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Social studiesinquiry based learningCase study of Northern Ireland

CONTENT PAGEBrief HistoryCauses -Divided Loyalties -Unequal Allocation of Housing -Unequal Employment Opportunities -Lack of Voting Rights -Lack of Opportunities for Social InteractionFeelings and reactions

Consequences -Bloody Sunday -Social Segregation -Declining Economy -Political Reform Reflection of workBrief HistoryThe Republic of Ireland is historically a Catholic country and a large majority of the Irish are Catholics. Many people in Northern Ireland are descendants of the original population of this region and are also Catholics. However, the majority of the Northern Irish have forefathers who emigrated from England and Scotland and these two countries have been Protestant for almost 500 years. Therefore, we end up with a rather confusing situation with a split population from two different cultural and religious backgrounds.Reasons for the conflict in Northern IrelandDivided LoyaltiesThe difference in political beliefs between the Protestants and Catholics also contributed to the conflict in Northern Ireland. The Protestants saw themselves as British and were loyal to Britain, wanting NI to remain as part of Britain.However, the Catholics saw themselves as Irish and preferred to break away from the UK and rejoin Northern Ireland.Both communities could not see a common future for Northern Ireland and were divided on how to move it forward politically.Unequal employment opportunitiesIn Northern Ireland, it is more difficult for Catholics to get jobs, especially in the civil / government service.Thus Catholics felt that they were not able to earn a living and take care of their families. As a result many catholic families were poor and had a poor quality of life, although they were just as / more qualified than the Protestants, because they were discriminated due to their religion.Unequal housing allocationAs the city councils are largely made up of Protestants, more houses would be given to the Protestants than the Catholics.Despite Catholic families being larger, they were given smaller homes. Even though the Catholics have larger families, they would have to wait many years to be allocated a house, Lack of voting rightsCatholics up till 1969 were not allowed to vote. Only those who owned their own homes and businesses could vote. Those who owned larger businesses could get more votes. Thus this system benefited the Protestants and caused many poor Catholics to not have the vote. As Protestants tended to be wealthier, more of them could vote which meant they dominated local councils and ruled in their own interests which made Catholics resentful. Poorer Catholics who did not own companies got less votes, which resulted in them being unable to obtain any say in the government or gain political power.Lack of opportunities for social interactionResidential areasThe Catholics and the Protestants live in separate neighborhoods. This causes them to have minimal interaction with one another and have a lack of. Hence, the 2 communities remain physically separated with little opportunity for socializing. Separate school system Also, there are separate school systems in Northern Ireland and this ensures that the 2 communities do not get much chance to interact with one another from a young age. Protestant pupils attended British schools which focus on British sports and history while the catholic schools attended by the Catholic pupils focus on Irish sports and heritage. Thus from young, the 2 communities see themselves differently and thus, leading to the lack of unity in NI. FeelingsDivided Loyalties

Unequal employment opportunities

Unequal housing allocation

Lack of voting rights

Lack of opportunities for social interaction

Loyalty to different countries made the Protestants and Catholics intolerant of each other and for there to be little understanding and co-operation between them.Unequal employment opportunities affected their economic position and standard of living and thus, were very unhappy that they were being discriminated and were suffering from economic hardships.Being poorer, they depended on government housing and the unequal housing allocation affected their quality of life negatively, angering them.This unfair system led many Catholics to dislike the Protestants as they were in control of the NI government and was causing this unfairness.Due to a lack of interaction, the generations of Protestants and Catholics children will grew up distrusting and being hostile to each other.

CONSEQUENCESBloody SundayIn Northern Ireland, 13 unarmed civil rights demonstrators are shot dead by British Army paratroopers in an event that becomes known as Bloody Sunday. The protesters, all Northern Catholics, were marching in protest of the British policy of internment of suspected Irish nationalists. British authorities had ordered the march banned, and sent troops to confront the demonstrators when it went ahead. The soldiers fired indiscriminately into the crowd of protesters, killing 13 and wounding 17.

Social SegregationPeople in Northern Ireland have grown up in an atmosphere of tension and violence. The Protestants and Catholics have also been segregated socially resulting in them being unable to interact with each other to promote better understanding and conflict resolution.Declining EconomyThe economy of Northern Ireland has been affected because the violence discourages domestic and foreign investment in the country as investors are put off by the rising cost of security and the threat of bombings. The violence and bombings have also destroyed property and infrastructure. As the economy is in decline, there is little money to be obtained to rebuild the damaged infrastructure. Progress and development in Northern Ireland would be slowed down leading to economic hardship and a lower standards of living. Political ReformThe Civil Rights Marches/Movement put pressure on the Northern Ireland government to pass anti-discrimination measures in Northern Ireland.The unfair voting system was abolished and promises were also made to review the schemes for allocating government-owned houses. However, despite these efforts, other discriminatory policies continue to remain and efforts to bring about power-sharing have not been successful as the different political parties refuse to share power. MY REFLECTION