CAIN (Conflict Archive on the Internet) is a database containing information about Conflict and Politics in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

from 1968 to the present. The project began in 1996, with the website launching in 1997. The project is based within

Ulster University sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

at its Magee campus. The archive chronicles important events during

the Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...

, stretching from 1968 until the present day. The name is an allusion to the Biblical Cain, who murdered his brother

Abel Abel ''Hábel''; ar, هابيل, Hābīl is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He was the younger brother of Cain, and the younger son of Adam and Eve, the first couple in Biblical history. He was a shepherd ...

. CAIN is affiliated with the

Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive ARK (Access Research Knowledge) is a Northern Irish website in collaboration with Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top ...

(ARK), which consists of a number of websites devoted to providing informational material related to Northern Ireland's political process and history. The institutions of higher learning that created CAIN, in addition to Ulster University, were the Queen's University, which worked in concert with the Linen Hall Library. Other important contributors to this project's inception and development were the Center for the Study of Conflict, Educational Services, and INCORE, which stands for the Initiative on Conflict Resolution and Ethnicity. The site includes the Sutton Index of Deaths, containing information on every death which occurred as a result of the conflict. The information is taken from Malcolm Sutton's book ''Bear in Mind These Dead'',Sutton, Malcolm, ed. (1994). ''Bear in Mind These Dead: Index of Deaths from the Conflict in Ireland, 1969-93''. Beyond the Pale Publications. the title of which is taken from a poem by John Hewitt. Sutton's original book listed deaths from 1969 until 1993, since updated until 2001. The information can be viewed chronologically, alphabetically and a full search functionality is included. Information can also be crosstabulated by the status of the victim, the organisation responsible and several other variables. Dr Martin Melaugh, the director of the project, has produced draft lists of further deaths related to the conflict from 2002 to date.

Funding

In addition to funding from Ulster University, CAIN is also bankrolled to a large extent by Atlantic Philanthropies. In 1998 CAIN was directly funded through the Department of Education for Northern Ireland and the Central Community Relations Unit. Its first donor, however, was the Electronic Libraries Programme of the Higher Education Funding Councils.

Users

According to its official website CAIN is specifically targeting the

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after comple ...

sector in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, although it claims that over two-thirds of its users come from outside of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, dividing them into three categories: *One third from Britain and

; *One third from the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

; *One third from the rest of the world.

History

Although originally conceived as a website focusing exclusively on sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland, with particular emphasis on the violent aspects of these disputes, CAIN eventually expanded to encompass a much broader overview of politics and culture in Northern Ireland, including key historical events.

References

External links

* Databases in Northern Ireland History websites of the United Kingdom Ulster University Websites of Northern Ireland Works about The Troubles (Northern Ireland) {{website-stub