Trouble Brewing in the North
While the Republic of Ireland worked out its path of independent development, Northern Ireland embraced its role as a loyal province of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland's industries successfully pursued further economic ties with England, and the standard of living in the North continued to outpace that of the South. As described previously, Northern Ireland played an important role in World War II. In part because of its sacrifices during the war, the United Kingdom rewarded Northern Ireland with substantial welfare funding, allowing the North's standard of living to rise further above that of the South.
A Divided Society
Northern Ireland's image as a peaceful and prosperous British province, however, concealed a tension beneath the surface. There were still Irish Nationalists who wanted to undo Partition. Fianna Fáil maintained that Northern Ireland was part of Ireland, as shown by territorial claims in the 1937 constitution. The Protestant politicians of Northern Ireland staunchly denied these claims. In 1954 they passed the Flags and Emblems Act, which made it illegal to fly the tricolor Irish flag in Northern Ireland. Although politicians in the Republic often spoke of reuniting their country, the majority of them realized that, in practical terms, their claims were little more than rhetoric.
Seamus Heaney (1939–present) is Northern Ireland's greatest poet. Born into a Catholic family in rural County Derry, Heaney poured the tensions and divisions of his society into some of the most evocative poetry of the century. He is currently a professor at Harvard University. His works, including
One group that did not accept Northern Ireland's status was the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Remnants of this organization had existed ever since the Civil War, even though the Free State had outlawed it. From 1956 to 1962, IRA terrorists in the Republic waged a guerrilla war across the border against Northern Ireland's police force and soldiers. The conflict claimed nineteen lives. In the end, however, the IRA ceased the effort after it acknowledged that it had no support from the people of either the Republic or Northern Ireland.
The situation would change, however, in the late 1960s. Although Northern Ireland was generally prosperous, beneath the surface was a profound inequality that split along religious lines. The Catholic minority of Northern Ireland was kept as an underclass by an entrenched system of discrimination in employment, housing, and education. Anger at the continuing inequality would spark a wave of civil rights protests. These protests set in motion the bloody conflict known as the Troubles.
