HISTORY OF THE BRITISH ISLES Neolithic villages: from the 5th millennium BCIn the regions bordering the Atlantic coast, the transition from palaeolithic hunter- gatherers to neolithic villagers begins in about 4500 BC. These villagers later develop a striking tradition of prehistoric architecture. In most of Europe neolithic communities live in villages of timber houses, often with a communal longhouse. But along the entire Atlantic coast, from Spain through France to the British Isles and Denmark, the central feature of each village is a great tomb, around which simple huts are clustered. The tomb chambers of these regions introduce the tradition of stonework which includes Passage graves and megaliths. The massive neolithic architecture of western Europe begins, in the late 5th millennium BC, with passage graves. The name reflects the design. A stone passage leads into the centre of a great mound of turf, where a tomb chamber - first of wood but later of stone - contains the dead of the surrounding community. Over the centuries increasingly large slabs of stone, or megaliths (from Greek megas huge and lithos stone), are used for the passage graves. And an astronomical theme is added. The graves begin to be aligned in relation to the annual cycle of the sun. An outstanding example is the passage grave at Newgrange in Ireland, dating from about 2500 BC. Huge slabs o f stone, carved in intricate spiral patterns, form the walls of the chamber. At sunrise on the winter solstice (the shortest day of the year, when the sun itself seems in danger of dying) the rays penetrate the length of the passage to illuminate the innermost recess. In a later stage of this deeply mysterious Neolithic tradition the megaliths, previously hidden beneath the mounds of the tombs, emerge in their own right as great standing stones, often arranged in circles. The ritual purpose of such circles is not known. They too, in many cases, have a solar alignment, usually now relating to sunrise at the summersolstice. The most striking of these circles is Stonehenge, in England. The site is in ritual use overa very long period, from about 3000 to 1100 BC. The largest stones, with their enormous lintels, are now thought to have been erected in about 2500 BC. By this time stone architecture is being used also at a domestic level in parts of the British Isles, as in the famous Stone Age village of Skara Brae. Beaker people: 2000 BCIn spite of the obstacle of the Cha nnel, Britain is much influenced by successive waves of immigrants or invaders from continental Europe. In abou t 2000 BC a newly do minant group has a custom of placing bell-shaped drinking vessels (or beakers) and bronze 1
In the regions bordering the Atlantic coast, the transition from palaeolithic hunter-
gatherers to neolithic villagers begins in about 4500 BC. These villagers later develop astriking tradition of prehistoric architecture.
In most of Europe neolithic communities live in villages of timber houses, often with acommunal longhouse. But along the entire Atlantic coast, from Spain through France to
the British Isles and Denmark, the central feature of each village is a great tomb, around
which simple huts are clustered. The tomb chambers of these regions introduce thetradition of stonework which includes Passage graves and megaliths.
The massive neolithic architecture of western Europe begins, in the late 5th millennium
BC, with passage graves. The name reflects the design. A stone passage leads into the
centre of a great mound of turf, where a tomb chamber - first of wood but later of stone -contains the dead of the surrounding community.
Over the centuries increasingly large slabs of stone, or megaliths (from Greek megas
huge and lithos stone), are used for the passage graves. And an astronomical theme is
added. The graves begin to be aligned in relation to the annual cycle of the sun.
An outstanding example is the passage grave at Newgrange in Ireland, dating from about
2500 BC. Huge slabs of stone, carved in intricate spiral patterns, form the walls of the
chamber. At sunrise on the winter solstice (the shortest day of the year, when the sunitself seems in danger of dying) the rays penetrate the length of the passage to illuminate
the innermost recess.
In a later stage of this deeply mysterious Neolithic tradition the megaliths, previously
hidden beneath the mounds of the tombs, emerge in their own right as great standing
stones, often arranged in circles. The ritual purpose of such circles is not known. Theytoo, in many cases, have a solar alignment, usually now relating to sunrise at the summer
solstice.
The most striking of these circles is Stonehenge, in England. The site is in ritual use over
a very long period, from about 3000 to 1100 BC. The largest stones, with their enormous
lintels, are now thought to have been erected in about 2500 BC. By this time stone
architecture is being used also at a domestic level in parts of the British Isles, as in thefamous Stone Age village of Skara Brae.
Beaker people: 2000 BC
In spite of the obstacle of the Channel, Britain is much influenced by successive waves
of immigrants or invaders from continental Europe. In about 2000 BC a newly dominantgroup has a custom of placing bell-shaped drinking vessels (or beakers) and bronze
daggers in the tombs of warriors. Known variously as the Beaker or Bell-Beaker people,
these newcomers introduce the Bronze Age to Britain together with horses and alcohol
(hence the beakers).
