copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: Ninety per cent of those who died during the Troubles were killed by paramilitaries. (Democratic Unionist Party, 2019-11-28)
Evidence (2017-01-11): Right-wing paramilitary groups with links to the state military emerged in the 1980s as landowners organized to protect themselves from the guerrilla groups. The largest paramilitary group, the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), was on the U.S. State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations until July 2014. The group formally disbanded in 2006, but splinter groups, known as bacrim (short, in Spanish, for criminal gangs) remain.
Claim: Ninety per cent of those who died during the Troubles were killed by paramilitaries. (Democratic Unionist Party, 2019-11-28)
Evidence (2021-10-26): Rooted in the political and economic grievances formalized by the partition, the Troubles evolved into a low-level but highly violent conflict between the British state, Catholic Republicans, and Protestant Loyalists. Not purely a religious or identity conflict, the Troubles were animated by the question of Northern Ireland’s constitutional status as a function of many Catholics’ desire for equal political and economic rights. In the absence of those rights, Republicans made it their goal to achieve Northern Ireland’s reunification with Ireland, while Loyalists strove to ensure Northern Ireland remained in the UK. Republican paramilitaries defended Catholic areas and conducted guerrilla campaigns against the state. Loyalist paramilitaries defended loyalist areas and sought to combat Republicanism, purportedly in defense of the state. [...] 197 Marie Therese Fay, Mike Morrissey, and Marie Smyth, Mapping Troubles-Related Deaths in Northern Ireland, 1969–1998 (Incore: Derry Londonderry, 1998); Bernadette C. Hayes and Ian McAllister, "Public Support for Political Violence and Paramilitarism in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland," Terrorism and Political Violence 17 (2005): 599–617, https://www.abdn.ac.uk/staffpages/uploads/soc207/polviolence.pdf.
Claim: Ninety per cent of those who died during the Troubles were killed by paramilitaries. (Democratic Unionist Party, 2019-11-28)
Evidence (2022-02-16): The conflict in Northern Ireland — the Troubles — in its violent form spanned three decades, from about 1968 to 1998. It led to the loss of thousands of lives and even more casualties, affecting Catholics and Protestants; paramilitaries and civilians in the North; British security forces serving in Northern Ireland, England, and on the European continent; and British civilians who were victims of IRA attacks in England. The violence caused billions of dollars of economic harm and left deep social and psychological scars. It had its roots in the complex history of Ireland’s relationship with Great Britain, especially the settlement that led to the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 and the partition of the island into the Irish Free State and the "province" of Northern Ireland, the six northern counties on the island that opted out of the Irish Free State under the provisions of the treaty. The source of the Northern Ireland conflict was, in part, political — the legacy of the dispute among Irish nationalists about whether to accept, even temporarily, the partition of Ireland. It was also social and economic. While Catholics made up most of the island, Protestants composed the majority in the six Ulster provinces.
Claim: Ninety per cent of those who died during the Troubles were killed by paramilitaries. (Democratic Unionist Party, 2019-11-28)
Evidence (2019-07-26): Trouble on the streets of Derry had been anticipated. It was Easter, when the 1916 Rising against British rule—which paved the way for the partitioning of Ireland, in 1921—is commemorated and old grievances among Irish Republicans are aired. In what became the Republic of Ireland, the matter is more or less settled. The President stands among state dignitaries and observes a parade by the Irish National Army. In the six counties of Ulster that were retained by the United Kingdom, the situation is more volatile. The Troubles, which lasted twenty-five years, saw the paramilitary Irish Republican Army (I.R.A.) engage in "armed struggle" with British and local security forces to try to reunite the island of Ireland as an independent republic. As part of a protracted peace process, the I.R.A. laid down its arms in 1994. Its political wing, Sinn Féin, signed up to the Good Friday Agreement, in 1998. It went on to become the dominant nationalist party, sharing power with the Democratic Unionist Party (D.U.P.). But several small, angry factions regarded the peace settlement as a sellout and are determined to show that they can reignite the conflict.
