Direct rule and the Troubles 1969-1985

The period from 1969 to 1985 represents the most violent phase of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. For CCEA students, this is essential local history — events that affected families across Northern Ireland within living memory. Examiners expect both factual knowledge and the ability to analyse cause, consequence and the significance of key events.

The British army arrives (August 1969)

Following the violence of the "Battle of the Bogside" in Derry (August 1969) and subsequent inter-communal violence in Belfast — in which whole streets were burned out and families displaced — the British government deployed the army to Northern Ireland.

Initially, many nationalists welcomed the army as protection against loyalist attacks and the B-Specials (the Ulster Special Constabulary). This goodwill rapidly evaporated.

Internment (1971)

On 9 August 1971, Operation Demetrius introduced internment without trial — the detention of suspected IRA members without charge or due process. The British government and Stormont believed targeted arrests would cripple the IRA.

The policy was disastrously counterproductive:

• The intelligence was outdated; many arrested had no IRA connections.
• No loyalist paramilitaries were initially interned — damaging the perception of impartiality.
• The use of interrogation techniques later ruled to constitute inhuman treatment (the "five techniques") radicalised opinion.
• IRA recruitment surged; moderate nationalist opinion was alienated from the British state.

Bloody Sunday (30 January 1972)

During a civil rights march in Derry, soldiers of the 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment opened fire on the crowd, killing 14 civilians (13 on the day; one died later from wounds). All were unarmed.

The immediate consequences:

• The Irish government recalled its ambassador from London.
• The British Embassy in Dublin was burned by protesters.
• IRA recruitment and bombing campaigns intensified dramatically.
• The Widgery Tribunal (1972) largely exonerated the soldiers — widely condemned as a whitewash.
• The Saville Inquiry (begun 1998, reported 2010) found the killings were unjustified and unjustifiable; Prime Minister Cameron apologised to the Derry families.

Direct Rule (March 1972)

Following Bloody Sunday and the continued failure to restore order, Westminster suspended the Stormont parliament and imposed direct rule from London. Northern Ireland was now governed by a Secretary of State — beginning with William Whitelaw.

Unionists were horrified at the suspension of their parliament; nationalists were divided — some saw direct rule as a step towards Irish unity, others recognised it gave them no greater democratic voice.

The IRA bombing campaigns

Both the Provisional IRA (PIRA) and Official IRA continued bombing campaigns aimed at making Northern Ireland ungovernable. Notable events:

• Bloody Friday (21 July 1972): the IRA detonated 22 bombs in Belfast within 75 minutes, killing 9 and injuring 130.
• Birmingham pub bombings (1974): 21 killed. Led to the Prevention of Terrorism Act (1974).
• The Mountbatten assassination and Warrenpoint massacre (1979): 18 soldiers and Lord Mountbatten killed on the same day.

The hunger strikes (1981)

Republican prisoners in the Maze/Long Kesh prison had been demanding political status (treatment as prisoners of war rather than criminals). After previous protests failed, Bobby Sands began a hunger strike in March 1981.

Sands was elected as MP for Fermanagh-South Tyrone while on hunger strike — demonstrating that republicans could win significant electoral support. He died on 5 May 1981, 66 days into his fast. Nine more prisoners died.

The hunger strikes were a turning point: they galvanised international sympathy for republicanism, radicalised a generation, and — critically — convinced Sinn Fein leaders that electoral politics could work alongside armed struggle (the "Armalite and the ballot box" strategy, sometimes attributed to Danny Morrison).

The Anglo-Irish Agreement (1985)

Signed at Hillsborough on 15 November 1985 by Margaret Thatcher and Garret FitzGerald, the Anglo-Irish Agreement gave the Republic of Ireland a consultative role in Northern Irish affairs through the Intergovernmental Conference.

Unionists were furious: they staged massive protests, signed the "Ulster Says No" campaign, and resigned their Westminster seats to force by-elections (which they mostly won back). The agreement survived these protests, however, and established an important precedent — that the British and Irish governments would co-operate on Northern Ireland's future.