INDEPTH: NORTHERN IRELAND
Northern Ireland
CBC News Online | July 28, 2005

The name Northern Ireland evokes images of hatred between Catholics and Protestants, of guns and bombs and soldiers.

Violence in Northern Ireland has had a long history of being passed from generation to generation. It's a culture where being part of one group has required anger towards members of another.

To the Irish, Northern Ireland is the reminder of stolen property, kept when the rest was returned. To the Protestant majority, however, Ulster has been home for generations.

The conflict has its roots in events that began more than five centuries ago.

As the 20th century drew to a close, there was hope that the troubles were finally coming to an end. On Good Friday in 1998, a peace agreement was worked out between the governments of Britain and Ireland and eight political parties in Northern Ireland. It was to set the stage for power sharing.

The Irish Republican Army said the deal fell short of what it would take for the paramilitary group to disarm. Seven years later – July 28, 2005 – the IRA announced it would renounce violence, resume disarmament and pursue its goals through the political process.

More than 3,600 people on both sides have been killed in the violence that gripped Northern Ireland since 1969.

"This may be the day when finally, after all the false dawns and dashed hopes, peace replaced war, politics replaces terror on the island of Ireland," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said.

The IRA appealed to Britain and Northern Ireland's Protestant majority to accept its new position as sufficient to resume negotiations on power-sharing. Representatives of Northern Ireland's Protestant community said they'll be convinced, only when they see evidence that the IRA has actually destroyed its weapons – and left violence behind for good.