Topic 4, Lesson 6: Did Thatcher help or worsen the 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland?

Topic 4, Lesson 6: Did Thatcher help or worsen the 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland?

Republican Maze Prison Protests Causes

• What were the five demands of the paramilitary prisoners?

• How did the maze prison protests develop?

Maze Prisoner Demands

1. The right not to wear a prison uniform

2. The right not to do Prison Work

3. The right to one visit, one parcel and letter per week

4. The right to freely associate with other prisoners, and to organise recreational and educational activities

5. Full restoration of the right to appeal, lost through the protest

Development of the Maze Prison Protests

1976 (J Callaghan) End of Special Category Status

The Blanket Protests - to protest against having to wear ordinary prisoner uniform

The No Wash Protests

1978 The Dirty Protests

Topic 4, Lesson 6: Did Thatcher help or worsen the 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland?

Republican Maze Prison Protests Consequences

• Thatcher

• International reaction

• Number of prison officers killed

• IRA membership

• Sinn Fein

1. Thatcher became a Republican hate figure and there was an international condemnation of British policy handling the hunger strikes

2. Between 1976 and 1981, 15 active Prison Officers were killed by Republican paramilitaries

3. The Hunger Strikes proved to be a huge propaganda victory for the Republican movement gaining it lots of international publicity and sympathy

4. Similar to the events of internment and Bloody Sunday, the Hunger Strikes encouraged many young men to join the IRA

5. From March to October 1981, Northern Ireland plunged into violence on a scale not seen since the early 1970s with 62 people killed, over half of those were civilians

6. The Hunger Strikes became a key turning point as Sinn Fein began moving into mainstream politics - this was a key reason for the signing of the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement

Topic 4, Lesson 6: Did Thatcher help or worsen the 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland?

Bobby Sands Hunger Strike

• Who was Bobby Sands?

• When did Bobby Sands go on hunger strike?

• Why did Bobby Sands rise to fame?

• What were the consequences of Bobby Sands’ death?

Causes of Bobby Sands’ death:

• In March 1981, Bobby Sands (a convicted bomber) went on hunger strike

• While in prison, Bobby Sands was elected as an MP to Parliament, but could not take up his seat while serving his prison sentence

• Sands died after refusing food for 66 days

Consequences of Bobby Sands’ death:

• Became an iconic figure to the Catholic population of Northern Ireland

• Anger toward the British government

• Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA, began to pick-up votes in elections

Topic 4, Lesson 6: Did Thatcher help or worsen the 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland?

The 1984 Brighton Hotel Bombing

• When did the bomb go off?

• When was the bomb planted?

• Who planted the bomb?

• Where was the bomb planted?

• Why had the bomb been planted in this specific location?

• How many people were killed and injured?

• Who was nearly assassinated by the bomb?

• What was the reaction of Margaret Thatcher to the bomb?

• 12th October 1984

• A bomb had been planted 3 days prior to this date in a hotel bathroom in Brighton where the Conservative Party Conference was due to be held

• Planted by members of the IRA

• Most cabinet members were based at the hotel when the bomb exploded

• 5 people were killed (none of them Ministers)

• 30 people were injured

• Margaret Thatcher narrowly avoided being assassinated

• Thatcher insisted the Conference must go on and she declared that democracy would never bow to terrorism

Topic 4, Lesson 6: Did Thatcher help or worsen the 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland?

The Anglo-Irish Agreement (1985)

• Who was the agreement made between?

• What were the terms of the agreement?

The Anglo-Irish Agreement:

• Singed by Margaret Thatcher and Irish Premier, Garrett Fitzgerald

Terms:

1. The Irish Republic recognised Northern Ireland as being constitutionally part of the UK

2. The British government have an assurance that it supported full civil rights for all in Northern Ireland and acknowledged the strength of nationalist desires for a united Ireland

3. The two governments committed themselves to close cooperation over cross-border security matters (counter-terrorism)

Topic 4, Lesson 6: Did Thatcher help or worsen the 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland?

Opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement (1985)

• Unionist/Loyalist opposition

• Example of an individual

• Republicans/Nationalists

• Members of Thatcher’s Government

• Example of an individual

Opposition to the Anglo-Irish Agreement (1985)

• Unionist/Loyalists (Protestants)

objected to the involvement of the Irish government in Northern Ireland’s affairs

feared it would lead to the notion of a united Ireland under Dublin rule

e.g. Ian Paisley

a few days after the agreement was signed, Ian Paisley attended a huge unionist rally in Belfast where he cried out: “Mrs Thatcher tells us that the Republic must have some say in our province. We say never, never, never”

• Republicans/Nationalists

argued that the terms of the agreement confirmed everything they were fighting against: Northern Ireland’s continuation as part of the UK

• Members of Thatcher’s government

feared the agreement might be wrongly interpreted as a concession to ‘the men of violence’ in Northern Ireland

e.g.

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