The Bogside - 26 July 2006
The Bogside (Irish: Taobh an Bhogaigh) is a neighbourhood outside the city walls of Derry, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The large gable-wall murals by the Bogside Artists, Free Derry Corner and the Gasyard Féile (an annual music and arts festival held in a former gasyard) are popular tourist attractions. The Bogside is a majority-Catholic area, and shares a border with the majority-Protestant Fountain neighborhood.
The Troubles
The area has been a focus point for many of the events of the Troubles; in 1969, a fierce three-day battle against the RUC and local Protestants—known as the Battle of the Bogside—became a starting point of the Troubles. Between 1969 and 1972, the area along with the Creggan and other Catholic areas became a no-go area for the British Army and police. Both the Official and Provisional IRA openly patrolled the area and local residents often paid subscriptions to both. On the 30 January 1972, the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association organised a march against internment that was put into effect the year before turned into a blood bath. The British Parachute Regiment shot dead 14 unarmed protesters and injured 14 more; this resulted in a large surge of recruitment for both wings of the IRA in the city. After Operation Motorman and the end of Free Derry and other no-go areas in Northern Ireland, the Bogside along with the majority of the city experienced frequent street riots and sectarian conflict lasting all the way to the early 1990s. In 1974, the Official IRA declared an end to their armed campaign, and with volunteers on the ground already mad about the ceasefire in mid 1972, that crossed the line to hardliners. In result, Seamus Costello and other socialist militants formed the Irish Republican Socialist Movement. This new movement included the Irish National Liberation Army the paramilitary wing of the IRSM. Derry and particularly the Bogside became one of many strongholds for the INLA; in fact all three volunteers who died in the 1981 Irish hunger strike were from Derry or County Londonderry. The Irish People's Liberation Organisation, a breakaway group of the INLA, made a small but effective presence in Derry engaged in a feud with the INLA in the city along with other areas in Ireland from 1987 to 1992. The feud ended with the Provisionals stepping in and killing the main Belfast leadership while letting the rest of the organisation dissolve in the rest of Ireland. Throughout the rest of the 1990s, the Bogside became relatively peaceful compared to other localities[citation needed] of Northern Ireland at that time such as Belfast, even though street riots were still frequent.
Subsequent history
Today the Bogside has experienced much change. It has seen minimal[clarification needed] redevelopment compared to other areas in the city but 21st century houses are somewhat known throughout the area. The area is also a stronghold for Dissident Republican activity. The area after the Belfast Agreement has always been known to frequent street riots but the largest since 1998 were the 2011 Northern Ireland riots. The riots took place in other parts of Northern Ireland but in Derry city they were mostly in the Bogside. The vigilante group Republican Action Against Drugs formed in 2008 has a very strong[clarification needed] presence in the Bogside. The group's goal is to use punishment shootings and even kill any suspected drug dealers.[citation needed]
The Troubles | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
The Troubles
00:03:18 1 Overview
00:05:50 2 Background
00:05:58 2.1 1609–1791
00:07:30 2.2 1791–1912
00:09:09 2.3 1912–1922
00:13:29 2.4 1922–1966
00:15:22 3 Late 1960s
00:15:58 3.1 Civil rights campaign and unionist backlash
00:22:52 3.2 August 1969 riots and aftermath
00:27:25 4 1970s
00:27:34 4.1 Violence peaks and Stormont collapses
00:29:41 4.2 Bloody Sunday
00:34:18 4.3 Sunningdale Agreement and UWC strike
00:38:13 4.4 Proposal of an independent Northern Ireland
00:40:39 4.5 Mid-1970s
00:43:13 4.6 Late 1970s
00:45:07 5 1980s
00:50:41 6 1990s
00:51:44 6.1 Escalation in South Armagh
00:53:30 6.2 First ceasefire
00:55:31 6.3 Second ceasefire
00:58:24 6.4 Political process
01:00:44 7 Collusion between British forces and loyalists
01:05:24 8 The Disappeared
01:06:59 9 Shoot-to-kill allegations
01:07:42 10 Parades issue
01:08:55 11 Social repercussions
01:11:08 12 Casualties
01:13:17 12.1 Responsibility
01:15:02 12.2 Status
01:16:12 12.3 Location
01:16:43 12.4 Chronological listing
01:16:52 12.5 Additional statistics
01:17:01 13 See also
01:17:56 13.1 In popular culture
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- Socrates
SUMMARY
=======
The Troubles (Irish: Na Trioblóidí) was an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland during the late 20th century. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, and the Conflict in Ireland, it is sometimes described as a guerrilla war or a low-level war. The conflict began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Although the Troubles primarily took place in Northern Ireland, at times the violence spilled over into parts of the Republic of Ireland, England, and mainland Europe.
