The Impact of a Peace Process on a Radical Party - Placing Sinn Fein in a Comparative Context after the Northern Ireland Peace Process

In this Chapter the author describes the circumstances and impact of the Omagh bombing which occurred in Northern Ireland in August 1998, just as the peace process was beginning to see political progress and violence had significantly reduced. The impact on casualties and their families in Omagh, Buncrana in the Irish Republic, and in Madrid, Spain, is described, as are the distress and traumatic consequences for the wider community. The responses of neighbours and friends, the wider Omagh community, its medical, education, not-for-profit and civic services, are described. The contribution of commemorative and arts based events is demonstrated. The risk to the developing peace process and the Belfast Agreement is outlined and how this impacted upon the development of therapeutic services for the local community. The role of politics and politicians in ensuring services were developed, is described.

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The Future of British–Irish Relations after Brexit

The Law & Politics of Brexit: Volume II ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198848356.003.0012 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 254-273

Author(s):

Etain Tannam

Keyword(s):

Northern Ireland ◽

Peace Process ◽

Good Friday ◽

Sectarian Violence ◽

Good Friday Agreement ◽

Potential Methods ◽

The Uk ◽

The Impact ◽

The Relationship ◽

The Eu

This chapter assesses the impact of UK withdrawal from the EU on British–Irish relations. It examines yet another possible disintegrative effect of Brexit on the UK system, namely the re-unification of Ireland. The 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, bringing to a close decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland, had created an excellent working relations between Dublin and London. However, Brexit has threated this equilibrium, and has unexpectedly brought back on the agenda a possible border poll. The chapter then looks at the unfolding of the Brexit negotiations from June of 2016 to March of 2020 from the perspectives of British–Irish relations. It also studies the importance of the British–Irish relationship and the EU in the peace process in Northern Ireland, and considers potential methods of managing the relationship after Brexit.

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Brexit and the Northern Ireland Question

10.1093/oso/9780198811763.003.0007 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

John Doyle ◽

Eileen Connolly

Keyword(s):

Northern Ireland ◽

Peace Process ◽

Good Friday ◽

Good Friday Agreement ◽

The Common ◽

Potential Impact ◽

The Uk ◽

The Impact ◽

Policy Solutions ◽

The Eu

This chapter analyses the potential impact of Brexit on the Northern Ireland ‘peace process’, through a discussion of four interrelated issues—political divisions in Northern Ireland; the single market; the common travel area; and the Good Friday Agreement, all of which reflect the fundamental political divisions between Irish nationalists and those who believe that Northern Ireland should remain part of the UK. The chapter highlights two main threats to peace – the undermining of the Good Friday Agreement which is premised on membership of the EU and its institutional framework, and the crucial issue of where the inevitable hard border between the EU and the UK will be located. It argues that Brexit has the potential to destroy the peace process and suggests possible policy solutions to mitigate the impact of Brexit on Northern Ireland, while also assessing the political obstacles to the adoption of such flexible policy solutions.

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Ethnonationalism and attitudes towards same-sex marriage and abortion in Northern Ireland

International Political Science Review ◽

10.1177/0192512118775832 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 40 (4) ◽

pp. 455-469 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Bernadette C Hayes ◽

John Nagle

Keyword(s):

Northern Ireland ◽

Sexual Rights ◽

Same Sex ◽

Transgender People ◽

Same Sex Marriage ◽

Sinn Fein ◽

Nationally Representative ◽

The Impact ◽

Negative Predictor ◽

Positive Determinant

The issue of sexuality and human rights has generated increasing international attention in recent years. This is particularly the case in societies emerging from chronic ethnonationalist conflict, where scholarly debates on the impact of ethnonationalism on sexual rights, such as abortion and the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender people (LGBT), generate much controversy and division. It is with this disagreement in mind that this paper focuses on the influence of ethnonationalism on attitudes towards the legalisation of same-sex marriage and abortion. Using nationally representative data from Northern Ireland, the results suggest that while ethnonational identity is a significant positive determinant of attitudes towards same-sex marriage within both the Catholic population and among supporters of their main political party (Sinn Féin), it is also a key negative predictor of attitudes to abortion, albeit solely among Sinn Féin supporters.

