August 8, 2001

Ireland
Exploring the History of the Conflict in Ireland

Grades:  6-8,9-12

Subjects:  Current Events, Geography, Global History, Language Arts, Social Studies

Related New York Times Article
"Ulster Protestants' Leader Rejects I.R.A. Plan on Arms", By WARREN HOGE, August 8, 2001

Overview of Lesson Plan: In this lesson, students imagine themselves as "witnesses" to historical events in different time periods in the Irish conflict. They then write "day in the life" accounts of their “place” in Irish history.

Suggested Time Allowance: 60 minutes

Objectives: Students will:

  1. Share their prior knowledge of the Irish people; reflect on how words can convey bias.
  2. Learn about the latest disarmament plan announced by the Irish Republican Army and its rejection by Ulster Protestant leader David Trimble by reading and discussing "Ulster Protestants' Leader Rejects I.R.A. Plan on Arms."
  3. Investigate historical periods in the Northern Ireland conflict; speculate on what it would be like to witness events in the Northern Ireland conflict by writing "day in the life" journal entries from the perspectives of people living during this time period.
  4. Relate these events to events in their lives.

Resources / Materials:

Activities / Procedures:

  1. WARM-UP/DO-NOW: Students respond to the following questions in their journals (written on the board prior to class): "What images and phrases come to mind when you hear the word ‘Irish’? Do any of these words reflect a bias or stereotype? Why or why not?" Ask students to share their responses, and record their ideas on the board. Then, as a class, discuss the following questions: What do these words tell us about the people of Ireland? What can words tell us about the culture and history of a people? How can we get beyond single words and simple understandings to get to know what life is really like for people from other countries?
  2. As a class, read and discuss "Ulster Protestants' Leader Rejects I.R.A Plan on Arms," focusing on the following questions:
    1. What new plan did the Irish Republican Army announce on August 6, 2001?
    2. How did Protestant leader David Trimble respond to the announcement?
    3. What retort did Martin McGuiness fire back?
    4. What is the timeline for these negotiations? Why is it considered so crucial?
    5. What two choices faced Britain and Ireland before the weekend? Why were they reluctant to vote on these decisions?
    6. What new decision emerged when Mr. Trimble rejected the I.R.A. plan?
    7. According to the article, how many people have been killed in the last three decades of violence in Northern Ireland?
    8. What package proposal did Britain and Ireland present the previous week? Which party's interests, according to the article, did this proposal serve best?
    9. Who are the Unionists and who are the Republicans? Of these groups, who represents the Protestants and who represents the Nationalists?
    10. What was the goal of the 1998 peace agreement?
  3. Divide the class into ten pairs or small groups of three, and assign each group a period in the Irish conflict as described by the "Out There News" Web site, "Peace in Northern Ireland?" (http://www.megastories.com/ireland/derryindex.shtml) (The English Plantation, Catholic Siege of Derry, Potato Famine, Partition, Protestant Ascendency, Civil Rights Movement, The Troubles in Full Flood, Bloody Sunday, Hunger Strikes, Ceasefire). Give each group one article associated with a time period and location in the city of Derry/Londonderry. Ask students to discuss, as they read, what events are described in the article and what city features represent the historical events described.
    After students have had a chance to review their "place in history," ask them to imagine they are living in that time and place. Each group determines who in the group will represent a Catholic perspective and who will represent a Protestant perspective. Each student should then choose a persona, such as a child, a shop keeper, a government representative, a paramilitary soldier, or another citizen who would be able to provide an “eyewitness account” of the events. Then, each student writes a journal entry describing a day in the life of their chosen person that reflects the events taking place. Students should consider the following (written on the board for easier student access):
    • Are you Protestant or Catholic?
    • Do you refer to the city as Derry or Londonderry?
    • What are you thinking?
    • How would you describe the events taking place?
    Encourage students to write freely, as if they were describing the events to their best friends. Students can write in whatever style they wish – a short story, a poem, a dialogue, a letter, or some other creative expression that allows them to "get inside" the person and the events taking place.
  4. WRAP-UP/HOMEWORK: Students complete their historical journal writings, and then expand on them by relating the events to incidents in their lives. In a future class, ask students to share their writing.

Further Questions for Discussion:

Evaluation / Assessment:
Students will be evaluated on written journal entries, participation in class discussions, participation in group research and discussion, and thoughtful completion of historical journal entries.

Vocabulary:
disarmament, clandestine, procedural, grievous, verifiable, crucial, confided, extract, hard-line, assurances, decommissioning, disarmament, coexistence

Extension Activities:

  1. Using historic periodicals, Web sites, and other resources, explore the long conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. What was the Ulster Plantation? What prompted the Catholic Siege of Derry in 1689? What was the Easter Uprising of 1916? Who was Eammon De Valera? When was an independent Irish government formed? What events took place on "Bloody Sunday," January 30, 1972? When was the first "paramilitary cease fire" declared? Create an illustrated timeline, complete with annotations and quotes from historical figures, covering the significant events of this conflict.
  2. Explore the official Web sites of Irish political parties [the Ulster Unionists (http://www.uup.org); the Democratic Unionists (http://www.dup.org.uk); the Social Democratic and Labor Party (http://www.sdlp.ie); and Sinn Fein (http://www.sinnfein.ie). Create a campaign poster for yourself as a political representative of one of these parties in an upcoming election in Northern Ireland. Who are your constituents? What message do you want to convey to those constituents?
  3. Select a poem written by an Irish teenager from the Children's Friendship Project of Northern Ireland (http://www.cfpni.org/INOWNWDS.HTM). Examine the poem line by line. Based on what you have learned about the conflict in Northern Ireland, write a description in your own words of what you think the author is trying to say in each line of the poem.
  4. Explore "Interface Kids: Life on the Peaceline"(http://www.megastories.com/ireland/belfast/kids.shtml). How do the authors of this site define an "interface"? Read about one of the four children posted at this site, listen to his or her statements, then write a letter to this child. How do you relate to the stories of what has happened to him or her? How is your life different, and how is it the same?
  5. If you were planning a vacation to Ireland, where would you go? Create an Illustrated Guide to Traveling in Ireland. Where is the capital? How does the population in the north compare to the rest of Ireland? What cultural sites would present a visited with a well-rounded view of Irish history?

Interdisciplinary Connections:
Civics- Research the political organization of Ireland. How do the 26 counties in the Republic of Ireland differ from the six counties of Northern Ireland? Who is the President of Ireland? What is the Dail? Who represents Northern Ireland? Write an illustrated report of your findings.

Economics- Research the Potato Famine in Ireland. What caused the famine? What affect did this disaster have on the economy and population of Ireland? How do Irish Nationalists explain the famine? Why would a seemingly natural disaster be seen as a political controversy? Film a news segment about the famine as if you were living at the time that it occurred.

Fine Arts- Design and paint a mural that expresses the friendship between children from different cultural or religious backgrounds. What visual symbols would represent the traditional conflict between the groups, and how would you represent the dissolution of these conflicts?

Media Studies- Watch the movie “Michael Collins” and write a review. How does the movie portray the I.R.A.? Does the movie fairly represent all the interests in the conflict in Northern Ireland? What perspectives might be missing or under represented?

Other Information on the Web
The Search for Peace (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/northern_ireland/understanding/default.stm) is a BBC site that takes an in-depth look at the struggle for peace in Northern Ireland, with an historical archive of audio and video testimonials.

Irish History on the Web (http://wwwvms.utexas.edu/~jdana/irehist.html) includes Irish Studies, history of the famine, Northern Ireland, unionist history, timelines and more.

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