Northern Ireland and the Troubles

Mapping the ‘Doctrine of Vicarious Punishment’: Space, Religion and the Belfast ‘Troubles’ of 1920 – 22’

by Niall Cunningham

This is a copy of a paper I plan to deliver at the European Social Science History Conference at Glasgow University on April 14th, 2012.　　The caption on figure 10 shouldn't read decennial change in population, as the inter-censal period was subject to some alteration around this time. It is a DRAFT! I will adjust when I have time。

Between 1920 and 1922, the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland was the location of intense violence between Catholic... more Between 1920 and 1922, the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland was the location of intense violence between Catholic nationalists and Protestant unionists arising out of the broader political conflict engulfing the island. Approximately 500 people died within the city as a result of these tensions. There existed marked spatial variation in patterns of fatality during these original ‘Troubles’ which accompanied the creation of the Northern Ireland state. This paper will present findings from research into this period which makes use of Geographical Information Systems (G.I.S.) technology to analyse the spatial distribution and impact of political and sectarian deaths in the early years of the 1920s.

Book Review: Brice Dickson, The European Convention on Human Rights and the Conflict in Northern Ireland

by Alan Greene

(2010) 45(1) JUR 249

Courts and Late-Modern Security Crises: Judicial Deference, Temporary Emergency Powers and the Rule of Law in Quebec and Northern Ireland

by Darren Pacione

M.A. Thesis (2011), Department of Law and Legal Studies, Carleton University

Historically, in the common law jurisdictions examined in this study, judicial responses to emergency powers in times... more Historically, in the common law jurisdictions examined in this study, judicial responses to emergency powers in times of real or perceived emergencies have consistently shown patterns of deference to executive government authority, although there are notable exceptions. This dissertation seeks to ground recent debates around the legal responses to national security threats and further conceptualize contemporary theoretical and constitutional issues in historical examples from Canada and Ireland, and in particular, Quebec and Northern Ireland in the 1970‘s. A comparative examination of the 1970 October Crisis involving the FLQ in Quebec and the extended conflict in Northern Ireland involving the IRA through the 1970s and 1980s analyzes the effects of temporary emergency measures and related accommodations of the regular criminal law. While the legal regulation of political power in times of crisis is pertinent to the continuously evolving national security narrative, there are other important checks, including enhanced parliamentary controls, re-imaginings of the rule of law and entrenched rights, which are referred to here but also warrant further study.

The Social Capital of Victim Support Groups in Northern Ireland: A Discussion on the Reasons for the Gap Between Theory, Policy and Practice

by Laura Graham

This paper was presented at the Political Studies Association Conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 2012.

Victim support groups in Northern Ireland provide a unique platform for the development of social capital. It is... more Victim support groups in Northern Ireland provide a unique platform for the development of social capital. It is because of their reach within the "victim constituency" that government has supported policies aimed at building social capital in victim support groups. The aim of these policies is to promote both bonding and bridging forms of social capital through single identity and cross-community work in the hopes of improving victims' quality of life as well as contributing to conflict resolution and peace-building on the societal level. To this end, the European Union, British and Irish governments have poured millions of pounds into funding schemes for victims work that builds social capital.  The result of these policies is high levels of bonding forms of social capital, but low levels of bridging forms of social capital.  Additionally, there is evidence that some victim support groups are “hunkering down” (cf. Putnam, 2007), resulting in decreased social trust, inclusion and cohesion. Therefore, this paper aims to address the reasons why this is the case, as well as discuss the implications of these findings for a diverse audience.  Drawing on the findings of the Compromise After Conflict study on the leadership of victim support groups, this paper addresses the reasons why policies promoting social capital in Northern Ireland have led to a disparity between levels of bonding and bridging, and have in some cases contributed to constriction in Northern Ireland’s victim support groups.  This findings revealed in this paper are significant for practitioners, policymakers and academics alike.

