Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom. Split between Catholics and Protestants, it was racked for decades by violence

Violence between Protestants who wanted to remain part of the UK and Catholics who wanted to join the Republic of Ireland, which is independent.

Violence spilled over into Britain, with the IRA bombing cities including London and Birmingham. For nearly 30 years, British soldiers patrolled Northern Ireland in armored vehicles and hunkered down in bases surrounded by concrete walls and barbed wire.

Three decades of violence largely faded since the 1998 Good Friday Accord.

Operation Banner, the 37-year British military deployment in Northern Ireland, has ended. The operation lasted from 1969 to 2007.

Northern Ireland now has a power-sharing government and a prevailing peace that had been welcomed by all but radical splinter groups on both sides.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/03/08/northern.ireland.shooting.british/index.html