Quote (NeesyLad @ 8 Feb 2024 07:53)
you really don't know much if you think that's how it went. It isn't even remotely accurate, either. The main thing that ended the conflict was the reduction of the gerrymandering of votes, allowing people to have an avenue of expression other than violence. It was a very small, unrepresntative minority that continued violence after this. Even by the 80s the vast majority of active IRA splinter groups were in no way supported by anyone within the community, and had devolved into paramilitary gangs. The same happened with the Unionists. You still have any number of groups claiming to be the IRA/UDA/UVF/INLA.. none of them have any political aspect. They are gangs hiding under the guise of a political movement that predated them. Please, read some history outside your own country before even trying to engage. Your ignorance is vast, and I refuse to undertake the burden of educating you.
I guess growing up in it makes it easy to forget just how little of the truth actually seeps out to the rest of the world ;)
The point is that the republican side didn't run around proclaiming how they would 'cleanse' Northern Ireland of any Protestants "from the mountains to the channel", which made it feasible for the British side to give them more political representation and power to begin with.
When one side doesn't even recognize the other side's right to exist (and acts accordingly any chance it gets), a peace process becomes fundamentally impossible.
This post was edited by Black XistenZ on Feb 8 2024 01:38am