Making Sense Of The Troubles

This book (by David McKittrick and David McVea) shows the true side of the Northern Ireland Conflict. It is not one-sided in its viewpoint, but shows the good and the bad of all those involved. It was first published in 2000 (after the 1998 Good Friday Agreement came into effect) and while the data stops around 2000 the authors do state that they don't believe the anger has gone away from those involved.

The book gives a well-rounded summary of the Troubles (that started around 1969) as well as the background history so the reader can fully understand the conflict.

After reading this book I have concluded that many people at many levels are to blame for the violence in Northern Ireland. The British Government allowed Irish Protestants to openly discriminate against Irish Catholics for decades. The Irish Catholics were denied basic human rights. When the real violence started in the late 1960s the British Military was sent in. At first the Irish Catholics saw them as a buffer to the Irish Protestants and that the Military's presence would stop the violence. Unfortunately, the British Military was not sent to Northern Ireland to stop the violence but to stop the Irish Catholics from protesting. This made the Irish Catholics turn against the British Military. The British Government and their Military could have stopped the violence that would come over the next 30 years (both in Northern Ireland, Ireland and the mainland of the United Kingdom) had they gone to Northern Ireland and stopped both the Irish Catholics and the Irish Protestants from fighting each other.

The Irish Protestants did not want to give the Irish Catholics even the basic needs of human survival. Had the Irish Protestants agreed to power sharing and inter-religious committees they could have stopped the deadly fighting. Instead they elected leaders that actively discriminated against and ordered the killings of Irish Catholics. The Irish Protestants saw themselves like the Nazis (they were superior while the Irish Catholics were the "sub-humans" that needed to be dealt with.)

The Irish Catholics had their backs to the walls for centuries. At first it was all the Catholics in Ireland that were openly discriminated against by the English/British and then after 1920 it was only those in Northern Ireland. The Irish Catholics were denied a way to legally provide for their families and so they did what any discriminated group has a right to - they used non-violent protests to gain basic civil rights. Those non-violent protests turned into deadly battles mainly because the British Government looked the other way as the Irish Protestants and the British Military worked to destroy the Irish Catholics.

It is sad to say but the only real reason the British finally changed their stance on Northern Ireland was because of the 9-11 and the numerous bombings of the mainland UK.

Today, after all the decades of bloody violence there is an official peace between all the members involved. While I hope this peace continues to hold I know the anger by all those affected by the Troubles is still there, just on the surface, that has a chance to boil into more violence.

I do not see Northern Ireland reuniting with the Republic of Ireland anytime soon. First, there needs to be many years of no organized violence on any group and the people (especially the children) need to learn that there is more to do in this world than throw bombs or shoot people. Once a full generation grows up with that knowledge then I think there will be a real lasting peace in Northern Ireland.