The Four points for Britain – Land, Religion, Environment, Politics and Peace
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country in Western Europe, and a member of the British Commonwealth and European Union. Great Britain now sometimes called Britain, is the geographical name for the largest island in the British Isles, and includes the mainland nations of England, Wales and Scotland.
There has been over thirty years of intense violence between Northern Ireland’s Nationalist community with the majority being Roman Catholic and the Unionist community consisting of Protestant. There was discrimination against the British and the minority of them was Protestant. British forces were neutral in the conflict and tried to up hold law and order in the North.
The Belfast Agreement also known as “The Good Friday Agreement” has provided Northern Ireland’s divided society with a political framework to resolve its differences. The agreement mentions that North Ireland will remain within the United Kingdom until a majority votes other wise. This agreement was developed to give respect to both the Unionist and Nationalist parties, to create a power-sharing government.
Trouble in North Ireland persists, British army had to be deployed in Northern Ireland to restore order. In 1972 the British government imposed direct rule from London. Bloody Sunday resulted as a collapse of 50 years of Unionist rule. Northern Ireland conflict is referred to as the “The Troubles.”
The 1974 power- sharing Executive was the first experiment in cross community government in Northern Ireland and lasted only a short five months. Unionists opposed sharing power because it was not possible to share power with Nationalists that wanted to destroy the state.
Sinn Fein (IRA political wing)- political wing of the IRA (Irish Republican Army) was a big part of the problem of trying to resolve the issues between Britain and Northern Ireland. Britain did not want to join a government with Sinn Fein because of his involvement in the Catholic terrorist group, the Irish Republican Army. Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble required Fein to have the IRA dismantle its weapons, but the IRA is showing resists against this and in turn held up the peace process for the country.
Britain is made up of four distinctive countries. Britain exemplifies this point very well that there was more than one route towards political organization and the development of an overarching identity in each country. Resistance against this only created more unity and a stronger country. Britain is a great country and wants to hold its own separate identity. Northern Ireland also has had more economic success under British rule compared with the southern state of Ireland.
Environment versus jobs is a theme running in Britain. The Irish States policy of attracting foreign multi-nationals into the country – with lucrative tax breaks and set up grants – had much to do with ongoing crisis of employment creation and emigration. Different class interests were at play. For Irish workers unemployment and emigration had been an ongoing disaster. For the Irish bourgeoisie there was the simple economic need to become a player in developing international capitalist economy.
Britain’s occupancy in Northern Ireland over the years has built strength to a deteriorating political and security situation. Britain also plays a leading role with Europe and as a strong relationship with the United States, which in turn helps the economy.
REFERENCES
Grose, T. (1999, July). No end of troubles. U.S. News & World Report, 127 (4) p.36.
Mccallister, J. & Thornton, C. (2000, February). The peace falls to pieces again.
Time Australia, 8, p.38.
Reed, S. & Templeman, J. (1997, June). Belfast: A whiff of peace in the spring air.
Business week, 3531 p.60.
The troubles. (2006). Wikipedia. Retrieved November 11, 2006,
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/the_troubles
Watson, F. (n.d.). Scotland and the four nations of Britain. Retrieved November 14,
2006, http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/four_nations_01.shtml
Retrieved November 14, 2006 from http://www.anarkismo.net/newswire.php
Retrieved November 14, 2006 from http://www.aboutsociology.com/sociology/UK.
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Team Members DEBATE- FOR BRITAIN
PEGGY GRUTADAURIA
JODI McCLINTOCK
Team Members DEBATE-FOR BRITAIN
ASSIGNMENT 8-3
PEGGY GRUTTADAURIA
JODI McCLINTOCK
Great Britain has presented arguments validating their actions against Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland offers the following rebuttal.
Land
On the question of land, England is comparatively a small island on its own. It would then prove and advantage to have an area to expand to some time in the future. England had proved this by forcing her law on Northern Ireland. Britain had taken Northern Ireland and made it a province of the land. As a compromise and proof of this, the name of the country was to be the United Kingdom. That made it impossible for Northern Ireland to be a free state. The land belonged to the king of England and Northern Ireland ad to tow the line and pay allegiance to the king.
Again, one has to think of the proximity of Northern Ireland to England. In the days of ‘the sphere of influence’ and the dangers of being absorbed by another state, England could not find occupation of Ireland by another force admissible. So granting Northern Ireland some self rule must have been political strategy rather than a desire to grant them the land because, after 1920, Northern Ireland was still a province of the United Kingdom.
