Irish Political History series

REPUBLICANISM

Republicanism - in Ireland - in Northern Ireland Physical force republicanism See also List of IRAs for organisation claiming that name. Image File history File links Ireland-up. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Ireland. ... Physical force Irish republicanism is a term used by historians in Ireland to describe the recurring appearance of non-parliamentary violent insurrection in Ireland between 1798 and the present. ... The IRA (Irish Republican Army) is a name used to describe several paramilitary movements in Ireland in the 20th and 21st centuries. ... Key documents Easter Proclamation Declaration of Independence Message to Free Nations Democratic Programme Dáil Constitution Anglo-Irish Treaty External Relations Act Bunreacht na hÉireann Republic of Ireland Act New Ireland Forum Report Anglo-Irish Agreement Belfast Agreement Articles 2 & 3 The Easter Proclamation, officially referred to as the Proclamation of the Republic, was a document read by Padraig Pearse at the start of the Easter Rising in Ireland in April 1916, in which a republican Provisional Government claimed the right to proclaim Irish independence from the United Kingdom of Great... The Declaration of Independence was a document adopted by Dáil Éireann, the revolutionary parliament of the self-proclaimed Irish Republic, at its first meeting in the Mansion House, Dublin, on 21st January, 1919. ... In 1919 the First Dáil issued a Message to the Free Nations of the World. ... The Democratic Programme was a declaration of economic and social principles adopted by the First Dáil at its first meeting on 21st January, 1919. ... The Constitution of Dáil Éireann (Irish: Bunreacht Dála Éireann), more commonly known as the Dáil Constitution, was a short, provisional constitution adopted by the First Dáil in January 1919. ... Signature page of the Anglo-Irish Treaty The Anglo-Irish Treaty, officially called the Articles of association between Ireland and the British Empire, was a treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom and representatives of the (extra-judicial) Irish Republic which concluded the Anglo-Irish War. ... The Executive Authority (External Relations) Act, 1936 was an enactment of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament) in 1936. ... The Constitution of Ireland is the founding legal document of the state known today as the Republic of Ireland. ... The Republic of Ireland Act was an enactment of Oireachtas Éireann passed in 1948, which came into force on April 18, 1949 and which declared that the official description of Ireland was to be the Republic of Ireland. ... The Anglo-Irish Agreement was an agreement between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland which aimed to bring an end to the Troubles in Northern Ireland. ... The Belfast Agreement (the Good Friday Agreement and, more rarely, as the Stormont Agreement) was a political development in the Northern Ireland peace process. ... Article 2 and Article 3 of Bunreacht na hÉireann, the constitution of the Republic of Ireland, were adopted with the constitution as a whole in 1937, but completely revised by means of the Nineteenth Amendment which took full effect in 1999. ... Parties & Organisations Ancient Order of Hibernians Aontacht Éireann Clan na Gael Clann na Poblachta Cumann na Poblachta Cumann Poblachta nahÉ Córas na Poblachta Fianna Fáil · Ind FF Irish Citizens Army IRB · IRSP Molly Maguires Official Sinn Féin Red Republican Party Republican Congress Republican Sinn Féin Saor Éire · Sinn Féin Workers Party · 32CSM See also: Party youth wings Shield of the Ancient Order of Hibernians in America The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) is an Irish-Catholic fraternal organization. ... Aontacht Éireann was a short lived Irish political party founded by Kevin Boland (former Fianna Fail government minister) after his resignation from that party in 1971. ... With Irish immigration to the United States of America in the 18th_century there arose Irish ethnic organizations. ... Clann na Poblachta (literally meaning Family of the Republic) was an Irish republican political party founded by former IRA Chief of Staff Sean MacBride in 1946. ... Cumann na Poblachta (League of the Republic in English) was an Irish republican political party. ... Cumann Poblachta na hÉireann was a political party established by the Irish Republican Army in 1936. ... Córas na Poblachta (Republican Plan in English) was a minor Irish republican political party founded in 1940. ... Fianna Fáil - The Republican Party (IPA ; commonly translated roughly into English as Soldiers of Destiny (though the more literal translation is Soldiers [Fianna] of Ireland),¹ is currently the largest political party in Ireland with 55,000 members. ... Splinter republican party created by Neil Blaney after his expulsion from Fianna Fáil following the Irish Arms Crisis (1969-1970). ... The Irish Citizen Army, or ICA, is a small band of trained members for the defense of worker’s rights. ... The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) played an important role in the history of Ireland. ... Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) describes itself as a republican socialist party and claims to be both Marxist-Leninist and republican. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Official Sinn Féin (later renamed Sinn Féin the Workers Party) was a Stalinst political party which evolved from the split in Sinn Féin and the IRA that took place in 1970. ... The Republican Congress was an Irish Republican political organisation founded in 1934, when left wing republicans left the Irish Republican Army. ... Republican Sinn Féin (RSF) is a minor political party1 operating in Ireland. ... Saor Éire (meaning Free Ireland) was a left-wing political organisation established in September 1931 by communist-leaning members of the Irish Republican Army, with the backing of the IRA leadership. ... Sinn Féin (pronounced in English, in Irish) is a name used by a series of Irish political movements of the 20th century, each of which claimed sole descent from the original party established by Arthur Griffith in 1905. ... Categories: Ireland-related stubs | Irish political parties | Republic of Ireland political parties | Northern Ireland political parties ... The 32 County Sovereignty Movement (often abbreviated to 32CSM or 32csm) is an Irish republican political organisation favouring a united Ireland and British withdrawal from Northern Ireland. ... Publications An Phoblacht · Daily Ireland Irish Press · Sunday Press Republican News · Saoirse The Nation· United Irishman Wolfe Tone Weekly An Phoblacht/Republican News is the official newspaper of the Republican movement in Ireland. ... Daily Ireland is a new daily newspaper launched in January 2005 throughout the island of Ireland to cover Irish news stories from an Irish republican viewpoint. ... The Irish Press was an Irish newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 1931 and 1995. ... The Sunday Press was a weekly newspaper published in Ireland from 1949 until 1995. ... An Phoblacht/Republican News is the official newspaper of the Republican movement in Ireland. ... SAOIRSE Irish Freedom is the monthly organ of Republican Sinn Féin. ... The Nation was an Irish nationalist newspaper, published in the 19th century, co-founded by Thomas Davis and Charles Gavan Duffy, its first editor. ... This article is about the newspaper. ... Cultural Abbey Theatre Gaelic League Irish Ireland A poster for the opening run at the Abbey Theatre from 27 December, 1904 to 3 January, 1905. ... Conradh na Gaeilge (The Gaelic League) is an organization for the purpose of keeping the Irish language spoken in Ireland. ... Songs Amhrán na bhFiann A Nation Once Again Boolavogue God Save Ireland The Bold Fenian Men The Men Behind the Wire The Minstrel Boy The Rising of the Moon The Wearing of the Green Amhrán na bhFiann1 is the national anthem of the Republic of Ireland. ... A Nation Once Again is a song, written sometime in the 1840s by Thomas Osbourne Davis (1814-1845). ... Boolavogue is a famous Irish ballad commemorating the Irish Rebellion of 1798. ... God Save Ireland was the unofficial national anthem of the Irish Free State from 1916 to 1926, when it was displaced by the official Amhrán na bhFiann. ... The Men Behind the Wire is an Irish republican song composed in the aftermath of the imposition of Internment without trial of some Irish republicans associated with Provisional Sinn Féin (now known simply as Sinn Féin), as well as others unconnected with militant republicanism who had been arrested... The Minstrel Boy is a song written by Thomas Moore (1779-1852) who set it to the melody of The Moreen, an old Irish air. ... The Wearing of the Green is an anonymous Irish street ballad dating to 1798. ... Strategies Abstentionism Irish republican legitimatism Armalite and Ballot Box Boycotting · TUAS Abstentionism is the policy of seeking election to a body while refusing to take up the seats or even sitting in an alternative assembly. ... The armalite and the ballot box strategy was pursued by the Irish Republican movement in the 1980s and early 1990s, a strategy where elections in Northern Ireland and the Republic were contested by Sinn Féin, while the IRA continued to pursue a paramilitary struggle against the British army, the... This page is about boycott as a form of protest. ... Tuas is largely an industrial zone located in the western part of Singapore. ... Symbols The Tricolour · Easter Lily French tricolour flag A tricolour is a flag or banner having three colours, usually in approximately equal size (horizontally or vertically) and lacking additional symbols. ... The Easter Lily is an artificial paper badge worn around Easter by Irish republicans chiefly as symbol of remembrance for Irish combatants who died during or were executed after the 1916 Easter Rising. ... Other movements & links Loyalism {{IrishL}} Monarchism {{IrishM}} Nationalism {{IrishN}} Unionism {{IrishU}} The term Ulster Loyalist is used to describe militant unionists from Northern Ireland. ... Irish nationalism refers to political movements that desire greater autonomy or the independence of Ireland from Great Britain. ... In the Irish context, Unionists form a group of largely (though not exclusively) Protestant people in Ireland, of all social classes, who wish to see the continuation of the Act of Union, as amended by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, under which the Northern Ireland provincial state created in...

