The Troubles: Unravelling Northern Ireland's 30-Year Conflict

Hi everyone, here is some additional context for the video and a couple of corrections. Thanks to those who have commented highlighting some of these! - correction on the graphic showing Ulster in the beginning: Ulster is made up of 9 counties, six of which are in what is now Northern Ireland, and 3 of which are in Ireland. The graphic only depicts the border of Northern Ireland. 

- while there are slightly more people identifying as unionist over republicans in Northern Ireland, Catholics (45.7% of pop) now outnumber protestants (43.5% of pop)

 - The Provisional IRA was not the only republican paramilitary. In 1969, its predecessor, the IRA, split into two factions; the Official IRA and the Provisional IRA. The group most now think of when they imagine the IRA is the Provisional IRA, which became the most powerful of these groups. The Official IRA later split further, with some members leaving to create the INLA (Irish National Liberation Army). On the unionist side, other than the UVF, notable groups include the UDA (Ulster Defence Association) and UFF (Ulster Freedom Fighters). The UDA was a kind of umbrella group uniting protestant/unionist paramilitaries. The UFF was likely a cover name for attacks carried out by some members of the UDA. Occasionally there was infighting on each side between these groups.

 - At its peak, the Provisional IRA had around 10,000 members. UVF membership numbers are harder to find, but were estimated to be several thousand. The UDA claimed to have 40,000 members at its peak in 1972, but only a portion of these were involved with the more violent UFF, which is thought to have had 2,000-4,000 members. - not mentioned at the beginning is the 1916 Easter Rising, which happened while Britain was fighting in WWI. It was the first armed conflict in the lead-up to the war for independence. - at 1.01, I meant to say provisional IRA. The IRA as a whole was around since the early 1900s, as mentioned later in the video. - There is evidence that some loyalist attacks were armed and/or allowed by British security forces. Exact numbers on this are, for obvious reasons, difficult to find. 

If you feel something else deserves a mention, please leave a comment; I will be updating this one.

From someone who is from Belfast and my own father murdered in the troubles by loyalists thank you for covering this. Love live the peace process.

The interviews were surreal. On one hand you have a man that had enough of being oppressed and did what he did out of retaliation for the peaceful options ending in violence every time conducted by the opposing forces, and on the other you had a man who got roped into it because he was caught in the crossfire and watched as people around him died with the fear of "am I next?" billowing overhead every day. All this because a handful of old hags in a big building decided "we want your dirt."

My grandparents first child was the 18 month old baby killed in the balmoral showroom bombing. His name was Colin. My grandparents carried the grief and trauma with them throughout their whole lives and my grandas main focus and goal was to get justice for Colin. He never got that justice. Every letter he wrote was replied with a we can’t help you. He died nearly 2 years ago but he never found peace with what he went through during the troubles. My granny is still alive but she can’t talk about it, she’s still very traumatised.

As an Irish person who grew up close to the border in the 70's and 80's, this has to be one of the best and even handed accounts I have seen, skilfully portraying the views from both sides of the conflict. This is an important piece of work.

It's strange why people never mention the Loyalist bombs and only ever seem to mention the IRA. In the McGurk's Bar Bombing alone, there were 15 people murdered, more than Bloody Friday, in one bombing. Conway;s Bar was also bombed. The Dublin And Monaghan Bombing was the worst day of The Troubles, with 33 people murdered, apparently carried-out by the UVF and MI5.

"What nationality are you?" "Well, I'm English." That was the most intense fraction of a second ever.

Bro as a Belfast man and technically a protestant but who thought was quiet well versed on our history dam you wouldn't even get this in school let alone years of research in the topic, absolutely brilliant mate thanks i enjoyed this 👍

England should have just left. Let Ireland be free and united.

Not gonna lie, I thought this was a reuploaded BBC documentary for the first ten minutes, you have a serious talent my man. Probably one of the best videos I've seen on the topic.

As someone who was raised by parents from eastern Germany/eastern Berlin it is striking to see the parallels and deeply saddening to see a major European city being divided by walls emplaced by (foreign) politicians, the very fresh generational trauma of divided countries, the discrimination (...). A very insightful documentary.

I had done a project on the troubles in high school, but thank you so much for finding these two men who actually lived through this conflict on two different sides and getting their personal stories and histories

Costa Rican here. Have always been in love with Ireland. Visited twice. I’m merely halfway through the video as I write this, but already I feel the huge urge to thank you. I have been digging through many video essays like this trying to understand the Troubles, and this is the first of countless videos I’ve seen that I feel explain them masterfully.

What a powerful documentary. It really shows the human side of things. The two men you interviewed are telling their stories from their own perspectives, and I really feel sympathy for both of them.

"What is it like having a Peace Line in your back garden?" "It darkens the house down terribly" Absolutely perfect summation of Belfast. No notes.

As a young person growing up in Northern Ireland, thank you for exploring both sides without any bias. Sick of learning about history just for it to be boiled down to 'Britian bad' or 'Ireland bad' without even discussing both sides of the fighting ❤

I know its easy to sit here at my keyboard and throw my support to whoever I wish even tough I never took part in anything to do with this conflict. And yet, I have to say that that former IRA man is definetly a chad. That lad is very educated, he strongly believes in his cause and he brought historical arguments. The IRA may have killed innocents as well but you cant deny the involvement of Britain in keeping this northern ireland a land of conflict and ensuring they maintain a foothold there. Absolute disgrace for a nation that presents itself as one of the heralds of world peace. Britain should be put on trial for how they conducted themselves.

In Derry the owner of the largest furniture shop in the city and the deputy postmaster general couldn't get mortgages to buy a house simple because they were catholics and they both ended up staying put in their council houses. A lot of people forget how fresh the memories of the troubles are. My uncle was a knights of malalta medic on bloody sunday and my da was the head altar boy at the mass funeral. My grandfather was picked up off the street when he was drunk walking home, beaten up in the back of an army truck and dumped out while it was moving. Their home phone was tapped because their surname was mcguinness. My uncle was hit by a rubber bullet in the leg when he was 13 and he still has a limp because of it. I'm glad that I was born just as the troubles were ending and thankfully im the first generation of my family to not have felt the compulsion to join an armed movement since the 1890s.

I wanted to make a joke about how the IRA is now compared to how it was back in the day but I was not expecting this documentary to be so powerful and moving. This is seriously one of the best edited and produced indie docs I have ever witnessed in my time.

The best mini documentary I have seen on the subject