A Very Brief History of the Troubles & Peace Process

For nearly half a century after the partition of Ireland in 1921, unionist and nationalist administrations, North and South respectively, maintained a virtual cold war posture towards each other. Within Northern Ireland, however, the unionist ideal of a Protestant state and a Protestant people was fatally undermined by the reality of a sizeable and growing Catholic minority. Successive British governments, meanwhile, having been burnt by the ‘Irish Problem’ in the past, were content to let the Unionist government run the province’s day - to - day affairs without interference.

In the 1960's the Ulster Unionist government based at Stormont began to move towards reforms within Northern Ireland; however even tentative moves in this direction aroused the insecurities of Protestants while failing to address the demands of Catholics for impartiality in local government and the provision of public services. In 1967 the formation of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) led to the stepping up of demands for reform.  Equally, however, there were growing fears among unionists that such demands merely provided a mask for those attempting to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom.

In October 1968 television footage of police attacking a civil rights march in Derry brought the situation to the attention of the wider world. The Unionist government introduced a package of reforms the following month which addressed most of NICRA’s concerns but while NICRA paused to take stock of the impact of the reforms in January 1969 the radical left wing People’s Democracy commenced a march from Belfast to Derry aimed at provoking a reaction from unionists further destabilized the political situation . The marchers were attacked by loyalists at Burntollet in County Londonderry.

In August 1969 the rumbling political tensions finally exploded when nationalists clashed with the police in Derry after a loyalist parade in the city. The riots spread to Belfast where Protestants viewed the situation as an attempt by nationalists to bring about a united Ireland. British troops began to patrol the streets in an attempt to restore order but this brought the political repercussion that the United Kingdom government became increasingly involved in the affairs of Northern Ireland.

As the security situation continued to deteriorate and loyalist and republican paramilitary organizations grew in strength, the Unionist government attempted to combat the situation by introducing internment without trial in August 1971 but the move proved counter - productive and merely strengthened support for republican paramilitaries. The final straw for the British government came in January of the following year when troops shot dead 13 demonstrators in Derry on Bloody Sunday. The Unionist government resigned in protest at the Westminster government assuming full control of security and a system of Direct Rule from London began in March 1972 which has continued for most of the period since then. The subsequent two decades saw a number of failed attempts to restore local government to Northern Ireland and the continuation of political violence – leading to the loss of more than 3,000 lives.

In 1981 the hunger strike campaign by republican prisoners led to the IRA’s political wing, Sinn Fein, becoming involved in party politics. By the 1990's the realization that a stalemate had been reached had begun to permeate the thinking of many of the political actors. Amid claims and counter claims of who was ‘really’ responsible for the peace process it was clear that most of the political actors were now prepared to do a deal.

Republican and loyalist paramilitaries declared ceasefires in 1994 and though the IRA ended its ‘cessation of military operations’ in 1996 the ceasefire was restored in 1997.

In 1998 political talks led to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement which included the creation of a multi-party executive for Northern Ireland, north-south bodies and a ‘council of the isles’ involving elected representatives from all the elected assemblies of the British Isles.

In its first five year term the Assembly took tentative steps forward, however, while the continuing activities of the IRA undermined unionist confidence in the Agreement, nationalists believed that unionists were only half-hearted in their support for it. The end of the Assembly’s first term came in a somewhat ignominious manner. The Assembly had been suspended in October 2002 amid allegations of IRA spying activity while elections for the new Assembly, scheduled for May 2003, were postponed until November 2003, because of concerns that the newly elected members would be unable to form a workable executive. After the elections, political wrangling continued and no executive has been formed. The political process remains, to a certain extent, stalled.

TROUBLED IMAGES WORLD TOUR

Imagine a wall plastered with the posters of all the parties to the Northern Ireland conflict during the three decades of “the Troubles”. It is of course inconceivable in a divided world of one-sided walls where parties tend to mark their own terrain. Except, that is, in Belfast’s historic Linen Hall Library, where the “Troubled Images” exhibition created new space for all sides of the community in October 2001.

Now “Troubled Images” is touring to Palestine. Opening on the 1st of April 2007, the exhibition will take in 3 cities in Palestine. The tour begins in Bethlehem at Bethlehem Peace Center and moves on to Nablus at Al Najah University, then to Ramallah at Birzeit University.

Sayings from the tour in the United States:

“The exhibition has aroused huge interest on this side of the Atlantic,” said Boston College’s Bob O’Neill. "It brings home to people in America, in the starkest manner possible, what has been going on in Northern Ireland for the past 30 years.”

Linen Hall Librarian John Gray sums up the appeal of the exhibition:

“The 70 original posters on display reveal the often dramatic graphic skills of Ulster’s political poster designers from whatever perspective – the makers of images that became part of history. The posters not only reflect all sides in our conflict, but they cover our experience since the beginning of “the Troubles”. Movements that have faded from view are there along with all the main players today. The great tragedies of our time feature alongside moments of hope. They are all there in impossible but revealing conjunction.”

Yvonne Murphy, Librarian of the Northern Ireland Political Collection and Troubled Images Tour Director, says of the interest in Troubled Images:

“When we launched the Troubled Images exhibition in Belfast just over a year ago, we had little idea of the impact that it would make. We are thrilled at the interest that it has generated from right round the world. The exhibition has already been to the National Library of Ireland in Dublin and to a major arts and cultural festival in the Basque region of Spain. After its North American tour, the exhibition will go to South Africa, Paris and London.”