The Iron Age in Britain begins some time after 500 BC and is mainly associated with
another gradual infiltration from mainland Europe - that of the Celts.
Celtic tribes and Caesar: 55-54 BC
It is not known precisely when the Celts first enter Britain in their steady expansion
outwards from central Europe. But Caesar states, in his own account of his campaigns,
that they have been migrating across the Channel since at least the 2nd century BC.
Caesar makes his first tentative excursion to Britain in August of 55 BC. He lands on the
coast of Kent, meeting considerable opposition from the cavalry and war chariots of the
neighbouring Celtic chieftains. After staying long enough to demonstrate to the British
the strength of a Roman legion, he returns in September to Gaul.
During the winter Caesar builds 600 new ships. He sails again, in July of 54 BC, withfive legions and 2000 cavalry. They are sufficient to bring him north of the Thames into
the territory of Cassivellaunus, the tribal chieftain chosen to lead the British forces.
Caesar easily captures the Celtic leader's primitive stronghold, and removes from it a
large herd of cattle. But by the time he sails away again, in September, little has beenachieved - except that Cassivellaunus has agreed to a treaty and has promised an annual
tribute. It is unlikely that any tribute is paid.
The Celtic chieftains of Britain have almost exactly a century before they are again
disturbed by the Romans.
Celtic Britain: 1st century BC - 1st century AD
The Celtic kings of southern Britain make good use of the years following Caesar'sincursions. His failure to do more than come and see, without conquering, convinces
them that the Channel is a safe defence. The natural extremity of the Roman empire is the
coast of Gaul.
Even Gaul is hard for the Romans to hold. After Caesar's conquest of Gaul there are
several uprisings by local chieftains. They are encouraged in this by the Celtic chieftains
of Britain, their kinsmen and - against Rome at least - their natural allies. Yet increasingcontact with Roman civilization is at the same time bringing wealth and sophistication to
Britain.
The Celts of Britain benefit, through trade, from the proximity of Roman Gaul. It is a
familiar pattern of international commerce that raw materials move inwards from the
primitive extremities of a region, in return for manufactured goods sent back from the
Across the Channel from Britain go gold, silver, iron, grain, wool, hides and cattle (a list
to which a contemporary author, Strabo, adds hunting dogs and slaves). Back from Rome
come glass, jewellery and other luxuries.
The rulers of the Celtic tribes of Britain become, during this period, more prosperous and
more powerful - but, in most cases, no more friendly to Rome. The tendency is personified in a chieftain regarded by the Romans, during the reign of Augustus, as the
king of Britain.
The Romans call him Cunobelinus; his Celtic name is Cunobelin; he is famous in English
as Cymbeline. He may be either the grandson or great grandson of Cassivellaunus, who
faced Caesar's invasion. In a reign of about thirty-five years Cymbeline cunningly avoids
provoking the Romans, while offering them no concessions. The man is clearlydangerous. The conquest of his large offshore island is increasingly seen in Rome as a
necessary task.
The event which finally precipitates the invasion is the death of Cymbeline soon after AD 40. One of his sons, Amminius, known to be pro-Roman, has recently been exiled by
the stronger anti-Roman faction at Cymbeline's court. Amminius goes to Rome for help,during the reign of the emperor Caligula. When Cymbeline dies, two other sons - known
to be anti-Roman - inherit his power. They are Caractacus and Togodumnus.
By the time the Romans are ready to invade, in AD 43, Claudius has recently beenchosen as emperor. With a reputation for feebleness, he needs a striking success of some
kind. He takes a personal interest in the campaign against Britain.
The Roman conquest of Britain: AD 43-51
Four Roman legions land in Kent in AD 43. The two sons of Cymbeline attempt to holdthem at the Medway but are defeated (an engagement in which Togodumnus is killed,
leaving Caractacus in sole command of the British forces). The Britons then retreat
beyond the Thames, at which point the Romans call a halt in their pursuit. They arewaiting for the public-relations part of the exercise.
A few weeks later the emperor Claudius reaches the southern bank of the Thames, in the
region of what is now London, with fresh troops and even a few elephants. He is here tolead the advance on Caractacus' capital at Camulodunum, or Colchester.
There is little further opposition, for the Celtic troops - without breastplates or helmets -are no match for the solid weight of a Roman legion, advancing like a human tank. The
emperor enters Colchester in triumph, cheered by his army. Later a temple is erected here
to Claudius as a god; its site is now Colchester Castle.
