Background
The conflict in Northern Ireland exists between a Republican, largely Catholic minority that seeks to unite Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland in the South, and a Unionist, largely Protestant majority that wants Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom. The violent conflict between those supporting these two political agendas was at its worst between the years 1968 and 1997. In the 1980s and 90s, attacks by Republicans were sometimes targeted on the British mainland, including a bombing at the governing Conservative Party's annual conference.
