tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/northern-ireland-1670/articles
Northern Ireland – The Conversation
2024-03-07T13:03:45Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/221155
2024-03-07T13:03:45Z
2024-03-07T13:03:45Z
Why schools need to take sun safety more seriously – expert explains
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577546/original/file-20240223-16-azytla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=37%2C0%2C4195%2C2788&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The World Health Organization recommends formal school programmes as the key to preventing skin cancer.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-boy-having-sunscreen-applied-339150182">Paul Higley/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Despite the UK’s rainy climate, there is a one in six <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ski2.61">risk</a> of developing skin cancer. Children, especially, should take extra care as severe sunburn as a youngster more than <a href="https://www.skincancer.org/risk-factors/sunburn/">doubles</a> the chance of developing skin cancer later on. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ced/advance-article/doi/10.1093/ced/llad458/7507665">new research</a> my colleagues and I conducted shows that less than half of primary schools in Wales have a formal sun safety policy.</p>
<p>With skin cancer rates continuing to rise by <a href="https://gettingitrightfirsttime.co.uk/medical_specialties/dermatology/">8% annually</a> in England and Wales, it’s a problem that’s not going away and the disease now accounts for half of all cancers. In 2020 alone, the cost of treating skin cancer in England was <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23554510/">estimated</a> to be more than £180 million.</p>
<p>There is hope, though. It is estimated that around <a href="https://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer-information/skin-cancer-facts">90% of skin cancers</a> are due to ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure from the sun. This means they can be prevented through safer behaviour. </p>
<p>In the UK, though, many people still <a href="https://academic.oup.com/her/article/20/5/579/611761">underestimate</a> the link between sunburn and skin cancer. Research paints a worrying picture, revealing disparities in sun protection awareness and behaviour across different groups. Notably, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/her/article/20/5/579/611761">men</a>, people living in <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26875569/">low-income neighbourhoods</a>, those belonging to <a href="https://academic.oup.com/her/article/20/5/579/611761">lower socioeconomic groups</a> and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28125871/">people of colour</a> are often found to be less informed about sun safety and are more likely to put themselves at risk. </p>
<p>With childhood a crucial time for learning healthy behaviour, teaching all children from a young age about sun protection could be one way to reduce future skin cancer rates. And the <a href="https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/42678/9241590629_v1.pdf?sequence=1">World Health Organization</a> recommends formal school programmes as the key to prevention. </p>
<p>Overall, school-based interventions have been <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091743521000438">shown</a> to positively influence sun safe knowledge and behaviour. For example, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyt105">schools in Australia</a> with written policies show better sun protection practices than those without.</p>
<p>But in UK schools, the situation varies. The UK government’s Department for Education has issued <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education/physical-health-and-mental-wellbeing-primary-and-secondary#by-the-end-of-primary-school">statutory guidance</a> for England that children should leave primary school knowing about sun safety and how to reduce the risk of getting skin cancer. </p>
<p>In Scotland and Northern Ireland, it is not a legal requirement to teach sun safety in schools. And in Wales, while sun safety is recommended as part of the Welsh Network of Healthy Schools scheme, again there is no mandatory requirement to have a sun safety policy or to teach skin cancer prevention. Nor are there central UK resources provided to help schools in this area. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The red, peeling sunburnt back and shoulders of a young girl." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578006/original/file-20240226-21-2xd3jb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578006/original/file-20240226-21-2xd3jb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578006/original/file-20240226-21-2xd3jb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578006/original/file-20240226-21-2xd3jb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578006/original/file-20240226-21-2xd3jb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578006/original/file-20240226-21-2xd3jb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578006/original/file-20240226-21-2xd3jb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Being severely sunburnt as a youngster more than doubles the chance of developing future skin cancer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dangerous-sunburn-shoulders-young-girl-601094933">Alonafoto/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>My colleagues and I wanted to know how many schools have a sun safety policy, a formal document that sets out a school’s position with respect to the education and provision of sun safety. We also wanted to understand whether the existence of a policy varied by area or school characteristic, and what support schools need. </p>
<p>In 2022, we sent a survey to all 1,241 primary schools in Wales. In total, 471 schools responded. </p>
<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>We found that only 39% of responding schools had a formal sun safety policy. And of these, not all enforced them. Schools that had more children receiving free school meals and with lower attendance rates were less likely to have a sun safety policy.</p>
<p>We asked schools that did not have a policy to tell us the reasons why not. Thirty-five per cent of schools were “not aware of the need”, while 27% of schools had “not got around to it just yet”. Thirty schools (13%) said that a sun safety policy was not a priority at this time. Clearly, there is work to be done on raising awareness among schools and school leaders on the role they can play in this area.</p>
<p>Of course, schools are busy places. So, when asked to indicate what would encourage them to create a sun safety policy, 73% of schools said assistance with development, while 56% said resources to aid the teaching of sun safety. </p>
<p>Previously both Cancer Research UK and the Wales-based Tenovus Cancer Care charities have offered support and guidelines for schools but this support is no longer easily available. The England-based charity <a href="https://www.skcin.org/ourWork/sunSafeSchools.htm">Sckin</a> has a comprehensive and free sun-safe schools accreditation scheme. Some schools told us they based their policies on resources supplied by the local authority, but this was not consistent across Wales.</p>
<p>UV levels will soon rise in the UK and now is the time for schools to start thinking about sun protection. Having a formal sun safety school policy sets out the position of the school when it comes to sun safety. When enforced and communicated properly, this makes it clear to everyone (governors, teachers, carers and pupils) their individual responsibilities when it comes to staying safe. </p>
<p>But with fewer than half of schools in Wales having formal policies, and not all enforced, awareness of the importance of this issue and the potential role of schools is lacking. </p>
<p>It is therefore time for sun safety policies to become mandatory for primary schools across the UK. This could help to improve knowledge and behaviour for all age groups. But adequate support and guidance must be also given to schools to help them educate children about sun safety and protect them while they are at school.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221155/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Peconi received funding for the Sunproofed Study from Health and Care Research Wales through a Health Research Grant Award. She is also a volunteer with the charity Skin Care Cymru, a charity working to raise the profile of skin health in Wales. </span></em></p>
Being severely sunburnt as a child more than doubles the chance of developing future skin cancer but less than half of primary schools questioned in new research have a sun safety policy.