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Sectarianism

The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Contemporary World ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199602001.013.037 ◽

2013 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Laura McAtackney

Keyword(s):

Northern Ireland ◽

Lived Experiences ◽

Peace Process ◽

Place Identity ◽

Societal Transformation ◽

The Troubles ◽

Post Conflict ◽

Belfast Agreement ◽

The Impact

An archaeological study of contemporary Northern Ireland adds a material dimension to debates on the impact-or otherwise-of the recent peace process on lived experiences in the province. This chapter has selected the study of security installations, peace walls, and Long Kesh/Maze prison as three manifestations of the Troubles in order to dissect how they have transitioned to the post-conflict context. Of particular note is how incomplete official attempts to refocus place identity have resulted in some of these sites becoming overly identified with one-sided Troubles narratives whilst others have taken on new, if decidedly sinister, meanings. Whilst it is impossible to be definitive about ongoing societal transformation, at this time it is clear that nearly 15 years after the Belfast Agreement (1998) the peace dividends promised by local and international politicians continue to be contradicted by material realities.

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5. The twenty-first century

Northern Ireland: A Very Short Introduction ◽

10.1093/actrade/9780198825005.003.0006 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 104-120

Author(s):

Marc Mulholland

Keyword(s):

Northern Ireland ◽

Political Parties ◽

Identity Politics ◽

Power Sharing ◽

First Century ◽

Sinn Fein ◽

Good Friday ◽

Good Friday Agreement ◽

Twenty First Century ◽

The Impact

‘The twenty-first century’ explains how the Good Friday Agreement saw considerable institutional restructuring in Northern Ireland. An Assembly was elected in 1998, with a power-sharing government, with David Trimble of the UUP as First Minister and Seamus Mallon of the SDLP as Deputy First Minister operating between 1998 and 2001. Between 2001 and 2007, the power-sharing government collapsed and the DUP and Sinn Féin succeeded in becoming the main political parties for their respective communities. The 2006 St Andrews Agreement brought the extremes together. The power-sharing government collapsed once more in 2017 when Sinn Féin withdrew. Identity politics in Northern Ireland and the impact of Brexit on the Northern Ireland question are also discussed.

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3. Paramilitarism

Northern Ireland: A Very Short Introduction ◽

10.1093/actrade/9780198825005.003.0004 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 52-85

Author(s):

Marc Mulholland

Keyword(s):

Northern Ireland ◽

Peace Process ◽

The State ◽

Way Of Life ◽

Irish Republican Army ◽

The World ◽

The 1960S ◽

Volunteer Force ◽

The Impact ◽

Founding Myth

The culture of paramilitarism in Ireland was undiminished by the world wars. The Ulster Volunteer Force became a founding myth for Northern Ireland with the annual Orange parades being a quasi-formal institution of the state. After the 1916 Rebellion, the Irish Volunteers evolved into the Irish Republican Army (IRA). ‘Paramilitarism’ discusses the resurgence of both loyalism and republicanism in the 1960s and the rationale behind the violence on both sides. It describes how paramilitarism became consolidated as a ‘way of life’; the 1976 Peace People marches; the IRA ‘Long War’ strategy; the hunger strikes; the impact of the Anglo-Irish Agreement; the rise of Sinn Féin; and the peace process from the paramilitary perspective.

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‘The Troubles we’ve seen’: film, television drama and the Northern Irish conflict in Britain

The Northern Ireland Troubles in Britain ◽

10.7228/manchester/9780719096310.003.0018 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

John Hill

Keyword(s):

Northern Ireland ◽

Peace Process ◽

Television Drama ◽

Northern Irish ◽

The Troubles ◽

Good Friday ◽

The Impact ◽

Relative Scarcity

This chapter examines films and television dramas dealing with the impact of the Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’ in Britain and the controversies that they generated. It begins with a consideration of early TV dramas such as The Vanishing Army (1978) and Chance of a Lifetime (1980) dealing with the experiences of the returning British soldier. This is followed by an examination of the representation of the IRA’s activities on the British ‘mainland’ in productions such as The Patriot Game (1969), Hennessy (1975), Eighteen Months to Balcombe Street (1977) and The Long Good Friday (1979) as well as an analysis of how the miscarriages of justice that emerged in the wake of the IRA’s bombing campaigns were turned into (documentary)-dramas such as Who Bombed Birmingham? (1990) and In the Name of the Father(1993). The chapter then concludes with some consideration of the ‘peace process’ and the relative scarcity of dramas dealing with the divisions and tensions that were a feature of the earlier period.

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