“The Troubles” refers to a period of sectarian violence that occurred between 1968 and 1998 over basic rights, justice, and the governance of Northern Ireland…
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About My Photo Essays
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Disclaimers
1. Frank makes no claims of expertise regarding “The Troubles”.
2. Please comment with corrections if anything presented here is inaccurate or a mischaracterization.
3. Frank presents just enough background here to give the photo essay below some context.
4. Frank chooses no sides, except to stand with innocent people on every “side” who suffer injustice and violence everywhere in the world.
5. This photo essay could never do justice to the complex history of and current political state of Irish-British relations. I will leave that task to you and others to sort out the contributing factors of colonialism, nationalism, class struggle, ethnicity, religion, and sectarianism.
6. Frank’s goal here is to raise some awareness, honor those caught in the crossfire, pose some questions with sincere concern, celebrate the wisdom and courage of the peace makers, and highlight the importance of every act of peace-making in our daily lives.
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Where is Northern Ireland?
While Northern Ireland is geographically part of the Emerald Isle, politically it remains officially part of the United Kingdom.
Note: The UK withdrew from the European Union (EU) in 2020. Since the Republic of Ireland is an EU member, the status of the border between the Republic of Ireland and the North has become a hot topic of debate, but remains open at the time of this posting.
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Thumbnail History of The Troubles
“The Troubles” was primarily a conflict over the governance of Northern Ireland between two camps:
British Unionists / Loyalists. Who, for historical reasons, were mostly Protestant, and who supported allegiance of Northern Ireland to the United Kingdom.
Irish Nationalists / Republicans. Who, for historical reasons, were mostly Catholic, and who supported the unification of Northern Ireland with Ireland as an Irish Republic with total independence from Great Britain.
Throughout the conflict, acts of violence were perpetrated by paramilitary groups on both sides, as well as by British security forces. These groups included republican paramilitaries such as the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), loyalist paramilitaries such as the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and Ulster Defence Association (UDA), and British state security forces such as the British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).
Although the Troubles occurred mostly in Northern Ireland, violence occasionally spilled into the Republic of Ireland, England, and mainland Europe. Key events included the deployment of British troops in 1969, the introduction of internment without trial in 1971, the Bloody Sunday massacre in Londonderry 1972, and IRA bombings in Belfast and London.
Of the the more than 3,500 people killed in the conflict, roughly half were civilians, a third were British security forces, and a sixth were paramilitaries. I will leave it to the reader to dig deeper into which parties were responsible for killing who.
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The Good Friday Agreement
“The Troubles” is widely deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, which established a power-sharing government in Northern Ireland and paved the way for peace.
The agreement acknowledged the legitimacy of two views: 1) that the majority of the people of Northern Ireland wanted to remain a part of the United Kingdom and 2) that a substantial number of people in the North and the majority of the people in the Republic of Ireland wanted a united Ireland.
The Irish government recognized Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom’s sovereign territory and that it would remain so until a majority of the people both of Northern Ireland and of the Republic of Ireland wished otherwise. Should that happen, then the British and Irish governments are under “a binding obligation” to implement that choice.
The right of “the people of Northern Ireland” to identify themselves and be accepted as Irish or British or both, as well as their right to hold British or Irish citizenship or both.
The two governments agreed that the law should be exercised with rigorous impartiality and free of discrimination for all citizens no matter their ethnic, national, or religious identity.
Both the British parliament and Irish parliament repealed laws asserting any prior territorial claims.
Side bar from Frank: It seems to me that the Good Friday Agreement provides a constructive model for resolving the divisions in Israel and Gaza (and elsewhere). Alas, big money, fundamentalism, and nationalism seem to be winning in too many places.
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The Current State of Affairs
Thanks to diligent peace-making efforts by all opposing camps, the Troubles have been transformed into a generation of relative peace, although such peace can never be taken for granted.
Here are a few thoughts from Frank on the current state of affairs:
- Most citizens of Northern Island simply want to move on with their lives in peace, but as you can see from the murals in the photo essay below, intense and highly visible Republican and Loyalist sentiments remain.
- While Sinn Fein has representation in British Parliament, the clearly stated goal of Sinn Fein–a United Irish Republic–remains unrealized.
- Peace is fragile in the sense that a minority of extremists have the power to derail the entire peace process in opposition to the wishes of the majority. A single isolated incident could reignite more cycles of tit-for-tat violence.
- Belfast still remains largely segregated. The peace walls still stand and the peace gates still close at night.
In summary, there are reasons for cautious optimism but there is still lots of courageous work to be done by all parties in the direction of reconciliation.
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Belfast: “The Troubles”, A Photo Essay
As always, Frank will allow the images to speak mostly for themselves.
The Europa Hotel
The Europa, “the most bombed hotel in the world”, suffered thirty-three bombings by the Provisional Irish Republican Army during The Troubles. It’s important to note that the bombings were announced in advance–as the IRA’s goal was not to murder, but to create enough disruption to British political and economic interests to bring them to the negotiating table.
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Falls Road (Republican side)
No matter one’s opinion of the IRA and their tactics, the conviction of the hunger strikers and their impact on public opinion is unquestionable. But my visit invited me to go deeper… to consider the moral dilemmas and horrific anguish of their friends and families. Did their families dare save their loved ones against their will? Did they consider this to be martyrdom or suicide? If their act was indeed suicide, how could their families allow this to occur in the face of their religious beliefs? And would they dare save the strikers at the risk of being ridiculed as traitors to the Republican cause?
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Falls Road Solidarity Murals
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Peace Walls and Peace Gates
The continued existence of these walls begs the questions: Are these barriers still necessary in order to keep the peace? If yes, what developments would make it prudent to take them down? Could it be that their existence is actually an obstacle to reconciliation?
Shankill Road (on the Loyalist Side)
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Graphic Memories of Notable IRA bombings
*** Warning: Extremely disturbing images below. ***
What do young people born in the loyalist neighborhoods feel when they see this mural? Is it a necessary reminder and history lesson or an obstacle to reconciliation?
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Reasons for Hope!?
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Where to next? (Travel Stories)
A very thoroughly researched post, Frank, thank you. It also shows clearly that the conflict was not really a conflict between religions, as many people claimed. It was a conflict of interests. There have been many shifts in the number of protestants as against catholics in Northern Ireland through he centuries, but in the 17th century the protestant and also puritan settlers came in serious numbers. That was encouraged by the British monarchs by giving the settlers special rights over the indigenous catholic population, which, understandably, has always been the main point of anger.
Thanks so much for the words of appreciation, Stella, and for adding your voice to the conversation. To your point, such is indeed the deep significance of the Hugh Smyth quote that I included as both the featured image and next to last image in this post. Alas, it’s quite troubling to see how easily the powers that be can pit “Christians” against each other. Alas, we still have lots of work to do.
A very interesting post Frank. Thanks. I live in Australia but knew people on both sides in the early 80s: a friend who was a nurse and IRA “sympathiser” as they said at the time, and a girlfriend who had left Ireland to escape the troubles, with allegiance to the Ulster side; her Uncle was in the Ulster Defence Regiment.
Wow. Thanks a bunch for sharing that, David. It’d be so interesting to know their perspectives and “sympathies” today.
🥲🥲🙏
No shortage of cause for tears and prayers.