This dyad belongs to the conflict United Kingdom: Northern Ireland
Summary of conflict United Kingdom: Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland has endured an intractable armed conflict between the IRA (Provisional Irish Republican Army) and the British Government since the early 1970s. The parties have had problems finding any solution to the incompatibility concerning the status of Northern Ireland. The period of 1968–1998 was characterized by bombings and shootings by the IRA , Protestant violence, and sectarian and interfactional murders. In 1998 the Good Friday peace agreement between the parties was signed, marking the end of the conflict.
History and background to the conflict
The conflict in Northern Ireland has old roots. Tensions between the Irish and the English have been present since the 17th century when England colonised Ireland. In 1641 the tensions grew stronger between the Irish Catholics and the English Protestants, followed by violent clashes. The British managed to regain control, now over the entire island of Ireland. In consequence of Catholic riots against England, severe restrictions and laws were applied only for the Catholic population. This was the beginning of the discrimination that was to follow for several centuries.
Tension between Catholics and Protestants grew stronger in the early 1920s when the island of Ireland was divided into one northern British part and one southern Irish part. Since Northern Ireland came into being, its Catholic Irish-friendly minority has been exposed to decades of discrimination by British Protestants living in the region and by the government. When the Irish Republic was declared an independent state, the IRA (Irish Republican Army), made up of volunteers who had been fighting for Irish independence from Britain, took on the role of its army. Following independence in the south of Ireland, the IRA re-emerged at various times to conduct campaigns to try to end British rule in Northern Ireland, as well. Irish Catholics considered the northern part of Ireland to be occupied by Britain, whereas the British government saw Northern Ireland as part of British territory.
The British Protestants are commonly referred to as Unionists or Loyalists, both ideologies favour strong ties between Britain and Northern Ireland (before the independence of Ireland this concerned the entire Island). The Loyalists are more of a hard-line, military string of Unionists. Further, the Irish Catholics are associated with Nationalists or Republicans, both ideologies are in favour of independence of Northern Ireland or re-union with Ireland. The Republicans tends to have a more military and hard-line approach than the Nationalists.
The ‘Troubles’ and outbreak of the conflict
Protestant interests in Northern Ireland were initially handled by the RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary), the British police force in Northern Ireland. In October 1961, the British army was deployed in Northern Ireland to assist the RUC. After the deployment of the army, several people were killed during riots. Clashes in autumn 1968 between the RUC and the NICRA (Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association), consisting mainly of Northern Irish Catholics, were considered as the prelude to the Troubles. Violence between the RUC and rioting youth affiliated with the civil rights movements gradually turned into a full-fledged armed conflict between the British Army and the IRA .
The violent period between 1968 and 1998 is often referred to as the Troubles, three decades characterized by violence and disturbance in Northern Ireland, but the term is also used in a historical context, referring to the strife between the inhabitants of the island of present Ireland and the British. Assessments of when and how the recent Troubles began tend to differ depending on the source.
On 28 December 1969, the IRA split into two organisations - the Official IRA and the Provisional IRA. The latter, the PIRA, wanted to pursue a hard-line campaign to achieve independence from the British rule in Northern Ireland. The PIRA became known as the IRA in the next few years. By 1970, violence in Northern Ireland had escalated and the IRA had moved from playing an inspiring role to an organisational role for the rioting Catholic youth. On 5 April, the IRA officially stated its position by asserting that "the British Army is a foreign army on Irish soil" and that "Irishmen throw petrol bombs in their own defence against superior armed forces."
Due to the difficulty of differing between civilians and IRA members at the early stage of the ‘Troubles’, it was hard to determine when the first battle-related death occurred. However, on 11 August 1970, the deaths of two British policemen were an obvious result of an IRA booby-trap bomb. By August 1971, a year after the first battle-related deaths took place, the fighting between the British Army and the IRA had intensified with casualties occurring on a regular basis.
The incompatibility between the British army and the IRA concerned the constitutional status of the Northern Irish territory. The issue of ending British dominance and of reintegrating Northern Ireland into Ireland also concerned organisations other than the primary warring parties. Nationalist/Catholic paramilitary groups (e.g. the INLA (Irish National Liberation Army)) and loyalist/protestant militias, the RHC (Red Hand Commando), the UFF (Ulster Freedom Fighters) and the UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force) engaged early on in the fighting. Numerous Catholic and Protestant civilians and paramilitary members (as well as British soldiers and police) have been killed in revenge acts carried out by these organisations.
Throughout the conflict, the British government has been the superior party in number and in terms of access to military resources. The British strategy has been to contain the terror and to fight the terrorists within the law, with emergency and anti-terrorist laws being generously applied. The British government has concentrated on the use of internments, intelligence service and undercover methods. The IRA, for its part, has employed various types of warfare, including bombings (human bombs, car bombs, letter bombs) and the gunning down of British state representatives. Civilians working for the police and army have also been targeted. Apart from direct political targets, railway stations, airports and stores have been bombed. The IRA has made the strategic decision to limit its fighting force to a few active but heavily armed frontline militants.
