Chapter 2 Northern Ireland Time Allocation: 2 periods Focal Points: physical features of Northern Ireland, the religious conflicts between the Irish and the British I. General Introduction When we talk about the United Kingdom, we can’t neglect Northern Ireland. This part is the smallest part with an area of about 14,160 square kilometers and a population of about 1,702,600 (2003 estimate). Northern Ireland constitutes about 17 percent of the land area of Ireland and has 31 percent of the island’s population. The rest of the island is occupied by the Republic of Ireland. The capital of Northern Ireland is Belfast.  City Hall, Belfast Belfast is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The city is also an important manufacturing center, famous for its shipbuilding and textile industries. The majestic City Hall building, shown here, is a landmark located in Donegall Square in the center of Belfast.  Brick Edifices (大建筑物) of Belfast Late afternoon sun casts long shadows on the brick buildings of downtown Belfast. Almost half of the population of Northern Ireland lives in and around this densely populated city. Catholics and Protestants once lived side by side in the blue-collar neighborhoods of Belfast, but after spates of sectarian violence in the mid-19th century the city developed a tight ethnic segregation in housing patterns. Northern Ireland lies in the northeast of the island of Ireland. The Republic of Ireland bounds it on the south and west, the Irish Sea and the North Channel on the east, and the Atlantic Ocean on the north. The different regions of Northern Ireland are frequently referred to by the names of the province’s six traditional Irish counties. These are—clockwise (顺时针方向的) from the northeast—Antrim, Down, Armagh, Fermanagh, Tyrone, and Londonderry (Derry). The region’s coastline consists of wide, sandy beaches, broken by steep cliffs (悬崖) in the north, northeast, and southeast. Near the northernmost point of Northern Ireland is Giant’s Causeway, an unusual formation of basalt (玄武岩) columns created by the cooling of an ancient lava (熔岩) flow. (p19, paragraph 2)  Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland According to legend, the basalt columns of Giant’s Causeway are ancient stepping stones giants used to cross the channel between Ireland and Scotland. Based on geological (地质学的) evidence, scientists believe the distinct pillars formed during the cooling and contracting phase of a lava （熔岩） flow.  Rural Antrim The green, rolling farmland of County Antrim stretches toward Slemish Mountain in northeastern Northern Ireland. According to tradition, Saint Patrick spent his youth as a herdsman in this area after being carried off from Great Britain by Irish marauders （掠夺者）.  Mountains of Northern Ireland The Mourne Mountains form a natural barrier between the coast of Northern Ireland and its interior lowlands. The range runs 24 km (15 mi) along the country's southwest coast and rises to a maximum elevation of 852 m (2,796 ft) at Slieve Donard, just outside of Newcastle. Northern Ireland is an industrialized country, with manufactured goods comprising a large volume of its exports. Industries include engineering, shipbuilding, vehicle manufacture, textiles, food and beverage processing, and clothing. The service industry employs about two-thirds and manufacturing less than one-fifth of the country's workers. The Irish are a mainly Celtic people. Like welsh, they have a rich literary heritage which is apparent in their love of words. Many great writers of English literature were Irish or had an Irish background, like Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, Bernard Shaw etc. History Northern?Ireland?is?a modern term, brought into existence by the British Parliament’s Government of Ireland Act of 1920. Before 1920 the region was referred to as Ulster. The word Ulster derives from the Ulaid, the name of one of the Celtic dynasties of prehistory. Though Northern Ireland is small, it is significant because of the political troubles there. Northern Ireland’s population is deeply divided along religious and political lines. The schism（分裂）between the Protestant majority and the Catholic minority extends deep into Northern Ireland’s past and has strongly influenced the region’s culture, settlement patterns, and politics. Ireland had been an independent kingdom before the Anglo-Norman invaders came in the 13th century. Like England, little?is?known?for?certain about prehistoric Ireland. By around 500 BC the people of Ireland, including Ulster, were Celts, a group that dominated most of central and northern Europe in the 1st millennium BC. By the 8th century AD, the inhabitants of Ireland described themselves as Gaels. According to tradition, Saint Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland from Western Europe in the 5th century AD. Christianity developed in Ireland a century earlier than it did among the Anglo-Saxons in Great Britain. For some time Irish Christianity also developed independently of mainstream Christianity in the rest of Europe, especially in matters of church organization.  Saint Patrick Saint Patrick, known as the Apostle (早期基督教传士) of Ireland, became bishop of Ireland sometime after 431. Many legends exist about his life, including that he drove the snakes out of Ireland, as is depicted here. Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated each year on March 17. Ireland was not invaded by the Romans, or settled by the Anglo-Saxons who followed the Romans into Britain. So the majority of Irish people were descendants of the original Celtic people. At?the?end?of?the?16th century the government of England, by that time a Protestant state, sought to consolidate its power over all of Ireland. During the English bourgeois revolution (in the 17th century), Oliver Cromwell invaded the island. By the 17th century, Protestant British settlers had conquered the region’s Catholic, Gaelic inhabitants, and this started the immigration of the English protestant settlers. So as far as the religion is concerned, most Irish people remained Catholics, while most British people had become Protestants (p21, paragraph 2). In 1801 the Act of Union created the legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland, under the name of United Kingdom. Thus, United Kingdom became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (p20,paragraph 3). Yet a number of crises in the 19th century, including the Great Famine of the 1840s, built momentum (动力) for Irish Home Rule (limited self-government). Irish Famine from 1845 to 1850 causes Irish population to decrease by 2 million due to death and emigration. By?the?1880s,?Irish?nationalist members constituted a large third-party bloc in the British Parliament, causing the Liberal government of 1886 to propose a bill providing home rule for Ireland. The first Home Rule Bill was introduced in 1886 and was defeated in the House of Commons. Then, the second Home Rule Bill was defeated in the House of Lords in 1893. The?British?Liberal?government introduced the third Home Rule Bill in 1912. The bill passed in the House of Commons twice and was defeated in the House of Lords both times. Ulster Unionists organized massive demonstrations of resistance. Irish Revolution against British rule begins. In 1914, the third and final Irish Home Rule Bill, which grants an independent parliament to Ireland, passes for the third time in the House of Commons. But because of the outbreak of World War I, the implementation of the Irish Home Rule Bill is delayed until 1920. The?British?government considered the “Irish question” to be delayed until the end of the war, but in 1916 the Easter Rebellion in Dublin brought it back to the forefront (p20 paragraph 4). The uprising occurred on Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, and centered mainly in Dublin. The chief objectives were the attainment（达到）of political freedom and the establishment of an Irish republic. Centuries of discontent were the main reasons for the uprising. The new crisis began to develop in September 1914, following the outbreak of World War I, when the British government suspended the recently enacted Home Rule Bill, which guaranteed a measure of political autonomy to Ireland. Suspension of the bill stimulated the growth of the Citizen Army, an illegal force of Dublin citizens of the Irish Volunteers, a national defense body; and of the extremist Sinn Fein. The uprising was planned by leaders of these organizations. Hostilities began about noon on April 24, when about 2000 men led by Pearse seized control of the Dublin post office and other strategic points within the city. Shortly after these initial successes, the leaders of the rebellion proclaimed the independence of Ireland and announced the establishment of a provisional government of the Irish Republic. By the morning of April 25, they controlled a considerable part of Dublin. The counteroffensive by British forces began on Tuesday with the arrival of reinforcements. Bitter street fighting developed in Dublin. By the morning of April 29, the post office building, site of the rebel headquarters, was under violent attack. Pearse surrendered unconditionally in the afternoon of April 29. The British immediately brought the leaders of the uprising to trial. Fifteen leaders of the group were sentenced to death and executed. Many others were sentenced to life imprisonment or to long prison terms. Casualties were about 440 British troops and an undetermined number of Irish. Property damage included the destruction of about 200 buildings in Dublin. The rebellion, organized by the then small Irish Volunteer Force, which became the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in 1919, was quickly, although bloodily, suppressed. However, the Irish people never stopped the fighting to regain their independence. Irish War of Independence between Irish nationalists and British forces went on between 1919 and 1921. In 1920, the Government of Ireland Act establishes six of the nine counties of Ulster as the province of Northern Ireland and grants independent parliaments to both Ireland and Northern Ireland. As a result of Irish demands for independence, the Irish Free State was declared in 1922 ending the Irish Revolution. Of the original 32 counties of Ireland, the 6 northeasterly counties became a British province officially known as Northern Ireland. The remaining 26 counties became independent (in 1922) as the Irish Free State (later Eire, and subsequently the Republic of Ireland). Their successful struggle ends 700years of British rule in southern Ireland and finally led to the establishment of the Republic of Ireland in 1927. Since most of the English protestant settlers refused to separate themselves from their home country, they remained loyal to the Queen. The rest part broke away to form an Irish Free State, the Republic of Ireland. Thus, the Great Britain became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. And the present title for the union of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland--the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland--dates from 1927. Political Problems Northern Ireland, also known as Ulster, has a population of 1,500,000. About 1/3 of them are Roman Catholics who are not glad to see the unification with Great Britain dominated by Protestantism. The Catholic extremists organized the Irish Republican Army (IRA) to continue their struggle. The goal of the IRA guerrillas is to drive the English out and unify Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland. Their political wing (派别) is known as Sinn Fein. ---Sinn Fein Party （新芬党） (Irish Gaelic, “ourselves alone”), Irish nationalist political party whose goal has been to end the United Kingdom’s control over any part of Ireland and to create a unified Irish state. Sinn Fein is often characterized as the political arm of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), a paramilitary organization. Since 1927, most of the Catholic minority in Northern Ireland has identified with independent Ireland, and most of the Protestant majority with Britain. Catholics seeking