The Conflict in Northern Ireland

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Northern Ireland society is, at present, undergoing a transformation, which many hope will bring to an end the deep division and conflict which have been characteristic of the region.  In this essay I hope to outline the nature of that conflict and the relationships between the two main communities - Protestant and Catholic.  I use the terms Protestant and Catholic not in the strictly religious sense, but as labels for the different communities which are widely used by various writers on the subject.  I intend to focus on the reasons for and the types of division in Northern Ireland.

There are of course many types of conflict in Northern Ireland, as is the case in any society, between classes, between those with liberal and conservative views, between different interest groups, between different regions and so on.  However, the main conflict in Northern Ireland, which impinges on all other conflicts to a certain extent, is the conflict between the Protestant and Catholic communities.  There are many internal divisions within the two communities but the division between them is deeper.  The conflict is widely seen as synonymous with terrorist violence, but it is important to see that violence is only a part of the conflict, although it is very significant as both a cause and as an effect of division.

Divided Communities

The conflict in Northern Ireland is "between historic communities, constituted and differentiated by multiple rather than single dimensions of difference".  In Northern Ireland, the community to which you belong is very much part of your identity.  "Catholics and Protestants deal with each other not simply as individuals but as representative members of communities".  People establish the religion of others on acquaintance, often by using signifiers such as their name or where they live.  This "..sets the parameters of conversation.." and has a large effect on the way they relate to each other.  Interaction between members of different communities is often kept to a superficial level by cultural norms.

Sectarianism is "more than an ideology or a set of practices or an amalgam of individual actions: sectarianism dominates every aspect of life" in Northern Ireland..

"Sectarianism" is the Irish name for religiously rooted ethnic conflict. The roots of sectarianism can be traced to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and a combination of three doctrines:

one true church outside of which is no salvation,

error has no right,

and providence.

These were the common property of the three main churches in Ireland-Catholic, Church of Ireland, and later Presbyterian-which simply differed as to which was the true church, who was outside salvation, who had no rights, and whose cause God favored.

These doctrines undergirded sectarianism by way of two main combinations. "Error has no right"-the Augustinian principle behind inquisitions, penal laws, and other forms of religious coercion-was the catalyst that made "one true church" a sectarian claim. If every truth claim carries with it the danger of arrogance and imposition, it is at least of "one true church". "Error has no right" meant that toleration of false churches was understood to be a vice not a virtue, and limiting, suppressing, or eliminating false churches was the political-religious outcome.

In a similar way, "one true church" combined with "providence" to yield sectarianism. The doctrine of providence simply teaches that God is active in the world, but when interpreted in light of "one true church" in an Ireland bedeviled by political and religious conflict, "providence" was easily reduced to "God is on our side". Each of the three main traditions could understand itself as God's chosen people, Israel in Ireland, and therefore divinely predestined to triumph, however bleak immediate circumstances might appear.

There is a very high level of segregation in Northern Irish society and in many ways the two communities operate independently.   For the most part, Protestants and Catholics live in different areas, are educated in different schools, attend different churches, join different clubs and associations, play different sports and socialise separately.  The level of intermarriage is very low, at 3% of Protestants.  This lack of interaction means that there is a lack of understanding, trust and common feeling between the two groups, often leading to hostility.

Generally in stable societies there is a network of different groups with overlapping memberships.  For example, the memberships of religious groups do not largely coincide with the memberships of political parties.   "This generates a series of divided loyalties that reduce the internal cohesiveness of any one group and encourages greater social and political stability" .   In Northern Ireland, while small groups of Catholic unionists and of Protestants who have an Irish identity do exist, in general Protestants are Unionist or Loyalist with a British identity and Catholics are Nationalist or Republican with an Irish identity.

Origins of ethnic and cultural differences

The origins of ethnic and cultural differences lie in the fact that the two groups never integrated properly.  In terms of ethnicity, Catholics in general are, or see themselves, as descendants of the Gaelic people native to Ireland, while Protestants are the descendants of  the Scottish settlers in the area during the plantations.  However, in the 12th and 13th centuries,  the Anglo-Norman settlers in Ireland were first seen as settlers but after periods of violence and unrest, they then integrated into Irish Gaelic society.  Other groups, such as the Vikings, also settled in Ireland but their descendants are not separate from Irish people generally. 

Therefore the differences between the communities are more to do with the balance of power and events after the settlements than to the settlements themselves.  The way the two communities viewed each other then still persists in some ways.  The settlers saw the native Irish as uncivilised and backward due to their unfamiliar culture and language.  The economic system and resources of the planters of Ulster brought prosperity and later industrialisation to the region, and so Protestants felt justified in imposing their system. 

However, Gaelic leaders resented the taking over of their positions in society and saw Protestant power as illegitimate because it was dependant on their connection with Britain.  Protestants sought to stay in control with the penal laws, which had severe effects on Catholics and served to keep the two groups separate ethnically and culturally and prevent integration.

Struggle for power

Much of the conflict in Northern Ireland can be explained by the unstable balance of power between the two groups and the vulnerability this causes.  Northern Ireland has a population of 1,577,836 (The Northern Ireland Census, 1991).  Of these,  605,639 are Catholic 788,136 are other religions, mostly Protestant, and 174,061 are none or did not state.   This gives a rough guide to the proportions of the communities. 