After the rapid defeat of Caractacus, chieftain of the Belgae in southeast Britain, other
Celtic tribes quickly come to terms with the Romans. Some are accepting defeat. But
others, such as the Iceni in East Anglia, already have friendly relations with the Romans -
preferring them to the Belgae. Rome leaves such chieftains in power, as allies.
The result is that in the short space of four years the whole of southern Britain is safely
under Roman control. In AD 47 Roman troops are able to build a raised road, with a ditch
on either side, defining the northern edge of this safe territory. Known as the Fosse Way,it stretches from Lincoln to south Devon.
But beyond the Fosse Way there is trouble for the Romans in the shape, once again, of Caractacus. He has escaped alive from his defeats. Now he is organizing resistance
among the Welsh tribes. Caractacus himself is captured in AD 51, but the Romans are
unable to subdue the Welsh for another thirty years.
Like all barbarian kings captured by the Romans in war, Caractacus - accompanied by
his wife and daughter - is taken back to Rome. The family is to be displayed before the
Roman crowd in the triumphal celebration of the conquest of Britain.
Normally, as with Vercingetorix a century earlier, the captive king would then be
executed. But the Noble bearing of Caractacus, and his powerful speech to the assembledcrowd, so impress the emperor that Claudius spares his life and that of his family. He
provides them with a villa in Rome, where they live a guarded but honourable existence.
Boudicca and the Iceni: AD 60-61
The only major threat to Roman dominance of southern Britain derives from their own
heavy-handedness.
The Iceni, a tribe of Celts occupying what is now Norfolk, have been allies of the
Romans. Their king, Prasutagus, has no male heir. In an attempt to ensure a goodrelationship between his family and the Romans, he leaves a will dividing his wealth
between his two daughters and the emperor Nero. It does not have the desired effect. On
his death, in AD 60, his kingdom is annexed by the Romans; his family is humiliated; andthe lands of the tribe are plundered. But the Romans have not taken account of his
widow. In Latin they spell her Boadicea. Her Celtic name is Boudicca.
Boudicca launches an uprising in which she is soon joined by other Celtic tribes. Allhave good cause for resentment at the behaviour of Roman soldiers and Roman settlers in
their territories. Together they attack Colchester, destroying the Roman garrison which
attempts to defend itself in the newly completed temple to Claudius. They plunder manyother rich settlements before moving on to ravage Verulamium (now St Albans) and
London. According to Tacitus, 70,000 are killed.
Eventually the Romans gather together an army of about 10,000 men to confront the
tribes - now busy in another cause, the quest for loot.
Tacitus paints a touching picture of the Celtic tribesmen milling about in confusion as
they face the solid Roman formation on the battlefield. Their families have arrived in
carts to watch the encounter. Boudicca dashes among her people in a chariot,accompanied by her two daughters - whose rape by Roman soldiers, according to Tacitus,
has sparked off the crisis. The harangue to the troops which Tacitus puts into the mouth
of the queen begins: 'We British are used to Woman commanders in war'.
But she cannot prevail. Tacitus claims that after a crushing defeat she takes poison. Hers
is the last serious uprising in southern Britain. The attention of the Romans can be turnedto Wales.
The campaigns of Agricola: AD 77-84
Little progress is made in pacifying Wales until the arrival in Britain of Agricola. More
is known of Agricola than of any other Roman general of comparable stature, because he
takes the wise precaution of having a historian as a son-in-law. Agricola's appointment as
governor of Britain and the marriage of his daughter to Tacitus occur in the same year -AD 77.
Agricola rapidly succeeds in conquering the Welsh tribes, even in Anglesey. To
consolidate his gains he stations the 20th legion in an encampment on the river Dee.
Castra Devana ('camp on the Dee') becomes one of the most important Roman
strongholds in Britain. Its modern name, deriving from 'Castra', is Chester.
In AD 78-9 Agricola brings the north of England under Roman control. In 80 he
establishes a line of defensive outposts across Scotland's narrowest point, between theClyde and the Forth. In the following three years he presses steadily further north into the
wilds of Caledonia (the Roman word for Scotland, from the name of its leading tribe).
Finally, in AD 83, he wins a major victory over the Caledonii at an unidentified placecalled Mons Graupius - probably almost as far north as Aberdeen.
Meanwhile Agricola has also very effectively governed the rest of Britain. It has been animpressive seven years. It is lucky indeed that there is a historian in the family to record
them.
Tacitus explains that his father-in-law has to deal in Britain with people 'living inisolation and ignorance' who are therefore 'prone to fight'. As a distraction Agricola
introduces the Celts to the trappings of Roman luxury. Yet baths and sumptuous
banquets, the historian candidly admits, are merely another aspect of Britain'senslavement.
