130 Poetry for Students

Easter Rebellion was quickly put down by British

troops, and its leaders were executed, but in mem-

ory they became martyrs to the cause of freedom.

More rebellious organizations formed, including

the Irish Republican Army. In 1920, Britain tried

to solve the trouble between Irish who wanted in-

dependence and those who wanted to remain a part

of the British United Kingdom by passing the Gov-

ernment of Ireland Act. This act divided the coun-

try into separate parts: the six northernmost coun-

ties became Northern Ireland, and the rest became

the Irish Free State, or Eire (which changed its

name to the Republic of Ireland in 1949).

Beside political divisions, religion also played

a part in the tensions; the majority of the people in

the north were Protestant and they identified them-

selves with Protestant Britain, while the Catholic

minority in Northern Ireland supported reunion

with the rest of the island, which was predomi-

nantly Catholic.

The Troubles

As the decades went by, the animosity deep-

ened between the Protestant majority, which sup-

ported staying tied to Britain, and the Catholic mi-

nority. who thought of Britain as a foreign invader.

In 1955, the Irish Republic Army, which had been

formed in the 1920s as a reaction against the coun-

try’s separation, became more active in terrorist vi-

olence to push toward reunification. During the

1960s, a period of civil strife that came to be known

around the world as the Troubles began in North-

ern Ireland. A cycle began: Catholics protested, the

government made new rules to punish the protes-

tors, and this repression led to more protest. Hous-

ing allocation and voting rights were the areas of

greatest discrimination against Northern Ireland’s

Catholics. Protests in Northern Ireland became

larger and more vocal, so British troops were sent

to keep the peace. Incidents followed: a protestor

died of wounds after being beaten by police fol-

lowing an incident at a parade, then a soldier died

fighting a violent mob.

Bloody Sunday

One of the definitive moments in Northern Ire-

land’s struggle against British rule came shortly be-

fore this poem was written, on January 30, 1972.

At a Catholic protest in Derry, British paratroop-

ers opened fire on the crowd, killing fourteen peo-

ple. The troops claimed that they acted in self-de-

fense, that the protestors were turning violent, but

observers say that the attack was unprovoked. A

British inquiry, led by the country’s Lord Chief jus-

tice, found that the soldiers did nothing wrong,

which only infuriated the Catholics more and led

many angry Catholic youths to join the IRA. This

date has come to be referred to as Bloody Sunday.

Historically, it marks the end of the period of hos-

tility between the Unionists (for a united Ireland)

and the Nationalists (supporters of Great Britain),

A Farewell to English

Compare

&

Contrast

• 1975:After nearly twenty years’ involvement in
  the war between South Vietnam and North Viet-
  nam, the United States withdraws the last of its
  troops.
  Today:Hostile relations between Vietnam and
  the United States have ended. The two govern-
  ments share economic programs.


• 1975: Nineteen-year-old computer wizard
  William Henry Gates III drops out of Harvard
  to form software manufacturer Microsoft.

Today:Bill Gates is the world’s wealthiest in-

dividual.

• 1975:Belfast, Northern Ireland, is widely con-
  sidered one of the most dangerous places on earth.
  The Irish Republican Army, fighting for North-
  ern Ireland’s freedom from Great Britain, and
  British forces often engage in open warfare.
  Today:Peace treaties have been signed between
  Great Britain and the Irish separatists, but a last-
  ing accord has not yet been reached.