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In 1921, Ireland was partitioned. Most of the country became part of the independent Irish Free State. However, six out of the nine counties of Ulster remained part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland. In the 1921 elections [1] in Northern Ireland, The Irish Free State (Irish: Saorstát Éireann) (1922–1937) was the name of the state comprising the 26 of Irelands 32 counties that were separated from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under the Irish Free State Agreement (or Anglo-Irish Treaty) signed by British and... Statistics Area: 24,481 Population (estimate) 1,931,981 Ulster (Irish: Cúige Uladh, IPA: ) forms one of the four traditional provinces of Ireland. ... Dieu et mon droit (motto) (French for God and my right)2 Northern Irelands location within the UK Languages English (De facto) 3, Irish, Ulster Scots 4 Capital and largest city Belfast First Minister Office suspended Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Peter Hain MP Area  - Total Ranked 4th...

• Antrim, Down and the borough of Belfast had Unionist majorities of over 25%.
• In County Londonderry, the breakdown in that election was 56.2% Unionist / 43.8% Nationalist.
• In Armagh, the ratio was 55.3% Unionist / 44.7% Nationalist.
• In Fermanagh–Tyrone (which was a single constituency), the ratio 54.7% Nationalist / 45.3% Unionist. (Tyrone was 55.4% Catholic in the 1911 census and 55.5% in the 1926 census, though of course only adults had votes on the other hand religious and national affiliations while closely linked are not as absolute as commonly assumed.) Within most of these counties there were large pockets which predominantly nationalist or Unionist (South Armagh, West Tyrone , West and South Derry and parts of North Antrim were largely nationalist wheras much of North Armagh, East Londonderry, East Tyrone and most of Antrim were/are largely Unionist)

This territory of Northern Ireland, as established by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, had its own provincial government which was controlled for 50 years until 1972 by the conservative Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). The tendency to vote on sectarian lines and the proportions of each religious denomination ensured that there would never be a change of government. In local government, constituency boundaries were drawn to divide nationalist communities into two or even three constituencies and so weaken their effect (see Gerrymandering). Statistics Province: Ulster County Town: Antrim Area: 2,844 km² Population (est. ... Statistics Province: Ulster County Town: Downpatrick Area: 2,448 km² Population (est. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... Statistics Province: Ulster County Town: Derry Area: 2,074 km² Population (est. ... County Armagh (Contae Ard Mhacha in Irish) is a county in Ulster, Ireland. ... Statistics Province: Ulster County Town: Enniskillen Area: 1,691 km² Population (est. ... This article is about County Tyrone. ... An Act to Provide for the Better Government of Ireland, more usually the Government of Ireland Act, 1920 (this is its official short title; the formal citation is 10 & 11 Geo. ... The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which existed from June 7, 1921 to March 30, 1972, when it was suspended. ... The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP, sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or OUP or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party ) is a moderate unionist political party in Northern Ireland, which formed its government between 1921 and 1972 and was supported by most unionists throughout the Troubles. ... Sectarianism is an adherence to a particular sect or party or denomination, it also usually involves a rejection of those not a member of ones sect. ... Gerrymandering is a controversial form of redistricting in which electoral district or constituency boundaries are manipulated for an electoral advantage. ...

