Northern Ireland Conflict
by Yui Fujisawa
(Kanagawa Prefecture)
"The Shore" film
In 2012, "The Shore" won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. It is a Northern Irish short film, which follows two men who are reunited after a 25 year division created by the Northern Ireland Conflict.
In 1949, Ireland became independent from the UK. However, Northern Ireland, where many immigrants from Britain live, remained as a British colony. From then, the opposition between the people of two religions, Catholic and Protestant, started. Catholic people, natives of Ireland, had been discriminated against and treated unequally by immigrants from Britain, Protestants.
Therefore, the people of the Ireland faction made the terrorist organization, IRA, and took actions to expel immigrants and to unify Northern Ireland into the Ireland republic. On the other hand, to oppose the IRA, the people of the Protestant and British faction also made an organization. In this conflict, many massacres were done.
This is what is called the "Northern Ireland Conflict." In 1998, an agreement was reached between the people of Catholics and Protestants, and the long war history ended.
Confusion by terrorism has continued in the 21st century. In these times, I think that to look back on the history of the Northern Ireland Conflict is very important.
If you have a chance, please see "The Shore."
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