The Irish Question

THE IRISH QUESTION (1)

1. Read the passage, then match the words in the chart with their meaning.

The reasons for the conflicting situation in Ireland are deep-rooted in religion and history: the Irish are descended from the Celtic people who originally inhabited the island and they are traditionally Catholic, while the Protestants minority is descended from the English and represents the nation that occupied Ireland and made it a colony. The Irish have always felt exploited by Great Britain and have regarded it as responsible for their economic plight. British control over Ireland dates back to the 13th century, when many Anglo-Norman barons settled in the island and introduced feudalism, forcing the native Irish to become serfs. By 1400 only the west of Ireland was under the control of Irish kings. In the 17th century many English protestants settled in the north-east (Ulster) and colonised it, and this led to conflict with the natives. Matters became worse when the English gave two thirds of Irish land to English Protestants. In 1689, when James II landed an army in Ireland, the Irish welcomed him and besieged the Protestants at Londonderry, but were defeated by Williams of Orange one year later. William wanted to subdue the Catholics, and barred them from owning land or voting: it was in that period that the Irish Protestants became known as Orangemen. In the 18th century Ireland was forbidden to produce goods or raw materials that would compete with similar British ones. In the course of the century there were uprisings against England and campaigns for Irish independence and France offered military help. The Prime Minister Pitt feared that if he granted independence to Ireland the country might be used as a base for attacks on Britain and managed to persuade the Irish Parliament to agree to its own abolition. In 1801 the Act of Union stated that Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Anglican Church became the official Irish Church and Catholics were not allowed to sit in Parliament, even if 88% of the Irish were Catholic. Only in 1829 the Parliament gave Catholics the right to vote. Most rich landowners in Ireland were English, while the natives were poor and mainly lived on potatoes, because the farming methods used didn’t provide better food. The failure of the potato crop in 1845-46 led to famine; a million people died and two million were compelled to emigrate to America. The English were blamed for the disaster and Home Rule (self-government) was invoked. A new party, called Sinn Fein (meaning ‘Ourselves Alone), was founded in 1905 and aimed at creating an Irish Republic. Tensions continued over the years: the majority of population in Ireland was Catholic and wanted Home Rule but the Ulster Protestants violently opposed it, because they wanted to keep the union with Britain. A bill was passed giving a Dublin government full control and it was due to become law in 1914. The Protestants rebelled against it, set up a private army, and Ireland was on the verge of a civil war. With the outbreak of World War I it was agreed that the hostilities between Catholics and Protestants should be suspended, but on Easter Monday, April 1916, a group of extreme nationalists, members of the Irish Republican party Sinn Fein attempted to seize power in Dublin. The uprising (called ‘Easter Rising’) was repressed by the British Army (over 450 people died and 3,000 were wounded) and the rebels were executed (thus becoming martyrs for the republican cause). The Easter Rising is strongly remembered and celebrated in Ireland by the Catholic nationalist community in the same way as the Protestants remember the victory of William of Orange over the Catholic James II in 1690. The suppression of Irish nationalism in 1916 was far from the end of the problem, but for the moment the controversy was lost in the tragedy of World War I. With the end of the war the Irish question rose again. Sinn Fein started a new series of protests against the British and refused to send members to Parliament in Westminster. After the 1918 general election the 69 Sinn Fein MPs declared themselves the elected assembly of the Irish people. A key figure was Eamon de Valera, Sinn Fein’s leader. The nationalists started organising their own army, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) which mostly used guerrilla tactics. On the opposite side were the Protestant Unionists (mainly from Northern Ireland) who wished to remain part of the UK, fearing that Home Rule would in the end allow the Catholics to take control of all Ireland. In 1921 the British government made a treaty with the rebels, and Ireland was divided into two parts: the six counties in Northern Ireland (Ulster) with a mostly Protestant population, which were given limited Home Rule and a separate parliament in Belfast but remained tied to Britain and the Irish Free State, which governed itself but stayed under British rule. The treaty wasn’t accepted by the assembly in Dublin and a bitter civil war raged between 1922 and 1923, during which 4,000 were killed. In the end the IRA surrendered their arms but not their intentions for a republic for all Ireland. In 1937 a new constitution was passed and the Free State was renamed Eire, the Gaelic name for Ireland; in 1949 Ireland broke the final link with Britain and became a republic.

Words Meaning Plight to ban or prevent sb from doing sth (escludere, proibire) Serf a lack of food during a long period of time in a region to besiege very near to the moment when sb does sth or sth happens (sul punto di) to subdue to kill sb, especially as a legal punishment (giustiziare) to bar to surround a building, city etc., with soldiers until the people inside are forced to let you in Uprising abbreviation for ‘member of parliament’ Famine a written suggestion for a new law that is presented to a country’s parliament so that its members can discuss it (disegno di legge) to blame to try or plan to achieve sth (mirare, aspirare a) to aim at to spread very quickly (infuriare) Bill a difficult and sad situation on the verge a person who was forced to live and work on land that belonged to a landowner whom they had to obey Outbreak rebellion, revolt to seize to think or say that sb/sth is responsible for sth bad (incolpare, biasimare) to execute to take control of a place or situation, often suddenly and violently MP the sudden start of sth unpleasant, especially violence or a disease (scoppio) to rage to bring sb/sth under control, especially by using force (assediare)

2. Now answer these questions.

1. Was the Irish conflict only caused by religious reasons? 2. What did Williams of Orange do? 3. What was the potato famine? 4. What wanted the Sinn Fein party? 5. What was ‘Easter Rising’ and when did it take place? 6. Why did a civil war break out after the treaty signed in 1921?