Northern Ireland Case Study: The Hunger Strike Of 1980-1980
1080 Words5 Pages
Introduction
The Irish Troubles are very important in the Irish history. It started at the end of the 1960's, when the British Army was fist sent to Northern Ireland. It started as a mission to gain more rights for the Catholic population. Later this turned into a battle about the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. Since 1922 Northern Ireland had belonged to the United Kingdom, but now the Catholic minority wanted it to become a part of the Republic of Ireland. Even though it was the Catholics against the Protestants, it wasn't a religious conflict. It was a conflict in which many people died or were injured. The Irish Troubles officially ended in on April 10th 1998 with the Belfast Good Friday Agreement.
This paper will talk about…show more content… First of all, they wanted the right to wear their own clothes in prison. Secondly, they wanted the right not to do prison work. They also demanded the right to freedom of association. Furthermore they wanted the right to organise their own leisure activities in prison. And lastly they demanded a reduction of sentence.
The first hunger strike ended when the hunger strikers thought that the British government had met their demands. After finding out that the government hadn't met their demands, they organised a second hunger strike in March 1981. This time the strike was lead by the leader of the Provisional IRA prisoners, Bobby Sands. Every week a new prisoner would join the hunger strike. In the first few weeks four prisoners had died. The British government had made concessions on almost everything by the time it was July. The only thing they didn't give in on was the right of…show more content… The Irish Troubles ended with the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. Even though this was a peace treaty, the concrete walls between different quarters remained. The unemployment rates were still very high, since a lot of international companies had left the country. The government was the main employer. Because of the high unemployment rates, the poverty rates are also very high.
A few years after the Good Friday Agreement, tourism is expanding in Ireland. The military stops etc. aren't visible anymore; they have made space for new shops and museums. Nevertheless, the Troubles remain in people's memories. The ones that grew up during the Troubles are scarred for life. Some things remained after the Troubles; the gates between the different quarters still get closed at night.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that the Irish Troubles affected everyday life in Ireland greatly. Before the conflict there were many tensions and during the conflict they erupted. Before, during and after the Troubles the poverty and unemployment rates were very