Claim: Ninety per cent of those who died during the Troubles were killed by paramilitaries. (Democratic Unionist Party, 2019-11-28)
Evidence (2015-07-15): The Provisional Irish Republican Army, or IRA, was the best known of the conflict's paramilitary groups. In their version, IRA combatants were soldiers fighting to expel the British from the island. [...] Republican and loyalist paramilitary groups alike tossed bombs into busy pubs, assassinated innocent people and committed appalling acts of kidnap and murder. The police and army killed civilians, too. [...] More than half of former paramilitaries surveyed in 2010 reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition that can manifest in years of flashbacks and panic attacks and can intensify with age. Witnessing violence to another person — even an enemy — can be more distressing in the long term than being injured oneself, according to a study cited by the war correspondent Sebastian Junger.
Claim: Ninety per cent of those who died during the Troubles were killed by paramilitaries. (Democratic Unionist Party, 2019-11-28)
Evidence (2024-07-08): More than 3,500 people died during those decades of conflict known as the Troubles. And though the period largely ended with a peace deal in 1998, many of Northern Ireland’s Catholics and Protestants continue to live mostly separate lives. More than 90 percent of children go to schools segregated by religion. Some neighborhoods remain physically divided. Nearly one hundred barriers [PDF], including so-called peace walls, still crosscut the capital, Belfast. [...] Those disagreements erupted into terrorism. Extreme factions of both communities bombed city centers and assassinated members of rival groups. Paramilitaries—groups that function like a military but aren’t formally part of a country’s armed forces—were responsible for much of the violence during those years. For three decades, explosions, shootings, and terror plagued Northern Ireland. The conflict even spilled into the Republic of Ireland and England. [...] Continuing Violence: Though the Good Friday Agreement committed forces to lay down their weapons, paramilitaries did not vanish altogether. Much like during the Troubles, those groups claim they are defending their communities. But instead of squaring off against rival paramilitaries, they are increasingly turning inward on their own communities. Traditional paramilitaries have shifted towards vigilante police [PDF] and carrying out shootings and beatings of those suspected of crimes like selling drugs. At the same time, many paramilitaries themselves are accused of dealing.
Claim: Ninety per cent of those who died during the Troubles were killed by paramilitaries. (Democratic Unionist Party, 2019-11-28)
Evidence (2018-04-08): It was against the widespread international view that you don't negotiate with terrorists. And there was a huge sense here for many people that the IRA on the one hand and loyalist paramilitaries on the other hand, many people had suffered, and died, and had injuries, and families destroyed and so on by these very people and their colleagues. And so it was a huge step for all of us. [...] Several of these neighborhoods are still controlled by local paramilitaries, some the very same groups created during the troubles. They no longer fight each other but victimize their own communities with so-called punishment attacks on young residents they accuse of crimes like dealing drugs. These attacks have surged in recent years. [...] As much as many people are ready to move on, some still grapple with the legacy of past violence. Many crimes by state forces as well as paramilitaries on both sides remain unsolved or unprosecuted. In February, thousands of marchers took to the streets to demand resolution, including Catholic Sinn Fein politician Emma Rogan, whose father was killed by a Protestant paramilitary.
