Why is Northern Ireland divided?

Voice over: This amateur footage was captured in the aftermath of one of the most shocking events of the troubles. On 8 November 1987, the Provisional IRA detonated a bomb at a Remembrance Sunday ceremony in the town of Enniskillen. The devastating scenes from the attack led to widespread condemnation and a backlash towards the IRA and Sinn Fein.

For nearly twenty years, the citizens of Northern Ireland had lived through the Troubles. Many had been born into the conflict and never known anything else. Yet by the early 1990s, it appeared that peace might finally be within reach. So what was it like to live through this conflict, and how did the two sides finally come together to negotiate a solution? Since the early violence of the Troubles, barriers had been erected to divide the republican and loyalist communities.

Craig Murray: "The first barriers went up in Belfast on September 10th, 1969, and were put up by the British Army's Royal Engineers. At this stage they were wooden pickets with rows of barbed wire, and they were there to separate the communities of the Falls Road and the Shankill. However, as the Troubles progressed, rather than reducing the number of barriers, they increased, particularly in Belfast, where the area between the Shankill and Falls Road increased to huge steel walls that are here to this day. The peace walls were probably largely welcomed by people at the time owing to the fact of security and fear of the other community. And even today, even though the walls have started to come down in stages, in many communities, people don't yet feel confident enough for these barriers to be removed."

Barry Williamson: "In 1963-65, I was going out with my future wife. I lived in the west of Belfast and she lived in the extreme east of Belfast. Now, I used to virtually every night walk that 7 miles. So I would walk through the Newtownards Road, which is a highly protestant area; through the Markets area, and the Short Strand and the Markets area are both Catholic, seven miles right through the centre of the city. And I walked that every night, with no fear whatsoever and no consequences. Now, in the 1980s had I done that, I wouldn’t have lived for more than a week, you know. Because there were so many murders in that Short Strand, Markets, Newton’s Park area, that one of the other groups would have picked me up." 

Voice over: But it wasn’t just walls that segregated the communities. Growing up in Northern Ireland often meant interacting almost exclusively with people from the same background and faith. By the late 1990s, around 92% of Northern Ireland’s public homes were segregated by religion. Marriages between protestants and catholics were highly unusual. In 1970, over 95% of children in Northern Ireland attended single-faith schools. But from early on in the Troubles, there were movements campaigning for integration and peace. The Community of Peace People led marches throughout the 1970s. But the issue of segregation proved difficult to change – even today, the majority of schools are still segregated by faith.  

In the late 1980s, Northern Ireland was still being governed by Direct Rule from Westminster. The Northern Irish Assembly had been closed in 1986 and no satisfactory solution could be agreed to reinstate a devolved government. The Anglo-Irish Agreement had sparked a series of assaults from loyalists against Catholic houses and RUC officers and IRA bombings had also increased in reaction to this. Bomb scares had become a regular occurrence for Northern Irish citizens.

Craig Murray: "Behind me is a Wheelbarrow. It's a bomb disposal robot used by the British Army from the early 1970s to diffuse certain types of devices. Sadly for the people of Northern Ireland, bomb scares were a common occurrence. Often any object lying around or anything that looked remotely suspicious  would have to be reported. Many of the devices planted were aimed at the business districts of cities and towns, shops and also military targets as well. So the threat was very real for the civilian population as invariably they were the ones who would be caught in any blasts."

If you identify a bomb or find a suspicious package, what do you do? Even at a moment like this, try to be observant. If you do find a bomb of any kind, follow this procedure.

Jayne Olorunda: "Although little things weren't, it was commonplace just to walk out of your house in the morning and have an armed British soldier at your gate post. I remember that question and that was every day. Going shopping or putting your handbag up, going through checkpoints, which just popped up anywhere. Bombs scares were commonplace.  And again, none of that… it was just normal. It was my normal.  That's only after I left and all this has stopped that, I think, how do people live like that?"

Voice over: The 1980s had seen an increase in violence and a series of tit-for-tat bombings. Both sides were smuggling weapons into Northern Ireland to support their armed campaigns. The IRA had been importing arms from the US, Libya and elsewhere since the early 1970s, and in the mid-1980s, the loyalist paramilitary groups collaborated to procure arms from abroad. In late 1987, a large shipment of arms was smuggled into Belfast from Lebanon, intended for the UDA, UVF and the Ulster Resistance.

But the movement towards politics was also developing. The Remembrance Sunday bombing in November 1987 marked a turning point in the Troubles. The IRA and Sinn Fein were straddled between a political agenda and acts of terrorism, and their senior members were aware of how much attacks like this could damage their cause. Gerry Adams - the leader of Sinn Fein - said that the Ennisikillen bombing was a mistake that they couldn't afford to repeat. Just two months later, Gerry Adams met in secret with John Hume, leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party.

