There was a serious ethnic and political conflict in Northern Ireland for many years. The main reason for the conflict was the division and the demand for separation by the two existing social groups, i.e. the Catholics and the Protestants. The Protestants who were represented by the Unionists demanded that they should not be separated from the United Kingdom as it is predominantly Protestant. On the other hand, the Catholics, who were represented by the Nationalist Party, demanded that Northern Ireland should be unified with the Republic of Ireland, which has been predominantly a Catholic country. The problem was resolved in 1998, when the British Government and the Nationalist Party signed a peace treaty after which the armed struggle between the two social groups ended.