If we view the incorporation of Northern Ireland into the United Kingdom as a political strategy, we can see no more in it than a forceful way of saying: You are like us, you are our neighbor, so swear allegiance to us as we happen to be stronger. Britain made independence of Northern Ireland dependent upon a majority voting for it, yet they made sure that the majority was non-existent by rigging elections so that the Loyalists always had the majority in local government. Catholics wanted an Irish state but eventually gave it up and sought ways of attaining civil rights instead. It is, however, clear that Britain never saw North Ireland as an independent entity but always as a part of Britain.
Religion
Catholics in Northern Ireland have been discriminated against since the early 1600’s when Britain took their land and gave it to Scottish and English citizens who were loyal to the Crown. These new occupants drove the Irish out of their homes and into the mountains, banishing them to lives of hardship and servitude. In 1695 the Penal Laws were enacted by the British that prohibited Catholics from voting, holding public office, teaching Catholicism, maintaining Catholic schools, and practicing their religion, as well as a multitude of other restrictions. When Britain partitioned Ireland in the 1920’s, Ulster was divided in such a way that the counties containing the largest Catholic population were excluded from English rule. The result of this division was a 2 to 1 ratio of Protestants to Catholics. Since then, the Irish Catholics have fought for a united Ireland while the Protestants have striven to maintain the union with Britain. In response Britain has reinforced the oppression of the Irish Catholics through a series of discriminatory laws and a police force loyal to the Crown as a way of maintaining control over the country and its people.
Environment
The problems that existed in Northern Ireland were a direct result of the question of being occupied, being lumped together with people who had a different religious calling, and absence of egalitarian access to the same resources. To have to name his struggle as being just another ‘terrorist activity’ would mean that we would have to go back to the French Revolution, the liberal revolts of 1830, the national revolts of 1848 and in modern times , the activities of the Underground Movement in France during the world war, and declare them as being ‘terrorist’ motivated. Soon everyone who clamors for legitimate rights would have to be a ‘terrorist’. We have to be careful of this term as it can be used conveniently to discredit legitimate claims to freedom. All the above has been used by Britain in Northern Ireland. It is lamentable to see that every time there is even a civil rights problem, Britain calls the army. The army has been used by Britain in India and South Africa and its use is rather antiquated.
The other part of the environment created by Britain is partitioning Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland without considering religious calling. This has called further stress but will be dealt with elsewhere. The one part that hurts is the civil rights question. This alone can place people in a state of unrest because it deals with the common man and his needs of daily life. This would place Northern Ireland in a state of being open to mobilization of the masses into a fighting machine at any time. It has to be remembered that the peasants in France wanted bread, when the Queen baked a huge cake .If the masses are always angry, safety in the streets becomes hard to maintain. Britain created this unrest. She certainly did not create an environment of peace.
Discrimination
The British were in the majority and were making all the penal laws against the Catholics. It would then, be a grievous error to maintain that the Catholics were discriminating against the British, as you claim. In mutual exclusion Catholics and Protestants do not see eye to eye, from the days of Martin Luther, Jon Knox and Calvin, but in the case of Catholics in Northern Ireland the Catholics were in the minority and were the underdogs. If the Catholics were discriminating against the British, why then was their language not being used in schools? Why are there laws today being enacted to deal with them fairly? In fact, why has there been unrest in the area…because the British were discriminated against? Please ‘define ‘‘discrimination’.
Politics and Peace
Britain’s occupancy in Northern Ireland over the years and the resulting oppression and discrimination has caused the political and security situation that has torn the country apart and pitted its citizens against each other. The Irish Republic Army was formed in 1916 during a rebellion against the heavy handed tactics employed by Britain to maintain control over Ireland. Britain’s reaction to the rebellion was a systematic assassination of the rebels which set off a war that resulted in Britain’s relinquishing control over the majority of Ireland. The remaining 6 counties of Ulster were retained by Britain and ruled under conditions amounting to martial law for many decades. The 1960’s saw the formation of a civil rights movement in protest against the discrimination resulting from Britain’s rule. Over the years Britain has revised and rewritten the laws governing Northern Ireland in response to the violence and protests by the Irish people, but has refused to grant the one request that would put an end to the standoff: relinquish their rule over Northern Ireland.
"British forces were neutral in the conflict and tried to up hold law and order in the North". Oh, please. British forces are brutal and out for their own interests. England needs to get out of Northern Ireland, you were not wanted then and you are not wanted now. Just because it's an island and you are on the island, doesn't mean you own all of it.
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