The Remembrance Day Bombing, also known as the Poppy Day Massacre, occurred in late 1987 in the town of Enniskillen. The bombing resulted in the death of ten people, nine civilians and one police officer, and the injuring of over sixty people. The PIRA, who were responsible for the attack, claimed that the intended target was a group of British officers, however this did not assuage the anger of the public.
This was a turning point for the IRA and its factions; most people at this point in the Troubles were looking for a political or diplomatic way of solving issues with the British. With a large number of casualties to innocent civilians, the support for the IRA began to evaporate, and the militant control by the British only increased. It is for these reasons that this event is seen as the beginning of the end of the military force force that was the IRA.
Inequalities between the Catholic and Protestant populations strained relations, leading to peaceful demonstrations which often deteriorated into violent rioting. But as issues like the housing crisis reveal, the roots of the problems were not in the violence, but in the political and social structures in place, and the anxieties they caused. Such structures include culturally and politically enforced segregation, physical barriers, and unequal opportunities. The cycle of prejudice increased fear and anxiety on both sides.
National Identity
All
Catholic
Protestant and Other Christian
Other religions
No religion
British
48.4%
12.9%
81.6%
50.1%
55.9%
Irish
28.4%
57.2%
3.9%
12.4%
14.0%
Northern Irish
29.4%
30.7%
26.9%
18.0%
35.2%
English, Scottish, or Welsh
1.6%
0.8%
1.5%
2.9%
5.2%
All other
3.4%
4.4%
0.1%
29.1%
7.1%
There are a number of different terms for the two sides of the Northern Ireland conflict. This project will be grouping Unionist, Loyalist, and Protestant together as those wanting to keep ties with Britain, and Nationalist, Republican, and Catholics as those wanting to separate from Britain become independent. Although it is a generalization to affiliate Catholics with Nationalists and Protestants with Unionists, the majority of Catholics voted Nationalist and most Protestants voted Unionist.
We suggest you begin with the brief history, followed by the timeline. However, we will provide all of links to our other pages so you can access them in whatever order you choose. At the bottom of our main pages, we will give the link for our next suggested page, as well as the link to the timeline and back to this page, labeled as introduction. Our timeline will include links to brief analyses or more information on some of the dates described.
