The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association was an organization which campaigned for civil rights for Northern Ireland's Catholic minority. The organization's demands for reform, and the subsequent backlash by the unionist majority, led to the Troubles, a conflict which has lasted for more than thirty years. Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... Royal motto: Quis separabit (Latin: Who will separate?) Northern Irelands location within the UK Official languages English, Irish, Ulster Scots Capital and largest city Belfast First Minister Office suspended Area  - Total Ranked 4th 13,843 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 4th 1,685,267 122/km² NUTS 1... In the Irish context, Unionists form a group of exclusively Protestant people in Ireland, of all social classes, who wish to see the continuation of the 1801 Act of Union, as amended by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, under which the Northern Ireland provincial state created in that latter... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

Origins

The NICRA was founded on 29 January 1967 at a public meeting in the International Hotel, Belfast. The meeting was attended by all political parties in Northern Ireland, although the Ulster Unionist Party delegate Nelson Elder withdrew over a dispute about capital punishment. January 29 is the 29th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1967 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Belfast (Béal Feirste in Irish) is a city in the United Kingdom. ... The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP, sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or OUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland, and was the party of government in Northern Ireland between 1921 and 1972. ... Death Penalty World Map Color Key: Blue: Abolished for all crimes Green: Abolished, except for crimes committed under certain circumstances (such as crimes committed in time of war) Orange: Abolished in practice Red: Legal form of punishment Capital punishment, also referred to as the death penalty, is the judicially ordered...

The meeting elected a 13-member committee to draw up a constitution for the new organization. This committee contained representatives from the Northern Ireland Labour Party, the Ulster Liberal Party, the Committee for Social Justice, the Communist Party of Ireland and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions as well as republicans. Notably, the Nationalist Party was not represented. The Northern Ireland Labour Party was a political party which operated from 1924 until the 1980s. ... The Ulster Liberal Party was the Northern Ireland branch of the UK Liberal Party. ... The Communist Party of Ireland (CPI) is a very small all-Ireland marxist party. ... The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), formed in 1959 by the merger of the Irish Trade Union Congress (founded in 1894) and the Congress of Irish Unions (founded in 1945), is the organisation to which trade unions in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland affiliate. ... Irish Republicanism is the nationalist belief that all of Ireland should be a united independent republic. ... The Nationalist Party existed under various froms from 1874 to 1973. ...

The new organization's demands included:

• the repeal of the Special Powers Acts of 1922, 1933, and 1943
• the disbandment of the B Specials paramilitary police force
• an end to the gerrymandering of local electoral districts, which ensured unionist control over local government even in towns with nationalist majorities
• an end to discrimination in the awarding of local authority housing
• an end to discrimination in government employment

In a conscious imitation of tactics used by the American Civil Rights Movement, the new organization held marches, pickets, sit-ins and protests to pressure the government of Northern Ireland to grant these demands. The first civil rights march in Northern Ireland was held on 24 August 1968 between Coalisland and Dungannon. The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC) was a reserve force of the Royal Ulster Constabulary. ... Printed in 1812, this political cartoon illustrates the electoral districts drawn by the Massachusetts legislature to favor the Jeffersonian Republican party candidates. ... The Civil Rights Movement in the United States has been a long, primarily nonviolent struggle to bring full civil rights and equality under the law to primarily African American citizens of United States. ... 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. ... August 24 is the 236th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (237th in leap years), with 129 days remaining. ... 1968 was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Coalisland (Oileán an Ghuail in Irish) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. ... Dungannon (Dún Geanainn in Irish) is a town in County Tyrone in Northern Ireland. ...

Derry March

In September 1968, the NICRA and the Derry Housing Action Committee organized a march to be held in Derry on 5 October 1968. On 1 October, the Protestant fraternal organization, the Apprentice Boys of Derry, announced their intention to march the same route on the same day and time, in an attempt to get the civil rights march banned. William Craig, the Northern Ireland Home Affairs Minister, obliged them and banned the civil rights march from the city centre. Derry or Londonderry (in Irish, Doire or Doire Cholm Chille), often called the Maiden City, is a city in Northern Ireland. ... October 5 is the 278th day of the year (279th in Leap years). ... 1968 was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... October 1 is the 274th day of the year (275th in Leap years). ... A fraternal organization is an organization that represents the relationship between its members as akin to brotherhood. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Right Honourable William Craig (b. ...

