|
Prospects for Peace in Ireland, 7/06
Key Lecture Points:
• July 28, 2006 marks the one year anniversary of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) laying down its weapons, at Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams’ request, in its fight against British rule in Northern Ireland. After 30 years of conflict, often referred to as “The Troubles”, between Nationalists (mostly Catholic) and Unionists (mostly Protestants) over the political status of Northern Ireland, the Good Friday Agreement (also called the Belfast Agreement) was signed on April 10, 1998. The peace accord was overwhelmingly endorsed by voters from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in May 1998, paving the way for the establishment of a lasting peace. While the IRA was initially opposed to the accord (particularly the provision that it get rid of its weapons), last year’s agreement to lay down arms and commitment to pursue change by “peaceful means” seems to suggest the success of the accord and the larger peace process. At a time when international affairs are rife with religious conflict (Iraq, India-Pakistan, Israel-Palestine, etc.), it seems prudent to take a look at a case of successful resolution of religious conflict—for instruction and for hope.
• The conflict between Protestants and Catholics on the island of Ireland, which also has a significant class dimension, dates back to the 17th century “Plantation of Ulster” which involved taking land away from ‘native’ Irish Catholics and giving it to English and Scottish Protestants. The 1920 Irish War of Independence, leading to the Partition of Ireland in 1921, set the stage for the current conflict. The partition resulted in the division between Southern Ireland (now the Republic of Ireland) with a Catholic majority and Northern Ireland with a Protestant majority. This division resulted in the formation of two opposing groups in Northern Ireland—the unionist majority, mostly Protestant, who preferred to maintain the union with the United Kingdom, and the nationalist minority, mostly Catholic, who prefer to see a United Ireland.
• While tensions between unionists and nationalists grew steadily from the 1920s onward, The Troubles are often noted as starting in 1968, when a group of loyalists (hardline unionists) attacked a peaceful Catholic civil rights march in Northern Ireland. This incident ushered in brutal conflict, culminating in the Bloody Friday massacre in 1972. From 1972 onward, the conflict can be described as a “Long War”—indeed, this was the strategy of persistent opposition to British rule in Northern Ireland adopted by the IRA.
• The peace process began in earnest in 1993, with the Hume-Adams Talks and the Downing Street Declaration. The IRA called its first ceasefire in 1994. However, the peace process was frequently interrupted and setbacks were common; for example, the IRA’s stopping its ceasefire in 1996 which was followed by more violence. The 1998 Good Friday Agreement, reached via multi-party negotiations with help from US diplomats (like Senator George Mitchell), established the grounds for a lasting peace. Although paramilitary groups, like the IRA and also militant groups from the unionist side, did not immediately accept the terms of the agreement, last year’s proclamation by the IRA perhaps gives us reason to see the peace process as successful.
For More Information:
• Guide to Events, People, and Themes of the Irish Peace Process: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/northern_ireland/understanding/default.stm
• The Troubles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Troubles
• The Good Friday Agreement: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belfast_Agreement
Books For Further Reading:
• McKittrick, David. Making Sense of the Troubles: The Story of the Conflict in Northern Ireland. New Amsterdam Books, 2002.
Description:This is a 20th century history of the conflict. It is relatively balanced in perspective and does a good job of keeping all the people and places straight. This book is a good place to start for an introduction to the issues.
Click here to order.
• Adams, Gerry. A Farther Shore: Ireland’s Long Road to Peace. Random House, 2005.
Description:Written by the President of Sinn Fein, this book is a first-hand account of the three decades or so that led to the 1998 peace accord. It describes the peace process in great detail. This book is by no means objective. Publishers’ Weekly describes it as “suspenseful, biased, subversive, blunt and often funny”.
Click here to order.
• Mitchell, Claire. Religion, Identity and Politics in Northern Ireland: Boundaries of Belonging and Belief. Ashgate Publishing, 2006.
Description:This is an academic exploration of the role of religion and religious beliefs in the conflict. The author argues that the conflict is not a “holy war” but that religion plays very important roles in terms of identity and ideology.
• O’Brien, Connor Cruise. Ancestral Voices: Religion and Nationalism in Ireland. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995.
Description:This book is written from a more personal, historical perspective. The author has been involved in various governments of the Republic of Ireland, and his mother was a well-known Irish Republican activist. Writing in 1995, before the peace accord, O’Brien tries to show why religion and nationalism are a deadly combination, and why the link between them must be severed. While certainly a biased reading, the book begins its look at the conflict in 1798, long before many other authors begin their tales.
|
