Free The ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland Essay Example

The ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that took place in parts of Ireland, England, and mainland’s of Europe is commonly referred to as the Troubles. This conflict happened in the late part of 1960’s, and it was not until 1998 that it was finally settled. In history, this event has gone down as the Northern Ireland conflict and came under the category of war. The basis of the conflicts was based purely on ethnic and sectarian divisions rather than religious differences.
The conflict arose because Northern Ireland has a majority of Protestants and take pride in being British; therefore, they wanted to remain as a part of the United Kingdom. On the other hand, the Republicans that comprises of a majority of Roman Catholics viewed themselves as independent of the British identity and considered themselves as Irish. This group of Republicans wanted to part ways from the United Kingdom and join united Ireland. Consequently, the two major groups of the Troubles were; Irish Republic paramilitaries and the Irish National Liberation Army.
When both parties are adamant about their stance and neither wants to take a backseat then any situation may worsen. So this is what happened in the conflict of the Troubles and was a cause of the conflict being prolonged. The British government maintained a neutral stance in the conflict rather than siding with the Roman Catholics or the Protestants. The two rivals intended to continue this protest in a peaceful manner; however, this had little significance in reality, and the protests turned violent over the years. Approximately 3,600 people were killed as a result of violence from both sides of paramilitaries. Moreover, 50,000 people were injured physically and psychologically as a result of these violent protests.
At the time the protests broke out the Northern Ireland parliament was predominantly composed of unionists, and they had been part of it for well over 50 years. Thus, the influence of the unionists was strong in the parliament and the decisions were tilted towards the interests of the unionists. The nationalists felt the decisions were being taken too slowly; whereas, the unionists objected that the decision making was too hasty. As a result, the tensions between the two parties intensified and eventually led to widespread bloodshed and violence.
It was by 1972 that the situation escalated, and the UK government had to send out British troops to take charge of the situation. The British government had to suspend the parliament and London had to experience Direct Rule in order to ease down the situation. It was then that Northern Ireland came into public notice for the first time in history; whereas, it had always been a side news for all these years.
The paramilitary organization that was operational from Northern Ireland was unwilling to settle for any middle ground except the British withdrawal from Ireland. After there was no conclusive evidence of the talks with the British government to reach an end solution the Irish paramilitaries resorted to killings. They felt this was the only way a sustainable solution could be reached in the long-term benefit. Direct rule could not have been a sustainable option and it only contributed towards making matters worse. The Sunningdale Agreement of 1973 was a failure at the time it was imposed, but a few years down the road it was the one that helped reach a solution and peace in Northern Ireland. Eventually the major issues were solved and the issues could be solved through argument rather than force. The various agreements did not give any immediate results, but by 1998 the situation took such a turn that some middle ground was reached.