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“Ireland is now at peace”
”This is the most important statement uttered by
ex-Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Bertie Ahern, when
he addressed the US House of Congress in April
2008.
Ireland’s troubled history is now something we
can look at with a dispassionate eye, through
the prism of four great movies depicting
important landmarks in Ireland history. These
movies have themselves withstood the test of
time and become recognized as cinematic
classics.
The history of Ireland’s conflict goes back over
almost a thousand years. People first landed in
the country about 9,000 years ago but it was
only in the 5th Century AD that Christian
missionaries converted the pagan population to
Roman Catholicism. The English or, more
accurately, the Normans landed in Ireland in the
1100's, eventually conquering the entire island.
After centuries of conflict with the British
resulting in plantation and military
occupation, Ireland was formally declared part
of the United Kingdom in 1801, resulting in
punitive laws which deprived Catholics of basic
rights their language, churches and customs were
forbidden and they were not allowed own land.
After a century of sporadic resistance, from
1919 to 1921,
MICHAEL COLLINS
led a new army (IRA) in a guerilla war against
British forces in Ireland. Depicted by Liam
Neeson in Neil Jordan’s spell binding film,
Collins was a controversial figure whose modern
urban guerilla tactics finally succeeded in
bringing freedom from British rule.
The Peace Treaty Collins negotiated with the
British left Northern Ireland under British
control, sparking a Civil War between those for
and against partition. The Civil War left a
massive scar on the Irish psyche, pitting
brother against brother, so perfectly reflected
in Ken Loach’s film
THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE
BARLEY. The Civil War was resolved
with the defeat of the anti-partition forces in
1923, finalising the division of the country
North and South between the UK and the Irish
Republic.
Discrimination
so against the Catholics widespread over the
previous 300 years continued in Northern Ireland
after partition, and the IRA were outlawed and
driven underground. The IRA’s resumption of
violence in 1970 (now renamed the Provisional
IRA) lead to widespread crack downs and multiple
arrests in the North by a British government
determined to quell any resistance.
On 30th January 1972, 26 peaceful civil rights
protestors were shot by members of the British
Army. Thirteen people, 6 of whom were minors,
died. Five of those wounded were shot in the
back. Know as
BLOODY SUNDAY,
this day marked a turning point in Northern
Ireland, swelling the ranks of the IRA which
turned increasingly to terrorist bombing tactics
in their long struggle against the British
presence in Ireland.
Among the many IRA bombers apprehended
throughout the 1970’s were four young men from
Northern Ireland who were arrested for a fatal
bomb attack in the English town of Guildford.
Despite claims that they were forced to sign
confessions, they were given life sentences in
prison.
In 1989, 15 years into their prison term, new
evidence was uncovered which corroborated their
claims of innocence. After a long court battle,
they were finally released. Their story features
in Jim Sheridan’s remarkable film
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER
which exposes the bias and injustice inherent in
the British police and judicial system against
Northern Nationalists. This event was a huge PR
coup for the IRA enabling them to win valuable
concessions from the British government while
negotiating a long-term end to their
hostilities.
Protracted negotiations throughout finally
bought both Catholic and Protestant sides of the
conflict together with the signing of the
Belfast Agreement in May 1998. The IRA declared
a ceasefire and in May 8th 2007, the first
lasting, democratically elected Parliament
representing both Catholic and Protestant
communities was fully restored in Northern
Ireland.
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