4.The Irish

Ireland was the first colony of the British Empire.In 1800，the parliaments of Great Britain and Ireland were formally united by the Act of Union.The inhabitants of Ireland are mainly Celtic in origin，and most of them are Roman Catholic.When the Reformation began in the 16th century in England and Scotland，the Irish refused to accept the Reformation.During the reign of ElizabethⅠ，however，many English and Scottish Protestants began to move to Ireland and became the most powerful elements in the country.Northern Ireland became mainly Protestant，while the rest of Ireland remained chiefly Roman Catholic.By the term of an Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921，Northern Ireland was granted its own parliament in which a protestant government was formed.Roman Catholics，who were excluded from political office，came increasingly to resent the continuing Protestant domination，and，as a result，a vigorous civil rights movement emerged in the late 1960s.Consequently，British troops were sent to Northern Ireland in 1969to help to keep the order，and in 1972the British government put the direct rule of Northern Ireland from Westminster.In spite of the efforts of the British government，the police force in Northern Ireland and the British Army units there，violence and terrorism have continued with the Irish Republic Army（IRA）.In Dec.1993Albert Reynolds and John Major，prime ministers of both Ireland and the UK，announced the“Downing Street Declaration”that Sinn Fein，the political party of the IRA，would be invited to participate in negotiations concerning the future of Northern Ireland on condition that it calls apermanent halt to terrorism and violence.In Sept.1994the IRA announced a cease-fire in its 25-year efforts to expel British troops from Northern Ireland.Preliminary talks among the UK，the Irish Republic，and Sinn Fein began in December of the same year.Despite apparently large areas of agreement concerning Ulster，public talks remained difficult over opposing demands that the IRA disarm and that Britain withdraw its forces from Ulster.