Not all of the citizens of the North of Ireland found that they were treated equally. In many cases, better jobs and housing were given to people from the larger population, who were the Protestant or loyalist group. Many Catholics wanted to be treated more fairly. In the 1960s, they began to look for better rights called civil rights. A man called John Hume was one of the leaders of the civil rights movement. However, the government tried to stop the movement from growing.
In 1967, a group called the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association was formed to seek equal rights for all citizens in the North. Catholic people were the main group involved in this association and many marches were held. Some marches however were banned by the government and other marches were stopped by force. There were many disturbances and sometimes mobs attacked the people who were marching.