Gateway Chronicle 2022

VICTIMS AND
PROTAGONISTS:
CHILDREN AND THE
TROUBLES
Jonathan W, 5.5
children dressed in paramilitary uniforms
have continued to commemorate terrorist
incidents from the period, including the
failed attack on The Alban Arena in 1991
(see picture below). This ended with the
death of two IRA terrorists, killed in the
doorway of the old Barclays Bank when
their own bomb exploded prematurely. One
was only 18 years of age. This raises the
questions of how and why children became
embroiled in The Troubles.
“The Troubles” refer to 1969-1998 conflict
in Northern Ireland which, although on the
island of Ireland, is a province of the UK.
The conflict initially largely involved the UK
security forces on one side and the Irish
Republican Army (IRA) on the other. The
local security forces were the Royal Ulster
Constabulary (RUC), which was the local
(armed) police force, supported by the
Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), a locally
recruited British Army Regiment, formed in
1970 in response to the crisis. Both
organisations were overwhelmingly
manned by Protestants, reflecting their
dominance of local politics. Protestant
politicians used this dominance to advance
their own interests within Northern Ireland
and to maintain the union with the rest of
the United Kingdom, hence the terms
“Unionists.” Their loyalty to the British
Crown gives them their other popular title
of “Loyalists.”
Of the 3,500 people killed in the Troubles,
186 were children. The focus of the media
and historians has (with some exceptions)
been on the innocent child victims, partly
because they were the overwhelming
majority. However, a minority were active
participants, killed either in training or in
clashes with the security forces. Moreover,
even since the end of The Troubles,
The local security forces were supported
by the regular British Army, which was sent
into the province in 1969. Ironically and
tragically given subsequent events, this
was initially in large part to protect the local
Catholic population from attacks by
Protestants, due to the failure of the local
police to do so. These attacks represented
an intensification of the longstanding
discrimination faced by local Catholics.
59 | G ateway Chronicle