Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland The problems between Protestants andCatholics in Northern Ireland started a long time ago and more political thanreligious. For centuries the English had triedto gain control of Ireland. Until the sixteenth centrury,England controlledonly a small area of Ireland around Dublin. English rulers, including KingHenry VIII, Queen Elizabeth I and Oliver Cromwell gradually conquered the wholeof Ireland.Ireland became a British colony in 1607. The last area to resis the Englishwas the north of Ireland, Ulster, but in the end the Irish were defeated.

TheEnglish punished the Catholic people of Ulster for their resistance by givingtheir lands to Protestants from Scotland and England. In 1921, an independent Irish statewas set up, now the Republic of Ireland. Six counties in the north of Irelandwere dominated and controlled by Protestants. They refused to join the newIrish state. These six counties stayed part of the UK and are now calledNorthern Ireland.THE TROUBLESFrom 1921to 1972, Northenr Ireland had its own parliament in Belfast, the capital.

TheProtestants were in the majority and controlled the economy. In the late 1960s,there were large, peaceful demonstrations by Catholics who wanted betterpolitical representation, jobs and housing. Protestant reaction to thedemonstrations was strong and often violent. In 1969, Brithish soldiers weresent to Northern Ireland to help keep the peace.In 1972, thirteen Catholics werekilled by British soldiers during a Civil Rights march.

This incident, know asBloody Sunday, led to even greater problems between Catholics and Protestants.This period of violence is know as the Troubles.During the Troubles more than3000 people have died and 30,000 have been injured. Terrorist violence iscauses by the Irish Republican Army, or IRA on Ulster Volunteer Force, or UVFon the Protestant side. Recently, the British and Irishgovernments started peace talks with Catholic and Protestant political leaders.It is thought that Northern Ireland will stay a part of the UK as long as amajority of people there want it to be. A LAND OF BEAUTYNorthernIreland is a very beautiful place.

It is a land of mountains, rivers and lakes.It has a rugged coastline and you are never more than half an hour away fromthe coast by car. STORIES AND MYTHSThe peopleof Ireland have always been known for their stories and myths. They say thatgiants used to live on the Antrim coast, north of Belfast.One giant, FinnMcCool, the commander of the king of Ireland s army, fell in love with a womangiant in Scotland.

He wanted her to come to Ulster so he started to build abridge, the Giant s Causeway, so than she could walk across the sea.