Troubled Geographies: An Historical G.I.S. of Religion, Society and Conflict in Ireland since the Great Famine

by Niall Cunningham

This paper emerged out of a presentation at the August 2008 UK Historical GIS Conference held at the University of Essex. It is shortly to be published alongside a selection of contributions to the conference in A.Y. Geddes & I.N. Gregory (eds.) 'Rethinking Space and Place' (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, Forthcoming).

This paper concerns the work involved in the construction of a Historical Geographical Information System of Irish... more This paper concerns the work involved in the construction of a Historical Geographical Information System of Irish religion and society in the period since the Great Famine of the mid-nineteenth century. The work was funded by a Large Grant from the U.K.'s Arts and Humanities Research Council (A.H.R.C.) entitled 'Troubled Geographies: Two Centuries of Religious Division in Ireland'. The project had two main planks of analysis; the first was a study of long-term change in the religious and socio-economic geographies of the island of Ireland over the last 150 years, the second was to explore how these factors related to the spatial distribition of political deaths during the recent Troubles in Northern Ireland from 1969. This was made possible through access to the Sutton Database of Troubles Deaths, kindly provided by the CAIN service at the University of Ulster.

Deterrence, coercion and brute force in asymmetric conflict: The role of the military instrument in resolving the Northern Ireland 'troubles'

by Aaron Edwards

Published in the 'Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict', December 2011

The use of deterrence, coercion and brute force in effecting peace in asymmetric conflict is often overlooked and a... more The use of deterrence, coercion and brute force in effecting peace in asymmetric conflict is often overlooked and a premium instead is placed on diplomacy and bargaining between states and non-state terrorist groups. Indeed, the relative success of the Northern Ireland “peace process” since the 1990s has amplified the sound of dialogue as a means of ending violent conflict in deeply divided societies. This article adopts a different perspective. Borrowing from strategic theory, it examines the British state's application of force in bringing the Provisional IRA to the negotiating table. It argues that in the “battle of wills” between the British state's security forces and the IRA, a more coercive strategy was adopted by Britain than is openly admitted in the scholarly literature on the Northern Ireland “troubles.” The article concludes with several observations on the importance of the use of force in counter-terrorism operations.

Remembering and Memorialization through Storytelling in Northern Ireland

by Laura Graham

This is a working paper that is currently under peer review.

This paper proceeds from the premise that storytelling is a method for meeting the memorialization needs of victims in... more This paper proceeds from the premise that storytelling is a method for meeting the memorialization needs of victims in Northern Ireland where a lack of consensus has stifled other methods of memory. There are many storytelling outputs, including books, DVDs, crafts, performances and residentials, to name a few. The purpose of this paper is to present one aspect of memory from the conflict in and about Northern Ireland: the process of remembering and memorialization through storytelling. Specifically, this paper will focus on storytelling, as a mechanism designed to meet victims’ needs with respect to allowing them a platform to remember and memorialize their lost loved ones. This paper draws on the fieldwork conducted by the author under the Leverhulme-funded Compromise After Conflict study at The University of Aberdeen. This paper will focus on three of the groups interviewed in the Compromise study and will describe and discuss their unique approaches to storytelling. Each vignette presents a different approach to meeting the memory needs of victims through storytelling. This paper will assess the value of storytelling projects in relation to meeting the memory needs of victims of the Troubles and will draw some conclusions on the benefits and drawbacks of the storytelling approach.

Engaging Civil Society in Governance Processes: A Case Study of Victim Support Groups in Northern Ireland

by Laura Graham

This is a working paper that was presented to the South African Gauteng Legislature in 2012.

This paper draws on the research conducted in the Leverhulme-funded Compromise After Conflict study of victim support... more This paper draws on the research conducted in the Leverhulme-funded Compromise After Conflict study of victim support groups in Northern Ireland. Specifically, this paper examines the role of victims’ groups in achieving the government aims of conflict resolution and reconciliation through the development of social capital. This paper presents Northern Ireland as a case study to address the ways in which government policies aimed at building social capital for conflict resolution processes can be strengthened through the voluntary sector, and specifically, through victims’ groups. The lessons that can be drawn from this case study have many implications for policy prescription in other postconflict societies. Moreover, this paper will present findings that highlight gaps between government policies and practice in the voluntary sector. These gaps will be discussed, and the paper will conclude with some policy prescriptions for government and practitioners on how to bridge these gaps in order to foster improved civic engagement in governance processes.

