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CAIN stands for Conflict Arcive on the INternet. Initially the site concentrated on the recent violent conflict in Northern Ireland. However, the site has been expanded to include information on politics in the region. Some background information on Northern Ireland society has also been added to the site. The name of the site also refers to the biblical story of Cain and Abel. In a number of respects the violent conflict resembled a civil war.

A description of the CAIN logo is at: http://cain.ulster.ac.uk/bgnd/logo.htm

CAIN is based within Ulster University. The CAIN Director is a member of staff of the university. CAIN is an associated project of INCORE and is based with INCORE on the Magee campus of the Ulster University. CAIN is also one of a number of resources and services that together form ARK. Much of the material at the CAIN site is in the form of contributions supplied by a wide range of organisations, informal groups, agencies, and individuals in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and further afield.

Additional information on the CAIN Project, and the web site, is at: http://cain.ulster.ac.uk/cainbgn/

Information on the background to the project and its operation during 1996 and 1997

'The Troubles' is a euphemism that is commonly used in Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, to refer to the most recent period of civil and political unrest, and violent political conflict (from 1968 to 2007). The term has been used in the past to refer to other periods of conflict particularly the Anglo-Irish War (or the War of Independence; 1919 - 1921). The term 'Troubles' was frequently used in a social context at 'wakes' or funerals where people who wanted to express condolence would often say "sorry for your troubles" to the relatives and friends of the deceased. It may be that the use of the term was extended from this context to cover wider social and political conflict.

CAIN marks the start of the conflict as 5 October 1968.
There is no absolute agreement on the date of the start of the recent violent conflict in Northern Ireland. A number of dates have been used by different writers: the Civil Rights March in Derry - 5 October 1968; the beginning of the 'Battle of the Bogside' - 12 August 1969; the Deployment of British Troops - 14 August 1969; or the re-emergence of the UVF in 1966. (Non-violent conflict - political conflict, economic conflict, cultural conflict, etc., - has been a feature of society in the region since the early part of the 17th century. On numerous occasions this conflict has resulted in periods of serious and sustained violence.)

The conflict in Northern Ireland is usually explained in terms of the different constitutional aspirations of the two main sections of the community in the region. Many Catholics consider themselves to be Irish and are Nationalist in political outlook, that is, they would like to see the whole (nation) island of Ireland reunited (and independent of Britain). Most Protestants consider themselves to be British and are Unionist in political outlook, that is, they want Northern Ireland to remain part of the (union of the) United Kingdom (UK) of Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales) and Northern Ireland.

The correspondence between religion, culture, and political outlook is the result of a historical accident. During the 'plantation of Ulster' in the early 17th century the Scottish and English settlers, who moved to the north-east of Ireland to take ownership of confiscated lands, were Protestant and had strong cultural ties with England and Scotland. The native Irish who were forced from their land were Catholic and culturally Irish. Although religion was not the determining factor in the conflict between the people living in the region, it has a special significance as it was used as a marker to distinguish and discriminate between sections of the community. As a consequence of the plantation Protestants acquired land and wealth. Various pieces of legislation were introduced to reduce the status of Catholics. The inequalities between the two sections of the population persisted to the late 1960s and were the main cause of the civil rights movement that eventually led to the re-emergence of violent conflict.

For a more detail explanation see: Articles on the background to the conflict

Most people believe that the recent period of violent conflict, 'the Troubles', in Northern Ireland has ended. In the years after the Belfast / Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland experienced continuing violence not only from those paramilitary organisations which are 'active' (that is, did not declare a ceasefire - rIRA; CIRA), but also from some organisations which are supposed to be on ceasefire (UDA, UFF, LVF, IRA). So the period of 'peace' following the first ceasefires (which were broken and renewed by some organisations) was an imperfect one. On the 28 July 2005 the Irish Republican Army (IRA) issued a statement announcing the end of its 'armed campaign'. On 26 September 2005 the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) issued a report stating that the IRA had decommissioned its weapons.