The conflict continued at an intense level throughout the 1970s, mainly by indiscriminate IRA-car bombs that were aimed at targets mostly in Northern Ireland. In the 1980s, attacks were also undertaken on the British mainland and abroad. The number of battle-related deaths decreased in the early 1990s; however, 1991 was the last year that the conflict was active above the 25 yearly fatality thresholds. It is worth to note that even if battle-related casualties were fewer thereafter, attacks were still ongoing. There was also an upsurge in sectarian violence and tit-for-tat killings during this time period and the number of civilian victims increased.
Prelude to dialogue between the parties and political deadlock
Since the beginning of the 1990s, a comprehensive peace process was ongoing in Northern Ireland. In the first part of the 1990s, efforts were concentrated on starting a dialogue between the local political parties, the SDLP (Social Democratic and Labour Party), the APNI (Alliance Party of Northern Ireland); Catholic, and the UUP (Ulster Unionist Party), the DUP (Democratic Unionist Party); Protestant. The Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Brooke and Patrick Mayhew, played an important role in establishing contact between the parties. However, Sinn Féin (a political party with close ties to the IRA) was excluded from this dialogue on the future of Northern Ireland. A major challenge for the negotiations, which were referred to as the Brooke Mayhew talks, was to determine the role of the Irish government in future talks. During an earlier stage of the conflict the Irish Government was involved in talks and meetings with the British Government.
In 1993, informal and bilateral talks between the political parties and the British as well as the Irish government began. For the first time, the IRA, Sinn Féin and the British government met (the talks were secret at the time). During the same year, the Hume-Adams initiative and the Downing Street declaration were presented. These proposals, together with the increased contact between the different parties, laid the ground for further negotiations with the inclusion of Sinn Féin. In August 1994, the IRA declared a ceasefire, which lasted until February 1996. During the ceasefire contacts intensified between the British government and Sinn Féin, with the latter acting as a proxy for the IRA. However, the talks were largely at a standstill. The IRA/Sinn Féin demanded that negotiations start before any weapons would be put beyond use, whereas the British/Protestant parties maintained the opposite; no talks could take place before a permanent and explicit rejection of violence had been uttered and before decommissioning of arms had began. This deadlock remained throughout 1995, at the same time as intense informal talks continued between all actors involved in the peace process.
International engagement in the peace process
By the mid-90’s, international actors were engaged in the efforts to regulate the conflict. The Republic of Ireland had taken clear steps to re-evaluate its earlier pro-Sinn Féin position. Increasingly, the Irish government acted as a facilitator, holding bilateral talks with different parties and issuing proposals for agreements between them. The US President Clinton also committed himself to the peace process. On repeated occasions he urged and put pressure on all parties to engage in a constructive dialogue. Clinton also held personal meetings with the parties when visiting Northern Ireland. Furthermore, the US President appointed a peace envoy, George Mitchell. Mitchell later came to lead the IBDW (International Body on Decommissioning on Weapons). Apart from being charged with advancing the decommissioning, Mitchell also acted as chairman of the all-party talks. At a later stage, the IICD (Independent International Commission of Decommissioning) was tasked with overseeing and encouraging the decommissioning, and keeping regular contact with the IRA.
In early 1996, the IBDW presented the Mitchell report. The report suggested that decommissioning should take place parallel with the negotiations, instead of being a condition for participation in them. The British Prime Minister, John Major, rejected the report. Instead, the Northern Irish people went to the polls to elect what parties would participate in further negotiations. Sinn Féin was one of the parties elected; however, it was excluded from the negotiation table, as the IRA had not renounced violence on a permanent basis.
On 9 February 1996, the IRA ceasefire came to an end when the IRA resumed its bombing campaign, demonstrating their discontent over the British Prime Minister, Mr. John Major’s unwillingness to reach an inclusive negotiated settlement or to meet with Sinn Féin. The bombings continued until July 1997, when the negotiation process was revived and the IRA declared a cessation of hostilities once again.
In mid-1997, the Labour party came to power in Britain with Tony Blair assuming the Prime Minister post. The new British government promised Sinn Féin participation in the negotiations on the condition that the IRA declared a ceasefire. In August, after the IRA had agreed to a suspension of its armed campaign, the first all-inclusive peace talks started with Sinn Féin acting as a proxy for the IRA. The issue of decommissioning was sidestepped, and other substantive issues were discussed. The negotiations continued during 1998.
