Niall Cunningham CRESC, University of Manchester

Segregation in Northern Ireland in 2001 – 1km. grid squares 17 th century plantations of Ulster Religious segregation – a legacy of history Space is imperative to an understanding of the conflict, ‘Topography is the key to the Ulster conflict. Unless you know exactly who lives where, and why, much of it does not make sense…Ulster’s troubles arise from the fact that people who live there know this information to the square inch, while strangers know nothing of it’ (Stewart, Narrow Ground, 56)

Deaths during the Troubles This study utilises data on all Troubles-related deaths collated by Malcolm Sutton and hosted by Dr. Martin Melaugh at the University of Ulster’s CAIN archive Search facility enables the user to identify incidents using a diverse range of criteria An ongoing and constantly revised process with regular input from the wider, non-academic community ‘Troubled Geographies’ analyses 3,524 deaths from January 1969 to December 2001 Using spatial information from the Sutton database and other sources, such as contemporary newspaper accounts, locations were given for each fatality and entered into a Geographical Information System (GIS) The Sutton Database on the CAIN website

Perpetrators by broad status group British Security Loyalist Paramilitary Republican Paramilitary not knownTotal Victims by broad status group British SecurityCount % group 1.2%1.3%96.8%.7%100.0% CivilianCount % group 11.0% 48.4%37.5% 3.0%100.0% Irish SecurityCount % group.0% 100.0%.0%100.0% Loyalist Paramilitary Count % group 9.4% 59.7% 30.2%.7%100.0% Republican Paramilitary Count % group 39.1%11.5% 46.1% 3.4%100.0% TotalCount % of total10.9%29.7%57.2%2.2%100.0% Victims and perpetrators Deaths were heavily skewed to the early part of the conflict, with 1972 representing the nadir with more than 1/6 of deaths occurring in that year Civilians were overwhelmingly the largest victim group, accounting for nearly half of all fatalities 86% of civilians were killed by paramilitaries and 11% by the security services ‘... (quite incredible - - I believe you are now in the most dangerous posting in the world, not excluding Saigon)’. Hillenbrand [U.S. State Dept.] to Penberthy [Belfast Consulate] Source: N.A.R.A., College Park, MD Deaths across the period of the Troubles Cross-tabulation of victims and perpetrators

The geography of political deaths Republican paramilitary deaths by 2001 local gov. wardDeaths by region British security paramilitary deaths by 2001 local gov. ward There existed pronounced differences in geographies of fatality amongst various status groups during the conflict Outside Belfast, members of the security services died in greater numbers in close proximity to the border with the Irish Republic and particularly in South Armagh For republicans, deaths were also concentrated in South Armagh, but also in a band running across mid- Ulster

Deaths and religious segregation Religious segregation increased significantly over the period of the Troubles, but it is important to differentiate between what might be termed ‘real’ and areal segregation Deaths occurred overwhelmingly in highly- segregated areas of Belfast and across Northern Ireland more generally, with by far the greater proportion occurring in the areas of most extreme polarisation Belfast deaths by extent of residential religious segregationDeaths and residential religious segregation in Belfast

The agency of ‘religious’ space ‘Our boys drove over from the Shankill and out of the Tiger’s Bay to do the hit. They were a good team, fully tooled up, but when they got there big high iron gates were locked, blocking off access past the priest’s house and parish offices. Getting over the gates and back out would have taken time and the Peelers and the Army were all over the area so they called it off’. (U.D.A. leader Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair, quoted in Wood, Crimes of Loyalty, 172) Republican random killings in Belfast and residential religious segregation Loyalist random killings in Belfast and residential religious segregation Shankill New Lodge