The wrestling promotion features championships, former WWE superstars and local independent wrestlers. October 5, 1968 was when the Troubles began, argues Smyth, and those TV images are etched in the peoples memory.. The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are both religious states, with 90.4% of the population in the latter identifying as Christian. The population at the time of the 2021 census was 1.9million, having grown 5% over the previous decade. The Republic is an independent nation covering a little more than 80% of the island. Information on Census 2021 in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland competes separately at the Commonwealth Games, and people from Northern Ireland may compete for either Great Britain or Ireland at the Olympic Games. It resulted in a resentful Catholic minority within Northern Ireland. And while it is the Protestant-majority part of Ireland, at the time of the division, about a third of the Northern Irish were Catholic. According to the 2021 Census, in 94.74% of households, all people aged 16 and above spoke English as their main language. Members of the USC and regular police were involved in reprisal attacks on Catholic civilianss. Efforts by members of the Northern Ireland Assembly to legislate for some official uses of the language have failed to achieve the required cross-community support. The biggest employer in Belfast was the shipyard, but it had a 95 percent Protestant workforce. The rebels wanted an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and to roll back the Plantation. The Northern Ireland government was criticised heavily for its lack of preparation, and Northern Ireland Prime Minister J. M. Andrews resigned. Brexit has also activated a historic sense of betrayal on the part of the Northern Irish against Britain. The Nationalist Ardoyne area is also a place worth avoiding due to its proximity to the Crumlin and Shankill areas. While bloodied protestors fled into the freezing river for protection, the RUC officers stood aside and did nothing to protect them, says Smyth. On January 30, 1972, Catholic nationalists in Derry organized a march to protest the British internment policy, but the military was called in to shut it down. The full line-up of candidates standing in May's local government election has been confirmed. The county boundaries still appear on Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland Maps and the Philip's Street Atlases, among others. This page is not available in other languages. [135], Northern Ireland is the least forested part of the United Kingdom and Ireland, and one of the least forested countries in Europe. [93] According to a 2015 opinion poll, 70% express a long-term preference of the maintenance of Northern Ireland's membership of the United Kingdom (either directly ruled or with devolved government), while 14% express a preference for membership of a united Ireland. Its now threatening to rise up to recommission weapons, to launch its own sort of campaign of retaliatory violence. The name of that county then appears in both Irish and English on the passport's information page, as opposed to the town or city of birth on the United Kingdom passport. 1824, completed 1846. Some of them wore the white armbands of the B-Specials, an auxiliary police unit of the RUC. [215], Geraldine Heaney, an Olympic gold medalist and one of the first women inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame, competed internationally for Canada but was born in Northern Ireland. There are substantial uplands in the Sperrin Mountains (an extension of the Caledonian mountain belt) with extensive gold deposits, granite Mourne Mountains and basalt Antrim Plateau, as well as smaller ranges in South Armagh and along the FermanaghTyrone border. The significance of the Belfast Agreement of 1998", "Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, 2008; Module:Community Relations, Variable:IRISH", "Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, 1998; Module:Community Relations, Variable:IRISH", "Home Office Immigration & Nationality Charges 2018", "Main statistics for Northern Ireland Statistical bulletin Passports held", "Main statistics for Northern Ireland Statistical bulletin Language", "Council of Europe Charter monitoring report, 2010", "Census 2021 Main statistics for Northern Ireland Phase 2 December 2022", "Presbyterians and the Irish Language Roger Blaney (Ulster Historical Foundation/The Ultach Trust, 6.50) ISBN 0-901905-75-5". downloading the latest version of Internet Explorer, 100 years on: The partition of Ireland explained, Microscopes and soap bubbles show the art of science, Douglass Leadership House to undergo operational, physical changes. The Troubles were precipitated by years upon years of friction between Catholics and Protestants. In 1169, Ireland was invaded by a coalition of forces under the command of the English crown that quickly overran and occupied most of the island, beginning 800 years of foreign central authority. - to which over 13% of respondents gave no answer it also asked "Religion brought up in?" Excepted matters (such as international relations, taxation and elections) are never expected to be considered for devolution. Across the nine counties, according to the aggregate UK 2011 Census for Northern Ireland, and the ROI 2011 Census for counties Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan, there is a Roman Catholic majority over Protestant of 50.8% to 42.7%. Brexit takes Northern Ireland out of the European Union and leaves the Republic of Ireland in the European Union, drawing a stark distinction and difference between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Most of Ireland at the outbreak of war in 1914 remained loyal to the United Kingdom. They are officially used while applying for an Irish passport, which requires one to state one's county of birth. However, there are important differences in law and procedure between Northern Ireland and England and Wales. [88] In its white paper on Brexit the United Kingdom government reiterated its commitment to the Belfast Agreement. [90], While some unionists argue that discrimination was not just due to religious or political bigotry, but also the result of more complex socio-economic, socio-political and geographical factors,[91] its existence, and the manner in which nationalist anger at it was handled, were a major contributing factor to the Troubles. Long Kesh. While the majority of disenfranchised electors were Protestant, Catholics were over-represented since they were poorer and had more adults still living in the family home.