Editing Ireland (section)

====Northern Ireland====
{{Main|History of Northern Ireland|Economy of Northern Ireland}}
Northern Ireland resulted from the division of the United Kingdom by the [[Government of Ireland Act 1920]], and until 1972 was a self-governing jurisdiction within the United Kingdom with its own parliament and prime minister. Northern Ireland, as part of the United Kingdom, was not neutral during the Second World War, and [[Belfast Blitz|Belfast suffered four bombing raids]] in 1941. [[Conscription]] was not extended to Northern Ireland, and roughly an equal number volunteered from Northern Ireland as volunteered from the Republic of Ireland.

[[File:Carson signing Solemn League and Covenant.jpg|thumb|[[Edward Carson]] signing the [[Ulster Covenant|Solemn League and Covenant]] in 1912, declaring opposition to [[Irish Home Rule bills|Home Rule]] "using all means which may be found necessary"]]

Although Northern Ireland was largely spared the strife of the civil war, in the decades that followed partition there were sporadic episodes of inter-communal violence. Nationalists, mainly Roman Catholic, wanted to unite Ireland as an independent republic, whereas unionists, mainly Protestant, wanted Northern Ireland to remain in the United Kingdom. The Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland voted largely along [[sectarian]] lines, meaning that the government of Northern Ireland (elected by [[Plurality electoral system|"first-past-the-post"]] from 1929) was controlled by the [[Ulster Unionist Party]]. Over time, the minority Catholic community felt increasingly alienated with further disaffection fuelled by practices such as [[gerrymandering]] and discrimination in housing and employment.<ref name=whyte>{{cite book |chapter-url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/discrimination/whyte.htm |chapter=How much discrimination was there under the Unionist regime, 1921–1968? |last=Whyte |first=John |editor-first1=Tom |editor-last1=Gallagher |editor-first2=James |editor-last2=O'Connell |title=Contemporary Irish Studies |isbn=0-7190-0919-7 |publisher=[[Manchester University Press]] |via=[[Conflict Archive on the Internet]] |year=1983 |access-date=30 April 2019 |archive-date=14 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514131114/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/discrimination/whyte.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/hmso/cmd380.htm |title=Fair Employment in Northern Ireland |isbn=0-10-103802-X |year=1988 |access-date=23 October 2008 |author=Northern Ireland Office |publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office |via=Conflict Archive on the Internet |author-link=Northern Ireland Office |archive-date=4 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120104025822/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/hmso/cmd380.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/crights/nicra/nicra78.htm |title='We Shall Overcome' ... The History of the Struggle for Civil Rights in Northern Ireland 1968–1978 |date=1978 |publisher=Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association |access-date=23 October 2008 |via=Conflict Archive on the Internet |archive-date=31 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531024030/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/crights/nicra/nicra78.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the late 1960s, nationalist grievances were aired publicly in mass civil rights protests, which were often confronted by [[Ulster loyalism|loyalist]] counter-protests.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=Peter |date=1997 |title=Provos: The IRA and {{lang|ga|Sinn Féin}} |pages=33–56 |location=London |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-7475-3392-4}}</ref> The government's reaction to confrontations was seen to be one-sided and heavy-handed in favour of unionists. Law and order broke down as unrest and inter-communal violence increased.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=Peter |date=1997 |title=Provos: The IRA and {{lang|ga|Sinn Féin}} |pages=56–100 |location=London |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-7475-3392-4}}</ref> The Northern Ireland government requested the [[British Army]] to aid the police and protect the [[Irish Nationalist]] population. In 1969, the paramilitary [[Provisional Irish Republican Army|Provisional IRA]], which favoured the creation of a [[united Ireland]], emerged from a split in the [[Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)|Irish Republican Army]] and began a campaign against what it called the "British occupation of the six counties".{{citation needed|date=October 2019}}

Other groups, both the unionist and nationalist participated in violence, and a period known as "[[the Troubles]]" began. More than 3,600 deaths resulted over the subsequent three decades of conflict.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/467904.stm |title=Turning the pages on lost lives |publisher=BBC News |access-date=4 January 2010 |date=8 October 1999 |archive-date=17 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217024018/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/467904.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Owing to the civil unrest during the Troubles, the British government suspended home rule in 1972 and imposed [[Direct rule over Northern Ireland|direct rule]]. There were several unsuccessful attempts to end the Troubles politically, such as the [[Sunningdale Agreement]] of 1973. In 1998, following a ceasefire by the Provisional IRA and multi-party talks, the [[Good Friday Agreement]] was concluded as a treaty between the British and Irish governments, annexing the text agreed in the multi-party talks.

The substance of the Agreement (formally referred to as the Belfast Agreement) was later endorsed by referendums in both parts of Ireland. The Agreement restored self-government to Northern Ireland on the basis of power-sharing in a regional [[Northern Ireland Executive|Executive]] drawn from the major parties in a new [[Northern Ireland Assembly]], with entrenched protections for the two main communities. The Executive is jointly headed by a [[First Minister and deputy First Minister]] drawn from the unionist and nationalist parties. Violence had decreased greatly after the Provisional IRA and loyalist ceasefires in 1994, and in 2005, the Provisional IRA announced the end of its armed campaign and an [[Independent International Commission on Decommissioning|independent commission]] supervised its disarmament and that of other nationalist and unionist paramilitary organisations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/decommission/iicd190106.pdf |first1=Tauno |last1=Nieminen |first2=John |last2=de Chastelain |author3=Andrew D. Sens |title=Independent International Commission on Decommissioning |access-date=15 October 2008 |archive-date=11 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110311172621/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/peace/decommission/iicd190106.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Assembly and power-sharing Executive were suspended several times but were restored again in 2007. In that year the British government officially ended its military support of the police in Northern Ireland ([[Operation Banner]]) and began withdrawing troops. On 27 June 2012, Northern Ireland's deputy first minister and former IRA commander, [[Martin McGuinness]], shook hands with Queen Elizabeth II in Belfast, symbolising reconciliation between the two sides.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-18607911 |title=Queen and Martin McGuinness shake hands |publisher=BBC News |date=27 June 2012 |access-date=22 June 2021 |archive-date=20 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210820133101/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-18607911 |url-status=live }}</ref>