Claim: Ninety per cent of those who died during the Troubles were killed by paramilitaries. (Democratic Unionist Party, 2019-11-28)
Evidence (2024-08-09): Over 3,500 people were killed during the Troubles in Northern Ireland between 1969 and 2001 - of these, over 2,000 have been attributed to republican paramilitaries, and over 1,000 were attributed to loyalist paramilitaries. Almost half of all killings during the Troubles have been attributed to the Irish Republican Army alone (also known as the Provisional IRA), while a much smaller number was attributed to British security forces. These figures are in stark contrast to those regarding death by organization or affiliation, where over 50 percent of all deaths were of civilians, one third was of British security forces, and just 16 percent of deaths were recorded as paramilitary deaths from either side. [...] University of Ulster. "Total number of killings during the Troubles (the Northern Ireland Conflict) from 1969 to 2001, by organization or group responsible." Chart. July 25, 2023. Statista. Accessed October 09, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1401745/ni-troubles-killings-organization/ [...] Total number of killings during the Troubles (the Northern Ireland Conflict) from 1969 to 2001, by organization or group responsible [Graph], University of Ulster, July 25, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1401745/ni-troubles-killings-organization/
Claim: Ninety per cent of those who died during the Troubles were killed by paramilitaries. (Democratic Unionist Party, 2019-11-28)
Evidence (2024-02-16): Northern Ireland’s modern period of conflict started in the late 1960s and lasted more than three decades. What started as a civil rights movement—Catholics protesting what they saw as discrimination by Northern Ireland’s Protestant-dominated government—deteriorated into violence, with the involvement of paramilitary groups on both sides and the arrival in 1969 of the British Army. The conflict involved mostly Protestant loyalists, who wanted to remain part of the UK, against mostly Catholic republicans, who wished to unite with the Republic of Ireland. Protestant unionists and Catholic nationalists shared their respective communities’ goals but tended to eschew violence. [...] The agreement called for the devolution of authority over certain policy areas from the UK Parliament to a newly created assembly in Belfast, and it paved the way for paramilitary groups to abandon their weapons and join the political process. It has contributed to a sharp reduction in violence, and the annual conflict-related death toll, which peaked at 480 in 1972, has dropped to the single digits in recent years.
Claim: Northern Ireland is one of the most “locked-down” places in the world. (Christopher Stalford, 2021-02-22)
Evidence (2021-02-22): According to a “Government Stringency Index”, the UK has one of the strictest lockdown policies in the world, but the Northern Ireland Executive’s response is not the strictest within the UK.
Claim: Northern Ireland is one of the most “locked-down” places in the world. (Christopher Stalford, 2021-02-22)
Evidence (2022-02-26): According to a "Government Stringency Index", the UK has one of the strictest lockdown policies in the world, but the Northern Ireland Executive’s response is not the strictest within the UK. [...] "… I am pointing out that Northern Ireland is one of the most locked-down places in the world with regard to controlling access to education, closing off huge swathes of our economy and all the resultant trouble that will come from that." [...] Thanks to a research project at the University of Oxford, we can compare responses by governments to the coronavirus pandemic. According to a "Government Stringency Index", the UK has one of the strictest lockdown policies in the world, but the Northern Ireland Executive’s response is not the strictest within the UK.
Claim: Northern Ireland is one of the most “locked-down” places in the world. (Christopher Stalford, 2021-02-22)
Evidence (2022-02-27): This article explains what the rules of "lockdown" during COVID-19 are in Northern Ireland. [...] Northern Ireland is currently under ‘lockdown’ since 23 March with citizens practicing social distancing to contain the spread of COVID-19. All citizens must stay at home unless they have a reasonable excuse or necessity for leaving. [...] Northern Ireland and the lockdown
Claim: Northern Ireland is one of the most “locked-down” places in the world. (Christopher Stalford, 2021-02-22)
Evidence (2020-10-16): With a circuit breaker, authorities tighten restrictions on what people can do for a set amount of time to reduce transmission of the virus, to try to avoid needing to go into full lockdown. Northern Ireland’s four-week plan includes closing all bars and restaurants (except for takeaways), stopping indoor amateur sports, and shutting close-contact services such as hairdressing. [...] There’s also much more travel from Northern Ireland across the land border with the Republic of Ireland than to rest of the UK. Because the Republic of Ireland implemented a lockdown earlier than the UK and had additional restrictions on movement and travel, this may have limited the number of new infections brought into Northern Ireland. [...] With this in mind, the longer the restrictions are in place, the more effective they’ll be at reducing viral spread. It’s important for the circuit breaker to remain in place longer than the upper end of the potential incubation period if it’s to have a good chance of significantly reducing the rate of transmission. It’s good therefore that Northern Ireland has opted for a four-week set of restrictions.