In the same vein, the son-in-law reveals that Agricola dreams of conquering Ireland. He believes that it could be controlled by a single legion, and that it would be 'easier to hold
Britain if it were completely surrounded by Roman armies, so that liberty was banished
from its sight'. It never happens. Ireland (or Hibernia), alone in western Europe, remains
Water has until now provided the natural boundaries of the Roman empire in Europe -the Atlantic, the Rhine and the Danube. With the invasion of Britain, followed by the
failure to conquer the whole island, another form of frontier against northern barbarians
becomes essential.
It is provided by the emperor Hadrian, who visits Britain in 122. Deciding that the
advances made by Agricola far into Caledonia are untenable, he orders the constructionof a defensive barrier stretching seventy-five miles from coast to coast across the north of
what is now England. Hadrian's Wall remains even today a massively impressive
structure. It takes the Romans only about eight years to complete it.
In subsequent years the Romans again push north of the wall, encouraging Hadrian's
successor Antoninus Pius to order the construction of another barrier further into
Caledonia. The Antonine Wall, built from about 142, is an earthwork on stone
foundations across the narrowest part of Britain - the forty miles between the Clyde andthe Forth.
This further line proves impossible to hold, so Hadrian's Wall becomes the northern
frontier of Roman civilization. Its existence, and the Roman presence south of it, has a
profound influence on the histories of England and Scotland - though the border between
them is eventually established a little to the north.
Britannia: 2nd - 4th century AD
Hadrian's Wall, established from the 2nd century AD as the frontier of Roman rule in the
British Isles, enables England and Wales (as they will later become) to settle down
together as Britannia, the most northerly Roman province.
On the whole the Celtic chieftains of Britain adapt willingly to Roman customs and
comforts. They learn to live in villas, they speak Latin, they benefit from trading linkswith the empire (British wheat and wool are much in demand), and they become Roman
citizens. The tribal centres develop into thriving Roman towns, around the forum (market
place) and basilica (town hall).
Towns of this kind, serving as the capitals of British tribal rulers enjoying Roman
support, include Winchester, Dorchester, Cirencester and Canterbury. London develops
at the same period, but as a centre of trade at the focal point of the network of Romanroads. Bath, with its hot springs, becomes Britain's first resort.
Different in kind are the essentially Roman headquarters of Chester, Caerleon and York (where Constantine is proclaimed emperor in 306). These are the permanent bases of the
Roman legions in Britain. Other modern cities, including Lincoln, Colchester and St
Albans, derive from Roman municipalities - founded for new settlers, such as men
Roman Britain never achieves the prosperity or sophistication of Roman Gaul, and it has
the disadvantage of being cut off from the centre whenever Gaul is controlled byrebellious Roman armies or invading barbarians. Even so, Britain has much in common
with other provinces of the empire. It has its great villas (a palace at Fishbourne,
discovered in 1960, is one of the grandest, with superb mosaic floors). And it has itschoice of the empire's rival religions.
By the late 3rd century Mithras and Jesus Christ compete for attention. In 314 thewinning side, the Christians, are sufficiently well organized to send three bishops from
Britain to a council in Gaul.
Britannia in decline: 5th - 6th century AD
The decline of Roman Britain is like the withering of a limb at the extremity of an ailing
body. In unsettled times, in the late 4th century, western emperors withdraw legions from
Britain for their own local purposes. Once Gaul is in the hands of barbarian rulers in the5th century, blocking the route from Rome, no new replacements arrive.
The Roman British find themselves extremely vulnerable. They have defences in the
north, but none in the southeast - the direction of Rome, and supposedly secure. It is from
this undefended side that danger comes. German tribes moving south and west into Gaul
have Britain in their sights.
The main threat is from two tribal groups pressing southwest from the Baltic coast. They
are the Angles and the Saxons. The subsequent Anglo-Saxon basis of England, and of theEnglish language, speaks for their success.
The Romanized Celts, deprived of their Roman legions, prove unable to resist these more primitive and ferocious intruders - though their struggle is personified in a legendary
hero, King Arthur. By the 6th century the Celtic chieftains are confined to mountainous
Wales. The fertile plains of England are occupied now by Angles, Saxons and other German tribes from roughly the same area, such as Jutes and Frisians. Their chieftains set
about establishing themselves as regional kings.
Rival kings and bishops: 5th - 11th century AD
In all parts of the British Isles, in the centuries after the Roman departure from England
and Wales, tribal chieftains struggle to control wider areas and thus to enjoy higher prestige than any of their rivals.