integration with Ireland are often referred to as republicans or nationalists, while Protestants who want Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom are often called unionists or loyalists. In general, Catholics (nationalists) regard themselves as Irish, and Protestants (unionists) regard themselves as British. Northern Ireland sent representatives to the London Parliament but had its own legislature and executive to deal with domestic matters. From 1921 to 1972 Northern Ireland had its own regional parliament that exercised considerable authority over local affairs. The Protestant, unionist majority dominated the parliament, which made the government unpopular with the Catholic, nationalist minority. Northern Ireland experienced a nearly continuous period of violent conflict between these two groups from the late 1960s through the mid-1990s. The violence extended beyond Ireland, as republican paramilitary groups—in particular the Irish Republican Army (IRA)—also struck targets in London and elsewhere in England. The clashes, bombings, and assassinations in this period were often referred to as “the troubles.” In?the?1960s, encouraged by the successes of the American civil rights movement, Catholics began the opposition to the government of Northern. Civil disobedience campaigns against discriminatory actions of Protestant-dominated local councils quickly found strong support in Catholic neighborhoods. In October 1968 a peaceful civil rights march in Londonderry/Derry was violently broken up by police. Conflict between Catholics and Protestants escalated (逐步升级), first in Londonderry/Derry and then in Belfast. By the summer of 1969, the police force, which was inadequate in numbers and skills, was unable to control the violence. In August 1969 the government of Northern Ireland requested that the British government send in the army to support the police. As the British army gradually brought civil disorder under control, the IRA began to reemerge. Catholics, who had initially welcomed the army as protectors against the Protestants, came to see the large-scale presence of British troops in Catholic neighborhoods as a hostile British occupation. As curfews （宵禁） and house-to-house arms searches concentrated on Catholic neighborhoods, IRA recruiting rose. (p.22, paragraph 2) In August 1971, the government introduced internment (imprisonment without trial), and 300 republicans were rounded up. This suspension of civil rights caused anger on both side and intensified the conflict. (P22, paragraph 3) In 1972 because of continuing political and religious problems (between the Roman Catholics and the Protestants) in Northern Ireland, the British government shut down Northern Ireland’s regional parliament and governed the region directly from London. (A 1998 accord (协定) known as the Good Friday Agreement restored some powers to a new provincial government. ) Now, the province is represented by 18 members in the British Parliament’s House of Commons. The Catholic-Protestant segregation extends to Northern Irish society in general. Urban residential neighborhoods are highly segregated. Protestants hold higher-status jobs more frequently and Catholics are somewhat more likely to be unskilled or unemployed. (p.21, paragraph 4, last few sentences) Thus, politics in Northern Ireland has long been dominated by the issue of union or separation with the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland, and this split has followed religious lines. The majority of the people have voted in favor of Northern Ireland remaining in the United Kingdom. However, violence and terrorism are part of daily life in Northern Ireland. The Westminster government continues to search for ways in which the people of Northern Ireland can co-operate to bring peace and reconstruction to their land.  Political Murals （壁画） in Northern Ireland Many buildings in the Catholic and Protestant working-class neighborhoods of Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, feature political murals. In Catholic neighborhoods, the murals are usually republican and favor union with the Republic of Ireland. In Protestant areas, they are usually loyalist and support the existing union with the United Kingdom. Here, murals from two different neighborhoods of Belfast are juxtaposed （并列）(side by side): a mural supporting the republican political party Sinn Fein, left, and one supporting the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary (辅助军事的) group, right. These murals, and dozens more like them, are Belfast’s legacy from “the troubles,” the decades-long period of sectarian （宗派的） violence in Northern Ireland.  Apprentice Boys March Members of a Protestant loyalist group called the Apprentice Boys of Derry march in a parade in Londonderry (Derry), Northern Ireland. The Apprentice Boys take their name from a group of Protestants that shut the gates of Derry against the Catholic army of James II in 1689. Annual Protestant marches such as this are often accompanied by a rise in tensions between Northern Ireland’s Protestant and Catholic communities. A frequent flashpoint (燃点) is the issue of whether or not a Protestant parade is allowed to march through traditionally Catholic neighborhoods. Northern Ireland’s Catholic and Protestant communities are both predominantly conservative in their social and religious outlook. Church attendance remains high, although it has been falling in recent years. Catholic and Protestant attitudes on matters of sexual morality and abortion are notably similar. Divorce levels are low in comparison to those in the rest of the United Kingdom. The proportion of mixed Catholic-Protestant marriages has risen recently but is still estimated at only 5 percent of all marriages. Protestant family sizes, as elsewhere in the United Kingdom, contracted during the 20th century, but Catholic family sizes tended to remain larger. Social attitudes in rural and small-town areas are more conservative than those in the cities—urban-rural differences are probably greater than Catholic-Protestant differences in this regard.