[79]. On August 14, the overwhelmed prime minister of Northern Ireland called on the British government to send in troops to restore order. Donegal, Cavan, and Monaghan were combined with the island's remaining 23 counties to form southern Ireland. [170] The Irish Language Act of 2022 also legislated commissioners for both Irish and Ulster Scots.[1]. Rioters throwing rocks and stones as trouble flared following the Apprentice Boys parade through the streets on Derry, Northern Ireland, August 13, 1969. The Catholic Protestant Divide Religious Differences Around seventy-five per cent of the population of Northern Ireland was protestant, and twenty-five per cent was Catholic. Tags: Department of History, School of Arts and Sciences, Stewart Weaver, Drivers stop at the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland on the road from Belfast to Dublin, c. 1950. Although some news bulletins since the 1990s have opted to avoid all contentious terms and use the official name, Northern Ireland, the term "the North" remains commonly used by broadcast media in the Republic.[117][118][119]. Others such as new immigrants or those from mixed . A banner on Belfasts Robinson and Cleaver Department Store reads Ulster Welcomes Her King & Queen. Crowds are gathered as King George V arrives to celebrate the opening of the first parliament of Northern Ireland in 1921, and to address the body. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. The city's fire brigade was inadequate, and as the Northern Ireland government had been reluctant to spend money on air raid shelters, it only started to build them after the Blitz in London during the autumn of 1940. Many believed this would leave the remaining Northern Ireland territory too small to be viable. Apart from the public sector, another important service sector is tourism, which rose to account for over 1% of the economy's revenue in 2004. In addition racing on purpose built circuits take place at Kirkistown and Bishop's Court,[210] whilst smaller road race meetings are held such as the Cookstown 100, the Armoy Road Races[211] and the Tandragee 100[212] all of which form part of the Irish National Road Race Championships[213] and which have produced some of the greatest motorcycle racers in the history of the sport, notably Joey Dunlop. Nationalists are overwhelmingly Catholic and descend from the population predating the settlement, with a minority from the Scottish Highlands as well as some converts from Protestantism. The UK's submission to the 2007 United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names defines the UK as being made up of two countries (England and Scotland), one principality (Wales) and one province (Northern Ireland). [148] In 2021 the largest non-white ethnic groups were black (0.6%), Indian (0.5%), and Chinese (0.5%). Module:Community Relations. [116] Many media outlets in the Republic use "North of Ireland" (or simply "the North"),[117][118][119][120][121] as well as the "Six Counties". Thirteen protestors were killed and 17 wounded in a tragedy known as Bloody Sunday.. In March 2018, The Sunday Times published its list of Best Places to Live in Britain, including the following places in Northern Ireland: Ballyhackamore near Belfast (overall best for Northern Ireland), Holywood, County Down, Newcastle, County Down, Portrush, County Antrim, Strangford, County Down.[140]. The largest island of Northern Ireland is Rathlin, off the north Antrim coast. NIFL clubs are semi-professional or Intermediate.NIFL Premiership clubs are also eligible to compete in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League with the league champions entering the Champions league second qualifying round and the 2nd placed league finisher, the European play-off winners and the Irish Cup winners entering the Europa League second qualifying round. Protestant loyalists attacked Catholics in reprisal for IRA actions. Dublin (along with parts of Ulster) was the only part of Ireland in 1700 where Protestants were a majority. [185], As of March2004[update] the UK Government recognises only British Sign Language and Irish Sign Language as the official sign languages used in Northern Ireland.[186][187]. The RUC and the reserve Ulster Special Constabulary (USC) were militarized police forces due to the perceived threat of militant republicanism. [150] At the 2011 census, 41.5% of the population identified as Protestant/other Christian, 41% as Roman Catholic, 0.8% as other religions, while 17% identified with no religion or did not state one. Of the 90Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), 37 are unionists and 35 are nationalists (the remaining 18 are classified as "other").