Ireland is the first in which any family makes significant progress. In the 5th century thedescendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages (who dies in about 405) are already called
kings of Ireland, though their real power does not extend beyond Ulster. Anglo-Saxon
kings in regions of England confront Celtic chieftains in Wales, along a line which
becomes stablized in the 8th century as Offa's Dyke. In Scotland the Picts and Scots
acknowledge a joint king by the 9th century.
Meanwhile a less violent struggle has emerged between Celtic and Roman Christianity,
the two forms differing only in minor details - the Celtic variety, deriving from Ireland,
and Roman Catholicism, reintroduced to Britain by missionaries from Rome. Once thedifferences are resolved, British Christian missionaries move energetically into pagan
northern Europe.
But by the 9th century pagans from Scandinavia pose a new threat to the British Isles.
Vikings plunder the rich monasteries of Scotland and Ireland. Danes invade eastern
England. And in the 11th century descendants of the Vikings, by now Christian and more
civilized as Normans, achieve the conquest which introduces a new era of Englishhistory.
Norman-French ambitions: 11th - 14th century AD
The abiding theme within the British Isles, after the Norman conquest of England in
1066, is the continuing effort of the kings of England to dominate the neighbouringregions of Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
The kings crowned in Westminster are French in both origin and culture (Henry V, who
comes to the throne in 1413, is the first to be fully at ease in spoken and written English).By contrast the chieftains in the other parts of the British Isles are Celtic, for these are
regions which the Anglo-Saxons have not penetrated.
The first Celtic region in which the Normans achieve any semblance of dominance is
Ireland, where the visit of Henry II in 1171 results in an ostensibly English administration
in Dublin. Wales keeps the aggressive neighbours at bay for a little longer, but is thenmore thoroughly suppressed; Edward I brings the principality firmly under English
control in the late 13th century.
Scotland, by contrast, remains entirely beyond the grasp of the English. Edward I's
attempts to interfere are followed by successful wars of Scottish independence. By the
late 14th century the Stewart dynasty is securely on the throne.
Towards a united kingdom: AD 1536-1800
The accession to the English throne of the Tudor dynasty, with its Welsh origins,transforms Wales from a conquered territory to an integral part of the English kingdom.
The change is acknowledged in an act of parliament passed in 1536, with modifications
added in 1543.
The practical purpose of these acts is to give Wales an adminstrative system, based on
counties, which is compatible with that of England. It replaces the earlier feudal
territories, granted to marcher lords for the purpose of subduing the hostile Welsh. Wales
becomes, as a result of these changes, a principality within the English kingdom. From
the Reformation onwards, its political story merges with that of England.The
incorporation of Wales within England in 1536 is part of a broader tendency in Europe inthe 16th century towards centralized nation states under strong rulers.
Scotland is following this pattern of strong rule until the death of James IV at Flodden in1513. Thereafter the kingdom is harmed by three successive monarchs inheriting the
crown at the age of two or less. Even so, when the Scottish royal family succeeds to the
English throne, in 1603, the union is limited to the crowns of two independent nationswhich retain their own parliaments. Scotland is not as yet merged within the much larger
England, as has previously happened with Wales.
A century later, by the Act of Union of 1707, Scotland is joined to England and Waleswithin a single kingdom. Ireland, by contrast, remains in the original position of Wales -
as a region which England controls virtually as an occupying power. This ends when the
island becomes part of a United Kingdom with the Act of Union of 1800 (though some
would argue that the act continues English suppression by other means).
The stabilizing in the 16th century of these three major political units within the BritishIsles means that the individual stories of England, Scotland and Ireland are now best
followed separately until the evolution of Great Britain (in 1707) and the United
Kingdom (in 1801).
Act of Union: AD 1707
Given the centuries of hostility between Scotland and England, with warfare even in the17th century under a shared Stuart king, the union of the two kingdoms seems to come
with surprising suddeness. It has been under discussion for a considerable time, for James
VI and I tries to achieve it after inheriting the English throne in 1603. But the idea meetswith little favour (although imposed during the Commonwealth) until the early 18th
century.The motivation in 1707 is largely economic for the Scots and political for the
English.
Scotland has recently suffered a disastrous failure in setting up a colony in 1698 in
Darien, on the isthmus of Panama. By the time the experiment is abandoned, in 1700, it is
estimated to have cost £200,000 and some 2000 lives. Tariff-free access to all Englishmarkets, both in Britain and in the developing colonies, seems commercially a rather
more attractive option.
For England, engaged in lengthy wars with the French (who are sympathetic to the exiled
Stuart dynasty), it is attractive to remove the danger of any threat from the country's only
land border. The union of the kingdoms creates an island realm.
The Act of Union abolishes the Scottish parliament, giving the Scots instead a proportion
of the seats at Westminster (forty-five in the commons, sixteen in the lords). Scotland's
legal system, radically different from English common law, is specifically safeguarded.
There is unrest and warfare in Scotland during much of the 18th century because a strong
faction, particularly in the Highlands, supports the Jacobite cause (the claim to the throneof the exiled Stuarts). This discontent erupts twice, in the rebellions of 1715 and 1745.
But the majority of Scots are content with a new role in a kingdom united under the title
Great Britain. A renewal of Scottish nationalism must await the 20th century.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland: 1801-1921
For many reasons it is a much more difficult problem to unite Ireland with England than
it has been in the case of Wales or Scotland. There is no royal link to ease the transition.
The English plantations have been imposed forcibly upon the Irish, leaving a poisoned
heritage of hardship and grievance. And religion remains a divisive issue, with a minorityof Protestant settlers dominating the indigenous Catholics.
But in 1800, against considerable opposition, the prime minister, William Pitt, pushes
through a new Act of Union. From 1 January 1801 the entire British Isles is to be a single political entity, as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Pitt hopes that the change will improve the lot of Catholics in Ireland, but he underrates
Anglican opposition to any such measure. Catholic Emancipation becomes the great Irish
issue of the 1820s, culminating in the Emancipation Act of 1829.
During the 1830s, when the entire United Kingdom is concentrating on political reform at
Westminster, the situation with regard to Ireland is uncharacteristically calm. And the
dominant issue of the 1840s is economic rather than political, with the potato blight andfamine leading to massive emigration.
From the 1850s, however, the focus is increasingly on Irish attempts to break the unionwith Britain. The Fenians are founded in 1858 as a secret military organization; the Home
Rule association is established in 1870 by an Irish member of parliament. Thus on the
two fronts, paramilitary and legitimate, the long fight for Irish independence begins inearnest.
It ends, after much violence and bloodshed, with the establishment in 1921 of the Irish
Free State. But this covers only the southern twenty-six of Ireland's counties. Thestruggle shifts, for radicals in the south, to reclaiming the six counties of northern Ireland
- where the Protestant majority has absolutely no intention of becoming a minority region
in a united Catholic island.
Devolution and direct rule: AD 1921-1999
The first fifty years of northern Ireland's existence as a separate province, from the
establishment of a parliament at Stormont in 1921, are mainly peaceful. But towards the
end of the period, from 1968, violence returns to Ulster politics. As a result the British
government closes Stormont and assumes direct rule in 1972. Paramilitary terrorism, by
both Catholics and Protestants, becomes endemic for the rest of the century.
There are strenuous efforts to achieve a peace settlement by a succession of British and
Irish prime ministers - resulting in the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985, the Downing
Street Declaration of 1993 and the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.
Each makes valuable progress in developing a shared stance by the two nations against
the forces of anarchy. And the Downing Street Declaration leads to a paramilitaryceasefire which holds for seventeen months from September 1984.
The Good Friday accord does even better. It is signed in April 1998 after a nine-month
ceasefire, which then continues during the next agreed stage - the preparation of a newdevolved power-sharing parliament at Stormont which will include Sinn Fein provided
the IRA (the military wing of the party) decommission their weapons. The agreement is
accepted in a referendum in May 1998. Elections follow in June. The various Unionist
groups win 55 seats, the nationalists 42.
Almost Stormont: AD 1998-1999
In July 1998 the Northern Ireland Assembly meets for the first time at Stormont. David
Trimble (Ulster Unionist) is elected First Minister.
For nearly a year desultory business continues, without Trimble being able to form a
cabinet and begin the proper process of governing. The reason is the long-standing
problem of the decommissioning of arms. The timetable has been left deliberately vaguein the Good Friday Agreement. Now the Unionists insist that Sinn Fein cannot be part of
government until decommissioning has begun. The IRA is equally adamant that it will
not give up any weapons until Sinn Fein is in the government. In desperation Blair attempts another deadline. Unless there is agreement by the end of June 1999, there will
be no Stormont parliament.
Long nights of intense bargaining up to the end of June, and through the first two days of
July, end with an ultimatum from the British and Irish prime ministers. They propose
now that Sinn Fein should be allowed to take part in the proposed executive on the mere
promise of IRA arms decommissioning, which must begin within a short period and becomplete by May 2000. A strict monitoring system for decommissioning is to be set in
place. Stormont will be suspended if the IRA fail to meet stipulated deadlines.
