Tony Blair To The Irish Parliament
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On Thursday, November 26, 1998, Tony Blair made history by becoming the first British Prime Minister ever to address the Irish Parliament. That Parliament had been created 80 years earlier in open defiance of the British government which Blair now headed. Ireland had won its independence from Great Britain after a bloody insurrection in the early 1920s, marking the beginning of decades of intense animosity and outright violence. In this speech, Blair recalls his own Irish roots and declares an end to more than 800 years of enmity between England and Ireland.
Murals Of Northern Ireland
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This is a collection of images of murals from Northern Ireland, principally West Belfast, Republican and Loyalist, painted during the recent period of Troubles. The images are records which include historical representation, political standpoints, community concerns, forms of ideological address. They range from overtly political declaration, to brutal depictions of the conflict, to humour and irony.
The Linen Hall Library, Belfast
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The Linen Hall Library is a truly unique institution. Founded in 1788, it is the oldest library in Belfast and the last subscribing library in Ireland. It is renowned for its unparalleled Irish and Local Studies Collection, ranging from comprehensive holdings of Early Belfast and Ulster printed books to the 250,000 items in the Northern Ireland Political Collection, the definitive archive of the recent troubles.
The Omagh Bomb: 15 August, 1998
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Ironically, the worst single atrocity of thirty years of conflict in Ireland occurred at the point of highest hope during those years. The Good Friday Agreement had been signed just 13 weeks before. The massacre, caused by a 'Real' IRA car bomb, claimed the lives of 29 innocent civilians. Although the effects of the bomb on the victims and their families were catastrophic, the atrocity made politicans more determined than ever to make the process work: the opposite from what was intended by the murderers.