The Troubles ( )

The principal issues at stake in the Troubles were the constitutional status of Northern Ireland and the relationship between the mainly-Protestant Unionist and mainly-Catholic Nationalist communities in Northern Ireland. The Troubles had both political and military (or paramilitary) dimensions. Its participants included politicians and political activists on both sides, republican and loyalist paramilitaries, and the security forces of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.

Overview

"The Troubles" refers to approximately three decades of violence between elements of Northern Ireland's nationalist community (principally Roman Catholic) and unionist community (principally Protestant). Use of the term "The Troubles" has been raised at NI Assembly level, as some people considered this period of conflict as a war . The conflict was the result of discrimination against the catholic/nationalist minority by the protestant/unionist majority and the question of Northern Ireland's status within the United Kingdom. The violence was characterised by the armed campaigns of paramilitary groups, including those of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) campaign of 1969–1997, intended to end British rule in Northern Ireland and to reunite Ireland politically and thus creating a new "all-Ireland" Irish Republic; and of the Ulster Volunteer Force, formed in 1966 in response to the perceived erosion of both the British character and unionist domination of Northern Ireland. The state security forces —the British Army and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC)— were also involved in the violence.

The British Government's view was that its forces were neutral in the conflict, trying to uphold law and order in Northern Ireland and the right of the people of Northern Ireland to democratic self-determination. Irish republicans, however, regarded the state forces as forces of occupation and "combatants" in the conflict, noting collusion between the state forces and the loyalist paramilitaries. The "Ballast" investigation by the Police Ombudsman has confirmed that British forces, and in particular the RUC, did, on several occasions, collude with loyalist paramilitaries, were involved in murder, and did obstruct the course of justice when such claims had previously been investigated.The Ballast report: "...the Police Ombudsman has concluded that this was collusion by certain police officers with identified UVF informants." The extent of collusion is still hotly disputed. Unionists claim that reports of collusion were either false or highly exaggerated and that there were also instances of collusion between the authorities in the Republic of Ireland and Republican paramilitaries. See also the section below on Collusion by Security Forces and loyalist paramilitaries.