The result of the partition of Ireland has been a classic double minority: more than half a million Catholic/nationalists constitute about 40 per cent of the population within Northern Ireland, but the Protestant/unionist majority of almost one million within Northern Ireland forms a minority of less than 20 per cent of the total population of just over five million in the whole island of Ireland. This causes both groups to feel vulnerable.

The balance of power has been very volatile in Northern Ireland and this has caused instability.  The penal laws gave Protestants the dominant position but during the Catholic recovery of the 19th century, Protestants felt threatened by change..  The partition of Ireland in 1921 was deliberately designed in order to preserve a Protestant majority in Northern Ireland and so to protect them against the Catholic majority on the island. 

Protestants saw Catholics in Northern Ireland as part of the threat to their own privileges and way of life as they were connected with Southern Catholics, and as Catholic minority within Northern Ireland was so large. 

Protestants used their power to deny Catholics access to public housing, employment, a role in policing and public life, and political influence.  This caused the civil rights movement of the late 1960s, which in turn was seen as a "direct attack on the state" by loyalists. Peaceful marches spilled over into riots when they were impeded by extreme loyalists.

Violent conflict

The British Army deepened division by their brutal treatment of sometimes innocent Republican suspects, and their harassment of Catholics.  Although reforms did follow, their slow pace and the  "...heavy handed security tactics of the British army and the RUC provided an ideal recruitment ground for the IRA, whose terrorist outrages likewise provided an ideal setting for sectarian retaliation by Protestant paramilitaries.".  The "troubles" have served to deepen distrust and division between the communities. "Particularly at times of crisis for their community, moderates, whatever their own personal views, tend to side with the majority in the community" rather than ally with moderates of the other community. The widespread fear and distrust was heightened by the fact that one third of those killed were killed on purely sectarian grounds.  Everyone was a potential victim and "almost half the population knew someone killed or injured in the conflict."  In many areas "..religiously homogeneous communities of defence emerged as a result of a vast process of resettlement.."

National identity, Politics and Religion

The ethnic divide largely coincides with a divide in national identity. While Northern Catholics are not part of the Republic of Ireland, 60% of them see themselves as "Irish" and only 25% as "Northern Irish".  "The raison d'être of Northern Ireland was sectarian." The state was, and to some extent still is, controlled by Protestants.  The police force is not seen as impartial, due partly to its history and partly to its make-up which is largely Protestant.  For these reasons, Catholics do not identify with the Northern State or its institutions.  In some areas there is more loyalty towards the IRA than towards the security forces.   Northern Ireland is not a cohesive entity, as it is not seen as fully legitimate by a large proportion of its people.

Despite the fact that Catholics have an Irish identity, Northern Catholics have become separate in some ways from Southern Catholics.  The fact that they have been living under a separate administration has given them very different social experiences.  However, becoming more separate to Southern Catholics has not bonded them more closely to Northern Protestants.  Protestants are seen to have a British identity, although many see themselves as Ulster people rather than British people.  "Protestants feel that they may be abandoned any time by the British state", yet many "...feel a deep sense of loyalty and affinity with the British world...".

Politics in Northern Ireland centre around the communal divide.  While voting patterns are largely an expression of and a result of different identities and trusts, it can also be argued that the party structure in Northern Ireland has added to division due to lack of choice of parties other than on sectarian grounds.  "There is an almost total lack of cross-religious support for four of the five main parties". 

The two more extreme parties, Sinn Fein and the DUP, often pull the two moderate parties, the SDLP and the UUP, further from compromise.  While the different parties define themselves according to their preferred constitutional position, they are also concerned with the balance of power between the communities. In the case of two parties which are pursuing divergent ultimate goals, the power struggle can be "a more calculating concentration upon the intermediate goal of winning power as a generalised means to pursue goals, ideals or interests."

The conflict is often perceived as a religious one but theology is a relatively small component.   It could be argued that the Church of Ireland's theology is closer to the Catholics' than to the Presbyterians', for example.  However, religion is "..the main signifier of ethnic difference in Ireland" and so contributes to division.

Social change and movements towards peace

There is much evidence that the peace process is having permanent effects on division in Northern Ireland.  The absence of violence during the two ceasefires has reduced fear and distrust.  The reforms of the last twenty to thirty years take time to show results but are now doing so.  Many cross-community peace groups and peace movements are gradually changing attitudes, locally at least. The growing number of integrated schools and education programmes such as the compulsory "Cultural Heritage and Education for Mutual Understanding" promote reconciliation. 

There is increasing equality of opportunity for Catholics and "their position in the economy, political system and public culture is noticeably stronger than two decades ago.". However, "... a good deal of discrimination remains to be tackled".  Since the ceasefires, the "scaling down of activity by security forces has been slow but cumulative".   Since the Hume-Adams discussions of 1988, the gradual integration of Sinn Fein and other parties with paramilitary links into mainstream media discussion and into the political process has given an incentive to them to adopt a more conciliatory approach.  Discussion in the media now centres around the language of peace rather than defensive threats.  

There has been a rethinking of all ideologies and the traditional lines of division are blurring..  The constitutional settlement which, it is hoped, will be reached at all-party negotiations, is debated extensively and is very important.  However, "while the potential of political institutions as agents of reform is acknowledged, lasting change is seen as more likely to come - if at all - from the slow process of bottom-up social change.".  There have been many temporary political setbacks and difficulties, but I believe the long-term divided social structure of Northern Ireland is changing.