History of Northern Ireland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom[1][2] (although it is also described by official sources as a province or a region[3][4]), situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It was created as a separate legal entity on 3 May 1921, under the Government of Ireland Act 1920.[5] The new autonomous Northern Ireland was formed from six of the nine counties of Ulster: four counties with unionist majorities – Antrim, Armagh, Down, and Derry/Londonderry – and two counties with slight[lower-alpha 1] Irish nationalist majorities – Fermanagh and Tyrone – in the 1918 General Election.[6] The remaining three Ulster counties with larger nationalist majorities were not included. In large part unionists, at least in the north-east, supported its creation while nationalists were opposed.
The Troubles in Northern Ireland (1920–1922) were followed by decades of relatively peaceful rule by the Ulster Unionist Party-controlled government of Northern Ireland (1921–1972), interrupted by Luftwaffe attacks during World War II. Systemic discrimination against Catholics by the government ensured a high emigration rate[citation needed] from that community and contributed to its continued dislike of the partition of Ireland. The Troubles erupted in the late 1960s, and continued until the 1998 Belfast Agreement.