The 20th Century was a century of geo-political transition. Two World Wars and the subsequent Soviet era changed the lines on the world map and global power structure of the Western World. For The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in particular, the 20th Century saw each country drastically transition politically, often through violent means. For the Republic of Ireland in the 20th century, the country transitioned from violent uprisings and rebellions against its status as a British colony in the early part of the century, to a war with Britain which resulted in the partitioning of The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, and to the development of its own self-governing body independent of Britain. Northern Ireland transitioned from an era of the Ulster Unionist Party hegemon in which the minority Catholic Nationalist population was discriminated against through housing laws and gerrymandering, to a period of intense sectarian violence and home rule, to a period of relative peace and political power sharing.
For me, transitions are paradigm shifts. These shifts can occur politically, socially, economically, culturally, scientifically, etc. Often these transitions are the result of political campaigning, protesting, and/or political violence. Sometimes, transitions occur gradually as generations turn over and rifts diminish. Sometimes transitions are caused by changing in economic conditions. Sometimes transitions are caused by changes in the demographics of the population racially, religiously, and/or ethnically. Most of the time, political transitions occur due to a number of these factors working together. The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are countries which have experienced drastic and marked political transitions. The causes behind these transitions were complex and interworking.
Ireland was colonized by Great Britain early in the 17th Century. Immediately, the English Protestants attempted to suppress the religious freedoms of the majority Irish Catholic population. English rule went on relatively uncontested until the potato famine and economic depression of the mid-19th century. Irish citizens began to resent the way in which the British government was reacting, or not reacting to the dilemma. The British government held to the belief that the market would correct itself and refused to contribute aid. This non-response by the British government caused a paradigm shift in the way Irish citizen perceived their status in the eyes of the British government. Subsequently, Irish campaigns for independence from Britain began to gain steam. These groups included the clandestine Irish Republican Brotherhood who advocated an armed rebellion against the British government, the Sinn Fein movement, and the Home Rule Movement who advocated for a constitutional change for independence. This is a great example of political transition. In this case, Ireland’s transition from an agriculturally based colony relatively free of nationalist movements to one in which independence from Britain was the paramount political issue was the result of an economic depression, a famine, and the failings of the British government to do anything about it.
The support for Irish independence was tested in 1916 when Padraic Pearse and James Connolly led the Easter Rising, declaring Irish independence and being quickly squashed by the British military. The Easter Rising did not receive much public support, which was one of the reasons it was unsuccessful. However, the decision by the British Government to execute the leaders of the Rising galvanized public support for the cause of home rule. Riding this wave of Irish nationalism, Sinn Fein was successful in the elections of 1918. The success of Sinn Fein angered the British government and led to the Anglo-Irish War which ended with a treaty in which the island was partitioned separating the majority Protestant Northern Ireland from the south. The Republic of Ireland was granted its independence and Northern Ireland maintained its ties with Great Britain. In this case, the political transition of Ireland from a British colony to a partitioned island with an independent south was the result of a Rising, a change in popular opinion about home rule due to perceived unjust executions, a war, and a treaty.
More recent transitions in Ireland have been centered in economics. In its early history, Ireland’s economy was largely based in agriculture. The temperate oceanic climate, vast pastures, and large amount of rainfall contribute to Ireland’s rich farmlands and livestock. More recently, Ireland has made attempts to transition its economy to one based in the service sector. Ireland has a well-educated population due to the support the government has historically granted students. Ireland put this population to use in education, tourism, finance, technology, etc. This led to the economic boom, Celtic Tiger years of the 1990s. The growth Ireland experienced during this era was largely based on the housing market and the construction industry which supported its expansion. However, the housing market bubble eventually burst during the global recession of the late 2000s and took down with it the adjacent construction industry, causing a spike in unemployment, and the banks which made many of the home loans. Ireland received bailout money from the European Union in order to counteract the effects of the failing banks but received the money with the premise that it would make attempts to balance its budget. Currently, Ireland is deciding, as a country, which programs will receive budget cuts. Ireland’s austerity measures are the hottest political topic of the day. The country seems as if it is on the cusp of a major transition. Government spending on social programs and failed economic austerity is, in large part, how Ireland wound up in a recession. Now, the country must decide how it wants to structure its budget in the future as to avoid such economic issues. This is an example of an economic transition. This particular transition was caused by a failing economy and a need to reduce government deficit.
