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actively sought political representation only to
find that they had been politically disenfranchised.
Political Representation: Growth of a
Catholic Middle-Class Creates the Realization of Their Under-Representation and Prompts a
Challenge to the Protestant Hierarchy of Political Dominance
The
separation of Ireland into its Northern and Southern regions was
by no means accidental. The North is composed of the six
counties of the historic province of Ulster, which are the foundation of Protestant
control. The intended goal of the separation was to "guarantee
an in-built Protestant majority, within the North, providing Catholic
population-growth did not
dramatically exceed that of Protestants."17 However, Protestant
control resulted in abuse and the "Stormont parliamentary regime
(1920 to 1972) became a textbook illustration of [John Stuart] Mill and
[Alexis de] Tocqueville's
prediction that democratic rule was compatible with a 'tyranny of the
majority' in what critics were to dub 'the Orange state'."18
To guarantee Protestant dominance and prevent internal factionalization
from developing, the Orange Order, which is part of the Protestant political
party, utilized religious
bigotry and fear to ensure a united Protestant vote. Protestant voting
solidarity has been maintained by fomenting their "fear that the
province might one day be absorbed into an Irish Republic dominated by
their traditional enemies (i.e. Catholics)."19 To
ensure that this would never occur, the Orange Order devised a wide array
of discriminatory measures to subordinate the Catholics.
Political representation, or rather political non-participation, is one
of the underlying causes that has protracted the conflict in Northern
Ireland. As will be
demonstrated, Catholic under-representation in government may be seen in their minimal
membership in the Stormont Parliament (1920 to 1972), their limited positions in the civil
service, and their few seats on the Judiciary. Protestants have thus effectively thwarted
the political aspirations of a growing Catholic populace. This
is because Catholic demands for political representation pose a challenge
to the declining dominance of the
Protestant electorate.
Exclusion, Limitations, and
Discrimination Against Catholics Under Protestant Majoritarian Rule
From
the end of the 17th century
to the present day, the Protestants have maintained their control
over Northern Ireland. This can
best be understood in the words of Lord Craigavon, the first Prime Minister
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Northern Ireland, when he boasted about a "Protestant
parliament for a Protestant people." As will be seen, "this
was not empty rhetoric: the Protestants had a popular majority (two
to one) in the Stormont Parliament and maintained an electoral cohesion
that enabled the Unionist Party to take between 62% and 76% of the
seats at Stormont regularly after 1929."20 To
secure Unionist leadership in the Stormont Parliament, the Orange
Order directly linked itself to the Unionist political machine.
The ethos of Orangeism permeates the Party. Every Prime
Minister of Northern Ireland had been an Orangeman, 95% of all elected Unionist
representatives in Parliament have been Orangemen, and the Orange institution is
officially represented in the major organs of the Unionist Party.21
Hence, Protestants
were able to maintain their stranglehold over the political arena
by keeping out Catholics. They accomplished this
through political patronage and discrimination at all levels of government,
which became the "officially sanctioned policy in the civil
service."22 This
resulted in a disproportionate and unfavorable amount of Catholic representation.
In 1927 Protestants held 94% of posts, and those Catholics
who were employed were concentrated at the bottom end of the scale. In 1959, the
percentage was unchanged despite the enormous growth in absolute numbers of Catholics.23
Not only
did those Catholics employed by government occupy the lowest levels,
but the end result of their underrepresentation was to weaken
the Catholic political machine. This was because "it was difficult
to hold together a party which could never hope for a share of political
power and obviously had
little influence with the Government."24
Discrimination was also evident in the Judiciary, as documented by the table, Senior
Judicial Posts in Northern Ireland in 1969, which divides the total number of senior
judicial posts into two groups, Protestant and Catholic.
Table 1
Senior Judicial Posts in Northern Ireland in 196925
 
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