‘Community-Based Restorative Justice in Northern Ireland: A Neo-Traditionalist Paradigm?’

This article critically assesses the scholarly representation of community-based restorative justice (CBRJ) schemes in Northern Ireland. These schemes, which emerged in working-class areas following the republican and loyalist ceasefires of the 1990s, have been the subject of intense political debate and a growing body of academic literature. I argue that the academic depiction of the schemes in republican areas ignores the substantial progress made by revisionist political scientists and historians in understanding Provisional republicanism. By failing to take that research into account, CBRJ scholars are in danger of not simply promoting vague, de-contextualised policy prescriptions, but of actively reproducing republican understandings of political developments

‘Learning from the Past or Laundering History? Consociational Narratives and State Intervention in Northern Ireland’

successive British governments gradually learned how to manage the ethnic divisions, and encourage power sharing. This article examines recently released archival material from the Labour governments of Wilson and Callaghan (1974–1979) that reveal that the reality was much more subtle. It argues that owing to an essentially teleological approach, the consociational policy learning narrative distorts the complicated dynamics of British state intervention in Northern Ireland. In fact, rather than an overarching vision of conflict management, government policymaking was based on a multiplicity of voices and options. Not only did Labour inherit policy legacies from the previous Conservative government, but also the continued ambiguity in state intervention was itself self-reinforcing and effectively contributed to the entrenchment of inter-communal division. The article concludes by highlighting a fundamental implication of the consociational approach – namely, that it serves to recycle dominant understandings of the Northern Ireland conflict regardless of the historical record

‘“Moving On”: The Creation of a Peaceful Community in Northern Ireland’

Debates over the direction of the Northern Irish peace process have moved from decommissioning and all-party inclusion to community relations and whether society is becoming more or less integrated and shared. This article contends that what is missing from this debate is consideration of the fact that a process of de-politicisation is occurring – specifically, inspired by a progressivist imperative, political discourse and engagement are increasingly moving from the public sphere to more privatised concerns. I argue that that vision does not speak to the trauma of the past and that the silencings, limitations, and dilemmas it leads to are most lucidly seen in recent Northern Irish drama productions. I conclude by sketching an alternative ethical vision based on an attachment to remembering historical injustices and a repudiation of the social pressure to draw a line under the past

Northern Ireland, 1971-1985: Political Opportunities and Path-Dependence

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Resistance, obstruction and agenda-setting : the hidden politics of the Northern Ireland settlement

Presentation at the Annual meeting of the Specialist Group on British and Comparative Territorial Politics of the Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom, University of Oxford, January, 7-8, 2010This paper examines Ulster unionism’s responses to and its increased disaffection from political developments in Northern Ireland since the 1990s. I suggest that Ulster unionist politics and, by way of extrapolation, Northern Irish politics cannot be understood without taking into account the “soft” or “hidden” face of political power. I argue that this aspect of political dynamics has been under-researched and under-appreciated in Northern Ireland and outline an alternative narrative of the “peace process” as the product of resistance and agenda-setting activities. This changed perspective requires a re-conceptualisation of the role played by unionist politics, which are seen to embody a paradox of alienation and powerlessness operating alongside the effective prevention of specific British government and Irish nationalist policy proposals. I conclude with the suggestion that the “peace process” occurred largely despite rather than because of elite intervention.Not applicableIrish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciencesti,ke,co -AL 28/07/201