Summary Changing Relations: Northern Ireland and its Neighbours, 1965–98
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Course
History
Institution
GCSE
Chapter 1 The O’Neill years
Chapter 2 The campaign for civil rights
Chapter 3 A deteriorating situation, 1969–72
Chapter 4 The search for a political solution – attempt at power-sharing, 1973–74
Chapter 5 Changing Republican strategy
Chapter 6 Changing relations – towards closer co-o...
Changing Relations: Northern Ireland and its Neighbours, 1965–98
The O’Neill years
Terence O’Neill became Northern Ireland’s Prime Minister in March 1963.
He was seen as more forward thinking than his predecessor, Lord Brookeborough, who had been in
power for 20 years.
However, right from the start, O’Neill’s leadership was weakened as most of his Party’s MPs had
wanted another minister, Brian Faulkner, to get the job.
O’Neill’s policies and actions to improve the economy: successes and failures
O’Neill knew that Northern Ireland was in a bad way economically and so his immediate aim
was to improve its economic infrastructure. To that end, he introduced a number of key
policies:
O’Neill invested £900 million in the economy
He established a new city called Craigavon
A new university was established at Coleraine
Successful policies
1. Belfast benefitted from the opening of a new oil refinery.
2. Development started on a new airport.
3. Work started on the construction of the M1 motorway which would link Belfast and
Dungannon.
Unsuccessful Policies
Overall close to 35,000 new jobs were created - however, the economy was still weakened
by a number of basic problems:
1. A lack of work in industries such as linen and shipbuilding meant that over 20,000
jobs were lost
2. The government had to give money to shipbuilders Harland and Wolff to keep the
company open
O’Neill’s attempts to improve community relations in Northern Ireland and the differing
responses to his efforts
O’Neill knew that improving the economy was not enough to change Northern Ireland. He
realised that there would have to be improvements in a number of other areas, especially:
Relations with the Republic of Ireland and Relations within Northern Ireland.
THE”HAND OF FRIENDSHIP”: NATIONALISTS WITHIN NORTHERN IRELAND
, O’Neill knew that relations between the two communities living in Northern Ireland also had
to improve. To encourage better relations he did the following:
o When Pope John XXIII died in June 1963, O'Neill offered the government's official
condolences
o O'Neill began to visit Catholic hospitals and schools
o O'Neill increased the funding that the Northern Ireland government gave to Catholic
schools and hospitals
O’Neill’s attempts to improve relations with the Republic of Ireland and the differing
responses in Northern Ireland to his efforts
THE “HAND OF FRIENDSHIP”: DUBLIN
o As a result of their troubled past, the Prime Ministers of the two parts of Ireland had
not met since 1925.
o This changed in January 1965 when O’Neill met with the Taoiseach Sean Lemass
at Stormont.
o The two men discussed issues of common concern, such as the economy
UNIONIST REACTION TO HIS EFFORTS
Within the Unionist community there was both support and opposition to what O’Neill was
trying to do:
o There was opposition to Lemass’ visit to Stormont in January 1965 from within
O’Neill’s own Cabinet. Minister of Commerce, Brian Faulkner, complained that he
knew nothing about what O’Neill was planning.
NATIONALIST REACTION TO HIS EFFORTS
Some of the things that O’Neill did led to a negative reaction, particularly amongst a new
generation of Catholic leaders. For example:
o The decision to name the new town linking Lurgan and Portadown after Northern
Ireland’s founder, Lord Craigavon, did not go down well
o Northern Ireland’s new university was sited in Coleraine (a Protestant town) rather
than Londonderry (a Catholic city and the second largest population area within
Northern Ireland)
Northern Ireland Prime Minister Terence O’Neill’s policies might have been introduced for the right
reasons, but by the late 1960s they resulted in creating divisions amongst unionists (protestants).
They feared that too much was being given away to nationalists (catholics).
At the same time, the hopes raised within nationalism by the changes O’Neill promised were never
going to be achieved. As a result, nationalist frustration grew.
The campaign for civil rights
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