Vecka 19

Thursday

War & Peace

Page 94-95

Listen to "What Nightmares are made of" page 96-97

Övningsboken sid 86-88

Tuesday

In the late 12th Century the Anglo-Normans invaded Ireland

In the mid-19th century, the Great Famine (1845-1851) resulted in the death or emigration of over two million people. At the time, trade agreements were controlled by the British government and whilst millions were suffering from hunger, Irish harvests of wheat and dairy products were exported to Britain and other overseas territories.

In the 1918 Irish general election, Sinn Féin won a majority of Irish seats and in 1919 these elected MPs declared the independence of the Irish Republic and set of their own parliament. Great Britain kept a part of the northern island: Northern Ireland. This part had a Protestant and Unionist majority who wanted to maintain ties to Britain

The Troubles = 1968-98 refers to the three-decade conflict between nationalists (mainly self-identified as Irish or Roman Catholic) and unionists (mainly self-identified as British or Protestant). The word "troubles" has been used as a synonym for violent conflict for centuries. Of a population of about 1.5 million - over 3,500 perople were killed and up to 50,000 injured over a thirty year period.

The Catholics were a minority in Northern Ireland and felt they were constantly being discriminated by the Protestants. 

Violence regularly broke out, notably at a People’s Democracy march from Belfast to Derry which was attacked by loyalists. This led to increasingly bitter rioting between the Catholic population, especially in Derry. The unrest culminated in a series of severe riots across Northern Ireland in August 12-17, 1969 in which 8 people were killed, hundreds of homes destroyed and 1,800 people displaced.

Bloody Sunday is one of the tragic attacks that took place during "The Troubles". This tragic event inspired U2's hit “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” took place January 30th, 1972, when members of the British Army opened fire on a group of unarmed civil rights protesters in the Northern Irish town of Derry, killing 14, including seven teenagers.

Sunday Bloody Sunday

The IRA = Irish Republican Army. Sinn Féin is the largest Irish republican political party, and was historically associated with the IRA. Not officially though. The goal was to remove the British rule and unite Ireland once again. 

Good Friday Agreement = The Belfast Agreement is also known as the Good Friday Agreement, because it was reached on Good Friday, 10 April 1998. It was an agreement between the British and Irish governments, and most of the political parties in Northern Ireland, on how Northern Ireland should be governed.

The Omagh bombing was a car bombing on 15 August 1998 in the town of Omagh in Northern Ireland, It was carried out by a group calling themselves the Real Irish Republican Army (Real IRA), a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) splinter group who opposed the IRA's ceasefire and the Good Friday Agreement, signed earlier in the year. The bombing killed 29 people and injured about 220 others, making it the deadliest single incident of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Telephoned warnings which did not specify the actual location had been sent almost forty minutes beforehand but police inadvertently moved people toward the bomb.