In the 1970s, British policy centered upon fighting the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA), including a policy of Ulsterisation, which required the RUC and British Army reserve Ulster Defence Regiment to be at the forefront of combating the IRA. Even though IRA violence diminished, it was evident that no military victory was in the foreseeable future. Even Catholics, who completely rejected the IRA, were not willing to offer any backing to a state covered in bureaucratic discrimination and corruption, and the Unionists were not interested in Catholic participation in running the state as well.

In the 1980s, the IRA unsuccessfully attempted to secure military victory by importing weaponry from Libya, a time when military cessation began. In 1986, the Anglo-Irish Agreement was signed, which sought political rather than forceful solutions. The 1970s and 80s saw economic stagnation for Ireland, but in the 90s the situation turned brighter. The demographics of the country also changed, with more than 40 percent of the population of Northern Ireland now Catholics.

The Belfast Agreement, or “Good Friday Agreement”, of April 10, 1998, took up a share of power to Northern Ireland, which let both Unionists and Nationalists have control of certain areas of government. However, from October 2002 both the power-sharing executive and elected assembly were suspended from, following a breakdown in trust between the political unions. Efforts to find a solution for urgent issues, including “decommissioning” of paramilitary weapons, political reformation and the withdrawal of British Army bases and troops were still being considered. Recent elections have not helped towards compromise, with the moderate Ulster Unionist and Social Democrat and Labour Parties being substantially removed by the hard-line Democratic Unionist and Sinn Fein Parties. On July 28, 2005, the PIRA declared the end of its armed campaign, and on September 25, 2005 international military inspectors supervised the complete disarmament of the PIRA.