The Border of Northern Ireland in 8 Minutes - Manny Man Does History

Ireland had been divided into 32 counties nine of these countries made up the northern province of Ulster Ulster had been a massive point of resistance against English rule during the late medieval period its natural barriers of lakes mountains hills and forests made it very defendable the nine years war saw the Gaelic chieftains o'donnell's and O'Neill's fight against the forces of Queen Elizabeth the first they ultimately lost and after some political power plays by King James the first the Gillick chieftains left Ireland never to return leaving Ulster up for grabs King James organised the plantation of Ulster planting English and Scottish settlers the planters were Protestant which divided them all the more from the native Gaelic Catholics this religious and cultural divide deepened over the centuries often resulting in violence the identity of Protestant Ulsterman solidified through organizations such as the orange order this has been covered in more detail in my other videos after a failed Republican rebellion in 1798 led mainly by Protestants I might add history wasn't all black and white Ireland was brought into the union with Great Britain becoming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after a century of being ruled directly from London and a horrific mismanagement of potato blight in Ireland during the 1840s resulting in the population being half in just a few decades Ireland wanted a parliament back in Dublin but not the loyal Protestant unionists of Ulster who believed Ireland would be run by the Catholic Church hmm the unionists signed the Ulster covenant threatening war if Home Rule happened but World War one broke out Home Rule was put on hold and Irish Republicans in Dublin staged a massive rebellion in 1916 resulting in a growing support for an Irish Republic in the south at least when the Irish War of Independence broke out in 1919 many unionists and Ulster were sure they wanted no part in an Irish Republic as fighting went on Westminster also tried to decide what would be done about the Irish question it would have been easier to give Ireland some form of home rule with a parliament in Dublin but the Irish unionist party kicked up such a fuss that it was decided that Ireland would be divided into north and south and thus Northern Ireland was created with a parliament in Belfast the republican party of shin fen refused to take their seats in Westminster so the British plan was very out of touch with Republican ideals not all nine counties of Ulster would be part of the new state the unionists that they could not control Donegal cavern or Monaghan politically so after a little gerrymandering these six countries of dairy or Londonderry as it is known to the unionists Antrim down are matter owned an Fermanagh became the six counties of Northern Ireland in 1921 the border between North and South followed the county borders which often follows rivers lakes and streams but not always resulting in some odd borders particularly the road between CONUS and Butler's bridge in which you cross the border four times in just over 10 kilometers sometimes were even divided into by the border this would have been fine with the initial Westminster plan of Northern Ireland and southern ireland remaining part of the united kingdom so the border would be like traveling from england into wales but the negotiations following the War of Independence resulted in the Irish Free State which would remain a Dominion of the British Empire like Australia or Canada Northern Ireland wanted no part of this and immediately opted out in December 1922 after the Irish Free State had started its ell fight in a brutal civil war a Bundoora Commission was established to try and work out a better arrangement for the border proposing certain territories be transferred either side of the border depending on their politics the plans were leaked uproar from nationalists and unionists ensued ultimately no changes were made during the 1920s and 30s customs checks did exist along the border passports were needed along the border during world war ii in the 1960s massive civil rights marches are by discrimination against Catholics escalated into violence which became known as the troubles the British Army came in in 1969 and as increased terrorist activity intensified military checkpoints were set up along the border the border has over 260 road crossings many unapproved roads were blocked completely by the British Army a monument of a JCB was erected in 1992 along the border between cavern and Fermanagh remembering the efforts of locals to keep the border open despite the army efforts as tax and currency was different on either side of the border smuggling was a common practice Ireland and the United Kingdom joined what would become the European Union in 1973 by the 1990s the troubles came to an end resulting in the Good Friday Agreement which allowed for peace the ability to be an Irish citizen a British citizen or both was granted to everyone in Northern Ireland giving everyone nationalists and unionists the best of both words the agreement also stated that if ever the majority of people of Northern Ireland wished to join the rest of Ireland the British government will allow the change a pyro sharing government of Northern Ireland allowed for nationalists and unionists to make decisions together it took a long while for the Democratic Unionist Party to agree to this but when they did Northern Ireland had a functioning government the border checkpoints were