Northern Ireland Conflict. Key groups involved in the conflict

The Northern Ireland conflict
Name:
Institutional Affiliation:
Northern Ireland Conflict
Conflicts can be fueled by various factors depending on what the parties intend to achieve and the ways they approach it. When a conflict uses violence to present participant ideologies, it can be defined along terrorism lines depending on the targeting and deployment of violence. The conflict in Northern Ireland was no different as an instance of extreme targeted violence was carried as it lasted. This paper views the conflict as a type of modern due to the religious alignment intertwined in the political ideology of national inclusivity with the paramilitary groups targeting catholic civilians as a means to achieve political inclusivity which was the main reason for the conflict (Bull, 2016). It offers an analysis of the conflict; participants, major events and the causes. The paper also highlights the solutions and agreements that led to the end of the conflict.
Key groups involved in the conflict
The conflict was fueled by the constitutional affiliation of the different strata of the Irish community with the main allegiance being a pro or anti the government (Mesev et al, 2009). The Irish community was made of a predominant protestant population that has had a political allegiance towards maintaining ties to the United Kingdom and a minority catholic who pushed for independence from the affiliation to the political stature of Great Britain (Wallenfeldt, 2019). The societal segmentation gave rise to the religion defined groups although it (religion) was not the main agenda the fueled the conflict. The conflict between the two groups can be attributed to the social identity as the Protestants that saw themselves as British and the discrimination leading to the birth of the conflict was tied to the political alignment which was, in turn, dictated by the religious affiliation.
The British Army was also another participant in the war as it came to maintain order and peace due to the increasing tensions from the catholic republican activists who were gaining prominence (Dorney, 2015). The British army was deployed to take part in the conflict after it had already broken out and they came into the war with a support for the protestant groups due to their attribution to the British government after the division of the Kingdom as the country took temporary control of Ireland during the conflict (Stackpool, 2010).
The conflict was greatly fueled by the paramilitary groups that were alienated to either the protestant or catholic population (Mesev et al, 2009). The Irish Republican Army (IRA) was rebranded to Provisional Irish Army (PIRA) and was one of the main perpetrators of violence against the protestant population as it focused on shielded the Catholics’ interests (Dornes, 2015). PIRA formulated the use of violence against the British Army as the growing support from the civilian population made the quest more aggressive (Wellenfeldt, 2019).
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the acting police service during the conflict period and its allegiance to the government, UK and Protestants, made it the main security agency (Stackpool, 2010). The involvement in the RUC during the conflict was against catholic civilians (Cowell, 2018) and the imprisonment of the activists who still experience investigations to date on the use of violence (Walenfeldt, 2019). The Ulster Defense Regiment (UDR) had minimal involvement in the conflict as the RUC was the peacekeeper as the conflict progressed.
Key Events during the North Ireland Conflict
The conflict was marred with rampant violence despite its categorization as “low-intensity conflict”. It had several shootings and bombing incidences with the employment of guerrilla warfare as the main type of attack from the PIRA and other Unionist affiliates (Stackpool, 2010). The succession of violent events from both sides led to the peace talks that saw the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement that ended the conflict (Mesev et al, 2009).
One of the major events during the conflict was the ‘Bloody Sunday’. The incidence involved British army shoot at protestors killing 13 of and injuring scores (Walenfeldt, 2019). As a result of rising support for PIRA from the catholic civilians, the British Army sought more violent ways to handle the pressure which led to the continued protests (Stackpool, 2010). Bloody Sunday was one of the violent incidences that the British government was the main perpetrator as it was one of the initial events of the conflict. The January 30, 1972, incidence marked the growing significance of the conflict in the global scene (Dorney, 2015).
The conflict had hunger strikes that were significant as it projected the IRA endeavors into the global view as ten prisoners died as a result (Stackpool, 2010). The RUC instilled violence through imprisonment and torture which led to a high number of prisoners during the early years of the conflict (Cowel, 2018). The significance of the hunger strikes was felt through increased recruitment of more nationalists into Sinn Fein (Mesev et al, 2009).
<...