What is the Irish government's view on Northern Ireland?

Northern Ireland is a region of Britain, located in the northeast of Ireland Island, with an area of 14, 139 square kilometers and a population of1685,000 (according to the 2006 survey, 5438+0), and its capital is Belfast.

Another way of saying it: Northern Ireland is a British colony, and there are colonies illegally occupied by Britain all over the world and even in Europe, such as Falklands in Argentina, former Hong Kong and Gibraltar in Spain.

The Channel Islands of France and Northern Ireland are part of Ireland. Centuries ago, Britain destroyed Ireland, and then colonized and slaughtered local residents in large numbers, forcing many Irish people to exile in the north.

In the United States, even when southern Ireland became independent in the early 20th century, there were more British people in Northern Ireland than Irish people, so when Northern Ireland voted to decide its future, of course, the British were in the majority.

Asking to stay in Britain. However, the Irish, as a minority, still fought tirelessly, which dealt a heavy blow to the arrogance of British imperialism.

According to the Irish government law, Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland were born at the same time in 1920. Southern Ireland was immediately renamed the Irish Free State. According to the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 192 1, Ireland and the North after independence.

Ireland can decide for itself whether to join the Republic of Ireland. Northern Ireland decided to stay in Britain. Most Irish people want to stay in Britain, but an important minority (

Nationalists want to join Ireland. From 1960 s to 1990 s, the struggle between the two factions was armed. 1972, Northern Ireland's autonomy was cancelled. 1Since the mid-1990s, two factions

The main paramilitary groups reached an unreliable ceasefire agreement.

1972 After the abolition of the Northern Ireland Parliament, there was no official flag in Northern Ireland. In the past, the United Party generally used the British flag or the "bare-handed flag" of Northern Ireland, while nationalists generally used it.

Irish flag. People from both factions sometimes use the flags of their political parties or religions. Some non-neutral organizations use the St. Patrick's flag as their flag, but there are also some ultra-nationalists

Critics believe that this is also a royalist flag. So far, there is no recognized Northern Ireland flag, and Northern Ireland does not have its own national anthem.

history

Northern Ireland has suffered many big shocks in history. During the period of Elizabeth I, it was the birthplace of Irish nationalist movement. Many Scots moved here from 1605. to date

The contradiction between different ethnic groups here is still very big, and some settlements have only one ethnic group living.

Population and politics

Most northern Irish belong to two different factions: the unification faction or the national faction. External media often distinguish these two factions by their main religious beliefs. Most union members are newcomers.

Christians, most ethnic groups are Catholics. But not all Catholics support nationalism, and not all Protestants support unification. Similar to other parts of Europe, Northern Ireland in recent years.

The number of Christians has plummeted in ten years, but this has not reduced the differences between the two factions.

1920 When Northern Ireland was founded, its geographical position made the United factions there in the majority. The unionists are worried that their position will be threatened if Northern Ireland joins Ireland, so he

Scientists opposed Ireland's accession, but since then the proportion of Catholics has increased, while the proportion of Protestants has decreased.

Most Catholics support merging with Ireland, but opinion polls show that many people also support staying in Britain, although they continue to support ethnic political parties. In the past 15 years, this ethnic minority

The number has been decreasing to 20%. Protestants who support the merger with Ireland are about 3 to 5%, but the number has not changed much. There are also many people, especially Catholics, who say no to the future status of Northern Ireland.

Very clear.

Although the election in Northern Ireland is often regarded as a poll on the status of Northern Ireland in news reports, this view oversimplifies the local situation. Voters often consider communication in elections.

Improve their social status or strengthen the strength of their association through elections.

The political parties in Northern Ireland can be divided into two layers: the national political parties include the Social Democratic Labor Party (SDLP), Sinn Fein and other small parties, and the joint political parties include the Northern Ireland United Party (UUP).

Democratic unionist party and some other small parties.

Sinn Fein is theoretically an extreme socialist revolutionary party. Its goal is to establish the Socialist Republic of Ireland, which is related to the Irish Peace Army (IRA). Its voter biography

The unified land mainly comes from the Catholic working class in cities and some rural areas. Since the cease-fire of the Irish Republican Army in the mid-11990s, its influence has expanded a lot and won the recognition of traditional SDLP voters.

What a new supporter. His experience in participating in the government made him lose some sharp corners of extreme revolution. In the European Parliament, it is generally connected with the European Left/Nordic Green Left United Front, but it is not an array.

Family members.

SDLP is nominally a standard social democratic party, and it is a member of the European Socialist Party and the Socialist International. However, political parties in Northern Ireland are generally not based on the division of social class and economic class, so

Its voters are multi-layered, and it also has a middle-class voter. SDLP supported the Irish merger, but opposed the use of force. In the past ten years, SDLP has lost many supporters. Present situation within the party

Some nationalist factions are more inclined to the struggle between Sinn Fein and those who give up nationalism.

There is a similar trend among federalists. In the past, the more extreme DUP prevailed in the more traditional UUP. UUP is a super-class mass party, from its establishment to 1972.

Is the ruling party in Northern Ireland. Since the establishment of DUP in1970s, its main supporters are the middle class. UUP members in the European Parliament belong to the European People's Party.

DUP members are very diverse, ranging from devout supporters in rural areas to workers without religious beliefs in cities. On issues such as abortion, death penalty, European Union and women's rights, he is a rightist.

Seems to be more open-minded on the issue of sexual rights. DUP's politics usually tend to help its workers and rural voters, such as free rides for the elderly and EU aid to agriculture.

. DUP has gained a lot of support in recent years, and it is the only big party that opposes Friday's peace agreement. In the European Parliament, its members do not belong to any group, but compared with the democratic and pluralistic Europe.

Come closer.

Generally speaking, the more extreme Sinn Fein Party and DUP developed rapidly after the Northern Ireland peace process began. However, some optimists believe that Northern Ireland is independent in the EU.

This problem will become less and less important.

language

English is the most commonly used language in Northern Ireland. Influenced by many Scottish languages, English dialects in Northern Ireland differ from standard English in pronunciation and vocabulary.

According to Friday's peace agreement, Irish and Scottish are also the official languages of Northern Ireland. Members of the Federation of Trade Unions hate Irish because they associate it with Ireland and Sinn Fein.

Together.

Scottish in Northern Ireland is also somewhat different from the original Scottish. Some people think that it has developed into an independent language, but others think that Scottish itself is a kind of English.

Dialect.

According to the recent census, there are many Chinese in Northern Ireland, and they also speak Chinese, which makes Chinese the second largest language in Northern Ireland.