The Irish-Northern Irish Economic Relationship: The Belfast Agreement, UK Devolution and the EU

2020 ◽  
pp. 41-53
Author(s):  
John Bradley
Keyword(s):  
Northern Irish ◽  
Belfast Agreement ◽  
Economic Relationship ◽  
The Eu

‘Britain's Irish Question: Britain's European Question?’ British-Irish relations in the context of European Union and The Belfast Agreement

2000 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
ELIZABETH MEEHAN
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
Northern Irish ◽  
The Troubles ◽  
Good Friday ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Irish Question ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Eu

If students of world politics can be reasonably accused of ignoring the Troubles in Northern Ireland—in part because they seemed to have little to do with the larger East-West confrontation and partly because they were so obviously about something distinctly national in character—then by the same token specialists on Northern Ireland can justly be accused of a certain intellectual parochialism and of failing to situate the long war within a broader global perspective. The quite unexpected outbreak of peace however only emphasizes the need for a wider understanding of the rise and fall of the Northern Irish conflict. This article explores the relationship between the partial resolution of the Irish Question—as expressed in the Good Friday Agreement of 1998—and the changing character of the European landscape. Its central thesis is that while there were many reasons for the outbreak of peace in the 1990s, including war weariness, it is difficult to understand what happened without situating it in a larger European framework and the new definition of sovereignty to which the EU has given birth.

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.

London’s EU-UK customs plans would be unworkable

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Customs Union ◽  
Northern Irish ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Physical Infrastructure ◽  
Irish Catholics ◽  
Trade Relationship ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Eu

Significance The UK government remains divided over how its relations with the EU’s customs union should be arranged after Brexit, while the EU is unimpressed by any of the suggestions put forward by London to date. This issue is central to both the future EU-UK trade relationship and the debate about how to resolve the question of the intra-Irish border. Impacts Any physical infrastructure on the Irish border would become a target for violence. A hard border could increase support for Irish reunification among Northern Irish Catholics. Different customs regimes in the EU and the United Kingdom could lead to smuggling.

UK-Irish border issue will not be resolved quickly

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Criminal Activity ◽  
Irish Society ◽  
Irish Nationalism ◽  
Northern Irish ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Illicit Trade ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Criminal Groups ◽  
The Eu

Significance The controversial celebration of King William III's victory against the Irish at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 is a stark reminder of the divisions that still exist in Northern Irish society and could erupt once again in the context of Brexit. All sides are thus keen to ensure that the hardening of the border does not lead to a widening division between the United Kingdom and Ireland, and, in turn, between UK unionism and Irish nationalism within Northern Ireland. Impacts Programmes operating across the border, especially those funded by the EU, are at risk of profound disruption. Increasing unemployment or declining public services could exacerbate the risk of resurgent criminal activity. Continued uncertainty around Brexit could prompt some businesses to move pre-emptively to the jurisdiction of Ireland (and thus the EU). Criminal groups could profit from illicit trade and duty evasion when the border returns to being a customs frontier.

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.

The Irish Border

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milena Komarova ◽  
Katy Hayward
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Symbolic Meaning ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Good Friday ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Belfast Agreement ◽  
Political Traditions ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Eu

The emergence, development, and transformation of the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland reveals much about the changing nature of nation-statehood over the century that followed its creation. In its own way, it is also a subject of innovation. The three interrelated strands of relationships safeguarded by the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement of 1998 in many ways define the border. These relationships run within and between the two islands of Ireland and Britain, and also between the two political traditions in Northern Ireland. Nationalists and Unionists have come to define much of their ethos in relation to the symbolic meaning of the Irish border: The former want the border removed and the latter see the border as necessary to keep Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom. This helps to understand the prominence given to the Irish border in the context of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU), as well as the controversy around the terms of the U.K.–EU Withdrawal Agreement, which changed the nature of the relationship between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom as well as between Northern Ireland and Ireland. As a consequence of Brexit, the future of borders in and around Ireland—their openness and their governance—will be inevitably shaped by the vicissitudes of the EU–U.K. relationship.

Northern Irish issue threatens EU-UK trade relations

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
International Law ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Northern Irish ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Trade Relations ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Eu

Significance The manner of the UK move is not only damaging for the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol (NIP), but also has the potential to affect the wider EU-UK trading relationship. Impacts Low levels of trust will make it difficult for the EU and UK teams to find practical solutions to the NIP’s implementation. A further deterioration in EU-UK relations over the NIP could threaten the ratification of the EU-UK trade deal in the European Parliament. The United Kingdom’s threats to break international law threaten to damage its credibility among foreign and international actors.

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