Claim: Northern Ireland is one of the most “locked-down” places in the world. (Christopher Stalford, 2021-02-22)
Evidence (2021-04-12): Northern Ireland's stay-at-home order has been lifted after being in place for more than three months, as further Covid lockdown restrictions ease. [...] The next formal review of Northern Ireland's lockdown restrictions is due to happen on Thursday. [...] Northern Ireland has moved at a slower pace than other parts of the UK in easing its lockdown, which began on 26 December.
Claim: Northern Ireland is one of the most “locked-down” places in the world. (Christopher Stalford, 2021-02-22)
Evidence (2024-02-16): Northern Ireland, a long-contested region of the United Kingdom (UK), experienced decades of conflict between the late 1960s and the late 1990s that killed more than 3,500 people. The era, known as the Troubles, largely pitted the historically dominant Protestants against the Catholic minority. A peace deal struck in April 1998 created a power-sharing government that included political forces aligned with armed groups. [...] Meanwhile, sectarian divisions remain prominent. Less than 10 percent of students in Northern Ireland attend religiously integrated schools, or those not primarily associated with a single faith. Social interaction between the two main religious communities remains limited. Dozens of so-called peace walls divide Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods. Other long-standing issues continue to cause friction. Parades and marches—held mainly but not exclusively by Protestant groups—often have heavily sectarian undertones. The same is true of flags and emblems, displayed by all sides on lampposts and buildings. Moreover, Northern Ireland’s leaders have never developed a comprehensive approach to the legacy of past violence, as some other postconflict societies have. Efforts to prosecute those responsible for killings and to pursue other initiatives have been uneven, which analysts say has hindered reconciliation.
Claim: Northern Ireland is one of the most “locked-down” places in the world. (Christopher Stalford, 2021-02-22)
Evidence (2021-10-05): As of October 5, Melbourne has been in lockdown for a total of 246 gruelling days making it the MOST locked down place in the world right now. [...] Victoria’s regions have also faced strict lockdowns with the Mitchell Shire, the region just north of Melbourne, currently sitting as the seventh most locked down place in the world, having spent 206 days in lockdown. While these cities have faced lengthy lockdowns, so too have whole nations on the list of the worlds most locked down places with millions across these nations under stay-at-home orders.
Claim: Northern Ireland is one of the most “locked-down” places in the world. (Christopher Stalford, 2021-02-22)
Evidence (2023-12-29): Make time to visit the Barbican Gate, and admire the ornate Stone Bridges, and the mystical Hermitage. This is one of the best places to visit in Northern Ireland for good reason! [...] 11. Crumlin Road Gaol [...] Attractions include the tunnel from the goal to the courthouse, the holding cells, and the chilling Hangman’s Cell. If you’re wondering what to do in Northern Ireland when it’s raining, this is a great shout.
Claim: Northern Ireland is one of the most “locked-down” places in the world. (Christopher Stalford, 2021-02-22)
Evidence (2020-12-31): By 19 March, the first coronavirus-related death in Northern Ireland was confirmed. [...] Northern Ireland was the first of the four UK administrations to roll out a contact-tracing programme, as part of its plans to tackle coronavirus. [...] On 26 December, Northern Ireland went into a six-week lockdown, with a plan to review it after four weeks.
Claim: Northern Ireland is one of the most “locked-down” places in the world. (Christopher Stalford, 2021-02-22)
Evidence (2021-03-13): Northern Ireland continues to edge closer to the lifting of lockdown. [...] Or here's another way of looking at this - on average fewer than 200 people are testing positive for the virus in Northern Ireland each day. [...] However, the department indicates that the Ards and North Down Borough Council area has seen a substantial rise in its rate of virus spread - by about 50%.
Claim: Northern Ireland is one of the most “locked-down” places in the world. (Christopher Stalford, 2021-02-22)
Evidence (2021-07-23): Reimagining Northern Ireland's cities after lockdown - Published - comments Lockdown turned many city centres across Northern Ireland into ghost towns with people working from home and shopping online.