[97]. From Jesus' command to "love your enemies" to the idea of "holy war" is a giant leap. It can arouse irritation, particularly among nationalists, for whom the title province is properly reserved for the traditional province of Ulster, of which Northern Ireland comprises six out of nine counties. Its no coincidence that the partition happened in the immediate aftermath of the war. Before Brexit, I would have said, yes. There was a kind of momentum and there seemed to be a will for reunification. Tourism has been a major growth area since the end of the Troubles. Patsy McGarry, Orthodox Christians of all shades now have a significant presence in Ireland. But then Brexit happened. It is mainly an Irish nationalist area.. Due to its proximity to both Belfast and Lisburn, it has become popular . These are the Belfast Telegraph, The Irish News and The News Letter. Their subsequent execution and martyrdom intensely complicated the situation. The local economy has seen contraction during the Great Recession. The Ireland A rugby league team competes annually in the Amateur Four Nations competition (since 2002) and the St Patrick's Day Challenge (since 1995). And the Irish problem arose over the course of the modern period because, in the post-Enlightenment period in the 19th century, there was an intensification of Irelands Catholic identity, especially after the famine, and a deepening of Catholicism and of Irish consciousness and Irish political identity. [24] There was informal mutual segregation by both communities,[25] and the Unionist governments were accused of discrimination against the Irish nationalist and Catholic minority. These sectors "have been mandated to close since 26 December 2020, with a very limited number of exceptions" and many restrictions were continuing into April 2021. Sinn Fin MPs, currently seven, refuse to take the oath to serve the King that is required before MPs are allowed to take their seats. [92], In 2007, 36% of the population defined themselves as unionist, 24% as nationalist, and 40% defined themselves as neither. [12][13][14], Owing in part to how the United Kingdom, and Northern Ireland, came into being, there is no legally defined term to describe what Northern Ireland 'is'. The expectation at the time was that Northern Ireland would be left with the Protestant majority parts of Ulster, which only would have been four of the nine traditional counties. All of these factors hardened Protestant suspicion in the north and their reluctance to be drawn into an independent Ireland in the south. [13][14] Northern Ireland can also be simply described as "part of the UK", including by the UK government offices.[98]. This entitlement was reaffirmed in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement between the British and Irish governments, which provides that: it is the birthright of all the people of Northern Ireland to identify themselves and be accepted as Irish or British, or both, as they may so choose, and accordingly [the two governments] confirm that their right to hold both British and Irish citizenship is accepted by both Governments and would not be affected by any future change in the status of Northern Ireland. Half of school children are Catholics and only a third are Protestants. Northern Ireland was covered by an ice sheet for most of the last ice age and on numerous previous occasions, the legacy of which can be seen in the extensive coverage of drumlins in Counties Fermanagh, Armagh, Antrim and particularly Down. Native species include deciduous trees such as oak, ash, hazel, birch, alder, willow, aspen, elm, rowan and hawthorn, as well as evergreen trees such Scots pine, yew and holly. The Executive wishes to gain taxation powers from London, to align Northern Ireland's corporation tax rate with that of the Republic of Ireland. Cultural links between Northern Ireland, the rest of Ireland, and the rest of the UK are complex, with Northern Ireland sharing both the culture of Ireland and the culture of the United Kingdom. It is slightly larger than Connecticut. [169], Under the Good Friday Agreement, Irish and Ulster Scots (an Ulster dialect of the Scots language, sometimes known as Ullans), are recognised as "part of the cultural wealth of Northern Ireland". So that was one critical respect in which partition did not go the way the British had meant it to. So theres a fear that Brexit is going to strand Northern Irelandon the other side of a customs border in the Irish Sea. Tensions flared into violence in the late 1960s,leaving some3,600 people dead and more than 30,000injured. The cycle centres on the reign of Conchobar mac Nessa, who is said to have been the king of Ulster around the 1st century. [13] This has been noted as a problem by several writers on Northern Ireland, with no generally recommended solution. The year 2021 marks 100 years since the Government of the United Kingdom and Ireland divided the Emerald Isle into two self-governing political entitiesNorthern Ireland and Southern Irelandunder the Government of Ireland Act. Of course, theyre all Irish, but they just have fundamentally different conceptions of what that means, says Weaver. That fact made Northern Ireland a bigger entity than anyone had expected it to be and also heightened the animosities on both sides. [104] Publications of HM Treasury[105] and the Department of Finance and Personnel of the Northern Ireland Executive,[106] on the other hand, describe Northern Ireland as being a "region of the UK". Owing to the outbreak of the Irish Civil War, the work of the commission was delayed until 1925. [28][29] The 1998 Good Friday Agreement was a major step in the peace process, including paramilitary disarmament and security normalisation, although sectarianism and segregation remain major social problems, and sporadic violence has continued. The service is to be permanently moved to Craigavon Area . What drives human exploration of the unknown? The partition of Ireland (Irish: crochdheighilt na hireann) was the process by which the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland divided Ireland into two self-governing polities: Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland.It was enacted on 3 May 1921 under the Government of Ireland Act 1920.The Act intended both territories to remain within the United Kingdom and contained .