Ulster Covenant Parade

This is a video I took while watching the parade on Saturday that was to commemorate 100 years since the signing of the Ulster Covenant. In order to explain what the Ulster Covenant is you have to understand some history.  Ulster is one of 4 provinces in all of Ireland. Within Ulster there are 9 counties, 6 of those counties are in Northern Ireland. The other 3 counties are in the Republic of Ireland.

Pink is Northern Ireland; Green+Pink=Ulster Provence

At one time all of Ireland was under British rule. In the early 1900's Ireland wanted its independence from the United Kingdom. However, the province of Ulster wanted to remain British. In 1912 the  Ulster Covenant was created and nearly half a million people signed. This covenant stated that those who signed pledged to use "all means that may be found necessary". Shortly after Ulster Day and the signing of the covenant, the Ulster Volunteer Force was formed. In response to that the Irish Volunteers were formed in Dublin. So King George V invites both sides to Buckingham Palace for "all-party talks". This talk fails and the united Kingdom finds itself on the brink of Civil War.

 Finally in 1921, the split of Ireland became official. The southern part of Ireland became independent and are now called the Republic of Ireland. And the 6 counties in Ulster where the majority of the Unionist were became Northern Ireland. And it remains that way to this day. Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is a country in the United Kingdom. Dublin is the capital of the Republic of Ireland. The Republic of Ireland is a free country. To clarify, The Republic of Ireland is Irish and Northern Ireland is British. (Click for more info BBC-Ulster Covenant).

While technically Northern Ireland is British, its not that simple. While the majority living in Northern Ireland wanted to remain British, some wish to see Ireland unite as a whole. Thus there are two big political parties, the Unionists and the Nationalist. The Unionists wish to remain with the United Kingdom. The Nationalists wish to reunite all of Ireland.

For questions or more information (including videos) about Ulster Covenant or the Troubles or Northern Ireland in general feel free to email me anytime! :)