Northern Ireland was formed from six of the nine counties of Ulster: four counties with unionist majorities and two counties, Fermanagh and Tyrone, which had Irish nationalist majorities.... (more)

This course will cover the most significant events from the ending of the hunger strikes to the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. The curriculum covers: • The "Supergrass trials" of the 1980s • The Great Maze Escape in 1983 • The bombing of the Conservative party conference in 1984. • The Anglo Irish Agreement 1985. • The decision by Sinn Fein to end abstentionism in 1986 • The John Hume/Gerry Adams talks that began in 1988. • Shoot-to-kill policies of the British army - the Loughall ambush, killings in Gibralter and the assassination of solicitor Pat Finucane. • Media censorship of republicans. • Collusion between British army, police and loyalist paramilitaries in sectarian killings • The IRA campaign in England and the resignation of Margaret Thatcher. • The 1994 IRA ceasefire and the start of peace talks. • The role of US politicians and US President Bill Clinton. • The end of the IRA ceasefire when the Conservative Party, under pressure from Unionist politicians, refused to allow Sinn Fein to participate in the formal peace talks. • In 1996 the IRA bombed the London Docklands and a large part of the center of Manchester city with the largest bomb in Britain since WW2.... (more)