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now exposed to terrorist activities.
The ghost of lreland's violent past
has come back to haunt the English.
It
cannot be laid to rest by distance,
as could America's Vietnam, and it
is rapidly growing into a nightmare
that could engulf all of Ireland
Ulster and Eire - in war.
" A Fiery Race"
What are the issues m the lrísh
problem?
Mos t Englishmen Iook upon the
present wave of violence as the con–
tinuation of a religious conftict
stretching all the way back to the
earl y 1600's. Many view the Irish as
a fiery, troublesome race. Ireland
has long been considered a mill–
stone about Westminstelts neck.
The average Catholic in lreland,
both in the north as well as the
south, sees the struggle in Ulster as
a fight for civil rights and equality.
Among many grievances, Catholícs
list job discrimination and unequal
opportunities for improved housing.
It
was largely due to such discrimi–
nation that the civil rights move–
ment became a powerful a nd
vociferous force in Ulster. In the
wake of the movement 's campaign–
íng, Ulster authoritíes launched the
Cameron Commissíon to focus on
the alleged discrimína tíon agaínst
the Catholic minority. Major re–
forros resulted.
Protestants, who comprise two
thirds of Northern Ireland's popu–
lation, have a ditferent view o f the
crisis. While many would agree that
there has been sorne discrimina tion,
an even la rge r number believe the
bulk of the terrorism, which has har–
assed lreland, is perpetrated by
those who seek to remove the semí–
autonomous north from the United
Kingdom and to unite it, by force if
necessary, with the overwhelmingly
Catholic lrish Republic to the south .
They view this as a threat to their
continued freedom as Protes tants.
Since a third of Ulster's popu–
lation is Catholic, Protestants re–
main a powerful enough majority to
ma intain the country's ties with
Britain and to retain Protestantism.
PLAIN TRUTH August 1974
But if Ireland were to be reunited,
there would be three million Catho–
Iics to only one million Protestants.
Ulstermen fear that as a 25 percent
minority, they would be outvoted
and dominated by Catholic politics.
Their ties with England a re a Iife–
line to them.
Those ties go back to the era of
the " Ulster pla ntations," when
staunch Protestants from England
and Scotland were settled in lreland
in a delibera te program of coloniza–
tion to ensure lrish loyalty to the
British crown. However, even before
the Protestan! movement as far
back as the reign of Henry
ll
in the
twelfth century, English monarchs
had rewarded noblemen for their
services by granting them territory
in Ireland. But under James
1,
mas–
sive tracts of land we re seized from
the native lrish Ca tho lics and
granted to new settlers. This Jaco–
bean plantation, along with the
Elizabethan and Cromwell ian plan–
tations, divided lreland into two an–
tagonistic communities.
The curren! contlict has been
fanned by the prejudices and griev–
ances of centuries. Religion and
race are inextricably bound up in
the troubles.
The fears of U ls termen were
given real foundation on May
13
this year when Prime Minister Wil–
son revealed Irish Republica n Army
plans to turn Belfas! into an Arma–
geddon-like batt lefield.
In a startling disclosure, the Brit–
ish prime minister told parliament
that newly captured documents con–
tained a detailed plan to foment in–
discriminate violence. According to
Mr. Wilson, the plot was designed
to bring chaos to Belfast so that the
IRA could actually occupy parts of
the city!
After occupation of the target
a reas, the IRA would withdraw
from any area they could not hold,
setting fire to it. This "scorched
earth" policy was to involve the in–
discri minate burning of homes .
But, of course, this is not the
whole story. Violence. or plans to
use it, are by no means limited to
any one side. While the IRA is de–
termined to wrench control of Ulster
from Protestants. the Protestan! ma–
jority of the north are equally deter–
mined to remain Protestant. This
was made abundantly clear by the
recent shutdown organized by the
Ulster Workers Council. London
sadly watched the united stand of
not one but three militan! Protes–
tan! orga ni7.ations. each determined
to preserve Protestant rule in the
north no ma tter what the cost, as
they brought the efforts of the Brit–
ish government toa crashing defeat.
Unless a solution which will sat–
isfy the demands of all sides can be
found , escalating violence cou ld
bring about the bloodiest chapter
ever written in lre land's history.
In the face of such an alarming
prospect, is there any hope for a
peaceful solution?
An Alternative to
Civil War?
To most watching nations, the
Irish problem is an enigma.
Why should the adherents of two
branches of the one Christian reli–
gion apparently ha le one another in
tbis so-called enlightened age of the
20th century? Why cannot lrishmen
live with other lrishmen in peaceful
coexistence, in this land which could
be so much more productive?
Part of the problem is fears -
justified or not - held by most
Northern Protestants of what life for
them would be like in a Greate r
lreland in which
they
would be the
minority.
The link Northern Ire land has
with England has proven to be eco–
nomically advantageous. Northern
Ireland 's leve! of prosperity is con–
siderably higher than that of Eire.
I n
spite of the recent bombings and
destruction, Ulster's industrial ca–
pacity is twice that per head of the
population of the largely agrarian
republic to the south.
The potential loss of economic
advantages is a big factor, but there
are much deeper issues. Religio–
political considera tions still Ioom
largest of all.
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