The Catholic (mainly Nationalist) population in Northern Ireland, besides feeling politically alienated, was also economically alienated, often with worse living standards compared to their Protestant (mainly Unionist) neighbours, with fewer job opportunities and living in ghettos in Belfast, Derry, Armagh and other places. Many Catholics considered the Unionist government was undemocratic, bigoted and favoured Protestants. Emigration for economic reasons kept the nationalist population from growing, despite its higher birth rate Although poverty, (e)migration and Unemployment were fairly widespread (albeit not to the same extent) among Protestants as well on the other hand the economic situation in Northern Ireland (even for Catholics) was for a long time arguably stil better than in the Republic of Ireland. WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ...

During the 1930s the IRA launched minor attacks against the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and British army in Northern Ireland. The IRA began another armed campaign in Britain in 1939. During World War II the IRA leadership hoped for support from Germany, and chief of staff Seán Russell travelled there in 1940; he died later that year after falling ill on a U-boat that was bringing him back to Ireland (possibly with a view to starting a German sponsored revolution in Ireland). Suspected republicans were interned on both sides of the border, for different reasons. Following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 6 December 1921, the Irish Republican Army in the 26 counties that were to become the Irish Free State split between supporters and opponents of the Treaty. ... The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ... Combatants Allies: Soviet Union United Kingdom United States and others Axis Powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Franklin Roosevelt Joseph Stalin Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000,000 Total dead: 50,000,000 Military dead: 8,000... Seán Russell (1893-14 August 1940) was an Irish republican and a chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). ...

The Border Campaign in the mid-50s was the last attempt at traditional military action and was an abject failure. The Movement needed to reconsider its strategy. The Border Campaign (December 12, 1956 - February 26, 1962) was an operation (codenamed Operation Harvest) carried out by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) against targets in Northern Ireland. ...

1966 - 1969

Main article: Official IRA

In the late 1960s, Irish political activists groups found parallels with their struggle against religious discrimination in the civil rights campaign of Afro-Americans the U.S. against racial discrimination. Student leaders such a Bernadette Devlin and Nationalist politicians such as Austin Currie tried to use non-violent direct action to draw attention to the blatant discrimination. By 1968, Europe as a whole was engulfed in a struggle between radicalism and conservativism. In Sinn Féin, the same debate raged. The dominant analysis was that Protestant Irishmen and women would never be bombed into a united Ireland. The only way forward was to have both sides embrace socialism and forget their sectarian hatreds. They resolved to no longer to be drawn into inter-communal violence. The term Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA refers to one of the two organisations - the other being the Provisional Irish Republican Army - that emerged from the split in the then Irish Republican Army in 1969-70. ... Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... African Americans, also known as Afro-Americans or black Americans, are an ethnic group in the United States of America whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Sub-Saharan and West Africa. ... This article is about the country in North America. ... Josephine Bernadette Devlin McAliskey (born April 23, 1947), also known as Bernadette Devlin and Bernadette McAliskey, is a Northern Ireland republican politician. ... Austin Currie (born 11 October 1939) is a former Irish politician, being elected to the parliaments of both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. ... Nonviolence (or non-violence) is a set of assumptions about morality, power and conflict that leads its proponents to reject the use of violence in efforts to attain social or political goals. ... A United Ireland is the common demand of Irish nationalists, envisaging that the island of Ireland (currently divided into the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland) be reunited as a single political entity. ... Socialism refers to a broad array of doctrines or political movements that envisage a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to social control. ...