Craig Murray: The talks between Gerry Adams and John Hume are highly significant. They began speaking in secret in early 1988. Initially the talks come to nothing, but Adams and Hume build up a trust and over the next few years continue to meet in secret. But it's not only them. The British government and the Irish government are also involved in this. This may be secret from the population but it's well known within the Irish and British governments. And it's not until April 1993 when purely by accident, Gerry Adams is seen going into John Hume’s house, that the public realises that something is going on."

Voice over: Both sides were keen for peace, and open to the idea of a wider pan-Irish alliance. Yet the armed struggle continued.

Craig Murray: "Gerry Adams says that the British government really understands the force of argument, but it understands the argument of force. And also the armed struggle isn't purely about defence. It sets a political agenda."

Voice over: In 1988, three events took place that would see the violence descending out of control and change the course of the conflict.

Craig Murray: "In March, three members an of IRA act of service unit were shot by the SAS in Gibraltar, where they were seen or thought to be seen to be planting a bomb. However, as it turned out, they were unarmed and there was no bomb, although the bomb making materials were found in a car in Spain several days later. 

At the funerals of these three IRA volunteers at Milton Cemetery in West Belfast, another event happened. 
Michael Stone, a loyalist gunmen attacked the funeral with grenades and a handgun. Three people were killed in this incident. It was also caught on TV. So these images went around the world.  
A week later at the funeral of one of the people shot an IRA man who was actually killed by Michael Stone. For reasons that are still uncertain, two British army corporals drove into the funeral cortege near Andersonstown Road in West Belfast. The mourners at the funeral, believing another Michael Stone attack, attacked the car. One of them came out of the car and fired a pistol in the air. The two men were dragged out, beaten and taken to a piece of waste ground and shot dead. Again, this was captured with the world's press. At this point, the violence seems to be spiralling out of control. And with this, talks between the British government, the Irish government, Sinn Fein and the SDLP seem to be more important than ever."

Voice over: In the early 1990s, a series of bombs were detonated targeting British Army bases. There were more bombings in London, in Belfast and across Northern Ireland. In 1993, the Warrington bomb attack in Cheshire kill two children and wounded 56. All sides recognised that this level of violence was not sustainable and public weariness of the conflict helped push forward the peace talks.

Craig Murray: "As we move into 1994, there are signs of a ceasefire emerging. Although the violence continues, the IRA have intimated that they are keen to look at terms of talks. A document is introduced that goes by the initialisation of TUAS which republicans claim stands for Totally Unarmed Struggle, but in reality really stands for Tactical Use of Armed Struggle, because armed struggle has not going away. But the need for political talks continues on."

In August 1994, a deal was finally struck. The Provisional IRA announced a cessation of all military operations. Unionists and the British Government remained sceptical at the announcement, but Gerry Adams pronounced it a victory, saying the struggle was into a new phase. But the ceasefire was conditional on political progress.

In October 1994, the Combined Loyalist Military Command announced its own ceasefire. Likewise, their statement asserted that the permanence of the ceasefire was dependant on the continued cessation of republican violence. The Irish Prime Minister, Albert Reynolds stated, "This decision effectively signifies the end of twenty-five years of violence, and the closure of a tragic chapter in our history." 
In 1995, the death toll dropped to a record low since the Troubles began in 1969, with nine people killed.

The all-party peace talks resumed and though a resolution felt to be close, a stumbling block was hit. 

Craig Murray: "John Major who became British Prime Minister in 1990 took steps that previous Prime Ministers had not, which is to prioritise Northern Ireland. This is actually a bit of a risk for him because he has a very slim majority in parliament and relies on Ulster Unionist Party votes. However, the major sticking point for the British Government was something called the pre-decommissioning of IRA arms. They insisted Sinn Fein could only take part in the talks if the IRA agreed to decommission their weaponry. This, of course, was something the IRA would never do. Armed struggle was, in a sense, the main trump card."

Then, on 9 February 1996 – 17 months after the start of the ceasefire – a lorry bomb was detonated on the Isle of Dogs in London. Two people were killed, dozens were injured and millions of pounds worth of damage was done. The IRA claimed responsibility, stating their anger at the direction of the peace talks with Sinn Fein being side-lined from negotiations.

Civilians were once again paying the price for the political stalemate. Paramilitary groups and the IRA refused to give up their arms, and over the next few years, hundreds more would suffer. The public were desperate for an end to the violence, but the segregation that marked the cities of Northern Ireland had deep roots. How would peace in Northern Ireland finally be reached?