Northern Ireland was for many years the site of a violent and bitter ethno-political conflict – the Troubles – which was caused by divisions between Irish nationalists, who are predominantly Roman Catholic, and unionists, who are predominantly Protestant. Unionists want Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom,[4] while nationalists wish it to be politically reunited with the rest of Ireland.[5][6][7][8] Since the signing of the "Good Friday Agreement" in 1998, most of the paramilitary groups involved in the Troubles have ceased their armed campaigns.
^"The Countries of the UK". statistics.gov.uk – geography – beginners' guide to UK geography. UK Statistics Authority. 11 November 2005. Archived from the original on 9 December 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2009. The top-level division of administrative geography in the UK is the 4 countries – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
^"countries within a country". Number10.gov.uk. The Office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. 10 January 2003. Archived from the original on 9 September 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2009. The United Kingdom is made up of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Its full name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland...Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom with a devolved legislative Assembly and a power sharing Executive made up of ministers from four political parties representing different traditions.
^Statutory Rules & Orders published by authority, 1921 (No. 533); Additional source for 3 May 1921 date: Alvin Jackson, Home Rule – An Irish History, Oxford University Press, 2004, p198.
^Richard Jenkin, 1997, Rethinking ethnicity: arguments and explorations, SAGE Publications: London: "In Northern Ireland the objectives of contemporary nationalists are the reunification of Ireland and the removal of British government."
^Peter Dorey, 1995, British politics since 1945, Blackwell Publishers: Oxford: "Just as some Nationalists have been prepared to use violence in order to secure Irish reunification, so some Unionists have been prepared to use violence in order to oppose it."