phased out and the border became almost invisible today it's only often noticed by small differences in road markings and signposts which indicate the crossing of the border with many many people making the crossing daily in their regular day-to-day life and then the brexit vote happened the UK referendum to leave the European Union in 2016 through a lot of questions on the north and Ireland border questions the people of Northern Ireland had been shouting about all the way through the campaign this was the only land border between the UK and the rest of the EU Northern Ireland as well as Scotland voted in the majority to remain in the EU any form of a hard border could give dissident republicans a target and result in an escalation into violence which nobody wants in long negotiations with the EU British prime minister Theresa May negotiated the backstop which guarantees whatever happens with the UK leaving the EU a hard border will not be put in place this was complicated by maze government being propped up by the Democratic Unionist Party who are against a border along the Irish seat which would be one of the simplest solutions chin vein on the other hand had been flirting with the solution being a united Ireland new British prime minister Boris Johnson has thrown all of this up into question again looking to renegotiate deals with the EU and proposing customs checks between the Republic and Northern Ireland away from the border itself and yet another regulatory check between the north and the rest of the UK as goods move out of the single market all of this being dependent on the Northern Ireland Assembly agreeing to this every four years the EU however was not impressed by this Boris Johnson seemed to be driving the UK towards brexit at the end of October Deal or No Deal however Johnson does seem to have backed down the news changes day by day as it all unfolds which is why I usually avoid current affairs the United Kingdom seems to be anything but United on this there's not even a functioning assembly in Northern Ireland as the DUP and Shin Fein can't agree on an Irish language bill since 2017 yay democracy someone who lives 20 minutes from the border on the Republic site I do actually have a personal stake in this I didn't have a vote in brexit I was in the wrong side of the border for that and yet the effects of this referendum could be massive on my life and on my work I was lucky enough to grow up in a time of relative peace and Ulster but that piece is delicate that piece was hard-won and that piece has often threatened to be torn apart personally I hope the United Kingdom remains in the European Union we are all much stronger together we're all one big European family and families on occasion can have their arguments but whenever you're ready I for one hope that you can take your place back at the table the world is heating up in much more ways than one and we all need to deal with it together we are stronger together of course you watching in the future know exactly how all of this panned out I hope that whatever happens that it's peaceful thank you very much for watching and don't forget to Like and subscribe a massive thank you to all my patrons on patreon I shall be thanking you all by name at the end of this video if you wish to support me on patreon I will be adding more features and doing more exclusive life strings on there soon so pop on over I have started a second channel John the Rolly does stuff which will have content less related to the Manny Mondo's history videos there I will be talking about movies videogames and also some podcasts which I have had improve ssin for some time go over and subscribe and be the first to see all my new content there don't forget to follow me on facebook twitter and instagram check out my website john deere OD comm for updates and loads of new merchandise including these fun t-shirts my books about irish history are available from Gil books to my supporters on patreon I'd like to thank Alexander auto rich Alexander Arthur revin avi Backstrom Elam Brian Gedman Cameron Coyle Camilla the TC Schrader Carla Alexson Carol basil Caroline Han kara teaser Joplin Colton ser Hong Lee and tan Dana bits Daniel Epstein david morrissey david's nard dog bass drew white Dustin Holden epic history TV flaky Frank Farina Gerardo quelle grande hues grade on Swedberg fraud guard James Ellis Jason roaming Jay Mercier Yin's vert Cavell Joe Benavides Joe Robertson Joseph Mary Anning Jones Katherine Schmidt occur cakes nepai Shay queen van Laura Mathews Lego SWAT M mad scientist's assistant mario a Gallardo Marcus bigger Martin Conan Bob Matt Brian Matthew Marlow Mak Sato Mike whites on D Rico mr. magnificent mr. easy play two myths nyan holy course Raymond Marchand rocket wrench Brian Lana Simon Schrader Cena yay Gannon sores some dude Stephanie Lenz Steve Armit tan me T Ophelia skill - what a great name some of you have been supporting me for months some for years I am hugely grateful for this and I aim to read out the patreon role of honor at the end of future videos you

Channel: John D Ruddy

Views: 165,506

Rating: 4.7572737 out of 5

Keywords: Brexit, Boris Johnson, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Politics, Irish History, British History, Theresa May, United Kingdom, London, Belfast, International Borders, European Union

Id: AorjvX4kYvk

Length: 11min 13sec (673 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 04 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/Grayson81]

Brilliant video.

And a very powerful statement from 7 minutes onwards.