As a response to the civil rights campaign militant loyalist paramilitary groups started to emerge in the Protestant community. The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) was the first. The UVF had originally existed among loyalist Ulster Protestants before World War I to oppose Home Rule, but was absorbed into the Ulster Special Constabulary after 1921. In the 1960s it was relaunched by militant loyalists, encouraged by certain politicians, to oppose any attempt to reunite Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland, which is how they saw any change in their status vis-a-vis Catholics. The word militant has come to refer to any individual or party engaged in aggressive physical or verbal combat, normally for a cause. ... A paramilitary organization is a group of civilians trained and organised in a military fashion. ... The Ulster Volunteer Force (more commonly referred to as the UVF) is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. ... In general, a loyalist is an individual who is loyal to the powers that be or The Establishment. ... Statistics Area: 24,481 Population (estimate) 1,931,981 Ulster (Irish: Cúige Uladh, IPA: ) forms one of the four traditional provinces of Ireland. ... Combatants Allied Powers: British Empire French Empire Italy Russian Empire Kingdom of Serbia United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary Bulgaria German Empire Ottoman Empire Commanders Douglas Haig Sir John Jellicoe Ferdinand Foch Nikolay II Nikolay Yudenich Radomir Putnik Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Wilhelm II Reinhard Scheer Franz Josef I Oskar... The Government of Ireland Act 1914, more generally known as the Third Home Rule Act (or Bill) or the (Irish) Home Rule Act 1914, was an Act of Parliament passed by the British House of Commons in May 1914 under the official short title Government of Ireland Act 1914, which... The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC) was a reserve force of the Royal Ulster Constabulary. ...

By mid 1969 the violence in Northern Ireland exploded. Consistent with their new political ideology, the IRA declined to intervene. By late August, the British government had to intervene and declare a state of emergency, sending a large number of troops into Northern Ireland to stop the intercommunal violence. Initially welcomed by some Catholics as protectors, later events such as Bloody Sunday and the Falls Road curfew turned many against the British Army. A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend certain normal functions of government, may work to alert citizens to alter their normal behaviors, or may order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. ...

1970 - 1985

Divisions began to emerge in the Republican movement between leftists and conservatives. The leader of the IRA, Cathal Goulding believed that the IRA could not beat the British with military tactics and should turn into a workers' revolutionary movement that would overthrow both governments to achieve a 32-county socialist republic through the will of the people (after WWII the IRA no longer engaged in any actions against the Republic). Goulding also drove the IRA into an ideologically Marxist-Leninist direction which attracted idealistic young supporters in the Republic, but alienated and angered many of the IRA's core supporters in the North. In particular, his decision to regard the UVF as deluded rather than as the enemy, was anathema to traditionalists and those who were its potential victims. Cathal Goulding (January 1922 - December 28, 1998) was Chief of Staff of the IRA and the Official IRA. Born into a Republican family, Goulding was involved as teenager in Na Fianna (the Junior IRA) and joined the IRA at the age of 17 in 1939, the earliest age at which... Vladimir Lenin in 1920 Leninism is a political and economic theory which builds upon Marxism; it is a branch of Marxism (and it has been the dominant branch of Marxism in the world since the 1920s). ...

The argument led to a split in 1970, between the Official IRA (supporters of Goulding's Marxist line) and the Provisional IRA (also called Provos, traditional nationalist republicans). The Provos were led by Seán Mac Stiofáin and immediately began a large scale campaign against British state forces and economic targets in Northern Ireland. The Official IRA were also initially drawn into an armed campaign by the escalating communal violence. In 1972, the Official IRA declared a cease-fire, which, apart from feuds with other republican groups, has been maintained to date. Nowadays the term 'Irish Republican Army' almost always denotes the Provisional IRA. The term Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA refers to one of the two organisations - the other being the Provisional Irish Republican Army - that emerged from the split in the then Irish Republican Army in 1969-70. ... The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) is a paramilitary group which aimed, through the use of violence, to achieve three goals: (i) British withdrawal from Ireland, (ii) the political unification of Ireland through the merger of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland , and (iii) the creation of an all... Seán Mac Stiofáin (17 February 1928- 18 May 2001) was an Irish republican and first chief of staff of the Provisional IRA. // Childhood Although he used the Gaelicised version of his name in later life, Mac Stiofáin was born an only child as John Edward Drayton Stephenson... From 1969 until 1997, the Provisional Irish Republican Armyconducted an armed campaign in Northern Ireland aimed at overthrowing British rule there and creating a united Ireland. ...

