Why Were Troops Sent into Ireland in 1969? - page 3
Keywords: Modern History Northern Island British Troops Religion
By Jenny on 02/07/2009
Level: GCSE Key Stage 4 (Years 10-11)
Page Number: 3 of 5 pages: 1 2 3 4 5
in 1918, Sinn Fein (our selves) – the legal political branch of the IRA – won all but one of the non-Ulster seats. They declared an Irish Republic. After much violence, the South was allowed almost total independence with its own government. To pacify the Ulster Protestants, the six countries of Ulster remained British.
In the 1921 the Anglo/Irish Agreement partitioned Northern Ireland, which remained part of the UK.
After partition, there was much discrimination against Catholics in Northern Ireland. Ulster was small and economically weak. About one third of the population was Catholic, many of these were Nationalists. Between 1922 and 1924, 453 people were killed in Belfast. The majority were Catholics. They turned to the IRA for protection. In 1935 troops were sent to restore order. The Unionists blamed the Catholics. The British were persuaded to set up the “B Specials” – a part-time armed police force. These were loyalists. Only 1 policeman in 6 was Catholic. People suspected of a crime could be kept in prison without trial (internment). The press was censored. Houses could be searched without a warrant. The authorities did not have to hold inquiries on any dead body found in Northern Ireland. This did not happen in mainland Britain.
Due gerrymandering Catholics found it more difficult than Protestants to get a vote in local elections. Businessmen (almost all Protestants) could vote twice, once for the business they owned and once at home. Also sub-tenants, lodgers and children over 21 living at home did not get a vote causing about 25,000 adults to be disenfranchised - mainly poor Catholics.
Additionally, when they did manage to vote, due to the boundaries of the voting district being moved by Protestant boundary commissioners, few Nationalist/Catholic councillors were elected. For example, in 1966 the adult population of Derry was 30,376; 20,102 Catholics and 10,274 Protestants, yet there were more Protestant Unionists than Catholic Nationalist councillors.
The County Councils provided jobs and houses and were biased against Catholics. There was so much unemployment that the jobs provided by County Councils were highly prized, in particular school bus drivers because of the long rests and long holidays. In 1961 in County Fermanagh, out of about 75 schools, all but 7 bus drivers were Protestant.
Also, Protestants “jumped” the queue for council houses. Out of 1,589 council houses built-in Fermanagh between 1845-1969, 1,021 went to Protestant families.
But, the generation after World War 2 had never known a
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