Troubles
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Maze Prison
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People
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Hungerstrikers & prisoners
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Republican people
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Loyalist people
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Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (née Roberts, 13 October 1925 - 8 April 2013) was a British politician, the longest-serving (1979–1990) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of the 20th century, and the only woman ever to have held the post. A Soviet journalist nicknamed her the "Iron Lady", which became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. As Prime Minister, she implemented Conservative policies that have come to be known as Thatcherism.
Originally a research chemist before becoming a barrister, Thatcher was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Finchley in 1959. Edward Heath appointed her Secretary of State for Education and Science in his 1970 government. In 1975 Thatcher defeated Heath in the Conservative Party leadership election and became Leader of the Opposition, as well as the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom. She became Prime Minister after winning the 1979 general election.
After entering 10 Downing Street, Thatcher introduced a series of political and economic initiatives to reverse what she perceived to be Britain's precipitous national decline. Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasised deregulation (particularly of the financial sector), flexible labour markets, the privatisation of state-owned companies, and reducing the power and influence of trade unions. Thatcher's popularity during her first years in office waned amid recession and high unemployment, until economic recovery and the 1982 Falklands War brought a resurgence of support, resulting in her re-election in 1983.
Thatcher was re-elected for a third term in 1987, but her Community Charge (popularly referred to as "poll tax") was widely unpopular and her views on the European Community were not shared by others in her Cabinet. She resigned as Prime Minister and party leader in November 1990, after Michael Heseltine launched a challenge to her leadership. Thatcher holds a life peerage as Baroness Thatcher, of Kesteven in the County of Lincolnshire, which entitles her to sit in the House of Lords.
Premiership during the Troubles (1979/83)
Thatcher became Prime Minister on 4 May 1979. Arriving at 10 Downing Street, she said, in a paraphrase of the "Prayer of Saint Francis": "Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope".
As for the Troubles, in May 1980, one day before Thatcher was due to meet the Irish Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, to discuss Northern Ireland, she announced in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom that "the future of the constitutional affairs of Northern Ireland is a matter for the people of Northern Ireland, this government, this parliament, and no-one else."
In 1981, a number of Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Irish National Liberation Army prisoners in Northern Ireland's Maze Prison (known in Northern Ireland as 'Long Kesh', its previous official name, but changed because 'Long Kesh' meant torture for the Repulican people) went on hunger strike to regain the status of political prisoners, which had been revoked five years earlier under the preceding Labour government. Bobby Sands, the first of the strikers, was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone a few weeks before he died.
Thatcher refused to countenance a return to political status for republican prisoners, famously declaring, 'Crime is crime is crime; it is not political.' After nine more men had died, most rights were restored to paramilitary prisoners, but official recognition of their political status was not granted. Thatcher later asserted, 'The outcome was a significant defeat for the IRA.'
Thatcher also continued the policy of 'Ulsterisation' of the previous Labour government and its Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Roy Mason, believing that the Unionists of Northern Ireland should be at the forefront in combating Irish republicanism. This meant relieving the burden on the mainstream British army and elevating the role of the Ulster Defence Regiment and the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
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Originally a research chemist before becoming a barrister, Thatcher was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Finchley in 1959. Edward Heath appointed her Secretary of State for Education and Science in his 1970 government. In 1975 Thatcher defeated Heath in the Conservative Party leadership election and became Leader of the Opposition, as well as the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom. She became Prime Minister after winning the 1979 general election.
After entering 10 Downing Street, Thatcher introduced a series of political and economic initiatives to reverse what she perceived to be Britain's precipitous national decline. Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasised deregulation (particularly of the financial sector), flexible labour markets, the privatisation of state-owned companies, and reducing the power and influence of trade unions. Thatcher's popularity during her first years in office waned amid recession and high unemployment, until economic recovery and the 1982 Falklands War brought a resurgence of support, resulting in her re-election in 1983.
Thatcher was re-elected for a third term in 1987, but her Community Charge (popularly referred to as "poll tax") was widely unpopular and her views on the European Community were not shared by others in her Cabinet. She resigned as Prime Minister and party leader in November 1990, after Michael Heseltine launched a challenge to her leadership. Thatcher holds a life peerage as Baroness Thatcher, of Kesteven in the County of Lincolnshire, which entitles her to sit in the House of Lords.
Premiership during the Troubles (1979/83)
Thatcher became Prime Minister on 4 May 1979. Arriving at 10 Downing Street, she said, in a paraphrase of the "Prayer of Saint Francis": "Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope".
As for the Troubles, in May 1980, one day before Thatcher was due to meet the Irish Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, to discuss Northern Ireland, she announced in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom that "the future of the constitutional affairs of Northern Ireland is a matter for the people of Northern Ireland, this government, this parliament, and no-one else."
