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

Abstract

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