5 - Scotland, Wales and Northern IrelandThe UK developed as the result of a

series of Acts of Union made between England and its neighbours.

Four nationshttp://johncmullen.blogspot.com

The Saxons never conquered Wales, because of the mountains, and the resistance of the Welsh. In the end one Saxon king built a huge wall of earth « Offa’s Dyke » to mark the border.

Only in 1282 was Wales conquered by the Norman kings of England. Edward the first was victorious over the last Independent Welsh prince, Llewellyn.

To secure his domination, he had strong castles built, some of which are still there today.

Conwy castle 1283-1289

Rhuddlan castle 1277

Wales was conquered by England in the 13th century and was brought into union with England by two Acts passed in the 16th century (1536 and 1542).

It only began to be viewed as a distinctive entity by the government in the middle of the 20th century when the new post of Minister of State for Wales was created.

David Lloyd GeorgeAneuran Bevan

Bertrand Russell

Famous historical figures born in Wales

Famous popular music from Wales : Shirley Bassey from the 1960s and 1970s; Catatonia (1995 – 2009)

The tradition of Welsh male voice choirs

The « Welsh not »

Roadsigns in Welsh

Scotland

Scotland was brought into union with England in 1707, but unlike Wales, Scotland was not incorporated into the UK by conquest. It negotiated the terms of its entry into the Union.

One of the results is that Scotland has always had•A different official religion : a presbyterian church•A different legal system•A different education system

University of Edinburgh

1982: Pope John Paul meets the head of the Church of Scotland

A presbyterian church

The Scottish flag

Kilts and sporrans

The Gaelic language

« Traditional » Scottish culture

Left: Tossing the caber.Below: Scottish dancing

Hadrian’s wall

Famous Scottish inventors : John Logie Baird (television) and James Watt (steam engines).

Modern popular music from Scotland.

Left: RunrigBelow: Eddi Reader

Jesus and Mary chain

Three important Scottish writers : John McGrath, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, and popular novelist Ian Rankin.

Ireland

The whole of Ireland was conquered in the 16th century but it was only in 1800 that it was finally brought into the UK, after the 1798 revolt against English rule, organised by the “United Irishmen”.

Wolfe Tone, rebel leader

In 1916, a rising in Dublin declared an Independent Irish Republic, but the movement was quickly repressed and the leaders executed by the British.In 1919-1921 there was a war between Britain and Ireland over the question of independence.

Statue of James Connolly, one of the leaders of the 1916 rising

The declaration of the Irish Republic in 1916, The revolt only survived a few days,

The Irish Treaty of 1921 divided Ireland into two. The south of Ireland became first a dominion (a self governing territory belonging to the British Commonwealth) and then, in 1949, an independent Republic.

Only six of the nine counties of the Ulster province in the North remained as part of the UK.

Between 1922 and 1972, Northern Ireland had an autonomous parliament. In 1972, however, direct rule from Westminster was imposed.

5-1- Devolution in Scotland and WalesDevolution means the transfer of

some power from the central government to subordinate elected regional assemblies.

Powers transferred do not include the control of defence, energy resources and foreign policy which remain the preserve of the central government in London.

Supporters of devolution argue that it disperses power more fairly. It has also been argued that it is the only way to hold Britain together in the future.

Opponents of devolution tend to emphasise the cost of establishing a new tier of government. They also argue that it is the first step on the road the break-up of the United Kingdom.

In 1979 there were referendums in Wales and in Scotland on a proposal for an autonomous parliament with very limited power.

In Scotland 51,6% of voters said « Yes ».

But because this represented only 32,9% of the electorate, the result was not valid, so an autonomous parliament was not established.

In 1997, there were referendums in Scotland and in Wales.

By a strong majority (60.1%), Scotland voted for a parliament.

The new assembly was elected in 1999.

The Scottish parliament

A majority of Scottish voters also voted to grant this parliament tax-raising powers.

The budget previously controlled by the Scottish secretary of state is now allotted to this new parliament.

The Scottish assembly is in charge of the health service, schools and universities, local government, agriculture, the Scottish legal system, police and prisons, tourism, sports, road transport and the arts.