In 1981, a number of Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Irish National Liberation Army prisoners in Northern Ireland's Maze Prison (known in Northern Ireland as 'Long Kesh', its previous official name, but changed because 'Long Kesh' meant torture for the Repulican people) went on hunger strike to regain the status of political prisoners, which had been revoked five years earlier under the preceding Labour government. Bobby Sands, the first of the strikers, was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone a few weeks before he died.
Thatcher refused to countenance a return to political status for republican prisoners, famously declaring, 'Crime is crime is crime; it is not political.' After nine more men had died, most rights were restored to paramilitary prisoners, but official recognition of their political status was not granted. Thatcher later asserted, 'The outcome was a significant defeat for the IRA.'
Thatcher also continued the policy of 'Ulsterisation' of the previous Labour government and its Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Roy Mason, believing that the Unionists of Northern Ireland should be at the forefront in combating Irish republicanism. This meant relieving the burden on the mainstream British army and elevating the role of the Ulster Defence Regiment and the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
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Humphrey Atkins
Humphrey Edward Gregory Atkins, Baron Colnbrook KCMG PC (12 August 1922 – 4 October 1996) was a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher from 1979–82.
Atkins was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire, and served in the Royal Navy from 1940–48. He worked for a linoleum manufacturer then as a director of a financial advertising agency.
Atkins contested the constituency of West Lothian in 1951, and was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Merton and Morden in 1955. He became MP for Spelthorne in 1970.
Atkins was Conservative Chief Whip from 1973–79, and served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 1979–1981. With Sands close to death, Atkins stated "If Mr. Sands persisted in his wish to commit suicide, that was his choice. The Government would not force medical treatment upon him". Atkins was appointed in September 1981 as Lord Privy Seal, in which role he was the chief government spokesman in the House of Commons for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. The role was necessary because the Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrington, sat in the House of Lords. He resigned in April 1982 along with Lord Carrington over the Falklands invasion.
Atkins left the House of Commons in 1987, and was made a life peer as Baron Colnbrook of Waltham St Lawrence in the County of Berkshire. He died in 1996.
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Atkins was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire, and served in the Royal Navy from 1940–48. He worked for a linoleum manufacturer then as a director of a financial advertising agency.
Atkins contested the constituency of West Lothian in 1951, and was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Merton and Morden in 1955. He became MP for Spelthorne in 1970.
Atkins was Conservative Chief Whip from 1973–79, and served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 1979–1981. With Sands close to death, Atkins stated "If Mr. Sands persisted in his wish to commit suicide, that was his choice. The Government would not force medical treatment upon him". Atkins was appointed in September 1981 as Lord Privy Seal, in which role he was the chief government spokesman in the House of Commons for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. The role was necessary because the Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrington, sat in the House of Lords. He resigned in April 1982 along with Lord Carrington over the Falklands invasion.
Atkins left the House of Commons in 1987, and was made a life peer as Baron Colnbrook of Waltham St Lawrence in the County of Berkshire. He died in 1996.
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Ian Paisley
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, PC (born 6 April 1926) is a politician and former church minister from Northern Ireland. As the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), he and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness were elected First Minister and deputy First Minister respectively on 8 May 2007. Paisley retired from religious ministry on 27 January 2012.
In addition to co-founding the DUP and leading it from 1971 to 2008, he is a founding member and was Moderator for 57 years of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster. In 2005, Paisley's political party became the largest unionist party in Northern Ireland, displacing his long-term rivals, the Ulster Unionists (UUP), who had dominated unionist politics in Northern Ireland since before the partition of Ireland.
From the 1960s, one of his main rivals was civil rights leader and co-founder of the nationalist SDLP, John Hume. British Government papers released in 2002, show that in 1971 Paisley attempted to reach a compromise with the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). The attempt was made via then British Cabinet Secretary, Sir Burke Trend. The papers show that Paisley had indicated he could "reach an accommodation with leaders of the Catholic minority, which would provide the basis of a new government in Stormont." It appears that the move was rejected once it became clear to the SDLP that the deal would favour the unionist majority. On the day of Bobby Sands' funeral (1981), Paisley held a memorial service outside of Belfast city hall to commemorate the victims of the IRA.
Though their parties are often at loggerheads, Hume and Paisley worked jointly on behalf of Northern Ireland in the European Parliament and on occasion worked jointly in the British House of Commons.
On 4 March 2008 Paisley announced that he would step down as First Minister and leader of the DUP after the US-Northern Ireland Investment Conference in May 2008. Peter Robinson took over as DUP leader on 31 May 2008, and replaced Paisley as First Minister on 5 June 2008. Paisley was made a life peer in the Dissolution Honours List of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, ennobled on 18 June 2010 as Baron Bannside, of North Antrim in the County of Antrim.
