United Kingdom and Ireland divided the Emerald Isle into two self-governing political entitiesNorthern Ireland and Southern Irelandunder the Government of Ireland Act. [147] In 2011, 88.8% of the population were born in Northern Ireland, 4.5% in Great Britain, and 2.9% in the Republic of Ireland. Yet from the Old Testament through to the Crusades and the inquisitions, Christian history is full of violence.