Historical and political background

Since 1921, Ireland has been divided into two political entities: the independent 26-county Republic of Ireland (earlier the Irish Free State, capital city Dublin) and the six-county statelet of Northern Ireland (capital Belfast) which is currently part of the United Kingdom. Although the latter is frequently referred to as Ulster, it excludes three of the counties which comprise the historical province bearing that name.

The long-standing dispute over the political status of the Six Counties reflects the divided loyalties of its population. Broadly speaking, the nationalist community (largely Roman Catholic) desires a united independent Ireland, while the unionist community (largely Protestant and descended from Scottish and English settlers who arrived in the seventeenth century) professes allegiance to the British crown. The present ascendency of the unionist cause stems from the fact that the boundaries of the Six Counties were originally drawn in such a way as to ensure a Protestant majority. The current ratio of Protestants to Catholics in Northern Ireland is roughly two to one.

The English language first established a foot-hold in Ireland with the Anglo-Norman invasions of the twelfth century. For several centuries after this date, it made little headway against the Irish Gaelic of the indigenous population. In fact the influence of English waned to such an extent that by 1600 it was more or less restricted to a small enclave on the east coast.