• Engelsk
  • Utdanning: Vg2
  • Karakter: 5
  • Ord: 750

Innledning
For over 100 years Northern Ireland have been in close to constant religious conflict between The Unionists (Protestants), wanting to stay in the United Kingdom and the Nationalist (Catholics), wanting to leave the United Kingdom.

I will be referring to the two sides as Unionists and Nationalists in this text. However, what was truly this conflict based on and what ended it?

After the Irish Independence war, a peace treaty in 1921 was made dividing the Island of Ireland in two parts – Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State.

While the Irish Free State decided to leave the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland voted to stay. This was due to a majority of Unionist Protestants, wanting Northern Ireland to stay in the United kingdom.

The Unionist Protestants in Northern Ireland dominated for a long time, and the Catholic Nationalist abominated this, as they wanted Northern Ireland out of the United Kingdom.

(Mustad, 2018) This weakened the relationship with Ireland as the Nationalist, that wanted Northern Ireland to stay out of the United Kingdom was very displeased creating tension and later violence between the sides.

Utdrag
After decades of violence, over 3 500 deceased and more than 30 000 injured civilians, the peace process finally began in form of the Good Friday Agreement where they decided that “Northern Ireland will remain within the United Kingdom until a majority of voters in Northern Ireland decides otherwise. ”

(“Northern Ireland,” 2022) This signified that Northern Ireland and its relationship with the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland would only change if the majority of the Northern Irelands citizens agreed.

It also established a concept where the government had to consist of both nationalist and unionist parties, creating a more equal government where it would be harder to discriminate against each other.

The Good Friday Agreement was also made to put an end to most of the violence of The Troubles (“Northern Ireland Peace Process,” 2022) and an obligation to disarm the IRA was promised to be fulfilled, making the country allegedly safe and free of terror, violence and threats.