The conflict was primarily political and nationalistic, fuelled by historical events. It also had an ethnic or sectarian dimension, although it was not a religious conflict. A key issue was the constitutional status of Northern Ireland. Unionists/loyalists, who were mostly Protestants, wanted Northern Ireland to remain within the United Kingdom. Irish nationalists/republicans, who were mostly Catholics, wanted Northern Ireland to leave the United Kingdom and join a united Ireland.
The conflict began during a campaign to end discrimination against the Catholic/nationalist minority by the Protestant/unionist government and police force. The authorities attempted to suppress this protest campaign and were accused of police brutality; it was also met with violence from loyalists, who alleged it was a republican front. Increasing inter-communal violence, and conflict between nationalist youths and police, eventually led to riots in August 1969 and the deployment of British troops. Some Catholics initially welcomed the army as a more neutral force, but it soon came to be seen as hostile and biased. The emergence of armed paramilitary organisations led to the subsequent warfare over the next three decades.
The main participants in the Troubles were 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); British state security forces – the British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC); and political activists and politicians. The security forces of the Republic played a smaller role. Republican paramilitaries carried out a guerrilla campaign against the British security forces, as well as a bombing campaign against infrastructure, commercial and political targets. Loyalists targeted republicans/nationalists, and attacked the wider Catholic community in what they claimed was retaliation. At times there were bouts of sectarian tit-for-tat violence. The British security forces undertook both a policing and a counter-insurgency role, primarily against republicans. There were some incidents of collusion between British security forces and loyalists. The Troubles also involved numerous ri ...
Fears in Northern Ireland over Brexit deal
(16 Oct 2019) On the streets of Belfast, armoured police vehicles and check points have been replaced by busloads of tourists visiting the colourful murals that testify to a troubled past.
In the divided city where Catholics and Protestants still live separated in many places, former IRA member Jack Duffin leads a group of visitors along Falls Road, a mainly-Catholic Republican stronghold in the Northern Irish capital.
There were armed attacks on nationalist communities throughout Belfast, but in particular on this road, he tells a group comprising Australian, English, Americans, Danes and others.
Duffin tells his story about a struggle born in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. He's still fighting to reunite Ireland, and thinks Brexit may help achieve that goal.
Yet Belfast Political Tours offers visitors a more nuanced view of the conflict, and in a sign of efforts to reconcile the telling of this history, the group then walks through the gate along the peace wall and meets with a Unionist tour guide - on the other side of the political divide - to hear the Protestant community's version of events.
More than twenty years after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement that brought an end to decades of violence, the heavily secure gate closes at night to the relief of some who live here.
Fears about a return to the violence that killed more than 3,500 people over three decades have made Northern Ireland the biggest hurdle for U.K. and European Union negotiators trying to hammer out an agreement on Britain's departure from the 28-nation free trade bloc.
While negotiators are focused on arrangements for securing the border, they don't want to do anything that will inflame the underlying tensions between those who want Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom and those who want it to be reunited with the Republic of Ireland.
People who want Northern Ireland to remain an integral part of the U.K. oppose any Brexit deal that weakens that relationship.
There would be an organic explosion of anger and people would take to the streets and obviously any sensible person would be urging people ... to do so peacefully,'' said Jamie Bryson, editor of the Unionist Voice newsletter.
But we all have to live in the real world and know that once mass amounts of people take to the streets and once something happens and that genie gets out of the bottle it's going to be difficult to put it back in.''
Others think that genie had never actually been contained.
Kate Nash says The Troubles never really ended.
While the 1998 Good Friday Agreement brought an era of relative peace and prosperity to Northern Ireland, paramilitary groups still exist on both sides and lower levels of violence continue to plague the community, says the 70-year-old grandmother who lost a brother in what became known as Bloody Sunday.
Her brother, a dock worker went to the demonstration near his home in Londonderry on Jan. 30, 1972 because it was a local happening - not because he was involved with the IRA.
Thousands had gathered to protest internment, but things went badly wrong.
British soldiers shot 28 unarmed civilians, killing 13.
I'm always disturbed so I don't feel the troubles are over. I really don't feel that, she said.
Brexit, she fears, may cause the smouldering conflict to flare up once again, especially if there are renewed customs and passport controls along the border between the Republic of Ireland and the U.K.'s Northern Ireland.