Entrance of the Real IRA (RIRA) and the Good Friday agreement
In 1998, hard-liners under the name RIRA (the Real IRA) carried out a bombing campaign against police stations. However, after a RIRA bomb went off in Omagh centre, Northern Ireland, and killed numerous civilians, this group also declared a ceasefire. Nevertheless, during the following years, the RIRA continued to set off bombs in London, though no casualties were reported. The RIRA, which had intensified its campaign in 1998, was not represented at the peace talks. During spring, the British and the Irish governments and later George Mitchell issued concrete proposals for a peace agreement. On 10 April, all parties taking part in the negotiations approved a peace agreement, referred to as the Good Friday or the Belfast Agreement.
The first part of the agreement, crucial for the Unionists, stated that Northern Irelands constitutional status could only be changed if a majority of the Northern Irish people so desired. Next in the agreement were the clauses of Strand One, which included the establishment of a Northern Irish parliamentarian assembly (with mechanisms guaranteeing influence from both Catholic and Protestant parties) and a coalition government (with both Catholic and Protestant parties). The clauses of Strand Two of the peace agreement involved the establishment of a North-South Ministerial Council (with representatives from the Irish government and the Northern Irish government). The clauses of Strand three established a British-Irish Council. Apart from the regulation of the constitutional issues, the agreement also read that the paramilitary groups should be disarmed within two years, under the monitoring of the IICD (Independent International Commission on Decommissioning).
A controversial part of the agreement was the release of certain prisoners charged with terrorist acts. On 22 May, a referendum was arranged in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland, on whether or not the peace agreement should be ratified. More than 71% in Northern Ireland and 94% in Ireland voted yes and the peace agreement could thereby be adopted. Both a majority of the Northern Irish Protestants (51%) and of the Catholics (99%) supported the agreement. Following the referenda, the IRA issued statements which were both in favour of and critical of the agreement.
Further negotiations concerning decommissioning of the IRA
The negotiations carried on also after the establishment of the Northern Irish Assembly. The main issue of discussion was the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons. The parties disagreed strongly on whether the formation of the Northern Irish coalition government could take place before the decommissioning had started. The Executive was finally established on 2 December 1999. However, when no decommissioning had started by February 2000, the UUP (Ulster Unionist Party) left the Executive. The British government temporarily suspended the institutions of government in Northern Ireland and reintroduced direct rule from London. In May, the IRA agreed to start to decommission. On 30 May, power was once again transferred from London to the Northern Irish institutions and the UUP returned to the Executive government.
On 1 July 2001, the decommissioning of IRA weapons had not moved forward. Once again, the First Minister David Trimble (who was also UUP leader) resigned. On 10 August, following Trimbles move, the British government suspended the Northern Irish institutions for a 24-hour period; it did so again on 22 September. The effect of the suspension was to allow a period of six weeks in which the political parties would have an opportunity to come to an agreement and re-elect a first minister (six weeks was the time limit that the Northern Irish institutions could remain unregulated). On 18 October, five ministers from the Unionist parties resigned. A few days later, the IRA declared that it had begun putting its arms beyond use under the monitoring of the IICD (Independent International Commission on Decommissioning). Following the statement, the five Unionist ministers reassumed their posts and Trimble received approval from the UUP Executive to retake his post as First Minister, doing so on 6 November.
Power-sharing in Northern Irelands Executive government went on until 14 October 2002. On this date, the British government once again suspended the Northern Irish institutions and installed direct rule from London. The reason was the Unionist parties’ discontent with IRAs lack of clear commitment to the decommissioning process. In addition, Sinn Féin leaders did not want to, or could not confirm that the IRA campaign was fully over. The Northern Irish institutions continued to be suspended.
End of political deadlock and the armed campaign of the IRA
A real change in the political deadlock in Northern Ireland was achieved when the IRA , on 28 July 2005, ordered its militants to end the armed campaign and become a political movement. This was followed by a real effort by the IRA to disarm. On 26 September 2005 the IICD (Independent International Commission on Decommissioning) stated that the decommissioning was completed. The amount of arms was consistent with police and army estimates of the IRAs holdings.
In 2006, the heads of government of the UK and Ireland Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern tried once again to resolve the outstanding issues. On 13 October 2006, they concluded the St Andrews Agreement that provided a road map towards the restoration of a power-sharing government in Northern Ireland. 26 March 2007 was set as deadline for the local politicians to resolve their differences over policing and power-sharing.
On the day of the deadline the leaders of Sinn Fein, Gerry Adams, and the Democratic Unionist Party, Ian Paisley, met in their first face-to-face talk. The Northern Ireland Assembly was restored on 8 May 2007 and the local government was formed the same day. Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness, a former Irish Republican Army commander, became the first minister and deputy first minister of Northern Ireland. Also the North-South Ministerial Council with representatives from the Irish government and the Northern Irish government started working. Thus, five years of direct rule from London had been ended and all central issues of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 had been implemented.