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In addition to co-founding the DUP and leading it from 1971 to 2008, he is a founding member and was Moderator for 57 years of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster. In 2005, Paisley's political party became the largest unionist party in Northern Ireland, displacing his long-term rivals, the Ulster Unionists (UUP), who had dominated unionist politics in Northern Ireland since before the partition of Ireland.
From the 1960s, one of his main rivals was civil rights leader and co-founder of the nationalist SDLP, John Hume. British Government papers released in 2002, show that in 1971 Paisley attempted to reach a compromise with the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). The attempt was made via then British Cabinet Secretary, Sir Burke Trend. The papers show that Paisley had indicated he could "reach an accommodation with leaders of the Catholic minority, which would provide the basis of a new government in Stormont." It appears that the move was rejected once it became clear to the SDLP that the deal would favour the unionist majority. On the day of Bobby Sands' funeral (1981), Paisley held a memorial service outside of Belfast city hall to commemorate the victims of the IRA.
Though their parties are often at loggerheads, Hume and Paisley worked jointly on behalf of Northern Ireland in the European Parliament and on occasion worked jointly in the British House of Commons.
On 4 March 2008 Paisley announced that he would step down as First Minister and leader of the DUP after the US-Northern Ireland Investment Conference in May 2008. Peter Robinson took over as DUP leader on 31 May 2008, and replaced Paisley as First Minister on 5 June 2008. Paisley was made a life peer in the Dissolution Honours List of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, ennobled on 18 June 2010 as Baron Bannside, of North Antrim in the County of Antrim.
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David Trimble
William David Trimble, Baron Trimble, PC (born 15 October 1944, in Belfast) is a politician from Northern Ireland. He served as Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP; 1995–2005), was the first First Minister of Northern Ireland (1998–2002), and was a Member of the British Parliament (1990–2005). He is currently a life peer for the Conservative Party. Trimble was awarded the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize, along with John Hume.
While a professor of law at Queen's University Belfast, he was elected to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention. He served as Member of Parliament for Upper Bann from 1990 until 2005. He resigned the leadership of the UUP soon afterwards. In June 2006, he became a member of the House of Lords, taking the title of Baron Trimble of Lisnagarvey in the County of Antrim. In April 2007 he left the UUP to join the Conservative Party.
Trimble became involved with the right-wing, paramilitary-linked Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party (known as Vanguard) in the early 1970s. He ran unsuccessfully for the party in the 1973 Assembly election for North Down, coming last. In 1974, he was a legal adviser to the Ulster Workers' Council during the successful UWC strike against the Sunningdale Agreement.
He was elected to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention in 1975 as a Vanguard member for Belfast South, and for a time he served as the party's joint deputy leader, along with the Ulster Defence Association's Glenn Barr. The party had been established to oppose sharing power with Irish Nationalists, and to prevent closer ties with the Republic of Ireland.
He joined the mainstream Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in 1978 after Vanguard disbanded, and was elected one of the four party secretaries. He was elected to Parliament with 58% of the vote in a by-election in Upper Bann in 1990. He was one of the few British politicians who urged support for the Islamic government of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the civil war in the 1990s.
In September 1995 Trimble was unexpectedly elected Leader of the UUP, the largest party in Northern Ireland and the voice of mainstream unionism. Trimble's election as party leader came in the aftermath of his role in the Drumcree conflict, in which he led a controversial 1995 Orange Order Protestant march, amidst Nationalist protest, down the predominantly Roman Catholic Nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown, County Armagh. Trimble and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Ian Paisley walked hand-in-hand as the march, banned since 1997, proceeded down the road. Irish Catholics viewed it as insensitive; Protestants viewed it as Trimble sticking up for them.
Trimble shortly after his election became the first unionist leader in 30 years to meet with a Taoiseach (prime minister) in Dublin. In 1997, he became the first unionist leader to agree to attend negotiations with Sinn Féin since the island of Ireland was partitioned in 1922 between Northern Ireland, which remained in the United Kingdom, and the quasi-independent Irish Free State. The talks were successful, culminating in the Belfast Agreement of 10 April 1998, which resulted in power-sharing with Nationalists. On 22 May 1998, the Agreement was approved by 71% in Northern Ireland.
The talks resulted in the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement (GFA) of April 1998. Trimble was subsequently seen as instrumental in getting his party to accept the accord. He backed the agreement despite opposition from more than half his parliamentary colleagues, which won him overwhelming support from London, Dublin, and Washington. In a referendum, over 70% of the Northern Ireland electorate endorsed the agreement, and he later won support for his approach from his party’s ruling body.
On 1 July 1998 he was elected First Minister of Northern Ireland in the New Northern Ireland Assembly. In October 1998, Trimble and John Hume were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland.
