Skip to main content
Background:

The Troubles

The nature and impact of the Troubles in and about Northern Ireland and the southern border counties are well documented; nonetheless, they raise issues that continue to cause controversy and pose challenges for politicians, policy makers, and ordinary citizens today.

Understanding the context and human cost of the Troubles is important background information that illuminates the original need for the IFI in 1986, the meaning of its contributions to society over the past 30 years, and its place and role today.

The context of the Troubles

The Troubles are generally regarded as spanning the 30-year period between the late 1960s and the signing of the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement on 10 April 1998.  While there is still little political consensus in Northern Ireland regarding the root causes of the Troubles, its origins can be traced to partition in 1921, the founding of Northern Ireland in 1922, and the dynamics of the Unionist state that dominated government and the economy up to 197210. It is incorrect to think of the Troubles as a religious conflict: rather, the key issues are understood to be a combination of political, economic, social, and cultural factors.  Frustration with poor economic conditions and contested voting rights compounded disagreement between the two largest communities, Nationalists and Unionists, as to what the constitutional standing of Northern Ireland should be, and coincided with an energetic civil rights movement that attracted a groundswell of popular support in 1968.  Violence erupted on its fringes in 1969, and within a short period of time it became clear that Stormont was unable to cope with a growing crisis in security and viable governance.  The British Army was deployed on the streets of Derry/Londonderry and Belfast, and direct rule from Westminster was imposed in 1972.  

The descent into more widespread violence was rapid: the early 1970s were the most intense years of the conflict, with just over half of all of the victims of the Troubles dying prior to 1977.  The violence was both widespread and intensely localised and personal, characterised by small arms warfare including shootings and executions, and a bombing campaign that extended across Northern Ireland, Ireland, and Great Britain.  

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s efforts were made on many levels to restore peace and in 1994 a ceasefire was finally achieved which enabled the  political progress required to secure the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement in 1998. This treaty, signed by representatives from Ireland, Great Britain, and Northern Ireland, set out the parameters for the restoration of devolved government in Northern Ireland, and signalled an end to daily violence. 

The protagonists to The Troubles

Those who were actively involved in the Troubles can be described as falling into three broad categories: first, the Catholic/Nationalist/Republican (CNR) grouping; second, the Protestant/Unionist/Loyalist (PUL) grouping; and third, the security forces, including the British Army, the local police force, local army and police reserves, and to a limited extent, the Irish police and army.

In Northern Ireland, Nationalists typically – but not always – come from a Catholic religious and cultural background, and have historically aspired to an independent and unified island of Ireland by constitutional means.  Unionists are typically – but not always – from a Protestant religious and cultural background, and aim to maintain the constitutional union with Great Britain as British citizens.  Both Nationalism and Unionism have radicalised elements within them that, in large part, hail from more economically deprived communities on each side.  Militant Nationalism is usually referred to as Republicanism: while Nationalists have historically sought to achieve independence for Ireland by constitutional means, Republican paramilitaries have shown themselves prepared to take up arms to resist British rule and realise the full independence and unity of Ireland.  Loyalism is a radical aspect of Unionism that is usually associated with working class areas that for various reasons have often felt disconnected from and inadequately represented by Unionist political elites.  In the late 1960s and in the 1970s, Loyalist paramilitary groups emerged, ostensibly to defend their local areas from the threat of Republicanism.  The violence that ensued between and within these groupings, and between them and the security forces, has left an indelible mark on communities in Northern Ireland, to the extent that the region remains a deeply divided society in many respects.

The impact of the Troubles

Several decades of political violence caused more than 3,70011 deaths and left more than 35,000 people with physical injuries12 , many of them life changing. More than one-third of those killed were civilians13 . 16,000 individuals were charged with offences, and more than 34,000 shootings and 14,000 bombings were recorded14 . In the context of a population of just 1.8 million citizens15, it has been suggested there are few families or communities in Northern Ireland that have not been directly or indirectly affected by the Troubles16.

That said, analysts have observed that suffering caused by the Troubles has been unevenly borne across society in Northern Ireland. This is true both in terms of gender and age – men accounted for more than nine out of ten of all fatal casualties; almost a third of those killed were in their 20s and more than three quarters were under the age of 4017 – and with regard to geographical location and economic status – the greatest number of deaths occurred in a relatively small number of primarily urban electoral ward areas, with additional key flashpoints in rural border areas; wards with high deprivation scores predominate amongst those with the largest number of deaths18. It has been noted that “these were the communities that were least equipped to deal with the added burden because they were already the most socially and economically deprived. Such communities existed and still exist.”19

