List of Key Organizations

         A Catholic and Nationalist organisations
ion based in Ireland which has traditionally worked in support of the Catholic faith and also supported Irish Nationalism. The organization was formed in 1838 and reached its peak in terms of membership at the turn of the century. The groups still organizes a number of parades in Northern Ireland each year but does not attract the same level of support as the 'Loyal Orders'.

          A residents group formed to protest at those Loyal Institution parades and marches which were close to the Bogside area of Derry. The Bogside Residents Association consists of eight members who were elected at a public meeting. The two people who normally speak for the group are Robin Percival and Donnacha McNellis. Between 1969 and 1994 the Walls of Derry were closed to pedestrians for security reasons. Following the Irish Republican Army ceasefire of 1994 the Apprentice Boys of Derry applied for permission to take their annual parade along the walls. Permission was given and, in spite of opposition from residents in the Bogside, the march passed along a section of the walls overlooking the Bogside. In 1996 further protests by the Bogside Residents Association resulted in the Walls of Derry being closed and the August parade halted.

          The United Kingdom's standing army. Although the British Army has been barracked in Northern Ireland before and since the setting up of the Northern Ireland state, the army was only deployed on the streets of the region on 14 August 1969. For much of the present conflict the British Army played the leading security role in the region. However, since the policy of 'Ulsterisation' the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) has been given the lead role and the British Army plays a supporting role. The British Army have killed 316 people during the conflict of whom 166 were civilians and the majority of these were Catholics.

AKA: Irish Continuity Army Council (ICAC); Continuity Army Council (CAC)

          A Republican paramilitary group which came to prominence in 1996 when it claimed responsibility for a number of attacks and attempted attacks in Northern Ireland. It is widely believe that the CIRA is made up of people who were previously members of other republican groups (particularly the IRA) but who became disaffected with the peace process and the IRA ceasefire. There have been claims that the CIRA is, in effect, the military wing of Republican Sinn Féin but this has been denied by RSF leaders.

          RLP was formed in Belfast 1960 by Gerry Fitt and Harry Diamond, both of whom were Stormont Members of Parliament. It supported a non-violent Republicanism with strong socialist principles. In the 1969 Stormont election the party got 2.4 per cent of the vote. The party was also active in the civil rights campaign. The RLP split when Fitt left the party to lead the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) in 1970. The party dissolved in 1973 with the failure to secure a seat at the Assembly election.

          A breakaway group from Sinn Féin which was formed in 1986. At the 1986 SF Ard Fheis the party decided to end its traditionalabstention policy from the Dáil but those who opposed the move walked out to form RSF. The group was lead by Ruairí Ó Braídaigh, former President of SF, and Dáithí Ó Conaill, former Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army. At the 1988 RSF Ard Fheis the party reaffirmed its support for the 'armed struggle'. RSF rejected the 1993 Downing Street Declaration and is also against the current peace process.

AKA: Imperial Grand Black Chapter of the British Commonwealth

          One of the Loyal Institutions. The RBI is essentially the senior branch of the Orange Order. The headquarters of the RBI is in Lurgan, County Armagh. Its structure is very similar to that of the Orange Order, although instead of Lodges, members group together in Preceptories. An individual must be a member of an Orange Order before he can be admitted to the Royal Black Institution. The Royal Black Institution holds its main parades on the 13 July and the last Saturday in August, and they are generally attended by approximately 30,000 members.

AKA: Provisional Sinn Féin

          A political party which represents the view of Republicans in Northern Ireland. The party is dedicated to the achievement of a united Ireland. SF supports the Irish Republican Army and is viewed as the political wing of the IRA. The party has consistently refused to condemn the use of force by the IRA, but it has on occasion said that it regretted the loss of innocent life that occured in some IRA attacks. The party was formed out the split in the IRA in January 1970 when the original SF split into the Official SF and the Provisional SF. The party began to take part in elections following the sucess in Westminster by-elections by Republican prisoners who took part in the 'Hunger Strike' of 1981. In the Assembly election in October 1982 SF obtained 10 per cent of the vote which represented a major breakthrough for the party. In the Westminster election of 1983 SF attacted 13.4 per cent and Gerry Adams won the West Belfast seat. The standing of SF in the polls, and the fear that it would surpass the Social Democratic and Labour Party as the main voice of Nationalists in Northern Ireland, was one of the reasons why the British government signed the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985. At the SF Ard Fheis on 2 November 1986 the party decided to end its abstentionist policy and to take any Dáil seats won in future. The new policy led to a number of members leaving to form Republican Sinn Féin. In 1993 the party entered into renewed talks with the Social Democratic and Labour Party, these meetings marked the beginning of the current Peace Process. SF currently attracts around 17 per cent of the votes of electorate.

          The largest of the Nationalist parties in Northern Ireland. The party was formed on 21 August 1970 and its first leader was Gerry Fitt. Many of those who were members of the Nationalist Party joined the SDLP. The party receives about 22 per cent of the vote in elections and its support comes from middle-class and working-class Catholics. The SDLP is a constitutional democratic party which wants to see the reunification of Ireland by agreement. The party withdrew from Stormont in July 1971 in protest at the introduction of Internment. It also supported the civil disobedience campaign which involved the withholding of rent ,on public sector houses, and rates. In September 1972 the party proposed a form of joint sovereignty over Northern Ireland.

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