Directory of the Northern Ireland Troubles

The whole of Northern Ireland has, in some way, been caught up in the Troubles and subsequent peace process. While not a comprehensive guide, the following directory lists and provides links to articles about the main players in this country.

Main articles

General Operation Banner Provisional IRA campaign 1969–1997 Segregation in Northern Ireland Parades in Northern Ireland Murals in Northern Ireland The Troubles in Derry The Northern Ireland Troubles in popular culture

Timelines Timeline of the Northern Ireland Troubles List of bombings during the Northern Ireland Troubles of Republican actions Timeline of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions Timeline of Irish National Liberation Army actions Timeline of Continuity Irish Republican Army actions Timeline of Real Irish Republican Army actions of Loyalist actions Timeline of Ulster Volunteer Force actions Timeline of Ulster Defence Association actions Timeline of Loyalist Volunteer Force actions of British military actions Timeline of Ulster Defence Regiment operations

Paramilitaries

Anti-terrorist laws in both Ireland and the UK proscribe (ban) membership of a number of republican and loyalist groups organised in Northern Ireland. Several other smaller paramilitary factions have appeared throughout the Troubles as well as cover-names used to deflect responsibility for attacks.

Note: In this context, operational refers to the period during which the 'official' paramilitary campaign was conducted.

Republicans

Name	Initials	Operational
Saor Éire	SÉ	1967–1975
Provisional Irish Republican Army	PIRA	1969–2005
Official Irish Republican Army	OIRA	1969–1972
South Derry Independent Republican Unit		1973–1978
Irish National Liberation Army	INLA	1974–2009
Irish People's Liberation Organisation	IPLO	1986–1992
Continuity Irish Republican Army	CIRA	1994–
Real Irish Republican Army	RIRA	1997–

Umbrella groups

• Irish Republican Socialist Movement

Loyalists

Name	Initials	Operational
Ulster Protestant Volunteers	UPV	1966–1969
Ulster Volunteer Force Red Hand Commando	UVF RHC	1966–2007 1972–2007
Ulster Defence Association Ulster Freedom Fighters	UDA UFF	1971–2007
Ulster Resistance	UR	1986–?
Loyalist Volunteer Force	LVF	1997–2005
Orange Volunteers	OV	1998–
Red Hand Defenders	RHD	1998–

Umbrella groups

• Ulster Army Council (UAC)
• Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee (ULCCC)
• Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC)

In the table below:

• The period of activity for republican groups is shown in green.
• The period of activity for loyalist groups is shown in orange.
• The period of ceasefire is shown in grey.

Group	Year
	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79	80	81	82	83	84	85	86	87	88	89	90	91	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99
Provisional IRA
Official IRA
UVF
UDA
INLA
IPLO
Continuity IRA
Real IRA
LVF

Security forces

United Kingdom

• The British Army
  • The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) – from 1 January 1970 to 30 June 1992
  • The Royal Irish Regiment (RIR) – from 1 July 1992
• The Territorial Army
• The Royal Air Force
• The Royal Navy
• The Metropolitan Police
• The Security Service (MI5)

Northern Ireland

• The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) – to 3 November 2001
• The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) – from 4 November 2001
• The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC) – to 30 April 1970
• The Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS)

Republic of Ireland

• Irish Army
• An Garda Síochána (police)

Political parties

Listing includes brief summary of ideology and position on the Good Friday Agreement 1998.

Nationalist/Republican

• Sinn Féin (SF). President: Gerry Adams. Militant nationalist. Often associated with the Provisional IRA. Translation from Irish: "We Ourselves". Pro-Agreement.
• The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). Leader: Margaret Ritchie. Moderate centre-left nationalist. Pro-Agreement.
• The Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP). Militant nationalist. Political wing of INLA. Anti-Agreement.
• Republican Sinn Féin (RSF). President: Des Dalton. Militant nationalist. Often associated with the Continuity IRA. Anti-Agreement.
• The 32 County Sovereignty Movement (32CSM). President: Francis Mackey. Militant Nationalist. Oftern associated with the Real IRA. Anti-Agreement.
• The Workers' Party (WP). President: Mick Finnegan. Marxist nationalist. Formerly Official Sinn Féin. Pro-Agreement.

Unionist/Loyalist

• The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). Leader: Peter Robinson. Radical populist unionist. Originally anti-Agreement; now pro-Agreement.
• The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). Leader: Tom Elliott. Moderate conservative unionist. Pro-Agreement.
• The Progressive Unionist Party (PUP). Leader: Brian Ervine. Moderate centre-left unionist. Political wing of Ulster Volunteer Force. Pro-Agreement.
• The Conservative Party also organises and contests elections in Northern Ireland. Moderate unionist. Pro-Agreement.

Other

• The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland. Leader: David Ford. Liberal cross-community. Pro-Agreement
• The Green Party. Environmentalist. Pro-Agreement.
• Ulster Third Way. Supports Northern Ireland independence.

Political structures

Northern Ireland government

1921-1972

• Governor
• Prime Minister
• Cabinet

1998-

• First Minister and deputy First Minister
• Executive

Northern Ireland legislatures

1921-1972
The Parliament of Northern Ireland:

• House of Commons
• Senate

1972-1998

• The Northern Ireland Assembly (1973–1974)
• The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention (1975–1976)
• The Northern Ireland Assembly (1982–1986)
• The Northern Ireland Forum (1996–1998)

1998-

• The Northern Ireland Assembly

Republic of Ireland government

• Taoiseach (prime minister)
• The Department of Defence
• The Department of Foreign Affairs

• Dáil Éireann (assembly)
• Seanad Éireann (senate)

United Kingdom government

• Prime Minister
• The Ministry of Defence (MOD)
• The Northern Ireland Office (NIO)

• The House of Commons
• The House of Lords
• The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee (House of Commons)
• The Northern Ireland Grand Committee (House of Commons)

Peace process

Main article: Northern Ireland peace process

Co-operative bodies

• British-Irish Council (BIC)
• British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body
• North/South Ministerial Council (NSMC)

Key steps in the peace process

• Sunningdale Agreement (1973)
• Anglo-Irish Agreement (1985)
• Downing Street Declaration (1993)
• Establishment of the IICD (1997)
• Belfast Agreement (1998)
• Amendment of Articles 2 and 3 (1999)
• Establishment of the Independent Monitoring Commission (2003)
• IRA Ceasefire & Decommissioning (2005)
• St Andrews Agreement (2006)

Cultural and religious organisations

• The Roman Catholic Church in Ireland
• The Church of Ireland (Anglican)
• The Presbyterian Church in Ireland
• The Methodist Church in Ireland

Nationalist

• The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH)
• The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA)

Unionist

• The Apprentice Boys of Derry
• The Orange Institution
• The Independent Orange Order
• The Royal Black Institution