scholarly journals Overcoming Identity Crisis: Limits of Consociationalism and Stagnation in Northern Ireland Conflict Regulation

2021 ◽  
Vol 101 (2) ◽  
pp. 144-162
Author(s):  
P.V. Maksimova
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
Northern Irish ◽  
Peaceful Settlement ◽  
Belfast Agreement ◽  
Northern Ireland Conflict ◽  
Group Identities ◽  
Conflict Regulation ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
Final Settlement

For many decades, Northern Ireland has been characterized by a tense conflict of identities with frequent outbreaks of political and religious violence. At the end of the 20th century, a consensus was reached between the opposing sides on the need for a peaceful settlement of the contradictions, which was reflected in the 1998 Belfast Agreement. The most important part of the agreement was a transition to the consociational model of governance. Consociationalism was assumed to “cure” the Northern Irish region, save it from violence and antagonism, and help to establish a dialogue between the representatives of the region’s key collective identities — unionists and nationalists. However, although 22 years have passed since the introduction of the consociational system, the settlement of the conflict has not seen any obvious progress. The article attempts to trace the reasons for this state of affairs and, in particular, to find out whether consociational model could, in principle, live up to the expectations. Based on the analysis of the fundamental characteristics of this model, as well as the institutional patterns in the Northern Irish politics, P.Maksimova comes to the conclusion that consociational practices not only failed to contribute to the elimination of the antagonistic moods in the society, but also helped to preserve them. According to the author, consociational system is merely an instrument of crisis management, which, if misinterpreted, can only intensify confrontation and block the final settlement of the conflict. This is exactly what happened in Northern Ireland, where the specific features of the consociational system made it almost impossible to abandon group identities.

The Northern Ireland Question: All-Ireland Self-Determination Post-Belfast Agreement

2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Conor Donohue
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Northern Irish ◽  
The People ◽  
Irish Context ◽  
Belfast Agreement ◽  
Northern Ireland Conflict ◽  
Irish People ◽  
Territorial Status ◽  
The Right

By the Belfast Agreement of 1998, the major parties involved in the Northern Ireland conflict agreed that the territorial status of Northern Ireland would be determined by the Northern Irish people and the people of the island of Ireland collectively. Although this Agreement is significant in shaping the right to self-determination in the all-Irish context, it contains within it many ambiguities. Many questions as to the nature, extent and effects of the right to self-determination in the all-Irish context still remain. These questions and issues which arise within the Agreement are resolvable with recourse to the customary international law of self-determination, particularly the law and practice relating to referenda. The Belfast Agreement is not simply of relevance in the Irish context. Rather, it offers an understanding of the limitations which may be imposed on the right to self-determination, and serves as a model for the resolution of self-determination disputes.

scholarly journals ‘The situation over there really bothers me’: Ronald Reagan and the Northern Ireland conflict

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (159) ◽  
pp. 97-116
Author(s):  
James Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Reagan Administration ◽  
Ronald Reagan ◽  
Bill Clinton ◽  
American Government ◽  
Northern Irish ◽  
The Troubles ◽  
Transatlantic History ◽  
Northern Ireland Conflict ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThe relationship between the Reagan administration and the Northern Ireland conflict is a neglected area of transatlantic history. This article addresses the extent of Ronald Reagan’s interest in the Northern Irish conflict and the manner in which other protagonists sought to secure or prevent his involvement. It will examine the president’s approach in the context of different views within his administration, the State Department’s wish to maintain American neutrality on the issue of Northern Ireland, and the desire of leading Irish-American politicians for the American government to be much more interventionist. These debates coincided with significant developments in Northern Ireland. Therefore, Reagan’s contribution to the Anglo–Irish process encapsulates a variety of issues: the Troubles in Northern Ireland during the 1980s, the 1985 Anglo–Irish Agreement and the internationalisation of the conflict before the election of President Bill Clinton in 1993.

Language and Cultural Politics in Northern Ireland

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 152-172
Author(s):  
Ronnie Moore
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Cultural Politics ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Northern Irish ◽  
Good Friday ◽  
Irish Context ◽  
Belfast Agreement ◽  
Regional Or Minority Languages

This paper presents an outline of the circumstances surrounding the current political stalemate in Northern Ireland. It considers the role of language as a key justification for the unravelling of the complex political arrangements formulated by The Belfast Agreement or Good Friday Agreement (GFA). The discussion begins by problematizing the notions of “identity” and “minority” in the Irish / Northern Irish context as an important backdrop and within the framework of the European commitment to, and Charter for, Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML). In particular it looks at historical memory, constructed history, ideology and notions of nationalism, as well as the role of politics and manipulation of language.

Northern Ireland: A Very Short Introduction

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Mulholland
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Home Rule ◽  
Northern Irish ◽  
Short Introduction ◽  
Irish History ◽  
Pivotal Moments ◽  
State Of Affairs

Northern Ireland: A Very Short Introduction explores the pivotal moments in Northern Irish history: the rise of republicanism in the 1800s, Home Rule and the civil rights movement, the growth of Sinn Féin and the Provisional IRA, and the DUP, before bringing the story up to date, drawing on newly available memoirs by paramilitary militants to offer previously unexplored perspectives, as well as recent work on Northern Irish gender relations. This VSI also includes a new chapter on the state of affairs in 21st-century Northern Ireland, considering the question of Irish unity in the light of both Brexit and the approaching anniversary of the 1921 partition, and drawing new lessons for the future.

