The Troubles

The Troubles
Political map of Ireland
Date Late 1960s–1998[1][2][3][4] Location Northern Ireland Violence occasionally spread to the Republic of Ireland, England, and mainland Europe Result Military stalemate[5] Good Friday Agreement (1998) St Andrews Agreement (2006) Withdrawal of British forces taking part in Operation Banner[6] Disarmament of paramilitary groups Continuing low-level armed conflict
Belligerents
State security forces British Armed Forces Royal Ulster Constabulary Irish Defence Forces Gardaí	Irish republican paramilitaries Provisional IRA Official IRA (1969–1972) Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) (1974–1998) Irish People's Liberation Organisation (IPLO) (1986–1992) Continuity IRA (1994–) Real IRA (1997–)	Ulster loyalist paramilitaries Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) Ulster Defence Association (UDA) Red Hand Commando (RHC) (1972–1994) Ulster Resistance (UR) (1986–1989) Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) (1996–1999)
Casualties and losses
British Army: 705 ∟(inc. UDR) RUC: 301 NIPS: 24 TA: 7 Other UK police: 6 Royal Air Force: 4 Royal Navy: 2 Total: 1,049[7] Irish Army: 1 Gardaí: 9 IPS: 1 Total: 11[7]	PIRA: 292 INLA: 38 OIRA: 27 IPLO: 9 RIRA: 2 Total: 368[7]	UDA: 91 UVF: 62 RHC: 4 LVF: 3 UR: 2[8] Total: 162[7]
Civilians killed: 1,840[9] (or 1,935 inc. ex-combatants)[7] Total dead: 3,532[9] Total injured: 47,500+[10] All casualties: around 50,000[11]

The Troubles (Irish: Na Trioblóidí) was a guerrilla/nationalist^{[12][13][14][15]} conflict in Northern Ireland during the late 20th century.

It is also known as the Northern Ireland conflict,^{[16][17][18][19][20]} it is sometimes described as an "irregular war"^[21][22][23] or "low-level war".^[24][25][26]

The conflict began in the late 1960s and many said it ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.^{[2][3][27][28][29]} Although the Troubles primarily took place in Northern Ireland, at times the violence spilled over into parts of the Republic of Ireland, England, and mainland Europe.

A key issue was the state of Northern Ireland. Unionists/loyalists (most of whom were Protestants) wanted Northern Ireland to remain within the United Kingdom. Irish nationalists/republicans (most of whom were Catholics) wanted Northern Ireland to leave the United Kingdom and join a United Ireland.^[30]

More than 3,500 people were killed in the conflict. Of those: 52% were civilians, 32% were members of the British security forces, and 16% were members of paramilitary groups.^[31]