Julie Peconi, Senior Research Officer in Health Data Science, Swansea University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/224085
2024-02-22T11:10:59Z
2024-02-22T11:10:59Z
Israel-Gaza: how opinion polls used in Northern Ireland could pave a way to peace
<p>Amid the death and suffering unleashed by Israel’s war on Gaza and the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, prospects for lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians appear ever more elusive. But when the war eventually ends, pressure will mount for negotiations to begin for a deal. When that day comes, how can opposing sides in such an intractable conflict find enough common ground to reach an agreement?</p>
<p>In this episode of <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/the-conversation-weekly-98901">The Conversation Weekly</a> podcast, we hear about a method called peace polling, tried out successfully in Northern Ireland, that could offer a blueprint for how to reach a settlement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.</p>
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<p>After living through decades of violence, in May 1998 the people of Northern Ireland were asked to vote in a referendum on a peace deal, known as the Good Friday Agreement. The referendum passed with a 71% majority. </p>
<p>Colin Irwin was not surprised. He’d been part of a team working for months alongside the formal negotiations on a series of public opinion polls in Northern Ireland. The questions were agreed with all the political parties involved in the negotiations, including some of those linked to the worst of the violence during Northern Ireland’s Troubles. Irwin says the most important poll he did was the one just before a deal was reached. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We had a precis of the agreement and we asked people if they would accept it. Within one percentage point, we were accurate to what the final referendum was, by which time the parties knew that our polls were very accurate … They then knew that they wouldn’t be committing political suicide by signing up to the deal.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Today, Irwin is a research fellow at the University of Liverpool in the UK. He’s worked to bring the method of peace polling developed in Northern Ireland to inform peace negotiations in a variety of conflicts around the world, from Syria to the Balkans and Sri Lanka. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Peace polling can work in any context and we can always find out what people can accept. My personal view is that it always should be done in every conflict all the time so the world should know what the deal is and what can be accepted.</p>
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<p>In early 2009, Irwin conducted a peace poll in Israel and Palestine, meeting with political parties from all sides in the conflict, including Hamas. The only person who wouldn’t meet him, he says, was Benjamin Netanyahu. And he argues that since then, Israel <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-israel-failed-to-learn-from-the-northern-ireland-peace-process-220170">has failed to learn the lessons</a> from the Northern Ireland peace process. </p>
<p>Listen to <a href="https://pod.link/1550643487">The Conversation Weekly</a> podcast to hear Colin Irwin explain about how the Inuit helped inform the design of peace polling, and more about his work in Northern Ireland and Israel-Palestine. The episode also includes an interview with Jonathan Este, senior international editor at The Conversation in the UK. </p>
<p>A transcript of this <a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/3170/Peace_Polls_Transcript.docx.pdf?1710953332">episode is now available</a>. </p>
<p><em>This episode of The Conversation Weekly was written and produced by Gemma Ware and Mend Mariwany, with assistance from Katie Flood. Sound design was by Eloise Stevens, and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Stephen Khan is our global executive editor, Alice Mason runs our social media and Soraya Nandy does our transcripts.</em></p>
<p><em>You can find us on X, formerly known as Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/TC_Audio">@TC_Audio</a>, on Instagram at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">theconversationdotcom</a> or <a href="mailto:podcast@theconversation.com">via email</a>. You can also subscribe to The Conversation’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/newsletter">free daily email here</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>Listen to The Conversation Weekly via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our <a href="https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/60087127b9687759d637bade">RSS feed</a> or find out <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-listen-to-the-conversations-podcasts-154131">how else to listen here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224085/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Colin John Irwin receives funding from: Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, Center for Democracy and Reconciliation in South East Europe, Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, OneVoice, Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (now FCDO), Economic and Social Research Council (UK ESRC), United Nations, InterPeace, Health and Welfare Canada, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), British Academy, Norwegian Peoples Aid, The Day After, No Peace Without Justice, US Department of State, Local Administrations Council Unit (Syria), Asia Foundation, Department for International Development (UK DFID), OpenAI, Atlantic Philanthropies, Universities: Dalhousie, Manitoba, Syracuse, Pennsylvania, Queens Belfast, Liverpool. Also member of the World Association of Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) which promotes freedom to publish public opinion polls and sets international professional standards.</span></em></p>
In The Conversation Weekly podcast, researcher Colin Irwin explains how peace polls can help build consensus in conflict negotiations – but only if all parties are at the table.
