Considering what a massive thing The Troubles was in Northern Ireland’s history, and the fact that N.I. is a part of the UK, you’d think everyone would know what it was, right? Nope! Not my generation anyway. I remember when I first came to England to go to uni, and my new friends asked me about N.I. and what it was like. One of these occasions I was talking about how ‘behind the times’ it was and how it was probably to do with The Troubles, only to be met by confused expressions and blank stares. “The what?” They asked. I was astounded that no one had a clue what the words even meant, never mind the history of it. I’m not sure even one person knew. As well as that, no one had a clue abortion or gay marriage was still illegal, but that’s another discussion for later on…
That initial shock of the lack of knowledge of what was and is happening on their own doorstep is kinda one of the key reasons for me doing this project. Maybe if more people knew, there would be more of a chance of a change in laws?
The Troubles lasted 30+ years (August 1969 – 1998) and cost the lives of over 3500. N.I and R.O.I split and N.I remained a part of the UK (more on that soon) while the rest became an independent state. This caused a split in the people of N.I. between the Unionists (mostly Prods who were happy being part of the UK) and the Nationalists (mostly Catholics who wanted a United Ireland.)
Catholics faced discrimination in jobs and housing and started protesting in the late 1960s which faced crackdown from the N.I. government. Street violence spread and in 1969 the government sent troops to impose control. They were mostly welcomed but later, armed groups from both sides like the IRA and UDA started bombings and shootings. 1972 was the worst year which included Bloody Sunday where 13 people were killed by soldiers while at a civil rights march, and Bloody Friday when another 9 were killed by IRA bombs in Belfast. 3,500 were killed and 50,000 were injured throughout the conflict. Peace talks started in the early 1990’s and in 1998 the Good Friday Agreement was signed which ended the worst of the violence.
Considering how awful these events are, and how long they went on for, it’s surprising no-one my age remembers them. I feel as though, although it’s not something most people want to brag about, so I understand why the phrase “The Troubles” is the Harry Potter equivalent of saying “Voldemort,” it’s really important to remember the history of what happened, in order to prevent it from happening again. We have to learn from our mistakes, and how can we do that if we pretend we didn’t make any?
time to change 