From the ‘Long War’ to the ‘Long Peace’: An introduction to the special edition

In this introduction, we set out to provide the appropriate historical context for the nine essays that follow. The article documents all of the tortuous course that the Northern Irish peace process has taken over the last two decades, but its principal focus falls on the period in which the previously unlikely pairing of Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party agreed to share power at Stormont. While the coalition partners were often at odds over ethno-national issues such flags and parades, they frequently found common cause when it came to the introduction of distinctly neoliberal social and economic strategies. The decade in which the two parties shared office seemed to offer the prospect, finally, of stable government in Northern Ireland. At the beginning of 2017, however, the tensions between Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionists became insurmountable and led to the Stormont institutions being mothballed for a fifth time. Although often attributed to the introduction of a controversial green energy scheme in the six counties, the collapse of the power sharing executive owes its origins rather more to seismic political developments elsewhere in the United Kingdom. The outcome of the Brexit referendum has meant that Northern Ireland is now at the centre of a political storm that threatens/promises to usher in an era of radical constitutional change for the region

Achieving Parity of Esteem

The following works on the idea of how we challenge identity and cultural asperity through a recognitional model. The various cultures that exist in NI, as elsewhere, are complex and elaborate systems of meaning and at times behaviour. However, they also sites of value in terms of cultural diversity/richness, creativity, esteem, personal meaning/commitment, economic growth and social outcome. These latter characteristics have yet to achieve an appropriate governance fix. Turning policy into the promotion of cultural value provides opportunities to dilute antagonistic expressions. Cultural identity, part of the present political crisis, is antagonistic when it is threatened, under-recognised or supremacist

LES Study

understood as linear with the prediction that the rise of a pro-unification population is inevitable. This may be the case but before coming to that point there are very subtle changes in identity, inter-community marriage/partnerships and other minorities who are not factored into a more robust analysis of the electorate. The following paper breaks down some of those subtleties and provides a more nuanced reading of population change. This does not obviate against the overall trend of CNR growth but it does suggest that a pro-union majority is more significant than is assume

On the Margins: disabled people’ s experience of employment in Donegal, West Ireland

Traditionally, studies of disabled people’s access to the labour market have been largely restricted to labour market 'censuses' , often conducted by government agencies, and econometric studies. This paper explores disabled people’s access to and experiences of employment in Donegal, West Ireland, using a qualitative approach. Twelve disabled people and four non-disabled helpers, divided into two focus groups, were interviewed using an in-depth, informal conversational strategy. A number of different, salient issues were identified in regards to training, and gaining and maintaining employment, ranging from ignorance and discrimination, to poor access (both workplace and transport), to legislation. Respondents identified a number or potential solutions which mainly focused around disability awareness, removing barriers to gaining employment and the implementation of stronger legislation. In the final section, the issues and solutions raised by disabled people are compared to those identified by non-disabled people, collected in a parallel study

The Tail of the Tiger: Experiences and perceptions of unemployment and inactivity in Donegal

The experiences and perceptions of registered and 'hidden' unemployed people in Donegal are explored through an examination of survey data collected from 620 respondents between May and August 1997. This data set, consisting of both quantitative and qualitative information, is valuable because it explores unemployment and possible solutions from unemployed people's perspectives, and also investigates 'hidden' unemployment. It also provides some insights into social exclusion and the extent to which the 'Celtic Tiger' has benefited all parts of Irish society. Analyses are restricted to the quantitative aspects of the dataset and the discussion is divided into three main themes: labour market histories and experiences of unemployment; education and training; and perceptions of the labour market. In the last section of the paper the various findings are drawn together and summary recommendations are made concerning the actions that local agencies, as opposed to central Government, might undertake in order to tackle the causes and consequences of unemployment

The Tail of the Tiger: Experiences and perceptions of unemployment and inactivity in Donegal

The experiences and perceptions of registered and 'hidden' unemployed people in Donegal are explored through an examination of survey data collected from 620 respondents between May and August 1997. This data set, consisting of both quantitative and qualitative information, is valuable because it explores unemployment and possible solutions from unemployed people's perspectives, and also investigates 'hidden' unemployment. It also provides some insights into social exclusion and the extent to which the 'Celtic Tiger' has benefited all parts of Irish society. Analyses are restricted to the quantitative aspects of the dataset and the discussion is divided into three main themes: labour market histories and experiences of unemployment; education and training; and perceptions of the labour market. In the last section of the paper the various findings are drawn together and summary recommendations are made concerning the actions that local agencies, as opposed to central Government, might undertake in order to tackle the causes and consequences of unemployment

‘Seismic’ or stalemate? The (bio)politics of the 2021 Northern Ireland Census

This article provides a critical reading of the 2021 Census of Population in Northern Ireland. A close examination of the available data on religion and nationality leads us to suggest that the Census provides a distorted portrait of Northern Irish society in two crucial, and connected, senses. First, the operation of the Census creates incentives for many residents to identify in ethnoreligious terms who might not ordinarily do so. Second, the forms of inter-communal competition generated by the decennial poll serve to obscure the degree of cultural diversity that exists in an increasingly secular society

Politically motivated former prisoner groups: community activism and conflict transformation

Aims and objectives: This study represents the first sustained quantitative and qualitative attempt to involve both Republicans and Loyalists in an investigation of the impact of imprisonment and the role of politically motivated former prisoners in the process of conflict transformation in Northern Ireland. The overall aim of the project is to examine the ways in which groups of former prisoners are involved in peace-building and conflict transformation work and to evaluate the constraints and impediments placed upon their activities by the effects of the imprisonment process, politically motivated release and residual criminalisation. In pursuing the evaluation of the role of politically motivated former prisoners working within and without their own communities, the research has six specific objectives: To trace the evolution and development of former prisoner groups; To evaluate the impacts of imprisonment and release on the personal lives of former prisoners; To assess the constraints imposed on former prisoners as agents of change by the residual criminalisation arising from their status; To determine the potential of the former prisoner community in challenging intra-community tensions and evaluate their potential and actual contribution to conflict transformation at the inter-community level; To compare and contrast the effectiveness of Loyalist and Republican former prisoners as agents of change within their own communities; To explore the notion of former prisoners as agents of social and communal transformation within broader political processes through grounding the knowledge and practical experience of the former prisoner community within the broader conceptual context of conflict transformation