Gemma Ware, Editor and Co-Host, The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The Conversation
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/222785
2024-02-06T12:06:12Z
2024-02-06T12:06:12Z
How Sinn Féin reinvented itself from IRA associations to realistic leftwing alternative
<p>Addressing the newly restored Northern Ireland Assembly, Sinn Féin First Minister Michelle O’Neill assured everyone that she would be working equally for “<a href="https://www.derryjournal.com/news/people/this-historic-day-represents-a-new-dawn-northern-ireland-first-minister-michelle-oneills-speech-in-full-4504168">Catholics, Protestants and dissenters</a>”.</p>
<p>This iconic quote from the founder of Irish Republicanism, <a href="https://research.tees.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/16053350/Democracy_religion_and_the_Political_Thought_of_Theobald_Wolfe_Tone_submitted.pdf">Theobald Wolfe Tone</a>, needs no contextualisation in Ireland. It was not just meant to reassure those among unionists who might have misgivings about a Sinn Féin-led government. O’Neill was also addressing her own rank and file. She was guaranteeing that while the party will do its utmost to make Northern Ireland work, it has not lost sight of the ultimate prize – Irish unity.</p>
<p>In a carefully crafted speech full of optimistic prophecies, O’Neill announced a “new dawn” and the start of a “decade of opportunity” for Northern Ireland. She wasted little time in clarifying that she believes there will be a referendum on Irish unity within the next decade. Sinn Féin party president <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2023/03/26/referendum-on-irish-unity-within-a-decade-mary-lou-mcdonald-says/">Mary Lou McDonald</a> echoed the same sentiments almost immediately in Dublin.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jXzuQTpz7Vw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Michelle O'Neill’s first speech as first minister.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The Good Friday Agreement provided that the governance of Northern Ireland is predicated on a power-sharing system. While this theoretically made it possible for the party most opposed to the very existence of Northern Ireland, Sinn Féin, to lead its government, it was an unimaginable scenario at the turn of the century. Unionism remained solid and politically dominant in a system <a href="https://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/partition-of-ireland-explained-477342/">designed to make it so</a>. Sinn Féin equally still had a number of obstacles to overcome on its road to respectability and power – not least shedding its controversial image of a party <a href="https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526154569/">closely linked to the IRA.</a></p>
<p>Throughout the peace process, Sinn Féin developed a carefully crafted, two-pronged strategy. It would keep the party strongly rooted in its traditional message while developing a socio-economic programme that could win over the electorate from both constituencies. This has now started to pay off. Sinn Féin surged to win the popular vote in the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/10/sinn-fein-declares-victory-irish-general-election">2020 general election in Ireland</a>, even though other parties went on to form the government.</p>
<p>The trend was confirmed in the 2022 Northern Ireland assembly election, when it became the biggest party for the first time, giving O'Neill the right to claim the position of first minister. But the Democratic Unionist Party made their participation in the executive conditional on the renegotiation of the 2021 Brexit deal. A more recent <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/explainers-53724381">deal</a> brokered by prime minister Rishi Sunak and the EU broke the deadlock, with the DUP agreeing to participate in a Sinn Féin-led government.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, in the Republic, under the leadership of Mary Lou MacDonald, and a team of high-profile spokespeople on issues such as housing (Eoin Ó Broin having made a name for himself as an expert in the field) and finance (Pierce Doherty’s alternative 2024 budget was described <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2023/10/04/sinn-feins-alternative-budget-is-carefully-calculated-not-to-scare-off-the-middle-ground/">by Irish Times</a> political editor Pat Leahy as “comprehensive and painstakingly costed”), the party reinvented itself. It succeeded in providing a credible, leftwing alternative to the two-party system that had seen Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael dominate Irish politics since independence.</p>
<h2>In government and opposition</h2>
<p>As the only political party organised throughout the island (with the exception of People Before Profit, which holds four seats in the Republic and one in Northern Ireland), much of Sinn Féin’s work on one side of the border is scrutinised on the other.</p>
<p>Being in government on one side and in opposition on the other, all at the same time, will therefore be a delicate balance to sustain. In the Republic, Sinn Féin has kept the two main parties, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, on their toes. But while it has retained its lead over its two rivals, <a href="https://www.politico.eu/europe-poll-of-polls/ireland/">opinion polls</a> show that the gap is slowly narrowing. Sinn Féin dropped from an all-time high of 33% in September 2023 to 27% in January 2024 – though it is still ahead of the other parties by a comfortable margin. Sinn Féin’s capacity to prove that it can govern consensually and efficiently in an environment as politically divisive as Northern Ireland will be a useful test ahead of the next general election in the Republic.</p>
