The Troubles

The Troubles, as they have come to be known, was a difficult time for Northern Ireland and especially for Belfast. The Troubles is a term used to describe the latest installment of periodic communal violence involving republican and loyalist paramilitary organizations, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), the British Army and others in Northern Ireland from the late 1960s until the late 1990s ending with the Good Friday Agreement on April 10, 1998[1].

Although there have been on and off sectarian tensions since the 1600s in Northern Ireland, things really got bad during the 1960s and 1970s in Northern Ireland. Belfast became a deeply divided city.

The Troubles are acknowledged to have begun in 1968, when widespread rioting and public disorder broke out at the marches of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association[2].

The British army, first deployed in 1969 to restore order, became a feature of Belfast life, with huge fortified barracks being constructed, predominantly in nationalist west Belfast[3].

Despite the paramilitary cease fires of 1994, today the city still remains scarred by the conflict between the two communities. In all, nearly 1,500 people have been killed in political violence in the city from 1969 until the present[4].

In recent years Belfast as prospered due to the peace that there is now in Northern Ireland. Most people in Belfast are glad for the peace, and don't want to go back to the dark days of the troubles. The Laganside Corporation, formed in 1989, started the process of regenerating the River Lagan and surrounding area[5].

References

  1. Wikipedia, Overview, The Troubles. Available [online] from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troubles [Accessed 6 March 2007].
  2. Wikipedia, Beginning of the Troubles, The Troubles. Available [online] from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troubles [Accessed 6 March 2007].
  3. Wikipedia, The Troubles, History of Belfast. Available [online] from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Belfast [Accessed 22 March 2007].
  4. Wikipedia, The Troubles, History of Belfast. Available [online] from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Belfast [Accessed 22 March 2007].
  5. Wikipedia, The Troubles, History of Belfast. Available [online] from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Belfast [Accessed 22 March 2007].

© 2007 | Belfast History developed by David Bennett