Northern Ireland

The conflict in Northern Ireland is one of the few, if not the only conflict left in all of Western Europe.
Northern Ireland is located on the northern part of the Irish island. It is a part of the union with the United Kingdom. The largest city in Northern Island is Belfast and the official languages are English and Irish.

In 1923, a conflict between the IRA(Irish Republican Army) and the Britain’s started. The cause was when the British invaded Northern Ireland because they mean that Ireland should be a part of Great Britain. IRA’s goal was to get an independent Irish government.
In the Northern Ireland the majority of the people were Protestants in 1921, when the country Ireland was split in two.
Since Protestants were the majority people, Northern Ireland didn’t mind that they were under control of British. If they were to come a part of Ireland again, they could lose the privileges they had over the Catholics.
The newer conflicts in Northern Ireland started in 1967 with the creation of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA). It was formed as a response to four decades of Unionist discrimination against the Catholics. They wanted to end the political discrimination and to have the same rights as the Protestants.
Many Catholics found themselves politically mobilized for the first time since 1921 after founding the civil rights movement.
There were marches and protests, something that would push the conflicts further on, as the Protestants viewed the marches with great concern, fearing that Catholics wanted to dissolve the union completely.
As a result of the many conflicts, Northern Ireland was governed from Westminister from 1974 to 2000. This created a more stabile state. But not everyone was satisfied with this. The IRA often used bombs and violence to protest. Today the conflict is undoubtedly lessened. Protestants and Catholics are trying to live together. However, there is still conflict in the country. The two groups still live separated from each other.