Conflict (in the form of political conflict, economic conflict, etc.) between the two main communities has a long history, almost 400 years. There have been many bouts of violent conflict in the past and there is no guarantee that people will not resort to violence in the future. Simply on the basis of previous experience one would have to say that another period of violence is a possibility. It will require a fundamental shift in the nature of the relationship between unionists and nationalists in the region for violence to be avoided in the future.

CAIN marks the end of the conflict as 8 May 2007.
It has proven as difficult to agree on a date for the end of 'the Troubles' as it is to agree on the date of beginning of the violent conflict. There have been a number of significant events and developments: the second IRA ceasefire - 20 July 1997; the Good Friday Agreement - 10 April 1998; the Omagh Bomb - Saturday 15 August 1998; the beginning of the new Devolved Government - Thursday 2 December 1999; the announcement of end of the IRA's 'armed campaign' - 28 July 2005; the completion of IRA decommisioning - 26 September 2005; and the return of an agreed devolved government on 8 May 2007.

The main reason was probably war weariness on the part of civilians, supporters of paramilitary groups, and the paramilitaries themselves. Those who decided to engage with the Republican movement were probably able to convince enough members that their political objectives could more readily be achieved by constitutional means than by violence.

Protestants are still the majority of the Northern Ireland population; estimates based on the 2001 Census put the Protestant population at 56 per cent with 44 per cent Catholic (based on revised figures). The Catholic population is continuing to grow although there is uncertainty about when Catholics will form a majority of the population. There is evidence that among the current (2002) under-16 school population 50.66 per cent of children are Catholic (Department of Education Northern Ireland).

While 'majority rule' appeals to some in the Protestant community it has certain drawbacks as the size of the two communities draw closer to 50 per cent. The most important disadvantage is that a community that holds all the power on one day could find itself with none following a small change in voting patterns. For this and other reasons many people argue for the sharing of power. In the case of Northern Ireland there is a strong case for that sharing to be done on an equal basis regardless of the size of the respective communities. Just recently there have been some interesting examples of equality of treatment. More as a result of voting patterns than by design the Executive which was appointed on 29 November 1999 had six Unionists and six Nationalist members (First Minister, Deputy First Minister, and ten Department Ministers). The Patten Commission on the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) recommended that recruitment should be on a 50 per cent Catholic and 50 per cent Protestant basis.

A diagram listing the political parties, which has links to additional text on each party, is to be found at: http://cain.ulster.ac.uk/issues/politics/parties.htm

A diagram listing the paramilitary groups, which has links to additional text on each group, is to be found at: http://cain.ulster.ac.uk/issues/violence/paramilitary.htm

Users should assume that the same copyright conditions that apply to published material applies to the information at the CAIN site. We have a separate page that sets out the conditions under which people may use material from the CAIN site.

Copyright of photographs remains with the original photographer or agency. The general copyright conditions mentioned in response to the previous question apply to photographs (see copyright page).

All our time and resources are used to make the information available at the CAIN site because this is the quickest and cheapest way of distributing material. We do not have the resources, or copyright permission, to copy individual items and post them to people or to supply 'information packs'.

A report on CAIN
To cite, or provide an academic reference for, a report that appears on the CAIN site, for example this report:
http://cain.ulster.ac.uk/events/peace/docs/nipmr_2012-02.pdf
A user should give the 'normal' academic reference (author; year; title; place of publicaton; publisher) but also provide informaton on the location of the item (because it was viewed on-line) and also the date when it was viewed / accessed. So the full citation might look like this:

Nolan, Paul. (2012). The Northern Ireland Peace Monitoring Report, (29 February 2012), [PDF; 11989KB]. Belfast: Community Relations Council. Accessed 11 March 2013, <http://cain.ulster.ac.uk/events/peace/docs/nipmr_2012-02.pdf>

Items written by CAIN staff
To cite material written by CAIN staff, for example this item:
http://cain.ulster.ac.uk/issues/identity/flag-2012.htm
The citation would be:

Melaugh, Martin. (2013). A background note on the protests and violence related to the Union Flag at Belfast City Hall, December 2012 - January 2013. CAIN Web site. Accessed 11 March 2013, <http://cain.ulster.ac.uk/issues/identity/flag-2012.htm>

Photograph taken by CAIN staff
To cite a photograph taken by CAIN staff, for example photograph No.20 on this page:
http://cain.ulster.ac.uk/images/photos/derry/citywithout/statuesbr2.htm
The citation would be:

Melaugh, Martin. (2007). Photograph of 'Hands Across the Divide', No.20, (2 February 2007), JPEG. CAIN Web site. Accessed 11 March 2013, <http://cain.ulster.ac.uk/images/photos/derry/citywithout/statuesbr2.htm>

We don't have posters, or flags, or 'T-shirts', or badges, for sale. The photographs of posters at the CAIN site were taken of individual posters on loan to CAIN for a short period before being returned to their original owners. Some of the most recent posters (or flags) may be found on sale at specialist shops or market stalls (mainly in Northern Ireland). If the posters are for private study (and not to be commercially reproduced; see above notes on copyright) then users may print a copy locally.

CAIN receives approximately 5 or 6 requests each day from students asking for help with essays. Some people ask a specific question related to the topic, some want all the information we have on the topic, and some want us to write the essay for them. As you can appreciate it is not possible for us to provide an essay writing service. As a first step users should check for information on the TOPIC of their essay by following the suggestions below.

[The word TOPIC is taken to represent a key 'word', 'term', or 'phrase' that you are interested in, for example, 'parades', or 'internment'.]
If you are looking for information on a particular TOPIC there are a number of ways of locating the information at the CAIN site. You should first check whether or not the TOPIC appears in the list of the key events, or key issues, or in the section on the background to the conflict. Then check the main index. You should also do a search for the term, or terms, that reflect the content of the TOPIC in the CAIN search page (click on the 'search' button that appears at the bottom of each page; there are two options for doing a full-text search of the site). To find citations for source material search the CAIN bibliography and do a 'title' search for terms related to the TOPIC. You may also need to check the other specific bibliographies and databases. As a more general approach to carrying out research on issues related to Northern Ireland you should consult the guide to carrying out research.

The CAIN Project Manager receives a lot of requests (mainly from students) for an interview to be conducted by email. Many of the interviews pose questions designed to obtain personal opinions on particular aspects of the conflict. A problem with this type of request is the amount of time that would be required to deal with these questions - time which would not then be available for work on the web site. It will not be possible therefore to answer a series of questions in the form of an email interview. Every effort will be given to dealing with research queries dealing with a specific topic. (Those who were looking to conduct an interview should check the FAQ page to see if any of their questions have been answered there.)

There is a search facility available and there are also a number of bibliographical and other search pages for databases at the CAIN site.

The CAIN director gave consideration to establishing a discussion list but previous experience of being a member on a politics list was negative. Unmoderated discussions on northern Irish politics tend to degenerate very quickly into personal abuse. A moderated list could involve up to 50 per cent of the manager's time; hence less work on the web site. There are a number of existing discussion lists some of which are listed at: http://cain.ulster.ac.uk/bibdbs/newlinks.html#8

CAIN has an email list that is only used once or twice a year. The list is mainly comprised of the email addresses of people who have contacted CAIN or who have an interest in the Northern Ireland conflict or politics in the region. The list contains only email addresses and does not include any other details such as names. The list is used to inform users of major additions to the site or new features. In each message sent people are offered the opportunity to have their email address removed from the list. The email addresses are not passed on to any other organisation.

In the context of the most recent conflict in Northern Ireland the term Nationalist is taken to mean those people, mainly Catholics, who support the aim of re-uniting Ireland through constitutional, non-violent, means. The term Republican is usually taken to mean those in the Catholic / Nationalist community who support the use of violence to achieve the reunification of Ireland.

