From Wikipedia
The Troubles
(Irish: Na Trioblóidí)
was a period of ethno-political
conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into
England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of
the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered
by many to have ended with the Belfast "Good Friday" Agreement of 1998. Violence nonetheless continues on a sporadic basis.
The
principal issues at stake in the Troubles were the constitutional
status of Northern Ireland and the relationship between the
mainly-Protestant unionist and mainly-Catholic nationalist communities
in Northern Ireland. The Troubles had both political and military (or
paramilitary) dimensions. Its participants included politicians and
political activists on both sides, republican and loyalist
paramilitaries, and the security forces of the United Kingdom and of
the Republic of Ireland.