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From: up547413042@ucdavis.UUCP (0048)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.legal,net.nlang.celts
Subject: Re: Re: American Official Detained, Searched & Interrogated in North Ireland
Message-ID: <321@ucdavis.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 16-Nov-85 15:24:24 EST
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Posted: Sat Nov 16 15:24:24 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 18-Nov-85 06:06:15 EST
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> Firstly, can we agree on a few basic facts about Ireland:
> Northern Ireland - the part which is presently part of the United Kingdom -
> has a population which is sharply divided on religious lines. The majority
> ( roughly 60% ) are Protestant, the minority Catholic. Nearly all the Protestant
> community wants to remain part of the U.K., while most of the Catholic community
> would like the north to become part of a united Ireland, ruled by the parliamentin Dublin which presently governs the south. 

Acutally, the division is an economic one. The religious division is a
more on the surface. Ever since the 1600's (some time in there), there
has been a great deal of animosity of the British by the native Irish.
This is because the British destroyed their legal system, their economy,
supressed and practically killed every shed of Irish culture, and tried
to force them to be Protestant. It was rotten timing too, since the Catholic
Reformation was going on at the time, and was therefore not as progressive
as it could have been. But the Catholic Church was the only instituion
associated with Ireland that was big enough to form an effective underground
against the British oppression.This is why the division seems religious.
	But when Britain took over Ireland (that is, after the more
benevolent Anglo- Irish lords), they forced the population into poverty.
They gave all the land to English landlords who extracted every ounce of
wealth for himself, barely leaving anything for the Irish to survive on.
The Irish literally went without shoes on their feet and with rags for
clothes. They leived on meager supplies of food. Many starved. A Frenchman
who had been visiting the US and saw the condition
of the black slaves stopped by Ireland on his way back to France. He
said that the Irish were even worse off than the slaves. That's pretty
bad.
	I want to disclaim, however, the use of violence in achieving
goals. I believe in a United Ireland, but I do not support the IRA.

					-- Chris.