The conflict in Northern Ireland is an outcome of British colonial intervention in Ireland that led to a partition in 1921 of the Northern province of Ulster from the three Southern Provinces, which became the independent Republic of Ireland. The logic of this partition was that the majority of Irish Protestants who opposed the independence of Ireland and wished to remain part of the UK lived in Ulster. The recent period of conflict in Northern Ireland, commonly known as ‘the troubles’, dates from the civil rights marches for electoral reform in the late 1960s. These reforms were demanded by Catholics who were often discriminated against in employment and housing policies. State violence surrounding the civil rights movement led to resumption of sectarian conflict and British army intervention. The conflict proceeded through successive periods, and in all, more than 3,600 people were killed and thousands more injured and displaced during ‘the troubles’ (Armed Conflict Database). Although the conflict was sometimes conceptualised as a civil war, a postcolonial struggle, an internal policing problem, terrorism or a guerrilla war, a state-level peace agreement was necessary to halt the official violence. In consequence, the Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998 between the British and Irish governments and was further endorsed by most of the political parties in Northern Ireland. Although this formal agreement was put in place and there has been significant economic regeneration, there has also been ongoing sporadic violence, lack of political agreement, increasing number of peace walls separating communities as well as many outstanding justice issues and grievances.