If all parties accept these terms, and meet together in Stormont on July 15 to select the
members of the executive, then devolved powers will be transferred to northern Ireland
on July 18.
Intense discussion continues over the next two weeks, particularly between David
Trimble, on behalf of the Ulster Unionists, and Tony Blair. Trimble complains that no
clear evidence has been provided that the IRA does intend to hand in its arms, and no
strict timetable for them to do so has yet been agreed. Without better guarantees on this
front he refuses to recommend to his party the proposed arrangements for immediate
power-sharing.
On July 15 northern Ireland's elected politicians assemble in Stormont. The business of
the day is the nomination by each party of their representatives on the power-sharingexecutive. But the Ulster Unionist seats are empty.
The assembly progresses solemnly through a hollow procedure. The SDLP and SinnFein are the only parties to nominate ministers, so the ten-member executive becomes
exclusively nationalist. Ministerial portfolios are allocated. Then the speaker announces
that the executive is invalid because it does not meet the power-sharing requirement.
The peace process goes back into limbo, with a profound public sense of disappointment.
The Good Friday Agreement and the referenda still hold good as the basis for future
progress, but devolution has been snatched once again from northern Ireland. Meanwhile
it has been achieved elsewhere, in both Scotland and Wales - some twenty years after first being on offer.
Devolution in Scotland and Wales: AD 1978-1999
After much debate a Scotland Act and a Wales Act are passed in 1978, arranging for a
referendum in each region. The acts state that regional assemblies will be established if two conditions are met: a simple majority in favour, but also a minimum turnout of 40%
of the electorate.
The referenda are held in March 1979. In Scotland there is a small majority in favour, but
only 32% of the electorate vote. In Wales there is a large majority (4:1) against the
proposed assembly. Later in 1979 a Conservative government wins a general election, beginning a spell in power which lasts for eighteen years. Conservative policy is anti-
devolution (though as a gesture the Stone of Scone is returned to Scotland in 1996). So
the issue hangs fire - until 1997.
Elections for both assemblies are held in May 1999, on a system of proportional
representation. About two thirds of the candidates are returned on a first-past-the-post
basis, with the other third added from party lists to achieve the required balance.
In both regions Labour wins the greatest number of seats, while falling short of an
absolute majority in either. The second largest vote is in each case for nationalism, withthe SNP winning 35 seats in Scotland and Plaid Cymru 17 seats in Wales. The
Conservatives come third in both regions, and the Liberal Democrats fourth. But the
Liberal Democrats, the most natural allies for Labour, have enough seats to provide acoalition majority in both Scotland and Wales.
The Northern Irish peace process remains in limbo until the US negotiator GeorgeMitchell returns to try and find common ground between the Sinn Fein and Ulster
Unionist leaders, Gerry Adams and David Trimble. Their joint efforts end in a
breakthrough when both men issue agreed and conciliatory statements on 16 November 1999.
The Ulster Unionists have always said that they will not cooperate with Sinn Fein untilthe IRA at least begins to hand in its weapons. The next hurdle is for David Trimble to
persuade the Ulster Unionist Council that the party should share government with Sinn
Fein on the mere promise of this happening. On November 27 he wins this agreement,
with the proviso that the party will pull out of government if the IRA fails to hand in anyarms by February.
On a historic day, 2 December 1999, both sides convene at Stormont and a ten-strong
cabinet is selected with David Trimble, leader of the largest party, as First Minister. Butthe next crisis looms all to soon. By February the IRA has shown no sign of
decommissioning any weapons. Well aware of the harm to the peace process if theUnionists withdraw, the British government preempts the issue early in the month by
reimposing direct rule from Westminster - while emphasizing that the Stormont executive
is being temporarily suspended rather than dismantled.
After quiet diplomacy there is sudden progress again in May, when the IRA put out their
most unequivocal statement to date, offering to put their arms 'completely and verifiably
beyond use'.
Their proposed method is the opening of their arms stores to full and regular inspection
by independent observers. The question is whether David Trimble can sell this assignificant progress to an increasingly sceptical Ulster Unionist Council. In late May he
narrowly succeeds in doing so (by 459 to 403 votes, a closer margin than six months
earlier), winning the party's agreement to share power again with Sinn Fein on this new basis. Power is once again transferred from Westminster to Stormont. The Ulster
executive at Stormont resumes its devolved work early in June 2000.
There is a similar crisis in 2001, involving even the temporary resignation of DavidTrimble. Once again, at the last moment, the IRA make new promises just in time.
Almost against the odds, political life resumes.