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The Ballad Of Patricia McKay
(Text: George McDonald - Guitar, Harmonica, Voice: Peter Gorek) Patricia McKay (nee Kelly) was born in west Belfast and graduated from St. Louise school on the Falls Road. As a girl she joined na Fianna Eireann, the youth wing of the Republican Movement and became a leader in that organisation. As she matured she entered the Republican Movement proper and became an IRA Volunteer.She was heavily influenced by the life and philosophy of Che Guevarra and other Left Wing revolutionaries, along with the Irish Republican principles of Tone and Connolly. At the time of the Split she remained with the Official Republican movement, but also remained a true friend and Comrade to all who fought for the Irish Working Class. She was involved in all aspects of the People's struggle. She travelled to Civil Rights Demonstration all over Ireland and was present on that horrible day in Derry known as Bloody Sunday. She ran a co-operative store and advice centre for the people of the Falls Road in Belfast and was heavily involved in the Housing RIghts struggle along with her friend, the great Joe McCann. She was an outspoken member of the Republican Movement and was not shy about forcefully expressing her opinions to the leadership. When her dear friend Jimmy Quigley was shot by the British Army and his body desecrated she and her Company took to the streets on that September day in 1972 to defend the area from further British incursions and barbarity. Along with the Provisional IRA she and her Comrades fought the British Army all day in the narrow streets, from house to house and rooftop to rooftop. That night she and her husband Gerry McKay, along with the Provisional Commander Brendan Hughes, were pinned down by British fire in a small house near Conway Mill. Patricia and Gerry made a break for freedom, but as they ran from the house were shot by a concealed sniper of the Royal Green Jackets Regiment. Patricia was shot five times in the back and died shortly afterwards in hospital. Gerry McKay was seriously wounded and was evacuated across the border by his comrades. She was buried with full honours in the Official Republican plot in Milltown Cemetery, Belfast. She is remembered as a bright, happy, charming young woman, but one in whose heart was a burning desire for freedom, justice and equality for all Irish people, and people worldwide.
Free Derry
Free Derry documents the rise and fall of an autonomous, nationalist, Irish Catholic area of Northern Ireland from 1969-1972. The region broke away from the UK in response to lingering British colonialism. Protestants gerrymandered political districts, the British army and police used excessive violence against Catholics, and Catholics faced discrimination in employment and access to public services. Through interviews, photographs, and murals, Free Derry tells a little known story of the fight for equal rights for Catholics in Derry.
More background from Wikipedia:
Free Derry (Irish: SaorDhoire) was a self-declared autonomous nationalist area of Derry, Northern Ireland, between 1969 and 1972. Its name was taken from a sign painted on a gable wall in the Bogside in January 1969 which read, You are now entering Free Derry. The area, which included the Bogside and Creggan neighbourhoods, was secured by community activists for the first time on 5 January 1969 following an incursion into the Bogside by members of the police force, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). Residents built barricades and carried clubs and similar arms to prevent the RUC from entering. After six days the residents took down the barricades and police patrols resumed, but tensions remained high over the following months.
Violence reached a peak on 12 August 1969, culminating in the Battle of the Bogside—a three day pitched battle between residents and police. On 14 August units of the British Army were deployed at the edge of the Bogside and the police were withdrawn. The Derry Citizens Defence Association (DCDA) declared their intention to hold the area against both the police and the army until their demands were met. The army made no attempt to enter the area. The situation continued until October 1969 when, following publication of the Hunt Report, military police were allowed in.
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) began to re-arm and recruit after August 1969. In January 1970 it split into the Official IRA and the Provisional IRA. Both were supported by the people of the Free Derry area. Meanwhile, relations between the British Army and the nationalist community, which were initially good, deteriorated. In July 1971 there was a surge of recruitment into the IRA after two young men were shot and killed by British troops. The government introduced internment on 9 August 1971, and in response, barricades went up once more in the Bogside and Creggan. This time, Free Derry was a no-go area, defended by armed members of both the Official and Provisional IRA. From within the area they mounted gun attacks on the army, and the Provisionals began a bombing campaign in the city centre. As before, unarmed 'auxiliaries' manned the barricades, and crime was dealt with by a voluntary body known as the Free Derry Police.
N.I Loyalists demand their Human Rights back
Loyalists of Northern Ireland are demanding they be let to walk past Ardoyne. They say it is their right to do so and their Human Rights are being infringed. Loyalist bands have been banned from returning past the mainly nationalist area. The residents don't want them to walk through their area as they have been sectarian songs but Loyalists don't care, they demand to walk! In the words of one Loyalist Scholar, We walk the Queens Highway, so we do!
