Knowing Northern Ireland means knowing the Jargon June, 1999, Northern Ireland To understand this deeply troubled land it helps to understand something of the language they use. Take the sign above. CIRA stands for 'Continuity Irish Republican Army,' which means this group has factioned off from the IRA and refuses to engage in the current peace negotiations. They're going to continue the fight until they've unified with the Republic of Ireland (which is a completely separate nation from the United Kingdom). Not a bullet means not giving back any of their arms, and not an ounce means not giving back any of their explosives. (There are also Loyalist splinter groups just as radical and violent.) All over Belfast the murals attest to peoples political sympathies. These murals and graffiti are taken with the highest seriousness here. At the risk of over-simplifying the armed conflict, there are basically two extreme militarist camps feeding the troubles: those who want to be part of the UK (of Protestant origin) and those that want to be part of the Republic of Ireland (of Catholic origin). However, the vast majority of people here are moderate. This sometimes 'silent majority' returned a resounding 74% "yes" vote in the Belfast Agreement referendum, which technically removed the old Dublin rule versus London rule issue. This means that the people of Northern Ireland alone now control their future, and if there is to be a United Ireland in the future, and a break from British rule, it must be decided by another such referendum. Generalizations are both hard and easy to make. Being a Catholic doesn't necessarily mean one is a 'republican' who wants unity with the Republic of Ireland. And being a Protestant doesn't equate to being a 'loyalist' who will take up arms to remain in the United Kingdom as a British citizen. However, in the modern situation, those that are republicans are typically Catholic and those that are loyalists are typically Protestants. What follows is a rough treatment of the militarist extremes in the conflict. This DOES NOT cover the majority of the people in Northern Ireland. But these are the groups which add fuel to "The Troubles."