The exhibition is just the most immediately visible element of the much larger “Troubled Images" project. It comes with a 124 page book with 140 full colour illustrations of posters and detailed accounts of all of them - the first major published exploration of the posters of the Northern Ireland conflict. Far more extensive is the “Troubled Images” CD-ROM. This includes images of c.3,400 posters and artefacts from the Northern Ireland Political Collection. The images are backed up by individual notes and 50 essays on important themes by leading experts in the field, with some 200,000 words of text in all. Also included are voice recordings of the key players who have created posters and used them in major campaigns. The Troubled Images CD-ROM is the Winner of the Christopher Ewart Biggs Memorial Prize 2003. In November 2002, the CD-ROM took second place in the Nielson BookData/Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals Awards for outstanding works of reference in the United Kingdom.

Full details of the tour will be posted on the Library’s website www.linenhall.com . The Troubled Images CD-ROM and book are available for purchase in the Library or via the website.

The Troubled Images project was made possible by the funding support of DCAL, PROTEUS, the United States Institute of Peace, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, the Community Relations Council, the Belfast Society and the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.

LINEN HALL LIBRARY WINS EWART - BIGGS PRIZE FOR TROUBLED IMAGES

The 17th Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize was presented on Wednesday 5th March 2003 to Belfast’s Linen Hall Library at a reception in the Irish Embassy in London. Lord Gowrie made the presentation to John Gray, Librarian of the Linen Hall, and Yvonne Murphy, Librarian of its Northern Ireland Political Collection, for the CD-ROM Troubled Images, Posters and Images of the Northern Ireland Conflict. Published in October 2001, the CD-ROM contains nearly three and a half thousand images drawn from the Library’s unique Political Collection. The CD-ROM is part of a larger project that includes a book and a large scale travelling exhibition.

Speaking on behalf of the judges, Professor Roy Foster, Carroll Professor of Irish History at the University of Oxford, said:

"This year we short-listed a more varied range of material then ever: history, sociology, drama, and current affairs. But in a sense the Linen Hall Library’s Troubled Images project sums up all of these genres and more. During its long history, the Library has been a beacon of light, learning and impartial inquiry in the Belfast landscape. It has also been farsighted in sourcing, gathering and explaining ephemera about the Troubles from an early stage. Troubled Images brings a comprehensive range of these to a worldwide audience, maximising their sheer visual impact through modern information technology. The images may not necessarily be cheering, but they carry a high voltage charge, focussing the mind, and forcing us to make connections. Like the Library as a whole, this enterprise illuminates the complex web of attitudes and allegiances governing Northern Ireland’s cultural and political inheritance. There could be no more worthy recipient of a prize promoting peace through understanding."

John Gray, speaking on behalf of the Library, said:

"The Library is honoured indeed to receive the Ewart Biggs Prize. Jane Ewart Biggs remains one of the shining examples of those who suffered from “the Troubles” and yet responded by seeking to facilitate greater understanding. That is also the business of the Linen Hall Library. Too often the first casualty of war has been truth. In our work in assembling the unique Northern Ireland Political Collection, and now with Troubled Images, we have sought to open up enabling space in this most difficult of terrain. As Troubled Images departs for a North American and subsequent international tour, it is an approach that may have a wider resonance in a deeply troubled world. We set sail heartened by this award."

Librarian of the Northern Ireland Political Collection, and Troubled Images Project Director, Yvonne Murphy, paid tribute to the Troubled Images team:

"We are delighted to have received such an accolade. It is a testimony to the dedication, professionalism and expertise of the team who worked so hard on the project. Furthermore, the assistance of key poster makers and the agreement of all parties to permit the Library to use their material were crucial to the success of the project."

The Christopher Ewart Biggs Literary prize, worth £5,000 was instituted by the late Jane Ewart-Biggs in memory of her husband, the British Ambassador to Ireland, who was murdered by the IRA in 1976. Its objectives are to promote peace and reconciliation in Ireland, a greater understanding between the peoples of Britain and Ireland, or closer co-operation between partners of the European Community. The judges are Professor Paul Arthur, Professor of Politics at the University of Ulster; Professor Roy Foster, Carroll Professor of Irish History at the University of Oxford; Dr Maurice Hayes, Chairman of the Ireland Funds; Marigold Johnson, Patron of the British-Irish Association, and Thomas Pakenham, writer and historian. The other short-listed entries were Garret Fitzgerald Reflections on the Irish State (Irish Academic Press); Carlo Gebler, Ten Rounds; An Adaption of Arthur Schnitzler’s La Ronde (Lagan Press); Kieran McEvoy, Paramilitary Imprisonment in Northern Ireland: Resistance, Management and Release (Oxford University Press); ATQ Stewart The Shape of Irish History (Blackstaff Press) and Marcus Tanner; Ireland’s Unholy Wars: the Struggle for a Nation’s Soul, 1500–2000 (Yale University Press).

In November 2002, the CD-ROM took second place in the Nielson Bookdata/Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals Awards for outstanding works of reference in the United Kingdom.

The Troubled Images CD-ROM and book are available for purchase in the Linen Hall Library or via the Library’s website. Full details of the Troubled Images exhibition tour will be posted on the Library’s website www.linenhallcom .

The Troubled Images project was made possible by the major grant funding of PROTEUS, the United States Institute of Peace and DCAL, with additional support from the Community Relations Council, the Belfast Society and the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.