N.Ireland loyalists feel alienated as flag row goes on
Ever since Belfast City Council voted to restrict the number of days the British flag is flown at City Hall, the loyalist community has taken to the streets and violence has flared. Northern Ireland's pro-British Protestant population is increasing feeling distanced from the 1998 peace agreement which finally brought an end to three decades of sectarian violence. Duration: 02:28
☘️ Bloody Sunday memorial march through Derry marks 47th anniversary | Al Jazeera English
People in the Northern Irish city of Londonderry have been marching to remember Bloody Sunday, the day British troops killed 14 unarmed civilians.
The event in 1972 took place during the height of the Troubles - a conflict pitting mostly Catholic Irish nationalists or republicans, against pro-British, mostly protestant unionists.
The march also comes a week after suspected dissident republicans detonated a bomb in Derry.
Police fear fringe paramilitary groups will exploit the threat of a hard border in Ireland due to the ongoing Brexit negotiations.
Al Jazeera's Catherine Stancl reports from Derry, Northern Ireland.
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#NorthernIreland #BloodySunday #AljazeeraEnglish
The Troubles: Internment & Bloody Sunday Part 3
HISTORY -- INTERNMENT
In the early hours of the 9th August 1971 British soldiers launched operation Demetrius, the introduction of internment without trial. Internment had been employed by the Unionist Government at Stormont in every decade since the creation of the northern state as a means to suppress Republican opposition. In the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1960s republican suspects had been imprisoned without trial. As violence increased in 1970 and 1971 the Unionist Government again came under increasing pressure to clamp down on the activities of the IRA. By August 1971 the Stormont Government had convinced the British Government that internment offered the best method of dealing with the increasing violence, and pointed to its repeated success in previous decades. In an attempt to reduce the expected nationalist outrage a ban on all parades was announced at the same time, aimed at defusing the potential for unrest that the Apprentice Boys parade on the 12th August posed.
HISTORY -- BLOODY SUNDAY
The events of Bloody Sunday in the city of Derry would become one of the worst atrocities the city would ever experience. It would also lead to one of the biggest mistakes for the British in their fight to power Northern Ireland during the troubles.
Sunday January 30th 1972 started as any other Sunday in Derry but would end with tragedy and a population thrown into a dark backlash of opinion towards the British.
Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) organised a march to start at 3PM from the Bishops Field area of the Creggan area. The march had already been deemed illegal by the British and from previous march's the police force and the British proved too ruthless against peaceful demonstrators. The plan for the march was to walk down Creggan Hill, into William Street and onto the Guildhall Square, in the City Centre area. Over 15,000 people attended the march which proceeded from Creggan. The marchers were singing songs with some describing it as a carnival like event. As they reached the William Street area the British Army had set-up barricades so the march was diverted into the Bogside and towards Free Derry Corner.
The Trouble Begins At The British Barricades
A number of youths broke away from the march and proceeded to try and pass the barricades. They hurled abuse at the British troops along with stones and in turn the troops fired back with rubber bullets, tear gas and a water canon. The riot wasn't considered intense as only a small number of people had taken part, the majority of marchers were still making their way down Creggan Hill and into the Bogside.
Paratroopers Storm The Bogside
The air was full of C.S. gas so people were making their way to the meeting point at Free Derry Corner, it was then they could hear the distinctive sound of the Armoured Saracens that was heading towards the Bogside area.
Within a matter of minutes the Paratroopers opened fire into the fleeing crowds, gunning down 14 unarmed civilians. Statements from witness's described how the Paratroopers fired indiscriminately into the crowd. They also describe how different people had been gunned down, don't forget there had been over 15,000 people who had witnessed this event.
Civilians Murdered On Bloody Sunday
The following is the names of the people who had been gunned down on Bloody Sunday by the British Paratroop Regiment.
Bernard McGuigan (41)
Gerard V. Donaghy (17)
Hugh P. Gilmore (17)
John F. Duddy (17)
James Mc Kinney (34)
James J. Wray (22)
John P. Young (17)
Kevin McElhinney (17)
Michael G. Kelly (17)
Michael M. McDaid (20)
Patrick J. Doherty (31)
William A. McKinney (27)
William N. Nash (19)
John Johnston (59)
Loyalists flags
My loyalists flags
Radio Free Derry (The Troubles, Northern Ireland 1969)
Station introduction. Radio Free Derry was a pirate station operated by the political party, People's Democracy. When the violent riots in Northern Ireland intensified in the late 1960's and early 70's, Radio Free Derry began to broadcast (on the AM band) revolutionary songs with anti-British commentary behind the no-go zone - an area fortified with barricades built by Londonderry residents.
