Northern Ireland Conflict
When it comes to Northern Ireland politics and the conflict in Northern Ireland it can be somewhat confusing, especially for someone who is from outside the province.
There are number of things we must get cleared up first before moving on. The issue of the conflict in Northern Ireland is that its troubles are within the province and is not at war with the Republic of Ireland. The root of the problem is between Protestants who want Ulster to remain part of the United Kingdom and the Catholics who want Ulster re-united with the Republic of Ireland. Sounds so simple doesn't it? Read on.
When the six counties of the North was partitioned from the rest of Ireland in 1921 the Catholics in Ulster disagreed with the decision. They seen themselves as Irish but also feared the Northern Ireland government being ruled by Ulster Unionists (Protestants) in alliance with the British Conservative party they would be treated as second-class citizens. Also being somewhat divided from their fellow country people in the Republic of Ireland was something most Catholics did not want.
Some Protestant Unionists also strongly opposed the partition, such as Sir Edward Carson, believed it was a betrayal of unionists all over Ireland, as they did not want to Britain to give the Irish any ideas of a British withdrawal from Ireland at all.
The Irish Republican Army who strongly opposed occupation of Britain on Irish soil started a violent campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland. At the start of 1922 the I.R.A. started taking hostages, setting up ambushes against the police force and also defending Catholic areas in cities like Belfast and Derry from attacks by loyalists who were often assisted by the police force in attacking in these Catholic areas.
Policing Northern Ireland
The Royal Irish Constabulary, a brutal police force against the Irish for the whole of Ireland, disbanded from Southern Ireland and became the Royal Ulster Constabulary in Northern Ireland on 1st June 1922. With 3,000 mean serving Northern Ireland they also had the support of the Ulster Special Constabulary, a reserve force of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and was mainly recruited from the protestant armed militia group named the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). The Ulster Special Constabulary, known as the B-Specials, was responsible for many brutal attacks on Catholics and seen as a Protestant vigilante force by the Catholics.
The fear of the Catholics in the North of Ireland became a reality with
the establishment of the armed forces of the R.U.C. and with more loyalist
organisations starting to appear into the political scene. Discrimination
against Catholics was strong in the North of Ireland but this was a fact
denied by Unionists and the British and even today is still denied by many
Unionists, see Northern Ireland
discrimination for more information.