A glossary of Terms Related to the Conflict
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GGarda Siochana The police force of the Republic of Ireland. Gerrymandering In the context of Northern Ireland this term was used to describe the claim that after 1921 the Unionist authorities deliberately manipulated electoral boundaries, particularly at local government level, for political purposes. The gerrymandering of electoral boundaries was one of the main issues raised by the civil rights movement in the late 1960s. Gibraltar On 6 March 1988 three members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) were killed by undercover members of the Special Air Service (SAS) in Gibraltar. Controversy later arose when it was discovered that the three were unarmed and did not have any explosives as originally suggested by the British government. Good Friday Agreement (GFA) / Belfast Agreement On Good Friday, 10 April 1998, after almost two years of negotiations the Northern Ireland multi-party talks resulted in a political agreement between the parties present at the negotiations. TheAgreement was later referred to as the 'Good Friday Agreement'. The Agreement has also been referred to as 'the Belfast Agreement', and 'the Stormont Agreement', and the 'Agreement Reached in the Multi-Party Negotiations'. See: Key Event entry. Government of Ireland Act The Government of Ireland Act was passed by the Westminster Parliament in 1920. The Act partitioned Ireland and established two different jurisdictions, that of Northern Ireland (consisting of six counties) and the Irish Free State (consisting of the remaining twenty-six counties). Great Britain Great Britain, or Britain, is a collective term for England, Scotland and Wales. Strictly the term never included Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is however part of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Northern Ireland). Although Northern Ireland is not geographically part of Britain the majority of the population, mainly those who are Protestant and Unionist, very emphatically consider themselves to be British. See also: British, United Kingdom Green Adjective used to imply a Nationalist bias. 'Green Book' Refers to the title of the manual given to all members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and contains all the rules and instructions of the organisation. See: Coogan, Tim Pat. (1993) 'The Green Book: I', in, 'The IRA'. London: HarperCollins. Greysteel On 30 October 1993 seven people were killed and thirteen were injured in a gun attack on the Rising Sun Bar in the village of Greysteel, County Derry. In claiming responsibility for the attack the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), a cover name (pseudonym) used by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), stated that it had been carried out in retaliation for the Shankill Road bomb which took place on 23 October 1993. HH-Block(s) In 1976 the British government opened eight new prison blocks at the Maze Prison, just outside Belfast, to house the increasing number of people convicted on paramilitary-related charges. The new cells were referred to as 'H-Blocks' because the plan of the blocks resembled the letter 'H'. The building of the new prison blocks signalled the intention of the authorities to introduce a new prison regime and to end the existing system, known as 'political status' or 'special category status'. This new regime was to lead to an increasingly bitter campaign by prisoners to reverse the decision and this culminated in the hunger strikes of 1980 and 1981. See also: 'The Maze' Handler(s) Within the British security forces those with responsibility for controlling informers or agents within paramilitary organisations became known as 'handlers'. Heads of Agreement On 12 January 1998 the British and Irish governments produced a discussion paper for the parties then involved in the ongoing multi-party talks. Its proper title was the 'Propositions on Heads of Agreement' but it was subsequently referred to as 'Heads of Agreement'. Hillsborough Declaration On 1 April 1999 the British and Irish governments issued a declaration in order to break the political stalemate over decommissioning which had postponed the setting up of the executive proposed under the Good Friday Agreement. However the 'Hillsborough Declaration' was virtually rejected by all the main political parties in Northern Ireland. Home Rule On three occasions in 1886, 1893 and 1912 the British government attempted to introduce legislation providing for a measure of self-government for the whole of Ireland, known as 'Home Rule'. Whilst largely welcomed by Irish Nationalists, the proposals were completely opposed by Unionist opinion. The attempts in 1886 and 1893 were to fail but the third attempt was to meet with some success as a bill granting 'home rule' became law in 1914. However, it was immediately suspended because of the outbreak of the First World War. By the time the war had ended in November 1918 the mood of Nationalist Ireland had undergone a radical transformation and as a result it was no longer willing to accept what had initially been offered. The consequence of this was that the initial concept of 'home rule' was abandoned by the Brtitish government in a favour of a settlement based on the partitioning of Ireland. Honeymoon In the wake of the growing civil unrest in Northern Ireland the arrival of British troops on the streets was largely welcomed by minority Catholic community. This became known as the 'honeymoon period' as within a short time the mood had changed and increasingly the army came to be regarded as maintaining the political and constitutional status quo. Honeytrap Term used to describe a practice, prevalent in the early 1970s, when young female members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) were used to befriend off-duty British soldiers. Once this had been done they would be lured to place where they would be abducted and shot. Human Bomb(s) / Proxy Bomb(s) On 24 October 1990 the Irish Republican Army (IRA) carried out a series of attacks on the British army using what were referred to as 'human bombs' (or 'proxy bombs'). The term referred to the fact that civilians, who worked in some capacity for the security forces, were forced drive vehicles which had been loaded with explosives to security checkpoints. At the Coshquin checkpoint near Derry five soldiers and the man who was forced to drive the car were all killed. In a second attack, at Killeen near Newry, a soldier was killed. The third bomb, that had been driven to Omagh, County Tyrone, failed to detonate. Hume-Adams / Hume-Adams Talks In the early 1990s John Hume, then leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin (SF), engaged in a series of discussions in an effort to encourage the prospects of a political settlement. This process became known as the 'Hume-Adams' talks and on 24 April 1993 they released their first joint statement. Hunger Strike This term refers to the main hunger strike by Republican prisoners in the Maze Prison during 1981. Ten prisoners died during the strike which was undertaken to achieve 'political status' for Republican prisoners. See: Key Event entry. Hunt Report In 1969 a committee headed by Lord Hunt was established to review policing in Northern Ireland. The report was published on 10 October 1969 and recommended far-reaching reforms. 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