Northern+Ireland+Shannan

Northern Ireland //The Conflict // Northern and Southern Ireland did not separate until the early 20th century. Protestants and Catholics separated themselves into two camps and they got into an argument about the home issues. Most of the Irish Catholics wanted to be free from Britain but the Protestants feared living in a country that had a catholic majority. In 1920 the British passed the Government of Ireland Act. The act divided the country into two political entities. The Protestants agreed to the act and the Catholics refused the act. The Catholics wanted to have complete control over Ireland. After a period of guerilla warfare, the IRA (Irish Republican Army) and the British forces signed a peace treaty. In 1921, the Irish Free State was created. In 1949, the Free State became an independent republic.//The Peace Process // In 1985, the British seriously tried to resolve to conflict between North and South Ireland. In 1994, the peace process began. The IRA declared a cease-fire. Sinn Fein, who is a political arm in the IRA, was able to organize multiparty peace talks. In December of 1994, negotiators pushed for British withdrawal from Northern Ireland. Great Britain would not withdrawal from Northern Ireland until the IRA gave up their weapons. In February of 1995, the British and Irish governments released their proposal of talks on the future of Northern Ireland. The talks were going to be about establishing a form of self government. In December of 1995, a U.S. senator, George Mitchell, stood as a mediator for the peace talks. On April 10, 1998, the Good Friday Agreement was signed. //Bloody Sunday// Bloody Sunday occurred on January 30, 1972. British soldiers parachuted into the neighborhood of Bogside in the city of Derry of Ireland. The soldiers killed 14 people and left many wounded. The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) organized a march to start at 3pm. The march started at Bishops field area and ended at Creggan area. The march was illegal by the British and the police force. They were going to walk down Creggan Hill, into William Street and onto the Guildhall Square, in the City Centre area. Over 15,000 people attended the march. The marchers were singing songs and people commented that it was like a carnival. When the marchers reached Williams Street, the British made a blockade so that they could no longer continue the march. This image is the trail that the people on the march took before they got to the British Blockade

The 14 people that were shot and killed on bloody Sunday are: Bernard McGuigan (41) Gerard V. Donaghy (17) Hugh P. Gilmore (17) John F. Duddy (17) James Mc Kinney (34) James J. Wray (22) John P. Young (17) Kevin McElhinney (17) Michael G. Kelly (17) Michael M. McDaid (20) Patrick J. Doherty (31) William A. McKinney (27) William N. Nash (19) John Johnston (59) Bloody Sunday was caught on camera images were sent around and people were shocked at the sights they saw. In 1997, 40,000 people signed a petition for inquiry. The British government was under a lot of pressure to investigate the events that occurred on Bloody Sunday. In January of 1998, the U.K. Prime Minister made this statement:

//".... that a Tribunal be established for inquiring into a definite matter of urgent public importance, namely the events on Sunday 30 January 1972 which led to loss of life in connection with the procession in Londonderry on that day, taking account of any new information relevant to events on that day."//

The Inquiry was launched but none of the British Paratroop were found guilty for the crimes that they committed.

media type="youtube" key="FEZ2US6WOAo" height="344" width="425" Sources www.google.com/images/ [] [|http://www.infoplease.com/spot/northireland1.html] http://larkspirit.com/bloodysunday/ []