FAQ

Throughout its' history Northern Ireland was under attack from the IRA (Irish Republican Army) who used terrorism to try to force it into a united Ireland. In the mid 60s there was an upsurge in attacks around the 50 year anniversary of the Easter Rising (the 1916 rebellion by an extremist group of Irish Nationalists during the First World War which was supported by Germany and killed 400 people). Bomb attacks were staged against Princess Margaret on a visit to the Irish Republic, Nelson's column in Dublin was blown up and Royal Navy ship HMS Brave Borderer shot up. Republicans also circulated propaganda photos of IRA summer camps where children were taught to use guns and explosives in preparation for a coming offensive. This led to a massive rise in sectarian tensions with a group of Unionist terrorists ("Loyalists", the Ulster Volunteer Force or "UVF") convicted of murdering a pair of Catholic men in response and by 1969 there was widespread rioting. Nationalists attacked Orange Order parades (commemorating the Glorious Revolution of 1688, preservation of Magna Carta, Bill of Rights, Act of Toleration etc). Loyalists attacked marches for NICRA (the "Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association") which ostensibly campaigned for an end to discrimination against Nationalists. However many Unionists considered NICRA to be an IRA front, pointing out some of its' leading figures were convicted IRA members and that it exclusively campaigned for Nationalist but not Unionist causes and against anti-terrorism measures. In 1969 the government deployed troops to aid the Royal Ulster Constabulary preserve the peace and keep the warring factions apart.

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