<p>In the North, the work of the newly nominated executive will be focused on bread-and-butter issues, such as addressing the crisis in the <a href="https://www.channel4.com/news/inside-a-northern-ireland-health-and-social-care-system-in-crisis">NHS</a>, which is reaching breaking point. The political vacuum created by the Democratic Unionist Party’s boycott of the institutions has compounded the problems faced by an ailing economy which <a href="http://qpol.qub.ac.uk/comparing-living-standards-north-and-south/">lags behind the Republic</a> in terms of salaries and living standards. The British government has offered a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-67968994">£3.3bn funding package</a> as part of the deal to restore power sharing in Northern Ireland and this will undoubtedly help to address the more immediate questions of public sector pay, which has <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-150-000-public-sector-workers-in-northern-ireland-have-been-on-strike-221455">stagnated</a> since the start of the decade and is the lowest in the UK.</p>
<p>Now that it holds the key ministries of finance, economy and infrastructure, Sinn Féin will have the opportunity (or face the challenge) to demonstrate its ability to make a difference. During their visit to Belfast to mark the restoration of the power-sharing executive, on February 5, Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Leo Varadkar and his British counterpart Sunak played down the <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2024/02/05/real-work-starts-now-rishi-sunak-tells-stormont-leaders/">prospects of a united Ireland</a> and insisted on the importance of day-to-day matters. </p>
<p>Indeed, only the secretary of state for Northern Ireland can decide on holding of a referendum on the constitutional future of Northern Ireland. But Sinn Féin is determined to make this happen. O'Neill has pledged that she will not ask anyone in Northern Ireland to surrender their identity. However,‘ we can expect her and her colleagues to continue to put Irish unity at the top of the agenda.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222785/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Agnès Maillot does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
O'Neill has pledged to represent ‘Catholics, Protestants and dissenters’ but has made plain that she sees that as compatible with a referendum on Irish unity within a decade.
Agnès Maillot, Associate Professor, School of Applied Languages and Intercultural Studies, Dublin City University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/222333
2024-01-30T20:17:52Z
2024-01-30T20:17:52Z
Northern Ireland deal to restore power sharing after two year gap – how it happened and what comes next
<p>The Democratic Unionist party (DUP) leader, Jeffrey Donaldson, has finally moved to restore power sharing in Northern Ireland after nearly two years of protest.</p>
<p>The DUP, which has the second most seats in the Northern Ireland assembly, collapsed the government in February 2022 over the terms of the Brexit deal. Many unionists felt that the checks on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland served to separate the region from the UK, and so undermined the Union.</p>
<p>UK prime minister Rishi Sunak attempted to address these concerns via the <a href="https://theconversation.com/windsor-framework-why-rishi-sunak-was-able-to-secure-the-brexit-deal-that-others-couldnt-200853">“Windsor framework”</a>, negotiated with Brussels last spring. This agreement minimised checks on goods coming into Northern Ireland. But the DUP insisted that the UK government had not addressed all of its concerns, and power sharing remained in abeyance.</p>
<p>Now, after months of further talks, Donaldson has decided that he has won enough concessions (or that he will not get any more). He has made clear his intent to lead the DUP back into power sharing with Sinn Féin, the largest party in the assembly, after <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-northern-ireland-politics-68031910">agreeing a deal</a> with the UK government.</p>
<h2>What’s likely to be in the deal?</h2>
<p>Details have not been released, but Donaldson claims it will further limit checks on goods entering Northern Ireland, and the extent to which the region <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/jan/30/stormont-power-sharing-restart-northern-island-dup-deal">follows EU law</a>. Both of these elements were part of the original Brexit deal, which was designed to avoid the UK’s departure from the EU creating a “hard border” in Ireland. Such an outcome would have destabilised the Good Friday agreement and Northern Ireland peace process.</p>
<p>Donaldson also claims that the UK government will now pass legislation that will <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-68136950">“strengthen the union”</a>. This is his main tool to reassure unionist voters. </p>
