Word: irelands
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Since the "troubles" first began in Northern Ireland eight years ago, the press has repeatedly reported that the "vast majority" of people there support peace. Yet, a cruel fact in Ulster politics has been that the same "vast majority" has also supported violence, indirectly or directly, unintentionally or intentionally: whether it be the violence of the security forces or the paramilitaries, official or illegal...
...often said that the Irish love their history. In truth, the Irish love their myths, which bear only indirectly on their history, but which have become powerful forces in themselves. The greatest myth in Northern Ireland is that of the monolithic opposition. The Catholic sees all Protestants as irrevocably bent on depriving him of his rights; the Protestant suspects all Catholics of being incorrigible republicans...
Another fact seldom appreciated outside of Northern Ireland is the extent to which the conflict exclusively takes place in the working class. In the larger cities, particularly Belfast and Londonderry, where the violence predominates and where Protestants and Catholics live in tense proximity, the population is heavily working class. Virtually all the major violence occurs in working class neighborhoods. The main para-militaries--the IRA, and the Ulster Defense Association (UDA) and the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), both Protestant groups--are all manned by residents of these communities. Even the British army, manned by recruits from the back streets...
...gunned down in her mobile home. The third group of attackers even turned their guns on their victim's terrified three-year-old daughter, sending bullets through the Teddy bear she was holding but leaving her unharmed. Despite objections that the peace movement has become passe, Northern Ireland clearly needs every Peace Person...
...contrary, they seem to relish the fading trappings of white supremacy. Says a recently arrived young Englishman: "I'm sick of the situation in Britain, the unions, the high taxes, the lack of opportunity." William McBurnie, 32, a diesel fitter from the Protestant town of Ballymena in Northern Ireland, began work last week in Bindura, a farming community 40 miles from Salisbury. "I have a great respect for [Prime Minister] Ian Smith and the way the government stands up for the army and the Europeans here," he says. "The soldier is a lot better treated here than...