Northern Ireland has a more recent history of drastic political transition. Born out of the partitioning of the island following the Anglo-Irish War of 1922, Northern Ireland was dominated politically by the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). The UUP represented the majority Protestant population and was loyal to the British government. The UUP maintained political control largely through gerrymandering. The Party would define the districts in such a way to ensure that the Catholic minority had limited government representation. Eventually, the party’s dominance was such a guarantee that they simply did not have to appease the Catholic electorate whatsoever since their political influence was so marginal. Inspired by the African-American civil rights movement, the exclusion of Catholics in Northern Irish politics, coupled with discrimination of Catholics in housing and jobs, brought about a movement advocating civil rights for the minority Catholic population in Northern Ireland.
After several years of marching and protests, the degree of violence at the marches began to escalate. Initially, British forces were sent to Northern Ireland to maintain the peace and protect civilians from the violent protests. However, the killing of 13 unarmed civil rights protestors by British forces in Derry (Bloody Sunday) in 1972 was met with mass public disapproval and sparked an era of sectarian violent conflict, known as the Troubles, which lasted for thirty years. During the Troubles, roughly 3,500 people were killed and many went missing. One violent terrorist act by one group would spark a response from the opposing group in a vicious cycle of sectarian violence. During the Troubles, the minority Catholic population was attempting to advance a transition to a government which did not discriminate against Catholics and Irish nationalists in Northern Ireland. This attempted political transition was driven by violence largely due to the feeling of disenfranchisement with the political system from minority groups who felt like political action would be impossible within a system in which they were not well represented.
The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 effectively ended the era known as the Troubles. The Agreement, helped negotiated by William Jefferson Clinton, consisted of a decommissioning plan in which groups like the IRA were convinced to abandon their violent tactics in exchange for a new power-sharing government. Today, Northern Ireland has a proportional representation electoral system and measures like the single transferable vote system have been implemented to promote cross-party voting to various degrees of success. Parties from all sides work together and the Republican Sinn Fein Party are actually having a good deal of success in recent elections. The political transition of Northern Ireland was a long process achieved through violent civil rights protests, violent sectarian terrorism, and legitimate political negotiation and agreement between the opposing sides. Although there is still sectarian violence which takes place in Northern Ireland, the Good Friday Agreement did actually mark a transition into an era of drastically reduced violence.
Future transitions in Northern Ireland will depend heavily on peace and reconciliation. The Peace and Reconciliation group in Derry focuses on job creation, policing, and maintaining a clean city in order to promote a feeling of ownership and investment among the citizens of the city. This, they say, will promote cooperation toward common goals and that sectarian divisions will eventually dissipate. This envisions a political transition in Northern Ireland in which sectarian conflict is minimized. However, the vision, I believe, is incomplete. Reconciliation will be important to how Northern Ireland successfully transitions into an era of true peace. Both sides need to take ownership of the terrorism that took place during the Troubles. Until past wrongdoings are atoned for, resentments continue to be harbored on both sides of the conflict. Also, I believe that if Northern Ireland is to truly reach peace, it must do more to integrate its school system. Although schools are not mandatorily segregated, Protestant and Catholic students attend separate schools. This means that children are not exposed to individuals on the other side of the conflict until they are older. By this point, the children have been heavily socialized and less able to overcome preconceived notions about the other side. Integrating schools could go a long way in creating empathy through exposure. This honest movement toward peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland will be its next political transition.
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