The Scottish parliament is not entitled to legislate on the issues that are relevant to the United Kingdom: the constitution, foreign affairs, defence, fiscal, economic and monetary stability, employment, social security and abortion. Nor does it control North Sea oil. A North Sea oil rig

The Scottish National Party is in office: Alex Salmond is the country’s First Minister.

Scotland has only 5.1 million inhabitants, but quite a few resources: apart from traditional whiskey and sheep, there is North Sea oil, as well as a large electronics industry.

WalesIn Wales (3 million inhabitants), nationalism is

mostly cultural and centred on the Welsh language.22% of the population (60% in some regions)

speak WelshAfter many conflicts, the Welsh language won

equal status within Wales in 1993.All public services must be available in Welsh

as well as English.Publicly funded Welsh radio and television are

available.

In Wales in 1979, the results of the referendum on establishing an autonomous parliament were as follows

Yes 20.2% No 79.8%

Only a very slight majority (with a low turnout) voted in the 1997 referendum for a Welsh assembly.

The Welsh Assembly has fewer powers than its Scottish counterpart: it is not allowed to raise taxes and has less power to pass laws.

The Welsh Assembly in Cardiff

The devolution of power to Scotland and Wales poses a certain number of tricky legal problems.

Firstly, Scotland has been over-represented in the House of Commons since 1918.

The creation of a Scottish Parliament has made this over-representation more and more difficult to justify nowadays : the number of MPs from Scotland at Westminster has already dropped significantly (from 70 to 59).

Secondly, Scottish MPs at Westminster have a say in legislation affecting England’s internal affairs whereas English MPs have no say in legislation concerning Scotland’s internal affairs (the West Lothian question).

One of the answers would be to devolve similar powers to English regions and to upgrade the powers of the Welsh assembly.

However, this option seems to have been abandoned for the time being.

5-2- Northern IrelandThe origins of the conflict

For Northern Ireland, which was kept within the United Kingdom in 1921, things are more complex.

There is a long history of sectarian, social, geographical divide between the two communities.

From the 16th and 17th centuries onwards, the English undertook to colonise Ireland. But whereas Britain went through the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, Ireland remained a Catholic country.

Colonisation implied a serious oppression on at least three levels:1. The first one was social and economic: most of the wealthy landowners were of an English background, whereas the peasants who worked on the land were very poor native Irish. Their diet relied mostly on potatoes, whereas the cereals they sometimes produced were exported to Britain. When there was a major potato disease in 1846-1849, at least 1 million died, and another million had to emigrate.

Monument to commemmorate the famine, in Dublin

Famine memorial in Boston Massachussets

2 - Another form of oppression was political: After 1800, Ireland had no parliament left, and had MPs sitting at Westminster, with a viceroy (a governor) in Dublin, appointed by London. All troubles from the Irish nationalists were severely crushed by the English administration.

A statue to Wolfe Tone

3 -The third form of oppression was religious: until independence, the administration, police, judges, etc., the troops, and even for some time the MPs were all Protestants. Most of the available wealth was in the hands of the Protestants.

In the 19th century, the Irish nationalists intensified their struggle against the presence of the British. They obtained it after a bloody war of independence, between 1919 and 1921. The British government acknowledged it couldn’t keep Ireland within the United Kingdom, and the island was granted its independence. But the British organised partition:

The northern counties of the island (six out of the nine counties making up the province of Ulster) were kept within the United Kingdom because, there, a majority of the population was Protestant, of English or Scottish background. Northern Ireland was also richer than the rest of the country; it was the only province where there had been genuine industrialisation (e.g. the famous Titanic was built in the Belfast shipyards).

Very soon the situation worsened because the large catholic minority remained socially disadvantaged and politically under-represented.

In Northern Ireland, up to the 1970s, about 90% of the jobs in the administration, civil service, justice, police, were held by Protestants.

5-2-2- The ‘Troubles’‘The troubles’ started violently in the late 1960s. The setting up of the Civil Rights Association (CRA), whose aim was to win civil rights for Catholics by peaceful mass demonstration, was considered as the turning point. Protestant politicians saw the marches organised by the CRA as a direct challenge to Protestant dominance and used heavy-handed tactics to break them up. Moreover, the Northern Ireland nationalists had been demanding the reunification of the whole of the island. An old paramilitary organisation, the IRA resumed bombings in the province and in Britain.

