One factor that led to the conflict between Catholics and Protestants is the lack of opportunities for social interaction In Northern Ireland, there are fully funded public schools that cater to the Protestants only, and private schools that cater to Catholics only, which ae partly funded by the government. Before 1991, the Protestant children were taught British history and played British sports such as rugby, hockey and cricket. On the other hand, Catholic children learnt Irish history, took up Irish sports such as hurling and were taught the Irish language and culture. Furthermore, since the 17 th century, the Catholics and Protestants have been living in separate residential areas. The 1991 census showed that in Belfast, 63% of the population lived in areas that were either mainly Catholics or Protestant, thus reducing the opportunity for social interaction. Since the Catholics and Protestants learns sports, cultures and knowledge that are completely different, they cannot interact with each other as they do not have common topics. This causes the lack of understanding between the two groups. This eventually led to misunderstanding between the two groups, which causes violence to break out between the two groups. This then led to the conflict between Catholics and Protestants.
Divided Loyalties
One of the causes of conflict in Northern Ireland is the divided loyalties, where the Protestants and Catholics have different political beliefs. The Protestants see themselves as British and want Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK. They are afraid that a union with the Republic of Ireland would mean that the Catholic government would be intolerant of their Protestant beliefs. The Catholics see themselves as Irish and want a union with the Republic of Ireland. The Catholics also resent the history of English conquest where they were killed and treated badly by the Protestants. Loyalty to different countries makes the Protestants and the Catholics intolerant of each other, causing tension which would later result in conflict between the two sides. This difference also contributes to a lack of identity which further prevents understanding and co-operation between the Catholics and Protestants, leading to more tension and conflict.
Unequal allocation of housing
One reason for the conflict in Northern Ireland is the unequal allocation of public housing by city councils. As the city councils are largely made up of Protestants, more houses would be given to the Protestants than the Catholics, therefore the Catholics find the allocation of public housing by the government to be unfair. As the Catholics have larger families, they are frustrated by the shortage of housing as they would have to wait many years to be allocated a house. They were angered by this discrimination and their frustration led to the conflict between Catholics and Protestants.
Unequal Employment Opportunities
One of the factors that led to the conflict in Northern Ireland is the unequal employment opportunities. In Northern Ireland, it is more difficult for Catholics to get jobs, especially in the civil / government service although they were just as / more qualified than the Protestants. There were also very few Catholics in senior positions and the public sectors and the number of Catholic civil servants were not proportionate to their numbers in the country. As a result, this affected the Catholics as they were likely to be jobless or unable to get the jobs they wanted. Their social and economic position in Northern Ireland and their standard of living would be affected if they are jobless or lowly paid. Thus, the Catholics were very unhappy that they do not have equal employment opportunities. Hence, they organized peaceful demonstrations which eventually lead to violence between Catholics and Protestants, leading to conflict in Northern Ireland.
Lack of voting rights
One of the factors that led to the conflict in Northern Ireland is the lack of voting rights.
In local elections only people who owned houses or businesses could vote. As Protestants tended to be wealthier, more of them could vote which meant they dominated local councils and ruled in their own interests which made Catholics resentful. Poorer Catholics who did not own companies got less votes, which resulted in them being unable to obtain any say in the government or gain political power, making them resentful of the Protestants and their ability to gain advantage through voting rights.
Secondly, by re-drawing the voting districts, Protestants could ensure that the Catholics were unable to gain a power base, further marginalizing them.
The Catholics were angry with the lack of voting rights for Catholics. Thus the Catholics held peaceful demonstrations which eventually lead to violence between the two groups, thus leading to the conflict between the Protestants and the Catholics.