* According to Clandestineradio.com Radio Free Derry started as a pro-civil rights radio station but later became a mouthpiece for the rebellion and fell under control or under close watch by the paramilitary (terrorist) Irish Republican Army (IRA) during its sporadic broadcasts throughout the 1970's.
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Original News footage from Holy Cross dispute 2001
The Holy Cross dispute occurred in 2001 and 2002 in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast, Northern Ireland. During the 30-year conflict known as The Troubles, Ardoyne had become segregated -- Protestants lived in one area and Catholics in another. This left Holy Cross—a Catholic primary school for girls—stuck in the middle of a Protestant area. In June 2001, Protestant loyalists began picketing the school, claiming that Catholics were regularly attacking their homes and denying them access to facilities. For weeks, hundreds of protesters tried to stop the schoolchildren and their parents from walking to school through their area. Some protesters shouted sectarian abuse and threw stones, bricks, fireworks, blast bombs and urine-filled balloons at the schoolchildren and their parents. Hundreds of riot police, backed up by British soldiers, escorted them through the protest each day. The scenes of frightened Catholic schoolgirls running a gauntlet of abuse from loyalist protesters as they walked to school captured world headlines.[1] Death threats were made against the parents and school staff by a loyalist paramilitary group called the Red Hand Defenders. The protest was condemned by politicians from both sides and by people from both the Catholic and Protestant communities. Some likened the protest to child abuse and compared the protesters to American white supremacists in 1950s Alabama.[1]
The first picket took place in June, during the last week of school before the summer break. It resumed on 3 September, at the beginning of the new school term, and lasted until 23 November. During this time, the protest sparked fierce rioting between the two communities in Ardoyne. The loyalists agreed to suspend the protest after being promised tighter security for their area.
In January 2002, a scuffle between a Protestant and a Catholic woman outside the school sparked a large-scale riot in the area. The picket was not resumed and the situation has been mostly quiet since then. The following year, the BBC aired a documentary-drama about the protests.
Protestants protesting against route taken by catholic children to the Holy Cross primary school confronting and throwing missiles at riot police and soldiers who are forcing them back from the road ZOOM IN PAN Protestors throwing missiles RUC officer injured by blast bomb helped away Riot police preparing to escort children and parents to school Parents and children preparing to walk to school Frightened looking girl Police escorting parents and children along Woman hugging her daughter Protestant protestors looking on (2 SHOTS) Catholic priest greeting parents and children Vox pops SOT Mother and daughter Protestants looking on Riot police standing next vehicles Protestants looking on Banner held by protestants talking of sectarian attacks made by republicans PULL OUT Protestants looking on TGV Rooftops of North Belfast PAN Irish tricolour seen flying above rooftops Road in protestant area of the city LA Loyalist flags flying with police vehicle in f/g Vox pops SOT Reverend Norman Hamilton (Ballysillan Presbyterian Church) interview SOT - Talks of shortage of housing causing tensions Parents of children at Holy Cross, escorted by police, along road Parents along CBV Parents and police along TRACK Parents and police along TRACK Ditto TRACK Vox pops SOT Councillor Margaret McClenaghan (Sinn Fein) interview SOT - We recognise this as a protestant area AT NIGHT Youths throwing missiles at retreating police vehicle as fire burns in street Police vehicles in the street Car laying on its side burning DAY Protestants watching at parents and police pass by Police officers shielding catholic parents and children PAN soldiers and security forces vehicles
Two decades after peace pact, reconciliation still lags in Northern Ireland
Nearly 20 years ago this week, the Good Friday Agreement brought an end to almost three decades of violence between Catholic and Protestant factions in Northern Ireland, known as the ‘Troubles,’ that killed 3,500 people. But for many, it has been an uneasy peace. NewsHour Weekend Special Correspondent Kira Kay explores what the peace agreement achieved and what remains unsolved in the region.
Northern Ireland Troubles
Filmed in 2010 as the 'orange order' protestants attempt to force themselves through a catholic part of Belfast. The mostly protestant police force of Northern Ireland attack/move/shoot rubber bullets at the catholics. No force is used against the protestants. Northern Ireland troubles are not a thing of the past. They will be over when british government hand control of Northern Ireland over to the Irish government and the protestant and catholic population can live in equality and peace. A bias towards either religion can never last and is never right.