The CAIN site deals with the period of the recent conflict, that is, from 1968 to 2007. Only brief comments are included in the following discussion about the earlier part of the 20th century.

Not all Nationalists have resorted to violence to achieve their aims, though at various times, for example during the Anglo-Irish War (or the War of Independence) 1919 to 1921 a majority of Nationalist supported armed conflict against Britain. At other times democratic constitutional means, such as participation in the parliament at Westminster (until January 1919), and later at the Dáil (the Irish parliament), and at Stormont (the parliament in Northern Ireland), were used to try to end British control of Ireland.

Alongside efforts at change through parliamentary means Nationalists have also used other methods. Presenting Nationalist and Republican arguments to audiences in Ireland, Britain, and other countries, particularly the United States of America (USA), has been a technique employed at various times during the 20th century. Some of the lobbying took the form of trying to bring international pressure to bear on the British government. Some was targeted at trying to change British public opinions about Ireland - for example in the 1970s and 1980s attempts were made to increase support for the option of removing British troops from Northern Ireland. The use of lobbying of government and influential figures has also been used throughout the 20th century. Street demonstrations and protests have also been important and were used to a large extent in Northern Ireland by the civil rights movement.

Anyone attempting to answer this question firstly needs to be aware that there is an implicit assumption in the question that would not be accepted by everyone. The reference to "the Irish problem" implies that the Irish alone are at fault and are causing a problem for Britain. Some Irish people would argue that the 'problem' is one that resulted from Britain's gradual colonisation of Ireland over a long period of time.

The conflict in Northern Ireland stems from the fact that there are two distinct traditions among the population, one British the other Irish, each of which wants a different political outcome. Broadly speaking many of those who are Catholic are also Nationalist and support the reunification of Ireland, while most of those who are Protestant are also Unionists and wish to see the constitutional link with Britain maintained.

There is a deep lack of trust between the two traditions and this is apparent in the attitudes of many politicians in Northern Ireland. Trust is something that is only likely to develop over a very long period of time. In an attempt to reach a political settlement in the absence of trust the Good Friday Agreement was drawn up following negotiations that involved most of the political parties in Northern Ireland. The main weakness of the Agreement was the fact that some issues, notably the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons, were dealt with in a vague manner. Following the signing of the Agreement, Unionists and Republicans argued over what the text actually meant. There were many delays while the British and Irish governments attempted to implement the Good Friday Agreement. Following the establishment of the various institutions of government that were outlined in the Agreement, the issue of decommissioning came to dominate politics once more. With Unionists threatening to withdraw from government in Northern Ireland the British government took the decision to suspend the Assembly. The Assembly was reconvened and suspended on a number of occasions and then an indefinite suspension began on 14 October 2002.

Even though the IRA announced the end of its 'armed campaign' on 28 July 2005 and also decommissioned its weapons on 26 September 2005, there remained deep distrust among Unionists about entering into another power-sharing Executive with Sinn Féin. Following further political talks, which were held at St Andrews in Scotland in October 2006, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) led by Iam Paisley agreed to enter into a power-sharing government with Sinn Féin. The new devolved Assembly took power on Tuesday 8 May 2007.

More fundamentally, substantial change to the ethos and nature of society in Northern Ireland will be needed if the Good Friday Agreement, or any similar agreement, is to form the basis for a long-term solution to the conflict. The increasing Catholic population in the region will mean that society and politics will have to reflect a shared state rather than the previous domination by one section of the population. Violence has been a recurring theme of the last 400 years of history in Northern Ireland. At the moment Northern Ireland is experiencing an imperfect peace and there is no guarantee that large-scale violence has been consigned to the history books.

There is a general email page

There is also a form for providing comments on the CAIN Web Service

If you have a research interest in the Northern Ireland conflict or politics in the region please consider completing the 'Researchers' form.

Anyone wishing to contribute articles or other material should look at the guidelines for contributions