The Troubles

Template:Add A colloquialism, widely used in the UK and Ireland to refer to the sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland which flared into serious sustained violence following a Civil Rights March from Belfast to Derry in 1969. The march was one of a series of protests aimed at the injustice of gross entrenched discrimination against the Catholic (largely Republican sympathising) population over employment, particularly in the public services. It was ambushed and attacked with extreme violence by the RUC part-time volunteer police force know as the B-Specials at Burntollet Bridge and thus became a major catalyst for the sustained violence in the Province over the next 25 years.