The conflict began during a campaign to end discrimination against the Catholic/nationalist minority by the Protestant/unionist government and police force . The authorities attempted to suppress this protest campaign and were accused of police brutality ; it was also met with violence from loyalists , who alleged it was a republican front . Increasing inter-communal violence , and conflict between nationalist youths and police , eventually led to riots in August 1969 and the deployment of British troops , who constructed ' peace walls ' to keep the opposing communities apart . Some Catholics initially welcomed the army as a more neutral force , but it soon came to be seen as hostile and biased , particularly after Bloody Sunday . The emergence of armed paramilitary organisations led to the subsequent warfare over the next three decades
Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday (1972)
The Troubles