The role of the written press in the construction of division in Northern Ireland

Abstract

[Abstract] This research examines the role played by the print media in the construction of social division in Northern Ireland during the years of the events known as the Troubles, a dark period in Irish history that is still latent today. For this purpose, I have chosen one of the many tragic events that occurred during that time: the killing of the Gibraltar Three, also known as Operation Flavius. This was a tragic event marked by lies, the cruelty of the state´s sewers and the dirty war that the British have been waging for centuries in Ireland. The 7 and 8 March 1988 issues of Northern Ireland's leading newspapers, two Unionist and two Nationalist, were analyzed. Among the Unionists, the News Letter, which is more conservative, and the Belfast Telegraph, which is more liberal, were analyzed too. On the other hand, among the nationalists, copies of The Irish News, a newspaper with a moderate nationalist tradition and An Phoblacht, a political newspaper published by Sinn Féinn, were also analyzed. Prior to this, a brief analysis of the Northern Irish print media system, with its political influences and interests, was carried out. All this work led to different conclusions, depending on which newspaper reported the events. The broadly affirmative conclusion was that newspapers did influence and help to construct social division in Northern Ireland. After all, as humans, we are emotional, and these emotions make us move. We could reduce our entire existence to interests, and that is what we have observed in the analysis of these diaries. In the end, they are advocating for their interests, which in turn can be the interests of a community, whether unionist or nationalist; maybe for the interest of a certain sector, perhaps from a more accommodated backgrounds who seek harmony and coexistence; or, as we have also seen, for the interest of the State. The purpose of this paper is nothing more than to remember the victims of an evil system that mistreated them for years and that removed from them their civil rights; and the victims of political violence. In order not to forget the past, so that in such gruesome times of history as we are coming in the world but also in Northern Ireland, events like this won´t be repeated. But also to defend freedom of expression and to denounce interference in the press for the purpose of alienating its readers.