Since the creation of N.I in 1921 Unionists who were the dominating population lived in fear because their small, six counties where surrounded by the ‘enemy’; the nationalist ROI. Unionists made political negotiations harder to achieve because they feared that N.I would no longer be British. In a bid to protect their position Unionists would frustrate Nationalists by not allowing an ‘Irish Dimension’ in politics and looking after their own interests. Unionists provoked Nationalist violence by placing Nationalists politically below them repressing Nationalists in every aspect of life to a stage where Nationalists erupted violently. Frustrated Nationalists would continue to use violence to try and intimidate Unionists. Unionist’s also …show more content…
The framework was intended to share power with Nationalists. Paragraph 16 of the Framework says the act could only have been achieved by ‘consent of a majority’ [11]. A majority was unlikely though because Unionists felt they were being asked to move too far and N.I position would be weakened. Loyalists and Republicans used violence in a tit-for-tat way; this prevented peace in NI because it continued fear and mistrust. As violence on one side would occur, it would be retaliated by the other. This would cause intimidation and hatred between sides, making negotiations harder to compromise . Loyalist paramilitaries like the UVF and UDA restarted their violent campaigns in 1966 and 1967 and were a barrier to peace, because they maintained violence by killing hundreds of Catholics throughout the Troubles. Republican made angered Nationalists less willing to sit and discuss with Unionist MP’s who support the killings of many Nationalists. Loyalists were a barrier to peace because they continued tit-for-tat violence making political negotiations difficult. The UVF and UDA continued their violence, parallel to the IRA’s activities. Their violence was