On July 14, 1966, Gwynfor Evans became the first Westminster Parliamentarian for the Welsh nationalist party, Plaid Cymru (the Party of Wales ), when he won the seat of Carmarthen , in South-West Wales , from the Labour Party in a by-election. It was reported that Evansâ triumph was greeted with âwild scenesâ 1 and Evans himself described the victory as âan historic day for Wales and the Welsh nationâ, claiming that âfor the first time Wales will have a direct voice at Westminster and I intend to make that voice heardâ. 2 His defeated opponent, Gwilym Prys-Davies did not view it as an historic triumph, remarking âit has been a protest vote and not a positive one⊠Carmarthen will return to Labour at the next general electionâ. 3 Although Evans lost Carmarthen in 1970, as Prys-Davies predicted, the victory was just the start for Plaid Cymru âit was a political breakthrough, an emergence onto the national scene. More generally it was evidence that many in Wales felt that Welsh issues were not being adequately addressed by the British political parties: the Labour Party , the Conservatives and the Liberals, and were turning to nationalist solutions.
On November 2, 1967, Winnie Ewing won a by-election in Hamilton for the Scottish National Party (SNP) defeating the incumbent Labour Party . In similarly jubilant scenes, it was reported that âfireworks flared through the dismally wet night⊠hundreds of young nationalists stood outside the counting hall in pouring rain, cheering, singing, playing the bagpipes and chanting âwe want Winnieââ. 4 She was not the first Scottish nationalist Member of Parliament, 5 but the scale of her triumph (overturning a Labour majority of 16,576) meant that her victory was the most remarkable moment in the history of the SNP up to that point. 6 This result, following on from Plaid Cymru âs success the previous year, was âa clear warning that Scotland and Wales are increasingly impatient about Westminster âs total failure to solve their special problemsâ. 7 Her supporters were convinced that Ewing would be an influential presence at Westminster , claiming she âwould put a bomb under Parliamentâ. 8 An interesting choice of words.
On the 12th of August 1969, rioting broke out in the Bogside area of Londonderry /Derry , Northern Ireland . There had been tensions in the province for at least a year, as Catholic civil rights campaigners had clashed with the state, and with Loyalists, over the perceived unequal distribution of social services, denial of political rights and employment opportunities weighted in favour of the Protestant community. This outbreak of violence occurred in the wake of a Protestant march through the (overwhelmingly Catholic) Bogside area of the city, and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was forced to use tear gas and an armoured car in an attempt to clear the streets of rioters and hastily erected barricades. 9 A day later the situation escalated as âwidespread fighting and instances of burning and looting were reportedâ from other parts of Northern Ireland . 10 The Times reported that gangs of youths armed with âhome-made petrol bombsâ were targeting police stations, as women and children fled across the border into the Republic in search of refuge. 11 For those in Great Britain it was inconceivable that the pictures in the newspapers and on television of rioters clashing with police came from another part of the United Kingdom. The Irish Taoiseach, Jack Lynch urged the United Nations to intervene in the crisis, and the leaders of Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom were in constant contact as the situation unfolded. 12 The rioting lasted until the 17th of August, but by that time the devolved government of Northern Ireland had lost control of the province. 13
These three events in three different parts of the United Kingdom represent a snapshot of the political situation in these countries in the late-1960s. Common to these events is the demonstration of public displeasure at the existing political structureâin Wales and Scotland at the Westminster government, and in Northern Ireland at the Stormont devolved assembly, established after the partition of Ireland, and the subsequent creation of Northern Ireland , in 1921. These three events are also symbolic of what was to follow for these countries. In Scotland and Wales , nationalism had emerged as a serious political force and both the SNP and Plaid Cymru were able to make further gains in Westminster in the 1970s, and by the end of that decade the people of Scotland and Wales were asked to vote on the devolution of political power to national assemblies in Edinburgh and Cardiff. What followed in Northern Ireland was a sustained period of inter-communal violence (commonly referred to as âThe Troublesâ) between the nationalist (predominantly Catholic) population of Northern Ireland , who favoured re-unification with the Republic of Ireland and the unionist (predominantly Protestant) population who favoured Northern Ireland remaining in the United Kingdom. 14 The third party to this conflict was the British Army , whose deployment to keep the peace in Northern Ireland was to draw them into the fighting.
Roughly thirty years after these events, on the 11th of September 1997, the Scottish electorate voted to support the establishment of a devolved parliament by an overwhelming majority. Exactly one week later, Wales followed suit, although the margin of victory was very narrow. 15 Thirty years after their by-election successes, the SNP and Plaid Cymru could point to tangible evidence of their political progress. On the 22nd of May 1998, voters in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland were asked to vote on the Belfast Agreement (more commonly referred to as the Good Friday Agreement) a set of accords between the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland that made provisions for the governance of Northern Ireland . More importantly, this agreement was a crucial step in the process of bringing peace to Northern Ireland , and ending the inter-communal violence that had torn the province apart for thirty years. The devolution referenda of 1997 created devolved assemblies for Scotland and Wales , but no provision was made for the most populous nation of the United Kingdom, England . Somewhat ironically, these votes coincided with an awakening of English national consciousness, 16 as devolution throughout the UK coincided with a rise in cultural Englishness . 17
These series of events, thirty years apart, chart the different paths taken by nationalist movements in Northern Ireland , Scotland and Wales . In Northern Ireland , members of the Republican movement, most notably the Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), 18 had taken up arms in defence of their community and to force the British to leave Northern Ireland permanently. They may not have had universal support amongst Northern Ireland âs Catholics, but no solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland could have been achieved without their active participation. In Scotland and Wales , violence was largely absent from nationalist campaigns.
In Scotland , nationalism has been headed electorally by the SNP , emerging in 1934 from a union of the National Party of Scotland and the Scottish Party. After breaking through with the 19...