northern ireland 1965-1985

o'neill needed to improve

• modernise the n.i economy
• out of date industries/ comeptition from scandinavia
• ship building,rope building etc were old and closed(1965 1 shipyard left)
• high unemployment (7%/8%)
• 18% in west belfast
• 12.5% in west n.i as companys thought it was too remote
• educated youth had to go to mainland
• poor infastructure including power lines
• welfare state (1945) still ment slums remained
• in the past economic problems= secterian tension

the actions o'neill took

• UK injected £450 million
• new motorway built
• new industries and multinational companies e.g mitchellin
• 29000 new jobs by 1969
• co-operate with irish trade congress in dublin
• establish an economic state
• new city
• airport, money to H&W
• grants to bulid on bann

• catholics frustrated
• he wanted to be more inclusive to make them feel a part
• less hostile than lord brookborough
• to take religion out of politics
• being part gaelic part prod made him perfect
• encourage investment
• 14/11/65 met the taoseach
• visited the armagh cardinal
• offered condolences to pope

catholics

• 2/3 catholics felt it improved
• 1965 uup had best vote win
• except queens schools,sports etc still seperate
•  industries usually only prod or cath depending on area
• predjudice and little mixing

republic

• needed a working relationship
• if linked then catholics see unionists in better light
• prods saw that both states benifited economicaly
• e.g tourism/ electricity
• trade/ investment

linked by

• met taoiseach in 1965 and the new one

positive

• a working relationship formed
• o'neill and irish gov. met- catholics saw tolerance
• both states benifited economicaly

negative

• prods mistrust republic
• o'neills meetings used by paisley
• cath. pressure for reform increased- secterian tension e.g easter rising aniversary
• uniniost gov. divided over it e.g cabinet

unionist party(oup)

• strong opposition to his reforms-he was hard to work with as he was a snob
• he acted without consulting he was better liked out of n.i and they plotted to remove him

working class unionists

• discontent as they endured the worst living conditions in europe and only cath. got focus

ian paisley- he opposed o'neill, he formed the free p in 51 and the upag

• he said catholics,jews and communists were to destroy ulster
• he and his loyal supporters called for o'neills resignation
• 1966 founded the pup-dup who marched in protest to church links=riot

the UVF- formed in may 1966 to counter a "new ira"- murdered a cath. -banned with special powers act and tried to slow reforms

employment - most new industries were in prod areas

• 16 of 111 factories post ww2 made in cath. areas
• H&W had 400 of 10,000 workers who were cath. few in the civil service and rare promotion

politics- uup dominated politics in 1960's

• clear gerrymandering (14000 catholics had 8 councillers and 9000 prods had 12)
• several properties = several votes to top poor caths.

the law

• ruc had 6x prods than cath. (some in the orange order)
• B-specials were used in emergencys and were almost all prod

housing- housing trust were fair but councils wern't 2/3 went to prod. but in newry 22/765 went to prod

education-2nd uni in colraine not derry. blocked by derrys prods (it atractted cath. to derry)

• october violence in derry ment more protests and violence
• this annoyed loyalists as they saw them as republicans
• in late 1968 prime minster harold wilson/uk gov. forced o'neill to speed up reforms
• this was driven by nicra demands and unionist fears of their position
• before april 1969 he didnt have 1 man 1 vote and praised the RUC

reactions

• unionists were dismayed, felt threatened, some got violent and he got opposed by his cabinet
• nationalists welcome reforms e.g housing but angry at no 1 man 1 vote, marches suspended
• much more radical peoples democracy formed and marched into belfast in jan.

he said

• he said issues should not to be hidden
• ulster had deep divisions
• the future must be decided by calm,clear choices
• we must focus on the interests of all

• they were a fringe movement from the civil rights campaign
• they were mainly militant socialist students e.g eamon mccann and bernadete devlin
• based in queens university

they had 6 aims- this was to show they thought o'neill offered nothing

1. one man one vote

2. fair voting boundries

3.houses on need

4.jobs on merit

5. free speach

6. no special powers act

• on new years day 1969 40 people marched frm bfast to derry for 3 days
• for day 1&2 it was rerouted by the RUC as ppl made human barriers
• on day 3 at burntollet they were ambused by loyallists
• got things thrown and beat by bars- some were off duty b-specials and RUC
• rioting in derry by loyalists
• ruc and b-specials invaded the bogside and smashed it

why did the crm get so violent

• media- they raised the stakes and heightend the tension
• secterianism- long abuse was the cause and the cameron report criticised the ruc
• o'neills failings-his reforms were too radical for unionists but not for cath. too rushed
• unionist attitude-
• NICRA were a threat, marches seen as provocative,thought nicra was the ira

• by late 1960's secterian tension and violence was at an all time high
• he tried to continue is moderate polices- lost his mp's support
• 24th febuary 1969 he called for an election-o'neill beat paisley narrowly
• tension increased by bombs- thought to be by IRA and unionist mp's turned on o'neill
• the bombs were unionist set to incriminate the ira
• he resigned 28th of april 1969
• he was succeded by his cousin major james chichester clark

intitially positive 2/3 felt it changed

1. dissolusionment- new town craigavon made  in the prod east and uni in colraine not derry

2.new generation- middle class catholics well educated- challanged the satus quo

1947 education act- post education free to all and offered scolarships to uni if poor

tv/media

•  it brougt the black civil rights to tv, showed non-violence to get bills passed
• 1968 paris sit ins and the prague passive resistance to tanks influenced
• we shall overcome addopted as a song

• first gen of catholics who did the 11+ went to secondary and uni have finished
• they saw the limited employment oppertunities and voiced their opinions
• 1962 the ira called off their violent border campaign-no support
• jfk catholic president and crm inspired them
• o'neill raised expectations and left dissapointment with the slow speed
• angry at nationalist party who only wanted united ireland
• felt greivances wern't addressed
• the unionists were suspicious and saw they only helped cath.

they used peaceful methods such as marches,leaflets and appeals

step 1 - mp austin currie sat in a house in caledon that was given to 19yr old uup secretary over a cath. family who were on the list longer than miss beattie

step 2- peaceful march 24th august 1968, nicra marched from coalisland to dungannon to show discrim. e.g cath. 53% of vote but less councellors in dungannon. 2,500 people marched but were stopped by RUC before the centre. NON VIOLENT

• step 3-  violence in derry- 5th october 1968
• housing rally media told, william craig banned it with the special powers act(threat of disorder)
• stopped by the RUC from crossing the bridge
• they hit back with battons and media saw civis being attacked