<p>Any legislation passed by the UK government that affects Northern Ireland’s constitutional position will have to be consistent with the Good Friday agreement. If it is not, there will be protests from the nationalist community. And any changes to the rules on goods entering Northern Ireland would need to be consistent with the Brexit deal and Windsor framework – otherwise the EU will be in opposition. </p>
<p>This might suggest that such changes are largely cosmetic, likely already approved by Brussels, or are practical changes that primarily address traders’ complaints about the complexity of the existing arrangements, but which also can be sold as gains for Donaldson.</p>
<h2>Political fallout</h2>
<p>But none of this will go through without fierce debate, particularly within unionism. Even the DUP meeting that led to the announcement of Donaldson’s deal was a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-68137351">fraught affair</a>, the location kept secret from party members until three hours before in order to avoid a media melee and loyalist protests.</p>
<p>Donaldson still has a significant challenge ahead to convince the wider unionist community that his deal really is a significant improvement on current arrangements.</p>
<p>His task will not be aided by the fact that the DUP will be returning to power sharing with Sinn Féin now holding the position of first minister. The DUP’s travails over Brexit have seen a <a href="https://theconversation.com/northern-ireland-election-despite-sinn-feins-historic-win-over-unionists-things-may-not-be-as-they-seem-182652">fall in its support</a>, so the party can now only claim the role of deputy first minister. In practical terms, these roles have equal power, but even titular subservience to republicanism is ideological anathema to many unionists. </p>
<p>Symbolism remains important in Northern Ireland politics, and Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill leading the Belfast assembly as first minister would powerfully signal the end to what unionists once claimed was a “Protestant parliament for Protestant people”.</p>
<h2>What happens next?</h2>
<p>The UK government is <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-67726389">expected to publish the details of the deal on Wednesday</a>, with legalisation following on Thursday. The Stormont assembly could then be called as early as Friday, when a new speaker would be elected. This, in turn, would allow eligible parties to nominate their ministers to the power sharing executive, as per the rules of the Good Friday agreement. </p>
<p>We can be certain that Donaldson will not be the DUP’s nomination as deputy first minister, as he leads the party as an MP in Westminster and does not currently sit in the Stormont assembly.</p>
<h2>Donaldson’s decision</h2>
<p>Donaldson has clearly decided that it is more damaging to unionism, and to Northern Ireland’s future, to remain in constant protest. The absence of government for two years has seen further pressures mounting on the public sector particularly. </p>
<p>Workers striking over continued pay erosion have recently directed their protests towards the DUP, particularly as the UK government <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/secretary-of-state-returning-executive-can-unleash-northern-irelands-potential">offered a £3 billion</a> support package to help address wage claims in an effort to restore power sharing.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-150-000-public-sector-workers-in-northern-ireland-have-been-on-strike-221455">Why 150,000 public sector workers in Northern Ireland have been on strike</a>
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<p>However, there was also debate within the Conservative party over whether the British government might soon abandon these efforts, suspend devolution to Northern Ireland, and run the region <a href="https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/sir-robert-buckland-comments-former-ni-secretary-villers-says-there-is-no-role-for-dublin-in-running-ni-as-tory-mp-calls-idea-unacceptable-4475468">directly from Westminster</a>.</p>
<p>Under the terms of the Good Friday agreement, that would mean the Irish government would have a say in Northern Ireland’s affairs, and <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/editorials/2023/09/28/the-irish-times-view-on-the-latest-opinion-poll-all-still-to-play-for/">recent opinion polls</a> have suggested that Sinn Féin could soon take power in the Republic for the first time. Donaldson might tell unionists it is better to share power with Sinn Féin in Belfast rather than accepting their dictates from Dublin.</p>
<p>He will certainly argue that unionism must do more than protest, and instead become proactive to protect its voice and interests. But many unionist leaders have tried the same before, and all have been ousted at some point. </p>
<p>And Donaldson acts from a position of weakness, with unionists no longer holding a majority in the Belfast assembly for the first time in its history. He will need exceptional political skill to avoid the fate of his predecessors.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222333/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter John McLoughlin has received funding in the past from the AHRC, Leverhulme Trust, the Irish Research Council, and the Fulbright Commission. He is a member of Greenpeace.</span></em></p>
Northern Ireland has been without a government since the executive collapsed in February 2022.