Decision-making and contested heritage in Northern Ireland: The former maze prison/Long Kesh

by Kate Flynn

The former Maze Prison / Long Kesh in Lisburn, near Belfast, is one of the primary sites associated with the ‘The... more The former Maze Prison / Long Kesh in Lisburn, near Belfast, is one of the primary sites associated with the ‘The Troubles’ in Northern Ireland. Controversy about the site’s future makes it clear that the redevelopment of contested heritage cannot be divorced from the policy process of a negotiated settlement between opposed communities and parties. However, research indicates that, despite the stated ‘inclusive’ intent of the Maze / Long Kesh redevelopment, decision-making about the site is often viewed as removed from stakeholder interests and input. Instead many see plans for, as well as ongoing arguments about, the site redevelopment as determined by party politics, as well as parochial interests pitting those based in Lisburn against others in Belfast. Thus community level and other stakeholder interests are often perceived to be ignored. Findings are informed by in-depth interviews with representatives from two loyalist and three republican ex-prisoner groups each representing different paramilitary factions, as well as a loyalist cultural organization, a cross-community victims/survivors group and a community relations charity. The material is balanced by further interviews with senior civil servants and politicians from both nationalist and unionist parties.

'A happy blend'? Irish Republicanism, Political Violence and Social Agitation, 1962-1969

by Liam Cullinane

Saothar 35: Journal of the Irish Labour History Society 2010, pp.49-65

Civil unrest shaping the built environment in Northern Ireland The case of Belfast

by Sultan Barakat

National Identities, Historical Narratives and Patron States in Northern Ireland

by John Barry

Published in Political loyalty and the nation-state,  edited by Michael Waller and Andrew Linklater (2003)

Expressions and conceptions of loyalty are especially potent and contentious in the constitution of collective... more Expressions and conceptions of loyalty are especially potent and contentious in the constitution of collective identities in Northern Ireland. On the one hand we have the Orange marches - Protestant religious-political expressions of loyalty to the British monarch and Protestant faith which date back to the late eighteenth century.  Some of these insist on marching through Catholic-nationalist areas where they are not welcome and are seen as expressions of Protestant-unionist domination and oppression.  Thus, the relationship between loyalty, identity, and history is particularly interesting in Northern Ireland, not least because there are long-standing political discourses, practices and institutions associated with ‘loyalism’, within unionist politics and history.  Loyalism in Northern Ireland is an ideology, a movement and an identity, associated with more extreme unionism, in the same way that ‘republicanism’ is associated with more extreme or militant ‘nationalism’. 

Music, youth, and peacebuilding in Northern Ireland

by Lesley Pruitt

“Music, Youth and Peacebuilding in Northern Ireland.” 2011. Global Change, Peace & Security 23(2): 207-222.

This article presents a preliminary analysis from a case study conducted in Northern Ireland. Participant observation... more This article presents a preliminary analysis from a case study conducted in Northern Ireland. Participant observation and semi-structured interviewing were used to learn whether music might serve as a useful tool for engaging Northern Irish youth in peacebuilding. Obstacles and limitations certainly exist, but the data suggests that music can be used to engage youth in peacebuilding in three key ways: (1) music can be useful in bringing youth together to share meaning, and as such is an alternative way to engage in dialogue for building peace; (2) music-making can help youth gain self-esteem and reconsider their view of others in a way that can help to destabilize conflict identities; and (3) by taking part in musical programs, violence by, against, and between youth may be reduced or prevented by changing the way youth experience the spaces they inhabit and/or by providing alternative activities to rioting.