In 1969 after severe rioting, the British government sent troops to Northern Ireland. At the beginning, Catholics welcomed the troops, but quite soon the troops appeared to be mobilized mostly against Catholics.

After “Bloody Sunday” in 1972, when several unarmed civilians were shot dead, the IRA became much stronger.

A government enquiry in 1972 said that the killings were justified, but in 1998, Tony Blair established a second public enquiry, which reported in 2010

Families demonstrating before release of new Bloody Sunday report

The prime minister announced to the House of Commons in June 2010

"The conclusions of this report are absolutely clear. There is no doubt, there is nothing equivocal, there are no ambiguities. What happened on Bloody Sunday was both unjustified and unjustifiable. It was wrong.""Some members of our armed forces acted wrongly. The Government is ultimately responsible for the conduct of our armed forces and for that, on behalf of the Government – and indeed our country – I am deeply sorry."

IRA prisoners organized a hunger strike in 1981, to protest against being forced to wear prison uniforms. The prison uniforms were for criminals, they said, whereas they considered themselves political prisoners.

One of the hunger strikers, Bobby Sands, was elected a member of parliament during the hunger strike, but this was not sufficient to persuade the British prime minister, Margaret Thtacher, to make concessions.

Ten hunger strikers died before the hunger strike was called off.

More than 3,600 people died during the 30 years of the ‘troubles’, and 38,000 were injured.

Northern Ireland today counts 1.6 million people, with a slight majority of Protestants (53%, for 44% for the Catholics).

Several large towns within the province are divided along the ‘sectarian’ lines: a nationalist ghetto, with Catholic schools and Catholic firms, and a Unionist area, with the same pattern.

Inter-community marriages represent only 15% of all marriages.

5-2-3- The ‘peace process’several initiatives were taken under John

Major. Tony Blair managed to resume the peace

process that had stopped under the Conservative government.

The IRA (Irish Republican Army) ,announced a cease-fire in July 1997. Talks began in September 1997.

They included:The nationalist parties that want Northern Ireland to leave the UK and be part of a united Ireland: Sinn Fein.The Unionist parties that want Northern Ireland to remain within the UKThe British and the Irish governments

In April 1998, an agreement was reached between the various parties.

This ‘Good Friday’ Peace Agreement did not settle the issue of the future identity of the province (Irish or British).

Signing the Good Friday agreement

The main provisions of the agreement were:

A Northern Ireland assembly would govern the province : in charge of finance, agriculture, health and education.

Dublin would now have a say in some issues (agriculture, fishing, tourism, the environment, transport).

Discrimination would be fought, with the aim of ‘equal opportunities’ for members of both communities.

Paramilitary groups would decommission their weapons within two years.

Political prisoners (former terrorists) of the groups that have signed the peace agreement were to be freed.

A majority of the Northern Ireland voters approved of the agreement in a referendum. The assembly was elected in 1999. David Trimble of the Ulster Unionists became First Minister.

Parliament Buildings of Northern Ireland, located at Stormont.

However, the assembly at Stormont was suspended several times because of huge disagreements between the Democratic Unionist Party, and the Sinn Fein, especially on the issue of the decommissioning of IRA weapons.

Ian Paisley

Gerry Adams

In April 2005, an internal debate was prompted within the IRA by Sinn Fein President Gerry Adam’s call to pursue the goals of the organization exclusively through politics. In July 2005 the IRA formally ordered an end to its armed campaign and said it would pursue exclusively peaceful means.

In March 2007, following a historic agreement between Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams, it was decided that devolved government should be restored as rapidly as possible with the full operation of all the political institutions.

In May 2007, devolution was finally restored.DUP leader Ian Paisley and Sinn Féin deputy leader Martin McGuinness taking office as First Minister and Deputy First Minister, respectively.

Affiliation Members

Democratic Unionist 36

Sinn Féin 27

Ulster Unionist 17

SDLP 16

Alliance 7

Green (NI) 1

(Independent) 4

Total 108

Sectarian attacks have not completely disappeared. This article is from 2007

Orange parade at Drumcree