Republic Of Ireland/Northern Ireland - History 101

This post is more for me than anybody else.  I know there is a lot of complicated history when it comes to Ireland/Northern Ireland and I thought it would be a good idea to try and get the basics straight before we head over there - I definitely don't want to offend anybody by asking the wrong questions in the wrong places.  So here is what Wikipedia was able to learn me 😆:

Ireland (The Island):

• Separated from Great Britain to its east by the Northern Channel, the Irish Sea, and St. George's Channel
• The second-largest of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest in the world
• The Republic of Ireland covers 5/6 of the entire Ireland and is part of the European Union
• Northern Ireland takes up the remaining 1/6 and is part of the United Kingdom
• The population of the island is just over 7 million, with 5.1 million living in the Republic of Ireland and 1.9 million in Northern Ireland
• The geography of Ireland is made up of relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers
• Woodland makes up about 10% of the island, compared with a European average of over 33%, with most of it being non-native conifer plantations
• The climate is influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and therefore very moderate
• Winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, although summers are cooler than those in continental Europe
• Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant

We Arrive On Friday... 😂

Republic Of Ireland:

• Consists of 26/32 of the counties on the island of Ireland
• Around 2.1 million of the country's population of 5.13 million people reside in the Greater Dublin Area, which is the capital city
• The Irish Free State was created in 1922, following the Anglo Irish Treaty
• A new constitution was created in 1937, in which the state was named "Ireland", and essentially became a republic
• It was officially declared a republic in 1949
• It became part of the UN in 1955
• It joined the EC, predecessor f the EU, in 1973
• Ranks in the top 10 countries in the world for GDP and GNI per capita
• Consistently ranks high for quality of life
• Performs well in national performance metrics including health care, economic freedom and freedom of the press

Republic Of Ireland Flag

Northern Ireland:

• Approximately 27% of the Ireland island or ~1.9 million people live in Northern Ireland
• Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom
• It was created in 1921 when Ireland was partitioned as part of the Government Of Ireland Act
• Northern Ireland had a Unionist majority (wanted to remain in the UK)
• These were generally Protestant descendants of British colonists
• The majority in Southern Ireland and a significant minority in Northern Ireland were nationalists (generally Catholic), who wanted a united independent Ireland

Ulster Banner - Used By Loyalists And Unionists

The Troubles:

• The creation of Northern Ireland in 1921 was accompanied by violence both in defence of, and against partition
• During the conflict of 1920-1922, the capital Belfast saw major violence, mainly between Protestant unionist and Catholic nationalist civilians
• More than 500 were killed and more than 10,000 became refugees, mostly Catholics
• For the next fifty years, Northern Ireland had an unbroken series of Unionist party governments
• There was informal mutual segregation by both communities, and the Unionist governments were accused of discrimination against the Irish nationalist and Catholic minority
• In the late 1960s, a camapaign to end discrimination against Catholics and nationalists was opposed by loyalists, who saw it as a republican front
• This unrest sparked The Troubles, a thirty-year conflict involving republican and loyalist paramilitaries and state forces, which claimed over 3,500 lives and injured 50,000 others
• The 1998 Good Friday Agreement was a major step in the peace process, including paramilitary disarmament and security normalisation, although sectarianism and segregation remain major social problems, and sporadic violence has continued

This information is obviously only scratching the surface, but it may be enough to get started.

We are two days away from departure and the excitement is definitely building.  Fingers crossed that the travel over goes well, and in four nights Jojo and I will be toasting each other with a pint of Guinness each!! 🤞