Editing Northern Ireland (section)

===The Troubles===
{{Main|The Troubles}}
[[File:Troubles deaths by perpetrator.png|thumb|upright=2|Responsibility for Troubles-related deaths between 1969 and 2001]]

The Troubles, which started in the late 1960s, consisted of about 30 years of recurring acts of intense violence during which 3,254 people were killed<ref>Malcolm Sutton's book, "Bear in Mind These Dead: An Index of Deaths from the Conflict in Ireland 1969–1993.</ref> with over 50,000 casualties.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/topics/troubles_violence |title=BBC – History – The Troubles – Violence |website=BBC |access-date=24 December 2019 |archive-date=5 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605010515/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/topics/troubles_violence |url-status=live}}</ref> From 1969 to 2003 there were over 36,900 shooting incidents and over 16,200 bombings or attempted bombings associated with The Troubles.<ref name="auto2"/> The conflict was caused by escalating tensions between the [[Irish nationalist]] minority and the dominant [[Unionism in Ireland|unionist majority]]; Irish nationalists object to Northern Ireland staying within the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/hmso/cameron2.htm#chap16 |title=The Cameron Report – Disturbances in Northern Ireland (1969) |website=cain.ulst.ac.uk |access-date=29 October 2011 |archive-date=1 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180601151429/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/hmso/cameron2.htm#chap16 |url-status=live}}</ref> From 1967 to 1972 the [[Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association]] (NICRA), which modelled itself on the US civil rights movement, led a campaign of [[civil resistance]] to anti-Catholic discrimination in housing, employment, policing, and electoral procedures. The franchise for local government elections included only rate-payers and their spouses, and so excluded over a quarter of the electorate. While the majority of disenfranchised electors were Protestant, Catholics were over-represented since they were poorer and had more adults still living in the family home.<ref>[http://www.gale.cengage.com/pdf/whitepapers/gdc/Sectarianism.pdf History of sectarianism in NI] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201224942/http://www.gale.cengage.com/pdf/whitepapers/gdc/Sectarianism.pdf |date= 1 February 2014 }}, gale.cengage.com; accessed 27 May 2015.</ref>

NICRA's campaign, seen by many unionists as an [[Irish republican]] front, and the violent reaction to it proved to be a precursor to a more violent period.<ref>Richard English, "The Interplay of Non-violent and Violent Action in Northern Ireland, 1967–72", in [[Adam Roberts (scholar)|Adam Roberts]] and [[Timothy Garton Ash]] (eds.), ''Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present'', Oxford University Press, 2009; {{ISBN|978-0-19-955201-6}}, pp. 75–90. [https://books.google.com/books?id=BxOQKrCe7UUC&q=Civil+resistance+and+power+politics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320185749/https://books.google.com/books?id=BxOQKrCe7UUC&dq=Civil+resistance+and+power+politics&source=gbs_navlinks_s|date=20 March 2017}}</ref> As early as 1969, armed campaigns of paramilitary groups began, including the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army campaign|Provisional IRA campaign of 1969–1997]] which was aimed at the end of British rule in Northern Ireland and the creation of a [[United Ireland]], and the [[Ulster Volunteer Force]], formed in 1966 in response to the perceived erosion of both the British character and unionist domination of Northern Ireland. The state security forces – the [[British Army]] and the police (the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]]) – were also involved in the violence. The UK Government's position is that its forces were neutral in the conflict, trying to uphold law and order in Northern Ireland and the right of the people of Northern Ireland to democratic self-determination. Republicans regarded the state forces as [[combatant]]s in the conflict, pointing to the [[The Troubles#Collusion between security forces and paramilitaries|collusion between the state forces and the loyalist paramilitaries]] as proof of this. The "Ballast" investigation by the [[Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland]] has confirmed that British forces, and in particular the RUC, did collude with loyalist paramilitaries, were involved in murder, and did obstruct the course of justice when such claims had been investigated,<ref name="Ballast">[http://www.policeombudsman.org//Publicationsuploads/BALLAST%20PUBLIC%20STATEMENT%2022-01-07%20FINAL%20VERSION.pdf The Ballast report] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625041216/http://www.policeombudsman.org//Publicationsuploads/BALLAST%20PUBLIC%20STATEMENT%2022-01-07%20FINAL%20VERSION.pdf |date=25 June 2008 }}: "...the Police Ombudsman has concluded that this was collusion by certain police officers with identified UVF informants."</ref> although the extent to which such collusion occurred is still disputed.

As a consequence of the worsening security situation, the autonomous regional government for Northern Ireland was suspended in 1972. Alongside the violence, there was a political deadlock between the major political parties in Northern Ireland, including those who condemned the violence, over the future status of Northern Ireland and the form of government there should be within Northern Ireland. In 1973, [[1973 Northern Ireland border poll|Northern Ireland held a referendum]] to determine if it should remain in the United Kingdom, or be part of a united Ireland. The vote went heavily in favour (98.9%) of maintaining the status quo. Approximately 57.5% of the total electorate voted in support, but only 1% of Catholics voted following a boycott organised by the [[Social Democratic and Labour Party]] (SDLP).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/9/newsid_2516000/2516477.stm |work=BBC News |title=1973: Northern Ireland votes for union |date=9 March 1973 |access-date=20 May 2010 |archive-date=27 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171227020253/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/9/newsid_2516000/2516477.stm |url-status=live}}</ref> The deaths of 10 men during the [[1981 Irish hunger strike]] brought worldwide attention to the Republican prisoners being held in prison ([[HM Prison Maze]]) in Northern Ireland.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/events/hstrike/dead.htm |title=Names of Hunger Strikers (1981) |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=14 May 2024 |website= |publisher=Cain Web Service |access-date=30 November 2024 |quote= |archive-date=24 July 2024 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240724164957/https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/events/hstrike/dead.htm |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>