“What caused The Troubles?”
When the abnormal became normal….
The Troubles were an ethno-nationalist conflict in the north of Ireland that lasted about 30 years, from the late 1960s to the late 1990s. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "irregular war" or "low-level war". The battle began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Agreement 1998. Although the Troubles mainly occurred in Northern Ireland, the violence sometimes spilled over into parts of the Republic of Ireland, England, and mainland Europe.
The conflict was primarily political and nationalistic, fuelled by historical events. It also had an ethnic or sectarian dimension, but despite using the terms Protestant and Catholic to refer to the two sides, it was not a religious conflict. A key issue was the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. Unionists, mostly Ulster Protestants, wanted Northern Ireland to remain within the United Kingdom. Irish nationalists, mostly Irish Catholics, wanted Northern Ireland to leave the United Kingdom and join a united Ireland.
The conflict began during a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association campaign to end discrimination against the Catholic/nationalist minority by the Protestant/unionist government of Northern Ireland and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). The authorities attempted to suppress the protest campaign with police brutality; it was also met with violence from loyalists, who believed it was a Republican front. Increasing tensions led to severe violence in August 1969 and the deployment of British troops in what became the British Army's longest-ever operation. 'Peace walls' were built in some areas to separate the two communities. Some Catholics initially welcomed the British Army as a more neutral force than the RUC, but it soon came to be seen as hostile and biased, particularly after Bloody Sunday in 1972.
The main participants in the Troubles were republican paramilitaries such as the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA); loyalist paramilitaries such as the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Ulster Defence Association (UDA); British state security forces—the British Army and RUC; and political activists and politicians. The security forces of the Republic of Ireland played a minor role. Republican paramilitaries carried out a guerrilla campaign against British security forces and a bombing campaign against infrastructural, commercial and political targets. Loyalists targeted Republicans/nationalists and attacked the wider Catholic community in what they described as retaliation. At times, there were bouts of sectarian tit-for-tat violence and feuds within and between paramilitary groups of the same stripe. The British security forces undertook a policing and counter-insurgency role primarily against Republicans. There was some collusion between British security forces and loyalist paramilitaries. The Troubles also involved numerous riots, mass protests and acts of civil disobedience, leading to increased segregation and the creation of temporary no-go areas.
More than 3,500 people were killed in the conflict. There is still sporadic violence since the Good Friday Agreement was signed, including endless punishment attacks and a campaign by dissident paramilitaries.
