Northern Ireland: Conflict and Change

by Tonge, Jonathan

• ISBN13: 9780582424005
• ISBN10: 0582424003
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-01-09
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This is an update of the popular and successful book offering a comprehensive and balanced examination of both the history of the 'Troubles'; the peace process and contemporary political situation. Features: bull; bull;Good Friday Agreement and the 'yes' votes in referendums bull;new political institutions in Northern Ireland bull;party system: ethnic politics or gradual thawing? bull;new climate of peace: paramilitary ceasefires; cross-community co-operation; economic boom bull;imperfections of the peace; the Real IRA and the Omagh atrocity; loyalist dissident paramilitary groups bull;extent of change in republicanism; from revolutionaries to state participants bull;slow emergence of new unionism bull;problem of weapons decommissioning bull;changes in policing bull;persistence of sectarianism The author places these events within an overall assessment of the extent of change in Northern Ireland politics and society. The book deals with the historical conflict in Northern Ireland and relates this to recent political agreements. Jonathan Tonge is Professor of Politics and Director of the Centre for Irish Studies at the University of Salford.

Author Biography

Jonathan Tonge is at the University of Salford.

Table of Contents

List of tables	xi
Preface	xiii
List of abbreviations	xv
Introduction	1	(1)
The basis of the problem	1	(1)
History and politics	2	(2)
A divided island	4	(15)
The roots of modern problems	4	(2)
Home Rule for Ireland	6	(2)
The growth of Ulster unionism	8	(3)
The rise of Irish nationalism	11	(2)
The partition of Ireland	13	(2)
Civil war in Ireland	15	(1)
Was partition inevitable?	16	(2)
Conclusion	18	(1)
An `Orange state'? Northern Ireland 1921-68	19	(16)
An insecure state	19	(1)
Electoral discrimination	20	(2)
Discrimination in employment	22	(1)
Discrimination in housing	23	(1)
The extent of discrimination	24	(3)
Explanations of discrimination	27	(3)
Political stagnation	30	(1)
The threat from the South?	31	(3)
Conclusion	34	(1)
From civil rights protests to insurrection	35	(15)
The modernisation of unionism	35	(1)
The birth of the civil rights campaign	36	(1)
The demands of the civil rights movement	37	(1)
Unionist responses	38	(1)
The arrival of the British Army	39	(1)
Unionist fragmentation	40	(1)
The formation of the Provisional IRA	41	(3)
The civil rights movement and the IRA	44	(2)
The growth of Loyalist paramilitary groups	46	(1)
The abolition of Stormont	47	(2)
Conclusion	49	(1)
Unionist and Loyalist politics	50	(15)
The party system in Northern Ireland	50	(1)
The nature of unionism	51	(1)
Devolution and unionism	52	(2)
Forms of unionism	54	(1)
Unionist parties	54	(7)
`New Loyalist' parties	61	(1)
The political centre	62	(1)
Conclusion	63	(2)
Nationalist and Republican politics	65	(10)
Nationalist themes	65	(1)
Republicanism's core ideas	66	(1)
Nationalism and republicanism compared	67	(2)
The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP)	69	(2)
Sinn Fein	71	(2)
Republican ultras	73	(1)
Conclusion	74	(1)
Governing Northern Ireland	75	(11)
`Old Stormont': Northern Ireland's parliament 1921-72	75	(1)
Direct rule 1972-98	76	(1)
`New Stormont': Northern Ireland's Executive and Assembly	77	(2)
The Northern Ireland Assembly and its committees	79	(2)
The North-South Ministerial Council	81	(1)
The British-Irish Council and British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference	81	(1)
The role of the European Union	82	(1)
Northern Ireland's new consociational democracy?	83	(1)
Conclusion	84	(2)
Policing Northern Ireland	86	(12)
The legacy of the Troubles	86	(2)
The critique of the RUC	88	(2)
The Patten Commission Report	90	(1)
Implementing Patten	91	(1)
Policing parades	92	(1)
The British Army	93	(2)
Ulsterisation and criminalisation	95	(2)
Conclusion	97	(1)
The roles of religion	98	(15)
The extent of religiosity	98	(1)
Protestant churches and beliefs	99	(2)
Orangeism	101	(2)
The Catholic Church in Ireland	103	(2)
The political influence of the Catholic Church	105	(1)
Educational segregation	106	(2)
Societal segregation	108	(2)
Religion and conflict	110	(2)
Conclusion	112	(1)
Political failures 1972-84	113	(14)
Policy approaches	113	(2)
Power-sharing	115	(1)
The Council of Ireland	116	(3)
The Ulster Workers' Council strike	119	(1)
The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention	120	(1)
Non-politics 1976-9	121	(1)
The early Thatcher years	122	(2)
Rolling devolution	124	(1)
The New Ireland Forum Report	125	(1)
Conclusion	126	(1)
The 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement	127	(13)
Origins	127	(1)
Terms	128	(2)
The Unionist dilemma	130	(2)
Unionist responses	132	(3)
Nationalist responses	135	(1)
After the Anglo-Irish Agreement	136	(2)
Lasting significance	138	(1)
Conclusion	139	(1)
The logic of the peace process: changes in republicanism	140	(14)
Militarism versus politics	141	(2)
Recognition of the Irish Republic	143	(1)
Dialogue with constitutional Nationalists	144	(1)
The Brooke Initiatives	145	(2)
The revival of Hume-Adams	147	(1)
Changes in the Republican agenda	148	(1)
Entering Stormont	149	(1)
Interpretations of changes in republicanism	150	(1)
International influences	151	(1)
The influence of Loyalist paramilitaries	152	(1)
Conclusion	153	(1)
The development of the peace process	154	(14)
The Downing Street Declaration	154	(2)
Interpretations	156	(1)
Paramilitary ceasefires	157	(1)
The Framework Documents: Part I	158	(2)
The Framework Documents: Part II	160	(2)
Political responses	162	(2)
The Irish-American Lobby	164	(1)
The role of the American government	165	(2)
Conclusion	167	(1)
War and peace: the long road to negotiations 1995-7	168	(14)
(Non)-Movement towards multi-party talks 1995-6	168	(1)
The Mitchell Principles of Non-Violence	169	(2)
The Northern Ireland Forum elections 1996	171	(1)
Nationalist objections	172	(1)
The Forum election results	173	(2)
Stagnation, sectarianism and IRA violence	175	(2)
Sectarian boycotts	177	(1)
New Labour: new peace process	178	(2)
Conclusion	180	(2)
The Good Friday Agreement	182	(16)
The contents of the Agreement	182	(1)
Negotiating change: party positions	183	(2)
Mixing old and new: central themes of the Agreement	185	(5)
The Good Friday Agreement referenda and Assembly elections	190	(2)
Decommissioning and Executive formation	192	(3)
Republican `dissidents'	195	(1)
Conclusion	196	(2)
Political stability in Northern Ireland?	198	(13)
The problem in context	198	(1)
Alternatives to the Good Friday Agreement?	199	(7)
Public attitudes	206	(2)
The micro-agenda	208	(1)
Conclusion	209	(2)
Conclusion	211	(4)
The sceptical view	212	(1)
The pursuit of conflicting goals	212	(1)
Divided unionism	213	(1)
Ethnic bloc politics	214	(1)
Chronology	215	(3)
Further reading	218	(5)
References	223	(14)
Index	237