-
Period: to
Northern Ireland PM under pressure
"In the winter of 1968-69 the Northern Ireland prime minister, Terence O’Neill, came under increasing pressure from three sources. Namely, the predominantly Catholic civil rights movement demanding widespread reform of electoral and housing legislation; unionist critics of O’Neill and his concessions to nationalists; and Wilson’s Labor government in Britain growing concerned about the unrest in Northern Ireland." -
Burntollet Bridge Incident
Non-violent civil rights activists marching from Belfast to Derry were ambushed by militant Ulster loyalists whilst passing through Burntollet. The march had been called in defiance of an appeal by Northern Ireland Prime Minister Terence O'Neill for a temporary end to protest. -
The Northern Ireland general election
This was the last election to the Parliament of Northern Ireland before its abolition by the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973. Splits within unionism widened as a result, and O'Neill's position was undermined by the success of more hard-line loyalist candidates. -
Terence O'Neill resigns as PM
O'Neill's seat at the subsequent by-election was won by his arch-nemesis, Ian Paisley. -
Orange Marches
The heightened tension during the annual Orange marches (instigated by the Orange Order - a Protestant fraternal organisation) led to rioting in Belfast. -
Period: to
Battle of the Bogside
The Battle of the Bogside was a very large communal riot that took place in Derry, Northern Ireland. The fighting was between residents of the Bogside area (organised under the Derry Citizens' Defence Association), and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) along with local unionists. -
Troops sent in
It became clear after the Battle of the Bogside that local police were incapable of handling the situation and the British Labor government made the decision to send in British troops to restore order in Northern Ireland. -
First IRA Split
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is founded.The movement quickly established itself in Catholic housing estates and spent much of 1970 training its volunteers and acquiring weapons. The Provisionals’ aim was to drive the old enemy, the British army, out of Northern Ireland and to bring about the unification which had been denied them in 1921. -
Edward Heath elected PM
Heath led a conservative administration, which tended to see the IRA as the basic problem together with the Catholic community which gave it active or tacit support. -
Operation Demetrius
A British Army operation which involved the mass arrest and internment (imprisonment without trial) of 342 people suspected of being involved with the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Made possible through the introduction of disastrous internment legislation by the Heath government. -
Democratic Unionist Party founded
The Ulster Unionist Party split when Ian Paisley broke away to form the Democratic Unionist Party. The DUP, although smaller in numbers than the ‘official’ unionists, adopted extreme positions on most matters. Its roots were more working class than those of the Ulster Unionists, and its members tended on the whole to be Presbyterian, while the ‘officials’ represented a broader range of Protestantism, including a higher proportion of members of the Church of Ireland. -
Period: to
Most violent year of the Troubles
As the IRA increased its campaign of shootings and bombings, 1972 became the most violent year of the Troubles with 467 deaths in Northern Ireland, 321 of which were civilian casualties. -
Bloody Sunday
In the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland, British soldiers shot 26 unarmed civilians during a protest march against internment, killing 14 (in total), in full view of the public and the press. Bloody Sunday increased Catholic and Irish nationalist hostility towards the British Army and exacerbated the conflict. Support for the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) rose and there was a surge of recruitment into the organisation, especially locally. -
Suspension of the Northern Ireland Parliament
Heath’s government suspended the Northern Ireland parliament and established direct rule from London through a Northern Ireland secretary of state. Initially intended as a temporary measure, direct rule was to become a permanent feature of the state. -
Sunningdale Agreement
The Sunningdale Agreement was an attempt to establish a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive and a cross-border Council of Ireland. Unionist opposition, violence and a loyalist general strike caused the collapse of the Agreement in May 1974. -
Prevention of Terrorism Acts - first installment
The Prevention of Terrorism Acts were a series of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1974 to 1989 that conferred emergency powers upon police forces where they suspected terrorism -
Period: to
Irish hunger strikes
The strike radicalised Irish nationalist politics, and was the driving force that enabled Sinn Féin to become a mainstream political party. It was a gesture of defiance against Margaret Thatcher (PM). One hunger striker, Bobby Sands, was elected as a Member of Parliament during the strike, prompting media interest from around the world. The strike was called off after ten prisoners had starved themselves to death; including Sands, whose funeral was attended by 100,000 people. -
Anglo-Irish Agreement
The Anglo-Irish Agreement was a treaty between the United Kingdom and Ireland which aimed to help bring an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The treaty gave the Irish government an advisory role in Northern Ireland's government while confirming that there would be no change in the constitutional position of Northern Ireland unless a majority of its people agreed to join the Republic. -
Good Friday Agreement signed
The Good Friday Agreement was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process of the late 20th century. The agreement also created a number of institutions between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. Issues relating to sovereignty, civil and cultural rights, decommissioning of weapons, justice and policing were central to the agreement.