Peter John McLoughlin, Lecturer in Politics, Queen's University Belfast
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/221455
2024-01-19T18:07:25Z
2024-01-19T18:07:25Z
Why 150,000 public sector workers in Northern Ireland have been on strike
<p>An estimated 150,000 public sector workers in Northern Ireland went on strike on January 16 as part of a long-running dispute over pay and conditions. The strike, which involved workers from 16 trade unions, was the largest in more than 50 years. </p>
<p><a href="https://datavis.nisra.gov.uk/economy-and-labour-market/Employee-earnings-NI-2023.html">Official figures show</a> that between April 2022 and April 2023, real pay (adjusted for inflation) in Northern Ireland’s public sector fell by 7.2%. That decline came on the heels of real pay falling by more than 4% between April 2021 and April 2022, and two decades of no growth in public sector real pay.</p>
<p>While there is much talk about an “Irish Sea border” because of post-Brexit trade arrangements, a sea border of sorts already exists when it comes to public sector earnings. Differences in <a href="https://www.nipsa730.org.uk/wp/2023/09/07/september-2023-update/">public sector pay</a> between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK are long-running grievances for workers.</p>
<p>Newly qualified teachers in Great Britain make about £30,000, while in Northern Ireland they <a href="https://neu.org.uk/about/nations/neu-northern-ireland/teachers-pay-campaign-northern-ireland">start on £24,000</a>. A newly qualified doctor in Northern Ireland earns a base salary of <a href="https://www.bma.org.uk/bma-media-centre/junior-doctors-in-northern-ireland-to-be-balloted-for-industrial-action">£26,000 per year</a>. In England the starting rate is over £32,000, and in Scotland it is £31,000. </p>
<h2>Deteriorating public services</h2>
<p>One cannot detach the demand for higher pay from the broader economic and political malaise in which Northern Ireland finds itself.</p>
<p>Conservative-led austerity at the UK level <a href="https://www.ulster.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/542586/UUEPC-Public-and-private-sector-pay-270220-FINAL.pdf">introduced 1% pay caps</a> on public sector pay increases from 2010 to 2019. And austerity budgets led to increasingly dilapidated public services. Similar to much of the rest of the UK, schools across Northern Ireland <a href="https://www.stran.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/The-Consequences-of-the-Cuts-to-Education-for-Children-and-Young-People-in-Northern-Ireland-Final.pdf">now strain to cover bills and maintain services</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/13211/pdf/">NHS figures from 2023</a> show that about 122,000 patients are awaiting surgery and a further 378,400 people are waiting to see a consultant for the first time. GP surgeries are closing in many places and there are real risks to some hospitals. Unions representing healthcare workers, the British Medical Association and Royal College of Nursing NI, have <a href="https://www.bma.org.uk/bma-media-centre/bma-ni-and-royal-college-of-nursing-ni-raise-concerns-about-staff-exhaustion">raised the alarm</a> about the impact of underfunded services on doctor and nurse fatigue. </p>
<p>Making work strain and stretched resources worse still is the fact that <a href="https://www.rcn.org.uk/northernireland/Get-Involved/Northern-Ireland-fair-pay-and-safe-staffing-campaign">recruitment</a> has become a real problem, especially in education and health. </p>
<p>While these problems prevail across the UK, they have particularly hit Northern Ireland where public sector workers make up a <a href="https://www.economicsobservatory.com/the-good-friday-agreement-at-25-has-there-been-a-peace-dividend">greater proportion</a> of the workforce than in the rest of the UK. The recent effects of higher inflation and rising interest rates have added to the pain. </p>
<h2>Political issues</h2>
<p>The strike comes amid an ongoing political crisis in the region, as the devolved administration, the Northern Ireland executive, collapsed in February 2022 and remains in a stalemate. </p>
<p>The unique power-sharing feature of the Stormont government means either of the two major power blocs of nationalists and unionists can prevent a functioning executive by refusing to participate. In this case, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) pulled out over post-Brexit trade agreements, and has refused to return until its concerns, both economic and ideological, are met.</p>
<p>The lack of an executive affects industrial relations, because public sector pay is a devolved matter, within the constraints of Treasury funding. If the executive was in place, ministers would receive direction from pay review bodies and set a pay policy for negotiation with the unions. In the absence of the executive, that cannot happen.</p>
<p>An even bigger problem, however, is the region’s public finances, itself a consequence of the inadequacies of the “Barnett Formula”, the mechanism by which the UK Treasury allocates funding to support public spending across the devolved regions. The formula, which is Treasury policy, has been assessed by the unions, among others, to be <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/123832/pdf">wholly inadequate</a> in meeting Northern Ireland’s public expenditure needs.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris outside of Number 10 Downing Street" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570351/original/file-20240119-15-qfy3sa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570351/original/file-20240119-15-qfy3sa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570351/original/file-20240119-15-qfy3sa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570351/original/file-20240119-15-qfy3sa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570351/original/file-20240119-15-qfy3sa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570351/original/file-20240119-15-qfy3sa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570351/original/file-20240119-15-qfy3sa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-united-kingdom-november-22-2022-2285215571">I T S/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Due to the collapse of the executive, the UK’s Northern Ireland secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris, set Northern Ireland’s budget for 2023-24, to ensure public services could continue. But perception in Northern Ireland is that Heaton-Harris set a “punishment budget” to coerce the DUP back into government. The budget requires budget overspends from past years to be paid back to the Treasury. Combined with inflation, this has meant, in real terms, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-65404988">funding cuts</a> in the latest budget for education, health care, justice and economy from the previous year.</p>
<p>The consequences of this led the Northern Ireland department of finance – the body allocating the public sector pay pot – to claim that pay deals equivalent to those in Britain were <a href="https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/news/public-sector-pay-policy-guidance-2023-2024-published">not affordable for 2023-24</a>. </p>
<p>Heaton-Harris has since indicated a willingness to remedy this should the executive return, by <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/41c27034-de3a-4f2b-8d1c-f809ceb5ad8c">dangling the carrot</a> of £3.3 billion in funds, including public sector pay awards. The money is there, and unions have called on Heaton-Harris to <a href="https://www.unitetheunion.org/news-events/news/2024/january/heaton-harris-must-release-public-sector-funds-or-face-further-escalation-of-strikes">release it</a> despite the lack of a functioning government at Stormont. But the hurdle remains the DUP’s unwillingness to reenter government until their concerns are addressed. </p>
<p>Even if such money is made available, it would be little more than a short-term sticking plaster for the region, given the ongoing economic and political issues.</p>
<p>Where next for the unions? At the time of writing, some remain on strike, others have promised further action, and some union officials have raised the prospect of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-67968999">civil disobedience</a>. The willingness of unions to sustain action, however, looks set to be determined by the political agenda which, in the short-term, is still uncertain.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221455/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Niall Cullinane receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council and previously the British Academy.</span></em></p>
The record strike action comes amid an ongoing political crisis in Stormont.
