There’s no bigger debate in N.I. regarding The Troubles than the “which side was worse” argument. IRA vs UDA (aka Catholic vs Protestant.. can you see a common theme in my research?) In actual fact, both sides inflicted major damage to each community, and it’s rather pointless to bicker over who was ‘worse’ and what was justified. Instead we should reflect on where we went wrong. What led to the conditions that bred this kind of bloodshed? How can we make sure it never happens again?
The IRA killed over 1700 people, including civilians, which leads the Unionists to argue that the conflict was largely Republican terrorism. However Catholic civilians were more likely to be killed, leading Republicans to argue that their violence was legitimate warfare rather than Secretarian murder.
As stated in the interview linked below, both sides inflicted pain and hurt. What has changed from before The Troubles to now? Are the conditions better? Worse? The same? As time goes on, as more and more people (try to) forget The Troubles, is it likelier to happen again? We must remember in part in order to correct our mistakes and fix our communities in order to prevent this sort of conflict. I worry that not enough has changed. We certainly have a long way to go before I would consider Northern Ireland a ‘peaceful’ country.
Link to interview:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-49299060
Link to useful website with lots of factual info on Ireland:
time to change 