THE IRISH QUESTION

IRISH QUESTION

THE

IRISH QUESTION

A JOURNEY THROUGhout THE HISTORY OF IRISH INDIPENDENCE

AROSIO, DI GIOVANNI, DON

"A dense population, in extreme distress, inhabit an island where there is an Established Church, which is not their Church, and a territorial aristocracy the richest of whom live in foreign capitals. Thus you have a starving population, an absentee aristocracy, and an alien Church; and in addition the weakest executive in the world. That is the Irish Question."

Benjamin Disraeli

INTRODUCTION

THE IRISH Question was the issue debated among the British ruling classes of

how to respond to Irish nationalism and the calls for Irish independence.

The problems between Ireland and England are deeply-rooted both in history and in religion.

historical issues

• Ireland was colonised by England in the XII century

• English people introduced feudalism in Ireland and obliged Irish people to work the land as serfs.

• Only a very little part of the COLTIVATIONS remained to Irish people who had to live on it, thus living in very poor conditions.

religious issues

• British colonisation brought a new religion in Ireland.

• Irish people had Celtic origins.

• Celtics were known as a Catholic people, whereas English people were Protestants.

TIMELINE

THE IRISH QUESTION

1649-1653

CROMWELLIAN WAR

act of union

1845-1846

1918

ORANGEMEN

IRISH AS A PART OF UK

IRISH POTATO FAMINE

IRISH WAR OF INDIPENDENCE

1886

1801

THE EASTER RISING

TIMELINE

THE IRISH QUESTION

1921

1972

THE IRISH REPUBLIC

BLOODY SUNDAY

CRITICAL SITUATION IN NOTHERN IRELAND

TODAY...

THE ANGLO-IRISH TREATY

1960S

END OF IRA

1998

GOOD FRIDAY AGREEMENT

irelAND

map

united kingdom

the actual division

the orangemen

RELIGIOUS MOVEMENT FOR PROTESTANT SUPREMACY IN MATTER OF RELIGION

After the Cromwellian war in Ireland (1649–53) in 1689 the Irish welcomed the Catholic James II whenhe landed an army in Ireland, but they were defeated by William of Orange at the Battle of the Boyne (1690). William wanted to subdue the Catholics, and barred them from owning land or voting; it was in that period that the Irish Protestants became known as Orangemen.

The Orangefest

THE ACT OF UNION

1801

The real beginning of Irish mobilitation for its indipendence occurred after the Act of Union, which stated that Ireland was part of the United Kingdom. The Anglican Church became the official Irish Church, and Catholics were not allowed to sit inParliament, even if 88% of the Irish were Catholic.

THE ACT OF UNION

1801

The real beginning of Irish mobilitation for its indipendence occurred after the Act of Union, which stated that Ireland was part of the United Kingdom. The Anglican Church became the official Irish Church, and Catholics were not allowed to sit inParliament, even if 88% of the Irish were Catholic.

IRISH POTATO FAMINE

1845-46

The failure of the potato crop in 1845-46 led to famine; a million people died, andtwo million were compelled to emigrate to America. The English were blamed for the disaster and Home Rule - self-government - was invoked.

THE EASTER RISING

• 1886

First bill by Charles Parnell.

• 1914

Second bill

• APRIL 1916

Dublin Easter Rising

THE IRISH WAR OF INDEPENDENCE and the irish republic

• The nationalists started organising their own army, the Irish Republican Army (IRA), which mostly used guerrilla tactics.
• The War of Independence began in 1919, led by the IRA, it ended in 1921 with the establishment of the Irish Free State (an independent Ireland within the British Commonwealth). Only Ulster, or Northern Ireland, remained united with Britain.

i.r.a.

• Irish Republican Army (IRA), also called Provisional Irish Republican Army, republican paramilitary organization seeking the establishment of a republic, the end of British rule in Northern Ireland, and the reunification of Ireland.

• The IRA’s purpose was to use armed force to render British rule in Ireland ineffective and thus to assist in achieving the broader objective of an independent republic, which was pursued at the political level by Sinn Féin, the Irish nationalist party.

TIMELINE

i.r.a.

relevant figures

micheal collins

leader during independence war

Info

• clear Protestant dominance had been established

criticalsituation in nothern ireland

• Protestants received better jobs and better housing

• Catholics felt discriminated against

• IRA gained supporters and set up a campaign of violence and bombings both in Ireland and in Britain

mid 1960s

• In August 1969 British troops were ordered into Northern Ireland

• (Bloody Sunday, 1972

good friday agreement

1998

a popular referendum

Greater autonomy was granted to both Catholics and Protestants in Ulster (Good Friday Agreement). One of its clauses states that the sovereignty of Northern Ireland will be decided on the basis of a popular referendum.

• April 1998 the participants in the talks approved the Good Friday Agreement (Belfast Agreement)

• IRA decommissioning and other steps aimed at normalizing cross-community relations.

nowadays

• IRA resisted decommissioning its entire armoury, hampering implementation of key parts of the peace agreement.

• On July 28, 2005 the IRA announced that it had ended its armed campaign

• in 2015 when an investigation into the murder of a former IRA leader revealed that some of the organizational structure of the Provisional IRA was still in place.

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