Prime Minister Terence O'Neill's attempts at reform pleased no one. Civil rights activists saw his concessions as too little, too late. His own hardline unionist base saw any concession as a betrayal that would provoke a loyalist uprising. This classic moderate's dilemma, where compromise is seen as weakness by all factions, made his position untenable.

Both loyalist and republican paramilitaries in the 1960s saw themselves as inheritors of an earlier tradition. Groups like the UVF consciously modeled themselves on Sir Edward Carson's 1912 Ulster Volunteers, using this historical precedent to legitimize their violence.

While constitutionally claiming the whole island, Dublin governments showed no real interest in reunification. They even ignored British offers during WWII, fearing the instability of absorbing one million hostile Protestants, a pragmatic stance that contradicted their nationalist rhetoric.

The conflict devolved into a horrifying cycle of revenge bombings targeting civilians in neutral spaces like pubs and shops. The IRA would bomb a Protestant pub, and Loyalist paramilitaries would retaliate against a Catholic one. This pattern culminated in an IRA bomb that killed two toddlers in a pram.

Following a disastrous border campaign, IRA leader Cathal Goulding shifted the organization's focus from armed struggle. Influenced by British Marxists, he advocated for a nonsectarian workers' alliance, leaving traditional republicans feeling betrayed and creating an ideological vacuum.

The original IRA's move towards Marxist theory in the 1960s alienated its traditional base. This ideological shift created a power vacuum, allowing older, conservative members and younger street militants to form the more aggressive Provisional IRA, which focused exclusively on armed struggle to fill the void.

Some Northern Irish civil rights activists believed peaceful protest was ineffective. They intentionally organized marches in provocative locations to elicit a violent state response. They understood that footage of police brutality would generate global publicity, expose the state's repressive nature, and frame them as martyrs to a global audience.

To articulate their identities, both Unionists and Nationalists drew parallels with international conflicts. Unionists saw themselves as a besieged people like Israelis, while Nationalists identified with Palestinians, using these global narratives to legitimize their local grievances.

Geopolitical solutions based on earthly incentives like economic development are bound to fail when dealing with an ideology focused on martyrdom. If people believe the ultimate goal is paradise after death, they won't compromise for a better life for their children now.