Introduction: The Northern Ireland Troubles in Britain: impacts, engagements, legacies and memories

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Dawson ◽  
Stephen Hopkins
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Northern Irish ◽  
The Troubles ◽  
The Past ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Northern Ireland Conflict ◽  
History Of ◽  
Opening Up

The introduction, and the book more generally, addresses a paradox: that the Northern Ireland conflict, commonly known as ‘the Troubles’, has had profound and shaping impacts upon politics, culture and the lives of many thousands of people in Great Britain, producing lasting legacies that continue to resonate nearly half a century after the eruption of political violence in 1968-9; but that engagements with the conflict, and with its ‘post-conflict’ transformation, from within Britain have been limited, lacking, frequently problematic, often troubled, in ways that are not fully grasped or considered. The book, then, has four main aims: to investigate the history of responses to, engagements with, and memories of the Northern Irish conflict in Britain; to explore absences and weaknesses or silences in this history; to promote a wider academic and public debate in Britain concerning the significance of this history, and the lessons to be learned from the post-conflict efforts to ‘deal with the past’ in Northern Ireland; and to provoke reflection on the significance of opening up hitherto unexamined histories and memories of the Troubles, and the ways in which ongoing conflicts between competing understandings of the past might be addressed and negotiated.

No Solution

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.C. Aveyard
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
Northern Irish ◽  
Good Friday ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Northern Ireland Conflict ◽  
Major Shift ◽  
British State

No Solution uncovers the transition from a point in the Northern Ireland conflict where British governments’ sought a quick-fix solution to one where key ministers and civil servants had accepted that attrition would continue for many years. A number of other accounts have tended to assume that the British state, enjoying more resources than other parties to the conflict, had the capacity to impose a solution in Northern Ireland but lacked the insight to do so. This book reveals that such resources could not overcome political conditions in Northern Ireland during these key years. Those who have argued that the Good Friday Agreement could have been achieved twenty years earlier are shown to have failed to appreciate the context of the 1970s. Utilising a wide range of archival correspondence and diaries, this monograph covers the collapse of power-sharing in May 1974, the secret dialogue with the Provisional IRA during the 1975 ceasefire, the acquiescence of Labour ministers in continuing indefinite direct rule from Westminster, efforts to mitigate conflict through industrial investment, a major shift in security policy emphasizing the police over the army, the adaptation of republicans to the threat of these new measures and their own adoption of a ‘Long War’ strategy. It sheds light on the challenges faced by British ministers, civil servants, soldiers and policemen and the reasons why the conflict lasted so long. It will be a key text for researchers and students of both British and Northern Irish politics.

scholarly journals And this is what we sing – what do we sing? Exploring the football fan songs of the Northern Irish ‘Green and White Army’

2020 ◽  
pp. 101269022097971
Author(s):  
John Bell ◽  
Paul Bell
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Musical Instruments ◽  
Interview Data ◽  
Underlying Structure ◽  
Northern Irish ◽  
Football Fans ◽  
European Football ◽  
Current Context ◽  
Football Stadium

This paper draws upon digital recordings of Northern Ireland football fans singing in the stadium during all 10 qualifying matches for the 2016 UEFA European Football Championship. Supplemented by participant observation and interview data with 21 supporters themselves, the paper challenges assertions within the literature which focus upon the predominance of sectarian singing amongst a section of Northern Ireland football supporters. Although vocal manifestations of football fandom may initially appear to be randomly driven by irrational emotions, on the contrary, there is an underlying structure and sequence to fandom in the stadium in which certain factors promote collective singing at particular times. The paper identifies four key themes in particular: the timing in a match; whether or not a goal has been scored; if there is a lull or a break in play; and the use of musical instruments to encourage the wider collective to sing. We argue that it is important to understand the process by which collective singing occurs in the football stadium rather than fixating upon the alleged racist or sectarian psychopathology of the individuals involved. Such knowledge may assist in supporting those fan organisations that seek to challenge discriminatory behaviour in the stadium, particularly in the current context of the European (UEFA) and World football governing bodies (FIFA) punishing fans collectively, regardless of whether or not the majority in the stadium are opposed to what is being sung in their name.

scholarly journals Richard Bean’s The Big Fellah (2010) and Jez Butterworth’s The Ferryman (2017): two plays about the Northern Troubles from outside of Northern Ireland

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroko Mikami
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Northern Irish ◽  
The Troubles ◽  
Good Friday ◽  
Good Friday Agreement

During the three decades of the Troubles of Northern Ireland (1969-1998), a remarkable amount of plays about the Troubles was written and almost of them, it seems, had been ‘monopolised’ by (Northern) Irish playwrights. Recently, however, certain changes about this monopoly have been witnessed and those who do not claim themselves as Irish descendants have begun to choose the Northern Troubles as their themes. Also, there have been growing concerns about violence worldwide since 9.11. This article deals with two plays, Richard Bean’s The Big Fellah and Jez Butterworth’s The Ferryman, neither of which was written by an Irish playwright and examines whether and to what extent it is possible to say that they can transcend regional boundaries and become part of global memories in the context of the post-Good Friday Agreement and the post 9.11.

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