Yet another crisis erupts in the autumn of 2002, when there is apparent evidence that a
spy working for Sinn Fein or the IRA has been copying top-secret documents from the
files of the Stormont administration. David Trimble threatens to take the Unionists out of the government unless Sinn Fein are excluded. Once again the British government
decides that the suspension of Stormont is the likeliest way of allowing tempers to cool.
In spite of this setback both Sinn Fein and the Unionists say that they remain committed
to implementing the Good Friday Agreement. There is therefore some hope that the peace
process itself remains alive, even if there is silence once again in the corridors of power at Stormont.
Hope for the future?
From 1993 the Irish peace process has lurched forward in fits and starts, but real
progress has been made. There will be further crises, but the Protestant and Catholiccommunities have unmistakably expressed a wish for a normal political situation. At the
start of the new millennium the mood is more hopeful than at any time since 1969.
But one underlying cause for concern, in the perspective of Irish history, is the tendencyof the Irish republican movement to spawn splinter groups which carry on the murderous
work of terrorism each time the leaders of the movement decide to enter mainstream
politics.
This happens in the civil war of 1922; it happens during the time of de Valera, when the
IRA continues after its former leader becomes taoiseach; and it happens in 1969 with theemergence of the Provisionals from an IRA by then inclined to renounce terrorism.
In 1999 the pattern seems in danger of repeating itself in the form of the Real IRA, a
minority group responsible for placing a bomb in Omagh in August 1998 which causestwenty-nine deaths - within weeks of the Northern Ireland Assembly meeting for the first
time at Stormont. Subsequent terrorist acts on the UK mainland suggest that the Real IRA
remains a considerable danger.
It is also an alarming fact that violence continues to disrupt normal existence in the
province. A ferocious feud breaks out in 2000 between rival groups of Protestant paramilitaries (the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Ulster Freedom Fighters) in the
Shankhill Road district of Belfast. The level of violence becomes such that troops are
brought back on to the streets of the city, in a move welcomed by most of the inhabitantsof the Shankhill Road.
And in 2001 Belfast suffers a shocking new outbreak of sectarian violence, with
Protestant bigots threatening Catholic children on their route to the Holy Cross school. In2002 a repeat of this confrontation is followed by riots between sectarian mobs and the
1931 Northern Ireland parliament, Stormont, completed in Belfast; Statute of
Westminster formalises relationship between UK and Dominions, including Irish Free
State, as the Commonwealth of Nations1938 Ireland adopts a new consitution and becomes a republic in all but name
1949 Ireland formally becomes a republic and leaves the Commonwealth
1972 Stormont parliament dissolved and direct rule by UK parliament follows1973 Northern Ireland Assembly set up to govern Northern Ireland locally; United
Kingdom and Ireland become members of the European Coal and Steel Community, the
European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community1974 Northern Ireland Constitution Act re-introduces direct rule
1979 First elections to European Parliament by direct universal adult suffrage
1986 United Kingdom and Ireland become co-signatories to the Single European Act
along with the Kingdom of the Belgians, the Kingdom of Denmark, the French Republic,the Federal Republic of Germany, the Hellenic Republic, the Italian Republic, the Grand
Duchy of Luxembourg, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Portuguese Republic and the
Kingdom of Spain
1992 United Kingdom and Ireland become co-signatories to the Treaty on EuropeanUnion
1993 European Union formally founded1995 The Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden
join the European Union
1998 "Good Friday" Agreement provides for amendment to the Constitution of Ireland,
repeal of the Government of Ireland Act, creation of a Northern Ireland Executiveanswerable to a Northern Ireland Assembly with executive and legislative powers, a
North/South Ministerial Council, a British-Irish Council and a British-Irish Inter-
governmental Conference1999 Ireland adopts the Euro as official currency; Creation of a Scottish Executive
answerable to a Scottish Parliament with executive, legislative and some fiscal powers;
Creation of a National Assembly for Wales with executive powers2004 The Republic of Cyprus, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the
Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of
Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Slovak Republic and the Republic of Slovenia join theEuropean Union; EU member states start to ratify a Constitution for Europe
2006 St Andrews Agreement identifies plan for restoration of devolution in Northern
Ireland; Government of Wales Act enhances the legislative powers of the National
Assembly for Wales and charges it with scrutinising and monitoring a Welsh AssemblyGovernment with executive powers
2007 The Republic of Bulgaria and Romania join the European Union; Northern
Ireland Assembly election leads to power sharing between the Democratic Unionist Partyand Sinn Fein
2009 Herman van Rompuy becomes the first President of the European Council;
Catherine Ashton (Baroness Ashton of Upholland) becomes the first EU HighRepresentative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
2011 Referendum results in full devolution of certain legislative powers to the National