Niall Cullinane, Professor in organisation, work and leadership, Queen's University Belfast
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/220426
2024-01-18T16:49:12Z
2024-01-18T16:49:12Z
Replacing shipbuilding with creative industries won’t be without risk for Northern Ireland’s economy
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569539/original/file-20240116-17-g3kwfn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=62%2C0%2C5928%2C3988&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ruins of Dunluce Castle, a location familiar to fans of Game of Thrones.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sunset-ruins-dunluce-castle-located-on-2054023973">Dawid K Photography/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you’ve ever <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/may/11/tv-noir-finds-new-home-in-northern-ireland">watched</a> <a href="https://discovernorthernireland.com/things-to-do/game-of-thrones-studio-tour-p770571">Game of Thrones</a>, The Fall, or <a href="https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/features/whats-the-word-on-the-street-about-line-of-duty/37964730.html">Line of Duty</a>, you’ve already witnessed Northern Ireland’s growing role in the global film and TV industry. But its popularity as a location for film shoots is only one part of a growing role within the creative industries sector. </p>
<p>The launch of a £72 million film-making complex in Belfast this year, <a href="https://www.studioulster.com">Studio Ulster</a>, is another big step towards the region’s aim to become a creative industries hub. The new studios will offer virtual production, alongside traditional facilities for film, animation, video games and broadcasting. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/creative-industries-sector-vision/creative-industries-sector-vision-a-joint-plan-to-drive-growth-build-talent-and-develop-skills#:%7E:text=By%202030%20we%20want%20to,and%20create%20pride%20in%20place">The idea</a> is to give an extra boost to the burgeoning Northern Irish film and TV industry, which has already contributed <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/100m-studio-makes-belfast-global-hub-for-virtual-production-13022657">£330 million</a> to the region’s economy over the past five years. Studio Ulster is part of a £50 billion <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-65916027">expansion plan</a> which aims to make Northern Ireland a modern hub of creative industries for local, regional and international co-productions. </p>
<p>So, could modern day creatives replace the shipbuilders that made Belfast the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-49234995">home of ocean liners</a> in the early 20th century? </p>
<h2>Virtual production</h2>
<p>Developed by <a href="https://www.studioulster.com">Ulster University</a> in partnership with Belfast Harbour and Northern Ireland Screen, Studio Ulster boasts of links with higher education institutions and regional industry partners. It promises to use research, education and economic growth to create much needed new jobs while transforming Northern Ireland into a pinnacle of modern film-making. </p>
<p>The studio is being billed primarily as a <a href="https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/explainers/virtual-production/what-is-virtual-production">virtual production</a> studio, offering a relatively new way of film-making that combines virtual and real-world elements. It will specialise in CGI, augmented reality and motion capture. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Belfast's Titanic Museum, with Titanic Studios located at the rear." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569083/original/file-20240112-21-575fwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5171%2C3442&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569083/original/file-20240112-21-575fwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569083/original/file-20240112-21-575fwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569083/original/file-20240112-21-575fwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569083/original/file-20240112-21-575fwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569083/original/file-20240112-21-575fwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569083/original/file-20240112-21-575fwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Belfast’s Titanic Museum commemorates the city’s role as a shipbuilding hub. It’s also home to Titanic Studios, pictured here behind the museum.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/belfast-northern-ireland-july-14-2018-1392116375">OldskoolDesign/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But relying so heavily on virtual production could be a risky move. Investing in new technologies brings great potential for success but also for failure. It’s always difficult to predict which way a new technology will go. </p>
<p>Virtual production is complex – in its current stage of development – not without <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/375074005_VIRTUAL_PRODUCTION_INTERACTIVE_AND_REAL-TIME_TECHNOLOGY_FOR_FILMMAKERS">flaws and limitations</a>. For example, although the integration of the LED panel backgrounds and studio environment allows for unlimited types of environments, it restricts the scope for filming movement. In other words, actors can’t walk long distances in one shot without a cut, which can be frustrating for film-makers. </p>
