Northern Ireland: Healing a Troubled Past

What Were the Troubles?  Land Mass of Ulster/Northern Ireland  History  Politics  Religious Implications Source: Wikipedia/Northern Ireland

What Were the Troubles?  Period Known as the “Troubles”  Spanned from  Began with a civil rights march in Londonderry on Oct  Bloody conflict between police and marchers.

What Were the Troubles? According to the BBC, “Over 3,600 people were killed and thousands more injured. Over the course of three decades, violence on the streets of Northern Ireland was commonplace and spilled over into mainland Britain, the Republic of Ireland and as far afield as Gibraltar.” Source: The Guardian

Two Determined Sides  Media attention immediately escalated events  Two distinct factions emerged  IRA = Catholic  UVF=Protestant  mainly composed of boys and men ages Source:

Life During the Troubles  It was impossible to live life unaffected by the troubles.  Dennis Murray writes, “What was totally abnormal elsewhere in the western world became normal in Northern Ireland. Our lives were circumscribed by the extraordinary, which became just ordinary. People adapt very quickly. Ask anyone who survived the Blitz in London, or who endured the first few Berlin winters after the Second World War. The extraordinary becomes humdrum in no time at all.”

Violence and Secrets the New Normal  Entire families were involved.  Informants  Secrecy  Widespread use of listening devices. Source: BBC

The Disappeared  Lasting Mysteries  Both the IRA and the UVF conducted such actions as a means of “defense.”

The Case of Jean McConville  Widowed mother of 10.  IRA had false information claiming she was an informant.  Testimony of her son: “All of us were just wrapped around her, all crying and squealing. I remember one of the girls (who abducted her) talking, who I knew because she hadn't got a mask on, she used to be a neighbour of ours, her and her sister were there. They kept trying to calm us down, because they knew us and they knew us by name.“  According to recent testimony, she was moved through a series of houses where she was interrogated. Two days later she was shot and buried on a beach.

The Case of Jean McConville  Testimony of her son: “All of us were just wrapped around her, all crying and squealing. I remember one of the girls (who abducted her) talking, who I knew because she hadn't got a mask on, she used to be a neighbour of ours, her and her sister were there. They kept trying to calm us down, because they knew us and they knew us by name.“  According to recent testimony, she was moved through a series of houses where she was interrogated. Two days later she was shot and buried on a beach.

Breakthroughs in the Case  This week Ivor Bell was arrested  Warrant based upon “The Belfast Project” tapes. Source: bostoncollegesubpoena.wordpress.com

The Belfast Project  Recorded at Boston College from  Promised not to release until after interviewee’s death.  According to the Irish Times, in 2013 US courts ordered that select testimonies be turned over to the Northern Irish Police. Source: irishhistorypodcast.ie

Implications  If Bell is convicted, it will mark the first conviction of an IRA leader.  Precedent for future paramilitary trials throughout the world  Closure to this family and hope families of the other 15 disappeared that remain missing. Source: article.wn.com