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the conflict continued claiming thousands of lives, with the UVF (and other loyalist groups) extending attacks into the Republic of Ireland and the IRA launching attacks on targets in England. However some things slowly began to change. In the 1980s Provisional Sinn Féin (the Provisional IRA's political wing) began contesting elections and by the mid 1990s was representing the republican position at peace negotiations. In the loyalist movement splits occurred, the Ulster Unionist Party made tentative attempts to reform itself and attract Catholics into supporting the union with Britain, while the radical Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) led by Rev. Ian Paisley began attracting working class Protestant loyalists who felt alienated by the UUP's overtures towards Catholics. Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification    - by Athelstan 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi   - Water (%) Population... For other political parties named Democratic Unionist Party, see Democratic Unionist Party (disambiguation). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

1986 - Present

At the 1986 Sinn Féin Ard Fheis, a motion declaring the end of the policy of abstentionism (refusing to take seats in the Republic of Ireland's parliament), was passed. This motion caused a split in the movement creating Republican Sinn Fein, a party committed to the 1970s "provisional" Sinn Fein vision of a 32 County federal republic. It was led by former Sinn Féin President Ruairí Ó Brádaigh (who had previously led "provisonal" Sinn Féin to split from Official Sinn Féin). The policy of participation in Dáil elections became known as "the Armalite and the ballot box". Sinn Féin (pronounced in English, in Irish) is a name used by a series of Irish political movements of the 20th century, each of which claimed sole descent from the original party established by Arthur Griffith in 1905. ... An Ard Fheis is an annual convention, usually of a political party. ... Abstentionism is the policy of seeking election to a body while refusing to take up the seats or even sitting in an alternative assembly. ... Republican Sinn Féin (RSF) is a minor political party operating in Ireland. ... Ruairí Ó Brádaigh Ruairí Ó Brádaigh (born 1932) is an Irish republican. ... ArmaLite, originally the ArmaLite Division of the Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation, is one of the most influential corporations in the history of 20th century small arms. ...

In 1994 the leaders of Northern Ireland's two largest nationalist parties, Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Féin and John Hume, the leader of the SDLP (Irish Social-Democratic Labour Party) entered into peace negotiations with Unionist leaders like David Trimble of the UUP and the British government. At the table most of the paramilitary groups (including the IRA and UVF) had representatives. In 1998 when the IRA endorsed the Good Friday Agreement between nationalist and unionist parties and both governments, another small group split from the IRA to form the Real IRA (RIRA). The Continuity and Real IRA have both engaged in attacks not only against the British and loyalists, but even against their fellow nationalists (members of Sinn Féin, the SDLP and IRA). Gerry Adams Gerry Adams MP, MLA, (Irish: Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh; born 6 October 1948) is an Irish Republican politician and abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for West Belfast. ... John Hume John Hume (born 18 January 1937) is a Northern Irish politician, and co-recipient of the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize, with David Trimble of the UUP. He was the second leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, a position he held from 1979 until 2001. ... The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP — Irish: Páirtí Sóisialta Daonlathach an Lucht Oibre) is the smaller of the two major nationalist parties in Northern Ireland. ... The Lord Trimble William David Trimble, Baron Trimble (born 15 October 1944) is a Northern Irish politician who served as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and the first First Minister of Northern Ireland. ... The Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement and, more rarely, as the Stormont Agreement) was signed in Belfast on April 10, 1998 by the British and Irish Governments and endorsed by most Northern Ireland political parties. ... Categories: Wikipedia cleanup | Organization stubs | Terrorist organizations in Northern Ireland | Rebellion ...

Since 1998, the IRA and UVF have adhered to a ceasefire. However on the loyalist side the UDA and radical splinter groups that left the UVF after it endorsed the Good Friday Agreement (like the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) have continued attacking Catholics and each other. The Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) is a loyalist terrorist group in Northern Ireland which broke away from the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and was led by the late Billy Wright. ...

Today the republican movement can be divided into moderates who wish to reunite with the Republic through peaceful means and radicals who wish to continue an armed campaign.

In late July 2005, the IRA announced that the conflict was over and that their weapons were to be put out of use. With a large stock of weapons being reportedly "decommisioned" later that year however whether this represents the entire stock of IRA weaponry is disputed by some Unionists.