Bloody Sunday.

[d-ray657]

Originally Posted by Combwork

I remember reading about that; four dead for no good reason. To understand Irish politics both north and south, you really need to go back before the Battle of the Boyn in 1690 and work your way forward.

In essence, Northern Ireland (Ulster) is mainly Protestant, Unionist, and wants to remain as part of the United Kingdom. Southern Ireland is an independent country, mainly Catholic, Republican and maintains it has sovereignty over the north.

There are three basic arguments; political, religious and the numbers game. Keeping away from politics and religion (I'm neither brave nor foolish enough to get tangled up in that one) the numbers game is basic. The population of Southern Ireland is much larger than that of Northern Ireland, and the fear amongst the Unionists is that in a united Ireland, the South with its own culture and religion would dominate the North.

If I recall my European history course from over 30 years ago, one of the roots of this dispute relates to the heirs of Henry VIII. Different factions viewed different members of the royal family as bastards because of the various ways Henry had gone about swapping wives. I'm sure my memory is hazy, but is there any accuracy in this recollection?

Regards,

D-ray