IT IS almost a year since riots hit the streets of Belfast last
December. They were caused by a motion to limit the number of days
Britain's Union Jack flag flew on Belfast City Hall. Severe rioting lasted for two months
and seemed to centre on the tricky question of why Northern Ireland,
composed of six north-eastern counties in Ireland, is part of the United
Kingdom. The Northern Irish have their own flags, culture and international sports teams, but do not live in an independent country. Why?
Ireland
became part of the United Kingdom in 1801. But Ireland’s sectarian
divisions, which had opened up during religious wars in the 17th century
between Protestants and Catholics, were exacerbated by economic
problems in the 19th century. Britain’s shift to free trade from
the 1840s onwards mainly benefited the industrial north-east of Ulster,
where Protestants made up a majority of the population. But the rest of
the country, which was more reliant on agriculture, suffered badly from
falling global food prices and the Irish Famine of 1845-50.
The result
was the rise of Irish nationalist movements, drawing much of their
support from the Catholic south, which wanted a new Irish Parliament and
to re-introduce protectionist measures. When William Gladstone, then
Britain’s prime minister, proposed Irish legislative independence
(called Home Rule) in 1885, the north-east exploded with sectarian
rioting against his proposals. Ulster Protestants feared that “Home Rule
means Rome Rule”, thinking they would lose the religious and economic
freedoms they enjoyed as part of the United Kingdom by becoming a
minority in a mainly Catholic Ireland. When the rest of Ireland gained
independence as the “Irish Free State” in 1922, north-east Ulster did
not want to join them. The British government was forced to partition
the six most north-eastern counties of the new Irish state to form
Northern Ireland, in fear that Protestant civil unrest in Ulster would
otherwise turn into a civil war against the new state
Northern Ireland has since witnessed severe sectarian violence between its Protestant majority and its Catholic minority, particularly during the "Troubles" of 1968-98. The Good Friday Agreement, signed in 1998 sought to end that. The Republic dropped its claim to the North and London declared the status of Northern Ireland would be determined by wishes of its people. The deal was broadly a success, but friction has continued sporadically since then.
Yet most people in Northern Ireland still seem to want to
remain part of the United Kingdom. A BBC poll
earlier this year suggested that just 17% of people in Northern Ireland
want to leave the United Kingdom. Economic reasons may partly explain
this. The Northern Irish economy has outperformed the rest of Ireland since 2007
and living costs are lower than in the south.
According to a study last
year by CEBR, an economic consultancy, Northern Ireland enjoys a net
subsidy of 29.4% of its GDP each year from Britain, resulting in a
better welfare state than in the south. While health care in the north
is free under the NHS, a trip to the doctor costs most people up to €75
($100) south of the border. Northern Ireland's (selective) grammar
schools are highly regarded, though some of its other schools are bad.
The greatest threat to Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom
now comes from outside Ireland rather than within it. If Scotland votes for independence in
a referendum due to be held in September 2014, what would happen to
Northern Ireland? Its historic ties are to Scotland more than to England
or Wales, but Scottish nationalists have thus far shown no interest in
inheriting the province from the United Kingdom. Scottish independence
might yet make Northern Ireland’s constitutional status a touchy subject
again.
#Πηγή:
The Economist explains: Why is Northern Ireland part of the United Kingdom?
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