1. ↑ Melaugh, Martin (3 February 2006). "Frequently Asked Questions – The Northern Ireland Conflict". Conflict Archive on the Internet. Ulster University. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Aughey, Arthur (2005). The Politics of Northern Ireland: Beyond the Belfast Agreement. London New York: Routledge. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-415-32788-6. OCLC 55962335.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Holland, Jack (August 1999). Hope Against History: The Course of Conflict in Northern Ireland. Henry Holt and Company. p. 221. ISBN 9780805060874. The troubles were over, but the killing continued. Some of the heirs to Ireland's violent traditions refused to give up their inheritance.
4. ↑ Gillespie, Gordon (2008). Historical Dictionary of the Northern Ireland Conflict. Scarecrow Press. p. 250. ISBN 978-0-8108-5583-0.
5. ↑ Taylor, Peter (1997). "Chapter 21: Stalemate". Behind the Mask: The IRA and Sinn Féin. New York: TV Books. pp. 246–61. ISBN 978-1-57500-061-9. OCLC 38012191.
6. ↑ Ministry of Defence Annual Report and Accounts 2006–2007 (PDF) (Report). Ministry of Defence. 23 July 2007. HC 697. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4} Sutton, Malcom. "Sutton Index of Deaths". Conflict Archive on the Internet. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
8. ↑ Melaugh, Martin. "CAIN: Abstracts of Organisations – 'U'". Conflict Archive on the Internet. Ulster University.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} Sutton, Malcom. "Sutton Index of Deaths – Status Summary". Conflict Archive on the Internet. Archived from the original on 2015-08-24. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
10. ↑ Melaugh, Mertin; Lynn, Brendan; McKenna, F. "Northern Ireland Society – Security and Defence". Conflict Archive on the Internet. Ulster University.
11. ↑ "History – The Troubles – Violence". BBC. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
12. ↑ Mitchell, Claire (2013). Religion, Identity and Politics in Northern Ireland. Ashgate Publishing. p. 5. The most popular school of thought on religion is encapsulated in McGarry and O'Leary's Explaining Northern Ireland (1995), and it is echoed by Coulter (1999) and Clayton (1998). A common assertion is that religion is an ethnic marker, but that it is not generally politically relevant in and of itself. Instead, ethnonationalism lies at the root of the conflict. Hayes and McAllister (1999) point out that this represents something of an academic consensus.
13. ↑ John McGarry & Brendan O'Leary (15 June 1995). Explaining Northern Ireland. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 18. ISBN 978-0-631-18349-5.
14. ↑ Dermot Keogh, ed. (28 January 1994). Northern Ireland and the Politics of Reconciliation. Cambridge University Press. pp. 55–59. ISBN 978-0-521-45933-4.
15. ↑ John Coakley. "Ethnic Conflict and the Two-State Solution: The Irish Experience of Partition". Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2009. ...these attitudes are not rooted particularly in religious belief, but rather in underlying ethnonational identity patterns.
16. ↑ Melaugh, Martin; Lynn, Brendan. "Glossary of Terms on Northern Ireland Conflict". Conflict Archive on the Internet. Ulster University. The term 'the Troubles' is a euphemism used by people in Ireland for the present conflict. The term has been used before to describe other periods of Irish history. On the CAIN web site the terms 'Northern Ireland conflict' and 'the Troubles', are used interchangeably.
17. ↑ McEvoy, Joanne (2008). The politics of Northern Ireland. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-7486-2501-7. OCLC 232570935. The Northern Ireland conflict, known locally as 'the Troubles', endured for three decades and claimed the lives of more than 3,500 people.
18. ↑ McKittrick, David; McVea, David (2001). Making Sense of the Troubles: A History of the Northern Ireland Conflict (Rev ed.). Penguin Books. ISBN 9780141003054.
19. ↑ Gillespie, Gordon (2009). The A to Z of the Northern Ireland Conflict. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810870451.
20. ↑ Edwards, Aaron; McGrattan, Cillian (2012). The Northern Ireland Conflict: A Beginner's Guide. Oneworld Publications. ISBN 9781780741710.
21. ↑ Lesley-Dixon, Kenneth (2018). Northern Ireland: The Troubles: From The Provos to The Det. Pen and Sword Books. p. 13.
22. ↑ Schaeffer, Robert (1999). Severed States: Dilemmas of Democracy in a Divided World. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 152.
23. ↑ Rainey, Mark (12 November 2016). "Special Branch officer's insider view of Northern Ireland's 'secret war'". The News Letter. Johnston Publishing (NI).
24. ↑ Taylor, Peter (26 September 2014). "Who Won The War? Revisiting NI on 20th anniversary of ceasefires". BBC News. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
25. ↑ "Troubles 'not war' motion passed". BBC. 18 February 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
26. ↑ Hennessey, Thomas (2001). The Northern Ireland peace process: ending the troubles?. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 48. ISBN 978-0312239497.
27. ↑ Gillespie, Gordon (November 2007). Historical Dictionary of the Northern Ireland Conflict. Scarecrow Press. p. 250. ISBN 978-0810855830.
28. ↑ Elliott, Marianne (2007). The Long Road to Peace in Northern Ireland: Peace Lectures from the Institute of Irish Studies at Liverpool University (2 ed.). Liverpool University Press. pp. 2, 188. ISBN 978-1-84631-065-2.
29. ↑ Goodspeed, Michael (2002). When Reason Fails: Portraits of Armies at War : America, Britain, Israel, and the Future. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 44, 61. ISBN 0-275-97378-6.
30. ↑ "United ireland". Retrieved 12 October 2021.
31. ↑ "Draft List of Deaths Related to the Conflict (2003–present)". Archived from the original on 5 January 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2008.