IND times

 

 

"Ind Times"

News of Ireland

 

 

I.                        Belfast troubles

A few weeks ago, a new trouble period burst on the North borderland of Ireland. But what are the reasons of such troubles?

 

At first, we can’t ignore the track of the religious conflict. Indeed, since the colonization and the establishment of Protestantism in north Ireland, a lot of troubles and violence have burst between unionists and loyalists who are protestants and between the Catholics

On 3rd  December, the municipality of Belfast took the decision to change the policy of flying the union flag all year round. The Union Flag would only fly 15 days per year. This decision has resulted in many troubles. Indeed, during a loyalist demonstration, 26 policemen have been injured…

 

 

II.                        The Pope’s Resignation. What consequences?

Last Week, Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation, event which caused the worry in the Irish church. Indeed, Republic Of Ireland is a very catholic country and this unexpected resignation was a shock for the irish population.   Faces to this, a lot of reactions have been collected. Some people welcome the departure of the pope whereas this decision was frowned on by some other people…

The famous Irish newspaper « IRISH TIMES » reacts:

« New Pope. Same church?

Pope Benedict's resignation is the most radical move in  the Catholic Church in 50 years. Could it open the doors to a wider transformation? Don't count on it

So, ironically, Benedict XVI, a pope widely perceived as a safe pair of hands and even more conservative than his predecessor, may have provoked the greatest change in the Catholic Church’s modern history…”

Anyway, the other Catholics countries seem to be less worried about the future of Catholic Church…

 

III.                     Different newspapers, different points of view…

Since 1920, Ireland has been divided in two parts. Northern Ireland is a loyalist, unionist Protestant country whereas southern Ireland is a Nationalist and catholic country and today, we can still see the tensions between them. But how do they do to transmit their point of view? Mainly by the press.

Indeed, in Ireland, you can find a lot of different newspaper which have all diverging points of view. Some of these Newspapers are unionists, like the Belfast telegraph or the daily mail, and will proclaim that south Irish are terrorists and others are nationalist like the Irish times or the United Irishman, and will claim that the northern Irish are Catholics killers etc… So next time you’ll read a newspaper in Ireland just be careful about the source of your document!

 

 

                                        Article written by Henri Hava & Titouan De Gouyon