Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland (Irish: Tuaisceart Éireann [ˈt̪ˠuəʃcəɾˠt̪ˠ ˈeːɾʲən̪ˠ]; Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a constituent unit of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the northeast of the island of Ireland. It is variously described as a country, province, region, or "part" of the United Kingdom, amongst other terms. Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2011, its population was 1,810,863, constituting about 30% of the island's total population and about 3% of the UK's population. Established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998 as part of the Good Friday Agreement, the Northern Ireland Assembly holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, while other areas are reserved for the British government. Northern Ireland co-operates with the Republic of Ireland in some areas, and the Agreement granted the Republic the ability to "put forward views and proposals" with "determined efforts to resolve disagreements between the two governments".

32 County Sovereignty Movement

The 32 County Sovereignty Movement, often abbreviated to 32CSM or 32csm, is an Irish republican group that was founded by Bernadette Sands McKevitt. It does not contest elections, but acts as a pressure group with branches or cumainn organised throughout the traditional counties of Ireland.

The 32CSM has been described as the "political wing" of the Real IRA, but this is denied by both organisations. The group originated in a split from Sinn Féin over the Mitchell Principles.

Objectives

History

The organisation was founded as the 32 County Sovereignty Committee on 7 December 1997 at a meeting of like-minded Irish republicans in Finglas in Dublin. Those present were opposed to the direction taken by Sinn Féin and other mainstream republican groups in the Northern Ireland peace process, which would lead to the Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement) the following year. The same division in the republican movement led to the paramilitary group now known as the Real IRA breaking away from the Provisional Irish Republican Army at around the same time.

Good Friday

Good Friday is a Christian religious holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of Passover. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Black Friday, or Easter Friday, though the last term properly refers to the Friday in Easter week.

Good Friday is a widely instituted legal holiday in many national governments around the world, including in most Western countries (especially among Anglican and Catholic nations) as well as in 12 U.S. states. Some governments, such as Germany, have laws prohibiting certain acts, such as dancing and horse racing, that are seen as profaning the solemn nature of the day.

Etymology

The etymology of the term "good" in the context of Good Friday is contested. Some sources claim "good" to simply mean pious or holy, while others contend that it is a corruption of "God Friday". The Oxford English Dictionary supports the first etymology, giving "of a day or season observed as holy by the church" as an archaic sense of good (good, adj. 8c), and providing examples of good tide meaning "Christmas" or "Shrove Tuesday", and Good Wednesday meaning the Wednesday in Holy Week.

Bernadette Sands McKevitt

Bernadette Sands McKevitt (born in November 1958) is an Irish republican, and a founding member of the 32 County Sovereignty Movement.

Early life

She lived in the mainly loyalist Rathcoole area of Newtownabbey before her family were forced out of their home, when they moved to republican West Belfast. She is the younger sister of Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) hunger striker Bobby Sands. She was unable to attend his funeral because she was on the run at the time.

Personal

Her husband, Michael McKevitt, was the Quartermaster General of the IRA and later a founding member of an anti-Good Friday Agreement splinter group commonly known as the Real Irish Republican Army. Bernadette and McKevitt have three children.

References

Ireland

Ireland (ⁱ/ˈaɪərlənd/; Irish: Éire [ˈeːɾʲə]; Ulster-Scots: Airlann [ˈɑːrlən]) is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth.

Politically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially named Ireland), which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and located in the northeast of the island. In 2011 the population of Ireland was about 6.4 million, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. Just under 4.6 million live in the Republic of Ireland and just over 1.8 million live in Northern Ireland.

The island's geography comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. The island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild but changeable climate which avoids extremes in temperature. Thick woodlands covered the island until the Middle Ages. As of 2013, the amount of land that is wooded in Ireland is about 11% of the total, compared with a European average of 35%. There are 26 extant mammal species native to Ireland. The Irish climate is very moderated and classified as oceanic. As a result, winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area. However, summers are cooler than those in Continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant.