Colonial powers carved up land between them, dividing age-old settlements, tribes and indigenous peoples. A map of Africa can tell us that. Other maps show boundaries, the result of partitions by Britain that remain a cause of violent conflict in the Middle East, Asia — and the United Kingdom.
This year, 3 May marks the centenary of the creation of Northern Ireland, made up of six of Ulster’s nine counties (widely but wrongly referred to as “The Province”). It is not a time for celebration, even by Unionists, who support the UK.
Two books have now been added to the voluminous library devoted to this troubled land. One considers its uncertain future, the other how it became the killing field for the Irish Republican Army (IRA), “loyalist’ paramilitary groups, the British army, and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC —the Northern Irish police force), aided and abetted by Britain’s domestic security agency, MI5.