Tellem2
The reason why Northern Ireland is split goes back to the British colonisation of Ireland.
Prior to the 1600s, England controlled only a small part of Ireland around Dublin (known as the English Pale).
Following the Reformation and the Spanish Armada, England was afraid that Catholic Ireland could be used as a base for a European invasion. The wildest, most Catholic part of Ireland was Ulster. England invaded Ireland, drove out many of the native Irish from Ulster in particular, seized lands and gave it to Protestant settlers from Britain. Laws were passed to prevent Catholics (native Irish) from owning land, being educated and practising their religion.
The descendants of these settlers are the present day Unionists/DUP. Largely, the Protestant population in what is now NI never integrated with the rest of the Irish population.
Ireland voted for Home Rule/Independence many times in the late 19th/early 20th Century. Supported by the Conservative Party, the Ulster Protestants threatened civil war if the wishes of the majority of the Irish people were respected.
In the 1918 election, Ireland voted overwhelmingly for independence. There was a Unionist majority in only 4 out of 32 counties. Aided by the Conservative party, the British government partitioned Ireland. In this their priority was not to respect local wishes, but to make sure that Northern Ireland was large enough to be viable but also not too large as not to have an inbuilt Protestant majority. The result was that they rather than just including the 4 counties which voted for the Union, they widened it to include 2 counties where there was a Catholic majority. Overall, at Partition NI was 70% Protestant, 30% Catholic.
After partition, there was a devolved government in NI. This government ran NI as a Protestant Government for a Protestant people and operated under a siege mentality. There was systematic discrimination against Catholics in employment, housing and government. Voting rights were restricted to homeowners, which disproportionately affected Catholics.
In the 1960s, inspired by the US Civil Rights movement, a NI civil rights movement started, campaigning to end discrimination. This was brutally resisted by the NI government and Catholics were burned out of their homes. The British army was sent in, originally to protect the Catholic population.
This all turned sour, partly because some used it as an opportunity to try and end partition and because of harsh tactics and mistakes on all sides. The result was 30 years of civil war.
The Good Friday agreement helped to bring an end to it. The vast majority in NI were fed up of the violence. Under the GFA, both communities have equal rights and equal respect. It recognises that NI is both British and Irish. It built in power-sharing so that majority rule and discrimination was outlawed. It was supported in referendums in both NI and the Republic. However, it was opposed by the DUP as they do not believe in compromise.
Today in NI, the border is invisible. The population is now 50/50 Catholic/Protestant and will soon have a Catholic majority. Under the GFA and EU, those who wish can live as though they are in a united country. Many people live in NI and work in the Republic and vice versa.
The DUP resent this as they feel that it threatens their ‘Britishness’. They vote for Brexit as it makes them feel more British and many in the DUP would quite like a hard border.
Sorry for the essay, but I am frustrated that there is such ignorance about this ‘integral part of the UK’.