Northern Ireland is governed by a power-sharing agreement known as consociationalism as laid down in the Good Friday Agreement (Belfast Agreement) of 1998. When the U.K. exited the EU, Northern Ireland became the only province to share a land border with an EU country (Republic of Ireland). Northern Ireland was formerly part of the Ulster province, which lies to the north of modern-day Ireland. As there was a protestant majority in Ulster, out of the 32 counties in Ireland, six remained with the U.K, forming the region of Northern Ireland. In the late 1960s, various protests against the Northern Ireland government descended into violence with the IRA and the Unionist paramilitary forces taking up arms.

Source: The Hindu February 07, 2024 22:08 UTC