schwerpunkt (nordirland/ irland)

• Ireland since 1535 under English Control

• —> Kingdom of Ireland

• Annexion of Wales 1542 and Union of England and Wales 1707

• —> United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland 1801

• First beginningsnof devolution in Ireland, Scotland and Wales

• 1919-21: Irish War of Independence

• —> divided Ireland, Northern Ireland remains as part of the UK

• culture

  • dance

  • folk music

• language

  • English

  • Irish Gaelic

• contradiction

  • ancient - modern

• landscape/ nature

  • green

  • cliffs

  • rugged/ raw

• people

  • ambitious

  • curious

  • optimistic

  • connected to nature

• creativity

• freedom/ independence of mind

• food/ cuisine

1. beautiful landscape

2. music and festivals

3. ancient castles

4. Game of Thrones

5. Guinness and whiskey

6. Irish locals

7. lively cities

8. rich heritage

9. food

• drinking culture

• Bono from U2, Niall Horan from 1D

• potatoes

• strange names and spellings

• “top of the morning” = hello

• struggling with the pronunciation of “th”

• St. Patrick’s Day

• large families

• travel a lot

• part of UK

• lots of tourists

• gay friendly

• expanding economy

• like Europe

• catholics

• Norman invasion under the English king Henry II in 1171

• Act of Union Ireland: Ireland becomes an integral part of a new United Kingdom in 1801

• BUT: growing demand for self-governement or ‘Home Rule’

• 1916: Easter Raising —> failed, leaders were executed

• 1919- 1921: Anglo-Irish War (very bloody)

  • —> partition of Ireland in 1921:

  • Catholic south formed the independent Irish Free State becoming a full republic in 1949

  • Protestant north remained part if the UK but with their own parliament

• violence between paramilitary groups such as the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) —> following decades were called ‘the Troubles’

• 1969: British troops were sent in —> made situation even worse

• 1972: Bloody Sunday (British troops killed 14 civilians) —> suspension of the Northern Ireland Parliament and direct rule from London

• 1985: Anglo-Irish Agreement as first serious effort towards peace (granted the Dublin government an advisory role in Northern Ireland)

• 1998: Good Friday Agreement —> Republicans and Unionists committed themselves to ending violence and sharing power

• 2007: Nortern Ireland Assembly

• first mutual visits (2011 of the Queen and 2014 of the Irish president) as milestones towards normality

• catholic south

• independent of the UK

• goal: United Ireland

• mainly protestants

• remain in the UK (Unionits/ Ulster loyalists)

• goal: own government

• 19th Century: series of poor harvests due to potato ‘blight’

  • —> more than one million Irish people emigrated to the US

• 21th Century: financial crisis —> very high youth unemployment, lack of perspective

  • —> young, skilled Irish leave the country to find better chances abroad

• discrimination of the catholic minority (republicans/ nationalists) —> being shut out of jobs, housing and political power (gerrymandering) —> feeling of second-class-citizens —> demonstrations

• demonstrations got out of hand and erupted into terrorism —> for three decades extreme factions of both communities bombed city centres and assassinated members of rival groups —> over 3,600 people killed before Good Friday Agreement

• wish to keep Northern Ireland part of the UK

• Usually protestants

• Ulster Loyalist

• strongly favours a political union between Northern Ireland and the UK

• extreme methods (violence) to remain in the Union

• wish to have a united Ireland

• non-violent

• usually Catholic religion

• opposed to British rule in Northern Ireland

• goal: united Ireland

• more radical means for reunion than Nationalists

• peace lines = walls to separate predominantly nationalist catholic neighbourhoods from predominantly unionist protestant neighbourhoods

• often covered in murals

Pictures painted on a wall (peace line) with a political message

• Problem after the Brexit: border between Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK (landborder between Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland)

• EU: strict food rules —> border checks are required when goods arrive from non-EU countries (UK)

• BUT: border between Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland is a sensitive issue —> fear that cameras or border posts could lead to instability (protecting the peace gained through the Good Friday Agreement as priority)

• Content of the Northern Ireland Protocol: instead of checking goods at the Irish land border, any inspections and document checks would be conducted between Northern Ireland and Great Britain and take place at Northern Ireland ports; Northern Ireland would keep following EU rukes on product standards

• Nationalist (goal: united Ireland) against hard border (land border between Ireland and the Republic of Ireland)

• Unionists (goal: remain part of the UK) against sea border between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, BUT: agreed to the Northern Ireland Protocol

• divided loyalties (based on different political beliefs contributed tomthe conflict between Protestants and Catholics)

• Unequal allocation of public housing (Catholic families had tomwait a long time to get house)

• Unequal employment opportunities (more difficult for Catholics to find a job)

• Lack of voting rights for Catholics

• Lack of social interaction and understanding (segregation schools/ neighbourhoods for Catholics/ Protestants)

• split society

  • unresolved killings

  • political system based on Agreement

  • lack of social interaction

  • still ‘peace lines’ with murals

• UK and EU finally reached an agreement in the dispute about the Northern Ireland Protocol

• ‘Green Corridor’ between Great Britain and Northern Ireland —> without custom requirements (=Zollauflagen) for medicaments and food, which stay in Northern Ireland

• London is allowed to determinate vat (=darf die Mehrwertsteuer bestimmen) in Northern Ireland

• Custom requirements at Northern Irish ports for goods, which are deliverd to the Republic of Ireland (or other EU-countries)

• No hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland

• European Court of Justice as the final instance in disputes