On 11 April 2006, it was announced that Trimble would take a seat in the House of Lords as a working life peer, as an appointed members of the Peerage whose title may not be inherited. Subsequently, on 2 June 2006, he was created Baron Trimble, of Lisnagarvey in the County of Antrim.
On 17 April 2007, Trimble announced he had decided to join the Conservative Party in order to have greater influence in politics in the United Kingdom. At the same time, he roposed the idea of a future alliance between the Conservatives and the Ulster Unionists. This idea became reality with the formation of Ulster Conservatives and Unionists - New Force in late 2008.
On 14 June 2010, he was appointed as an observer to the Israeli special independent public Turkel Commission of Inquiry into the Gaza flotilla raid. The Commission investigated whether Israel's actions in preventing the arrival of ships in Gaza were in accordance with international law. he panel, in January 2011, concluded both Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza and the interception of the flotilla “were found to be legally pursuant to the rules of international law”.
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While a professor of law at Queen's University Belfast, he was elected to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention. He served as Member of Parliament for Upper Bann from 1990 until 2005. He resigned the leadership of the UUP soon afterwards. In June 2006, he became a member of the House of Lords, taking the title of Baron Trimble of Lisnagarvey in the County of Antrim. In April 2007 he left the UUP to join the Conservative Party.
Trimble became involved with the right-wing, paramilitary-linked Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party (known as Vanguard) in the early 1970s. He ran unsuccessfully for the party in the 1973 Assembly election for North Down, coming last. In 1974, he was a legal adviser to the Ulster Workers' Council during the successful UWC strike against the Sunningdale Agreement.
He was elected to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention in 1975 as a Vanguard member for Belfast South, and for a time he served as the party's joint deputy leader, along with the Ulster Defence Association's Glenn Barr. The party had been established to oppose sharing power with Irish Nationalists, and to prevent closer ties with the Republic of Ireland.
He joined the mainstream Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in 1978 after Vanguard disbanded, and was elected one of the four party secretaries. He was elected to Parliament with 58% of the vote in a by-election in Upper Bann in 1990. He was one of the few British politicians who urged support for the Islamic government of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the civil war in the 1990s.
In September 1995 Trimble was unexpectedly elected Leader of the UUP, the largest party in Northern Ireland and the voice of mainstream unionism. Trimble's election as party leader came in the aftermath of his role in the Drumcree conflict, in which he led a controversial 1995 Orange Order Protestant march, amidst Nationalist protest, down the predominantly Roman Catholic Nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown, County Armagh. Trimble and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Ian Paisley walked hand-in-hand as the march, banned since 1997, proceeded down the road. Irish Catholics viewed it as insensitive; Protestants viewed it as Trimble sticking up for them.
Trimble shortly after his election became the first unionist leader in 30 years to meet with a Taoiseach (prime minister) in Dublin. In 1997, he became the first unionist leader to agree to attend negotiations with Sinn Féin since the island of Ireland was partitioned in 1922 between Northern Ireland, which remained in the United Kingdom, and the quasi-independent Irish Free State. The talks were successful, culminating in the Belfast Agreement of 10 April 1998, which resulted in power-sharing with Nationalists. On 22 May 1998, the Agreement was approved by 71% in Northern Ireland.
The talks resulted in the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement (GFA) of April 1998. Trimble was subsequently seen as instrumental in getting his party to accept the accord. He backed the agreement despite opposition from more than half his parliamentary colleagues, which won him overwhelming support from London, Dublin, and Washington. In a referendum, over 70% of the Northern Ireland electorate endorsed the agreement, and he later won support for his approach from his party’s ruling body.
On 1 July 1998 he was elected First Minister of Northern Ireland in the New Northern Ireland Assembly. In October 1998, Trimble and John Hume were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland.
On 11 April 2006, it was announced that Trimble would take a seat in the House of Lords as a working life peer, as an appointed members of the Peerage whose title may not be inherited. Subsequently, on 2 June 2006, he was created Baron Trimble, of Lisnagarvey in the County of Antrim.
On 17 April 2007, Trimble announced he had decided to join the Conservative Party in order to have greater influence in politics in the United Kingdom. At the same time, he roposed the idea of a future alliance between the Conservatives and the Ulster Unionists. This idea became reality with the formation of Ulster Conservatives and Unionists - New Force in late 2008.
On 14 June 2010, he was appointed as an observer to the Israeli special independent public Turkel Commission of Inquiry into the Gaza flotilla raid. The Commission investigated whether Israel's actions in preventing the arrival of ships in Gaza were in accordance with international law. he panel, in January 2011, concluded both Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza and the interception of the flotilla “were found to be legally pursuant to the rules of international law”.
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