Editing History of the United Kingdom (section)

===From the Troubles to the Belfast Agreement===
{{Main|The Troubles}}
[[File:Larne RIR mural.jpg|thumb|A mural in Ulster supporting for the [[Royal Irish Regiment (1992)|Royal Irish Regiment]]]]
In the 1960s, moderate unionist Prime Minister of Northern Ireland [[Terence O'Neill]] tried to reform the system and give a greater voice to Catholics who comprised 40% of the population of Northern Ireland. His goals were blocked by militant Protestants led by the Rev. [[Ian Paisley]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mulholland |first=Marc |title=Northern Ireland at the Crossroads: Ulster Unionism in the O'Neill Years, 1960–9 |date=2000 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |isbn=978-0333760758 |ol=28300000M}}</ref> The increasing pressures from nationalists for reform and from unionists to resist reform led to the appearance of the civil rights movement under figures like [[John Hume]], [[Austin Currie]] and others. Clashes escalated out of control as the army could barely contain the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] (IRA) and the [[Ulster Defence Association]]. British leaders feared their withdrawal would give a "Doomsday Scenario", with widespread communal strife, followed by the mass exodus of hundreds of thousands of refugees. London shut down Northern Ireland's parliament and began direct rule. By the 1990s, the failure of the IRA campaign to win mass public support or achieve its aim of a British withdrawal led to negotiations that in 1998 produced the '[[Good Friday Agreement]]'. It won popular support and largely ended the Troubles.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dixon |first=Paul |title=Northern Ireland: The Politics of War and Peace |date=2008 |publisher=Macmillan Education UK |isbn=9780230507791 |ol=9684682M}}; {{Cite book |last=Farrington |first=Christopher |title=Ulster Unionism and the Peace Process in Northern Ireland |date=2006 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=1403992851 |ol=3423454M}}</ref>