Claim: Northern Ireland is one of the most “locked-down” places in the world. (Christopher Stalford, 2021-02-22)
Evidence (2023-09-27): - 21 January – - The lockdown restrictions for Northern Ireland are extended until 5 March.[32] [...] - 11 February – Minister of Finance Conor Murphy says the Executive will take a "collective approach" to the upcoming review of Northern Ireland's lockdown, which will occur on Thursday 18 February.[70] [...] - 18 February – Lockdown is extended in Northern Ireland until 1 April amid concerns that there could be a rise in cases prompted by St Patrick's Day celebrations, but schools will begin to reopen from 8 March, with Primary Years One to Three reopening.[76]
Claim: Northern Ireland is one of the most “locked-down” places in the world. (Christopher Stalford, 2021-02-22)
Evidence (2024-09-04): - After Northern Ireland's lockdown evidence is criticised as "flimsy" and "shocking", Swann says that not to act on the evidence would have been a "total abdication of responsibility".[178] [...] - 10 December – As Northern Ireland nears the end of its latest lockdown, ministers urge people not to "get caught up in the Christmas spirit" and to behave sensibly.[250] [...] - 26 December – Northern Ireland goes into a six-week lockdown after rules were briefly relaxed for Christmas Day.[270]
Claim: Northern Ireland is one of the most “locked-down” places in the world. (Christopher Stalford, 2021-02-22)
Evidence (2021-12-16): He called on the Stormont executive to offer financial support to the sector at a time when health experts are suggesting more restrictions could be required to curb the spread of the virus. [...] Mr Neill accused Stormont of doing "lockdown on the cheap". [...] "At least when we were locked down we had protection from the banks, we had all sorts of protections in place, plus we had special loans, plus there was furlough for our staff.
Claim: Northern Ireland is one of the most “locked-down” places in the world. (Christopher Stalford, 2021-02-22)
Evidence (2020-04-06): How the world shut down [...] Well over 100 countries worldwide had instituted either a full or partial lockdown by the end of March 2020, affecting billions of people. [...] But in these places, shutdowns have been stricter and in place for longer than elsewhere, and the change in NO2 levels between 2019 and the months of 2020 in which the shutdowns have been in effect appears to be significant.
Claim: Northern Ireland is one of the most “locked-down” places in the world. (Christopher Stalford, 2021-02-22)
Evidence (2023-01-01): 10 Travel Stories from COVID-19 Lockdowns Around the World [...] The 2020 coronavirus pandemic caught us in the middle of what ever we were doing. There were no forewarnings and shutdowns were just days or hours away. This family was separated across Bangkok, Northern Ireland and a Cruise ship. They eventually figured out a way to come together and also travel to some remarkable places – without any tourists. [...] In the first weeks of the pandemic I was housesitting in Northern Ireland for my parents who were found themselves stuck onboard an around-the-world cruise. Meanwhile my wife was stranded in our Bangkok condo with flight cancellations, ongoing travel restrictions, lockdowns and curfews.
Claim: Northern Ireland is one of the most “locked-down” places in the world. (Christopher Stalford, 2021-02-22)
Evidence (2016-04-23): But this is a challenging time to do that. Because there is so much uncertainty in the world right now, because things are changing so fast, there is a temptation to forge identities, tribal identities that give you a sense of certainty, a buffer against change. And that's something that our young people -- we have to fight against. Whether you're talking about Africa, or the Middle East, or Northern Ireland, or Burma, the forces that lead to the most violence and the most injustice typically spring out of people saying, I want to feel important by dividing the world into "us" and "them." And "them" threatens me, and so I’ve got to make sure that my tribe strikes out first. And fighting that mentality and that impulse requires us to begin very young, with our kids. One of the most encouraging things I’ve seen in Northern Ireland is children starting to go to school together and having a sense that we're all in this together, as opposed to it’s "us" against "them."
Claim: Northern Ireland is one of the most “locked-down” places in the world. (Christopher Stalford, 2021-02-22)
Evidence (2024-01-09): - Northern Ireland announces it will begin easing lockdown restrictions from Monday 15th of June [...] - Northern Ireland announces it will go into a tougher two week lockdown with non-essential shops shutting from the 27th November. [...] - Northern Ireland announces a 6 week lockdown from Boxing day.