Re: Sinn Fein
Originally Posted by
Judd
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Not really. When Henry VIII broke from Rome (the Reformation) he saw Ireland, being a Catholic country, as a threat and a possible ally to Spain and France who could use Ireland as a base for an invasion. Matters came to a head after an Irish revolt in 1534 which tried to rally the Irish to create a Catholic crusade against a Protestant king. The first time that the two religions clashed.
The revolt was swiftly put down and Henry declared himself king of Ireland. As part of his attempted reformation in Ireland, Protestant settlers were given lands taken from the Irish natives. In later years, many came from Scotland (hence the harsh NI tongue).
So religion, then, as I said.
I see no difficulties in the unification of north and south in Ireland. There is freedom of religion now in both parts of Ireland, so why couldn't both parts live under the same government?
Of course there will always be disagreement between different religions just as there always has been. A separate Northern Ireland didn't preclude that, did it?
I'd be interested in hearing Annie's response.