NORTHERN IRELAND 1920 – 1985 Early Years - Government of Ireland Act 1920. Separate state. - Westminster kept control of trade, foreign affairs, defence. - For the next fifty years unionists dominated NI. - Craig PM until 1940
Conflict between Protestants and Catholics. - Catholics seen as a threat to Union. - 1922 RUC and B-Specials set up with Special Powers Act to arrest and imprison anyone. - 1920s Catholics driven out of homes and jobs. Riots. Some Catholics killed. - Discrimination against Catholics in: Government jobs Gerrymandering Education
The Economy in 1920s and 1930s - Shipbuilding and linen in decline. - Great Depression 40% unemployed. 1932 workers from both sides protested. Police crushed them. - Sectarian violence returned, encouraged by political leaders like Basil Brooke.
World War 2 - Strategic importance (south neutral, American base) - Shorts, Harland and Wolff, parachutes, rope etc. - Churchill offered DeValera the north if we joined the war - Craig replaced by J.M. Andrews and then Brooke - Over 1000 killed in bombing of Belfast. - North and South driven further apart by the war.
The Post-War Years. - Labour and the Welfare state: Education for Catholics Housing (discrimination) Free medical care for women and children - Ireland Act 1949 guaranteed union with consent. - IRA bombing campaign in the 1950s - Shipbuilding and Linen began to fade in the 1960s
O Neill, Civil Rights and the Troubles. - O Neill wanted better relations with the South and Catholics. - He visited Cardinal Conway, Catholic schools and Lemass. - Strongly criticised by Paisley, O Neill resigned in 1969. - NICRA began in 1967. It wanted: An end to gerrymandering An end to discrimination in government housing and jobs One man, one vote in local elections
- Leaders included Fitt, Currie, Hume and Bernadette Devlin. - Derry march attacked by police on TV. - Troops sent in to protect Catholics were welcome. - 1970 SDLP founded. - Provos broke away - Internment a big mistake - Jan 1972 Bloody Sunday 13 killed - William Whitelaw and direct rule 1972
Attempts at Peace. - Heath and Cosgrave signed Sunningdale. Power sharing and a Council of Ireland for cross-border cooperation. - New government led by Faulkner and Fitt. Paisley and the Ulster Worker’s Council general strike. - 1974 Direct Rule returned. - 1979 Thatcher became PM. - Sands and the hunger-strikers wanted political prisoner status. 9 died.
- 1985 Thatcher and Fitzgerald signed the Anglo-Irish Agreement at Hillsborough. - This gave the Republic a say in the running of NI. Thatcher did not give in to the Unionists. - 1993 Major and Reynolds signed the Downing Street Declaration. - Hume’s secret negotiations with the IRA led to ceasefire and unionists followed. - 1998 with Clinton,s help the Good Friday agreement led to the power-sharing NI Assembly. - The PNSI and decommissioning.