Conflict: Northern Ireland

Connor Morley

Mr. Roddy

IB GPHC 2018

10 December, 2018


Conflict: Northern Ireland

        Northern Ireland (controlled by the United Kingdom) has had a long history of conflict with their southern neighbor, the sovereign Republic of Ireland. This seemed to really manifest itself at the onset of the Bloody Sunday attacks in 1972, where UK soldiers killed 14 unarmed protesters. However, to this very day, there are numerous insurgency groups, most notably the IRA (Irish Republican Army) that seem to be interested in more violent, less peaceful demonstrations of their desire to cease British rule on the entire island. An increase in diplomatic relations since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which attempted to compromise with a new sharing of power between the two regions, and the 2006 St. Andrews Agreement has lessened tensions, but only lessened, not completely destroyed. The presence of these tensions and the threat of conflict in the first place is quite interesting, due to the relative lack of violence in Europe except for the Slavic countries. Nevertheless, conflict has existed between these two regions for decades, but it often seems it is under the noses of the rest of the world.
        Although the IRA has seemed to slow full-scale violent, terrorist attacks on the frequency that has existed for much of the seventies and eighties, they have not completely gone away. In 1996, a bomb attack in central Manchester, England killed no one, but injured hundreds. As recently as the period between May 2015 and May 2016, there were 52 separate bombing incidents carried out by the organization that thankfully didn't yield an extreme body count, but the detection of a threat in general from Irish separatist groups is the absolute highest it has been in years. While I believe that conflict as large as that from "The Troubles", the period of fighting in the late 20th century, will not manifest itself today, these statistics certainly are quite worrying.
      In general terms, the absence of an 'official' conflict between the two regions has not created an absence of conflict in the first place; in fact, as the evidence shows, tensions may be on the rise again from the aggressive policies and attitudes from Irish nationalist groups, including and outside of the IRA. It seems like an unfair match; the firepower of the UK far outnumbers that of insurgency groups in the Republic of Ireland. This seems to contradict the power that these insurgency groups seem to have. However, it seems only time will tell who the victor is, if violent conflict manifests itself once again. If it does, it certainly doesn't mean well for the citizens of either region.

Bibliography:

Arthur, Paul, and Kimberly Cowell-Meyers. “Irish Republican Army.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 28 Dec. 2017, www.britannica.com/topic/Irish-Republican-Army

Owen, Paul. “What Is the St Andrews Agreement?” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 17 Oct. 2006, www.theguardian.com/politics/2006/oct/17/northernireland.devolution1.

McDonald, Henry. “Police 'Are Facing Severe Terror Threat from IRA'.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 14 May 2016, www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/may/14/police-severe-terror-threat-ira-northern-ireland-bomb-attacks.






       
       

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