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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Northern Ireland
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(13,483sq.km/5206sq.m, population 1.6 million in 1991)
The *six counties forming the northeast part of *Ireland, which were given a measure of local autonomy within the United Kingdom by the Government of Ireland Act of 1920. The first parliament met in 1921 in *Belfast. The prime minister was James *Craig (1871–1940, Viscount Craigavon 1927) and he held this position until his death. The Protestant settlement of the six counties in the 17C had resulted in political and economic power being heavily concentrated in *Unionist hands.
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In the late 1960s the growth of the international civil rights movement coincided with the period in office of a more liberal-minded prime minister (Captain Terence O'Neill, 1914–90). The result was large-scale Catholic demonstrations, distorted by the involvement of the *IRA (in a continuation of the earlier *Troubles), which in turn provoked retaliation from Protestant paramilitary organizations. In 1972 (the year of *Bloody Sunday) the parliament at Stormont was suspended and Northern Ireland was placed under direct rule from Westminster. Recent initiatives have been the *Anglo-Irish Agreement and the *Downing Street Declaration and the *Good Friday Agreement.
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