When the civil rights marchers attempted to defy the ban, they were baton-charged by the Royal Ulster Constabulary who injured many marchers. Television pictures of the march taken by an RTÉ cameraman shocked viewers across the world. Two days of rioting in nationalist areas of Derry followed. Students such as Bernadette Devlin at Queen's University Belfast were radicalized by these events and formed a more radical civil rights organization People's Democracy. The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. ... Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ; Irish for Radio and Television of Ireland) is the national publicly-funded broadcaster of Ireland. ... Josephine Bernadette Devlin McAliskey (born April 23, 1947), also known as Bernadette Devlin and Bernadette McAliskey, is a Northern Ireland republican politician. ... The Queens University of Belfast Queens University, Belfast (QUB) - or officially The Queens University of Belfast - is a university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. ...

On 22 November 1968, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland Terence O'Neill announced a series of minor reforms, including a promise to abolish the Special Powers Acts "when it was safe to do so" as well as some changes in the local government franchise and the allocation of local government housing. Following a televised appeal for calm by O'Neill on 9 December, the more moderate civil rights associations declared a month-long halt to marches. November 22 is the 326th day (327th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland was the head of the Government of Northern Ireland, appointed by the Governor of Northern Ireland under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. ... Captain Terence ONeill, Baron ONeill of the Maine (September 10, 1914 - June 12, 1990), was the fourth Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. ... December 9 is the 343rd day (344th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Burntollet

The People's Democracy group did not take part in this halt to marching. In imitation of Martin Luther King's Selma to Montgomery marches, about 40 PD members held a march between Belfast and Derry starting on 1 January 1969. The march was repeatedly attacked by loyalists (including off-duty members of the Ulster Special Constabulary) along its route. The most violent incident occurred at Burntollet bridge where the marchers were attacked by about 200 unionists armed with iron bars, bottles and stones while police did little to protect them. Martin Luther King Jr. ... John Lewis (on right in trench coat) and Hosea Williams (on the left) lead marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge,March 7, 1965 The Selma to Montgomery marches, which included Bloody Sunday, were three marches that marked the political and emotional peak of the American civil rights movement. ... January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ... For the township in Canada, see Loyalist, Ontario In general, a loyalist is an individual who is loyal to the powers that be. ... The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC) was a reserve force of the Royal Ulster Constabulary. ...

As rioting and civil disorder continued in Northern Ireland's cities, the nationalist population increasingly looked to the moribund Irish Republican Army to protect their areas from loyalist attacks. The Marxist IRA leadership refused, which led to a split in the organisation, creating the Official IRA and the Provisional IRA. 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. ... Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. ... IRA is an acronym with several meanings. ... The term Official IRA relates to one of the two elements of the Irish Republican Army - the other being the Provisional IRA - that emerged from the ideological split in the Irish Republican movement 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...

Bloody Sunday

The NICRA campaigned against internment following its introduction on 9 August 1971. At a NICRA anti-internment march in Derry on 30 January 1972, 13 unarmed demonstrators were shot dead by British troops, in what became known as Bloody Sunday. Following this event, the NICRA lost support as many nationalists lost faith in peaceful protest and turned to the Provisional IRA instead. The word internment is generally used to refer to the imprisonment or confinement of people, generally in prison camps or prisons, without due process of law and a trial. ... August 9 is the 221st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (222nd in leap years), with 144 days remaining. ... 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... Derry or Londonderry (in Irish, Doire or Doire Cholm Chille), often called the Maiden City, is a city in Northern Ireland. ... January 30 is the 30th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... 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...

External links

• Key Events - Civil Rights Campaign (1964-1972) — from the University of Ulster's CAIN project
• Northern Ireland Civil Rights Movement — from the BBC History website