In January 1967, the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) was founded in Belfast to campaign for an end to discrimination against Catholics in housing, employment, and voting. NICRA, which was modeled on the American civil rights movement, organized marches and protests that brought the issue of Catholic grievances to national and international attention. NICRA's campaign was a major factor in the outbreak of the Troubles.

The founding of NICRA is a subject of civil rights poetry, with writers celebrating the campaign for equality. The movement's emphasis on peaceful protest is often contrasted with the violence of the Troubles, creating a sense of tragedy. The poetry of the period reflects the hopes and disappointments of the civil rights movement, a theme that would persist in the literature of Northern Ireland.