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland; it is a coincidence that his regnal number was the same for both Orange and England. As King of Scotland, he is known as William II. He is informally known by sections of the population in Northern Ireland and Scotland as King Billy. In what became known as the Glorious Revolution, on 5 November 1688 William invaded England in an action that ultimately deposed King James II & VII and won him the crowns of England, Scotland and Ireland. In the British Isles, William ruled jointly with his wife, Mary II, until her death on 28 December 1694. The period of their joint reign is often referred to as William and Mary.
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Belfast and the Best of Northern Ireland
Rick Steves' Europe Travel Guide | We start in bustling Belfast's City Hall and Ulster Museum, then head out to Northern Ireland's favorite resort: Portrush, along the Antrim Coast, where we taste-test Irish whiskey, scramble over some six-sided geology in the Giant's Causeway, drop in on a world-class golf course, and stomp our feet to some traditional music.
© 2004 Rick Steves' Europe
The Troubles in Northern Ireland, 1970's. Archive film 8038
The political and religious background of the six counties in Northern Ireland explaining the division between Protestants and Catholics, and the attempts by the government to resolve differences 1970's
Opens on a coastal shot of Ulster giving way to split screen images of burning streets, police in riot gear, a man being searched by the police and people fleeing from street unrest. Shot of graffiti on the wall that reads 'no pope here'. Cuts to crowd spilling out of St. Patrick's cathedral in Armagh and followed by people coming out of the other St. Patrick's Cathedral in Armagh which is a Protestant church.
An orange day parade is marching through a town, it includes children's bands and orange men wearing sashes. Cuts to a Londonderry street followed by an overview of the city from a hill outside. Exterior shot of the Victorian Guildhall within the city and its stain-glass windows inside which tell the story of the city's formation from the city's plantation by Cromwell in the 1660s. A little girl plays on her doorstep, alongside which some graffiti reads 'God Bless Paisley'. Protestant graffiti on walls around the city features the red white and blue of the British flag, William the Orange on a horse admonishing all to 'remember 1690' and the Red Hand of Ulster. Pro Catholic or Republican graffiti features the Irish tricolour or statements such as 'Up the IRA' and 'this is Free Belfast'. A group of people stand in the doorways of their houses which are flanked by pro Protestant graffiti on one side and two murals of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip on the other.
A brief history of the siege of Derry is illustrated by paintings, drawings and a dramatization of the apprentice boys running through the streets and loading canons. Cuts back to the orange day parade. Flags and banners depicting the siege and Union Jacks are being carried. The army observe proceedings from behind barbed wire. The orange day parade is a living reminder of the antagonism that exists between Protestants and Catholics. More shots of the army, the government has just banned all future Catholic and Protestant parades, this is a relief to the army. An armoured car goes through the [Belfast's?] streets. Soldiers rehearse putting on their riot gear in an army barracks. Close-up shots of them putting on their bullet-proof vests, helmets and visors, riot shields and batons and of a soldier putting a canister of CS gas in his pocket.
1981 Irish hunger strike
The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during the Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government withdrew Special Category Status for convicted paramilitary prisoners. In 1978, after a number of attacks on prisoners leaving their cells to slop out, the dispute escalated into the dirty protest, where prisoners refused to leave their cells to wash and covered the walls of their cells with excrement. In 1980, seven prisoners participated in the first hunger strike, which ended after 53 days.
The second hunger strike took place in 1981 and was a showdown between the prisoners and the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. One hunger striker, Bobby Sands, was elected as a Member of Parliament during the strike, prompting media interest from around the world. The strike was called off after ten prisoners had starved themselves to death—including Sands, whose funeral was attended by 100,000 people. The strike radicalised Irish nationalist politics, and was the driving force that enabled Sinn Féin to become a mainstream political party.
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Music agent meets with an Loyalist band
Funny clip. Music agent meets with some Scottish Loyalists to see if they have what it takes in the music industry.
Timeline of the Northern Ireland Troubles and peace process
This article lists the major violent and political incidents during the Troubles and peace process in Northern Ireland, from the late 1960s until today. The Troubles was a period of conflict in Northern Ireland involving republican and loyalist paramilitaries, the British security forces, and civil rights groups. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the riots of 1968 to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. However, sporadic violence continued after this point. Between 14 July 1969 and 31 December 2001, an estimated 3,523 people were killed in the conflict.
For a list of groups involved in the conflict, see Directory of the Northern Ireland Troubles
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