It is only in recent years that the mental health impact of decades of violence, bereavement, physical injury, intimidation, and displacement among victims, survivors, witnesses, and their families has been recognised as contributing to a 25% higher level of psychological ill health in the Northern Ireland population compared to neighbouring jurisdictions.20 The implications of this ‘legacy’ of psychological ill health are enormous, affecting not only individuals – statistics on suicide show that 297 people in Northern Ireland took their own life in 2016, with men aged 30-34 at greatest risk of completing suicide – but also the functioning of families, the educational outcomes and economic prospects of those living under the shadow of both personal and intergenerational trauma, and the progress of wider economic regeneration.21

Although the 1998 Agreement did not bring a definitive end to the violence, since it was ratified there has been a significant diminution in the numbers of deaths attributable to the Troubles. However, even today Troubles related violence continues to affect Republican and Loyalist communities, as well as members of the security forces throughout Northern Ireland. The legacies of paramilitary power structures, organised crime, and community coercion and control represent real and present dangers: a key indicator of this menace is the fact that in the last four years more than 300 paramilitary-style punishment attacks have been carried out on young men, causing what are often life-changing physical injuries and untold trauma for both the victims and their wider communities.22 In addition, unresolved questions of truth, justice, and accountability continue to undermine relationship building and trust within and between different communities both at the grassroots level and between sections of society and government, fomenting broader insecurity and political uncertainty, and impacting negatively on individual and community wellbeing.

Summary

The human cost of the Troubles, and the consequent need for tailored support to enable society to recover and move forward, has been enormous.  Experience is showing that the dynamics of the Troubles have given rise to complex issues that, in some cases, have taken decades to fully manifest in society.  The work to identify, engage with, and attempt to resolve these challenges is ongoing.  While life has improved significantly and gains have been made, this cannot be taken for granted: the peace process, the work to support individuals and communities to flourish, must be treated as an ongoing priority.

Next: The Need for the Fund
  • 10

    McKittrick, D. & McVea, D. (2001) Making Sense of the Troubles (Revised Edition). London: Penguin.

  • 11

    McKittrick, D., Kelters, S., Feeney, B. & Thornton, C. (2006) Lost Lives:  The Stories of the Men, Women and Children Who Died as a Result of the Northern Ireland Troubles (2nd Revised Edition).  Edinburgh:  Mainstream Publishing. (Page 1555, Table 6)

  • 12

    Commission for Victims and Survivors for Northern Ireland (CVSNI). (2010). Comprehensive Needs Assessment: First Interim Report. Belfast: CVSNI. (Page 42) [Available online at: https://www.cvsni.org/resources/research/] (Accessed 4 September 2018)

  • 13

    McKittrick et al (2006).

  • 14

    Commission for Victims and Survivors for Northern Ireland (2010).

  • 15
  • 16

    Commission for Victims and Survivors for Northern Ireland (2010).

  • 17

    Smyth, M. (2006) “Lost lives: victims and the construction of 'victimhood' in Northern Ireland.” In Cox, M. Guelke, A. & Stephen, F. (Eds.), A Farewell to Arms? Beyond the Good Friday Agreement (Second Edition) (pp. 6-23). Manchester: Manchester University Press.

  • 18

    Fay, M., Morrissey, M. & Smyth. M. (1998) Mapping Troubles-related deaths in Northern Ireland 1969-1994 [1997; second edition with amendments printed 1998]. Cost of the Troubles Study/INCORE. [Available online at: http://www.cain.ulst.ac.uk/cts/] (Accessed 30 August 2018)

  • 19

    Consultative Group on the Past for Northern Ireland (CGPNI). (2009) Report of the Consultative Group on the Past. Belfast: Consultative Group on the Past for Northern Ireland. (Page 71) [Available online at: http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/victims/docs/consultative_group/cgp_230109_report.pdf] (Accessed 4 September 2018)

  • 20

    See: Commission for Victims and Survivors for Northern Ireland (2010), and: Ferry, F., Bolton, D., Bunting, B., Devine, B., McCann, S. & Murphy, S. (2008) Trauma, Health and Conflict in Northern Ireland: A Study of the epidemiology of trauma related disorders and qualitative investigation of the impact of trauma on the individual. Londonderry & Omagh: The Northern Ireland Centre for Trauma and Transformation & The Psychology Research Institute, University of Ulster. [Available online at: http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/victims/docs/group/nictt/nictt_1008.pdf] (Accessed 4 September 2018) 

  • 21

    Ferry, F., Bolton, D., Bunting, B., O'Neill, S., Murphy, S. & Devine, B. (2011) The Economic Impact of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Northern Ireland: A report on the direct and indirect health economic cost of post traumatic stress disorder and the specific impact of conflict in Northern Ireland. Londonderry & Omagh: The Northern Ireland Centre for Trauma and Transformation & The Psychology Research Institute, University of Ulster. [Available online at: http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/issues/health/docs/ferry_05122011.pdf] (Accessed 4 September 2018)

  • 22
Back to top