<p>The emergence and rapid development of AI could also see virtual production replaced with an entirely new technology, making such expensive facilities unnecessary. There is always a danger that it could become another cinematic misstep – <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315301297_Why_Did_the_3D_Revolution_Fail_The_Present_and_Future_of_Stereoscopy_Commentary">like 3D cinema</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Long shot of dark hedges with people walking along the road." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569076/original/file-20240112-25-q4k8cu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C8%2C5982%2C3979&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569076/original/file-20240112-25-q4k8cu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569076/original/file-20240112-25-q4k8cu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569076/original/file-20240112-25-q4k8cu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569076/original/file-20240112-25-q4k8cu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569076/original/file-20240112-25-q4k8cu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569076/original/file-20240112-25-q4k8cu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Locations like the Dark Hedges in Country Antrim already attract tourists and filmmakers alike to NI.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dark-hedges-antrim-northern-ireland-aug-2052506714">Dawid K Photography/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Then there is the risk of an expensive new studio just not being used enough. Studio Ulster needs to avoid meeting the same fate as the City of Lights, a state-of-the-art film studio in Alicante, Spain, that was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/13/alicantes-ciudad-de-la-luz-film-studio-sell-off-draws-hollywood-big-guns">subsequently abandoned</a>. </p>
<p>Once the most modern film studio in Europe, it was praised by the Hollywood director Ridley Scott, and hosted Game of Thrones and Black Mirror productions before it was forced to shut by the EU on grounds of unfair competition. A decade later, the owners now hope to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/06/spain-ciudad-de-la-luz-film-studios-reopen-valencia">reopen it</a>, but after all this time, it will not be the brand new modern studio it once was.</p>
<h2>Another Titanic?</h2>
<p>But it’s not all about the facilities and the technology. The human talent – the producers, the camera operators, the editors, the lighting experts – have already been hard at work in Northern Ireland. Hopefully, with the latest project’s educational and research links, and planned international collaborations, they will remain, bringing optimism and job opportunities. </p>
<p>With the Irish film industry booming – the short film <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0YVueR5ho0">An Irish Goodbye</a> won an Oscar in 2022 – Studio Ulster will be hoping to build on this momentum to cement the status of the film industry in this part of the world.</p>
<p>It certainly has a bold vision. As well as turning Northern Ireland into a promised land for contemporary film-making, it wants to boost the economy, enrich lives and strengthen the UK’s global image as a film and television hub. </p>
<p>But relying on virtual production could turn out to be a gamble. We’ll have to wait and see whether the project becomes a heart-warming economic success story – or end up as an expensive and ill-fated launch that reminds locals of the most famous of Belfast-built ships, the Titanic.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220426/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Agata Lulkowska does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Could filmmaking become the new shipbuilding for Northern Ireland?
Agata Lulkowska, Senior Lecturer in Film Directing and Producing, Staffordshire University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/220251
2023-12-27T09:10:47Z
2023-12-27T09:10:47Z
Seamus Heaney: ten years after his death, the generosity and warmth of his rich poetic voice endures
<p>The English war poet Wilfred Owen once wrote, “Celebrity is the last infirmity I desire.” Killed in France at the age of 25, unpublished and unknown, “celebrity” for Owen was a posthumous phenomenon. By contrast, celebrity status for the Irish poet <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/seamus-heaney">Seamus Heaney</a> – “Famous Seamus” – came early in his life.</p>
<p>The eldest of nine children raised on a small farm called Mossbawn in County Derry – which was so crucial to his imaginative development – his first collection, <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/death-of-a-naturalist/seamus-heaney/9780571230839">Death of a Naturalist</a>, was accepted for publication by Faber when he was just 26.</p>
<p>Thirty years later, he became the fourth Irishman to <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1995/summary/">win the Nobel Prize for Literature</a>, following <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1925/shaw/facts/">Shaw</a>, <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1923/yeats/biographical/">Yeats</a> and <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1969/summary/">Beckett</a>. By the time of his death in 2013, Heaney’s books accounted for some <a href="https://www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/poet/seamus-heaney/">two-thirds of the sales</a> of contemporary poets in the UK.</p>
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<p>Always conscious of Owen’s example, as well as Yeats, Frost or the Romantic poets, Heaney shares with them all the unusual capacity to reach a much larger audience than poetry generally enjoys.</p>
<p>Readers <a href="https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/i-grieved-for-my-husband-not-seamus-heaney-the-poet-says-widow-marie/35043954.html">felt his death in 2013 as a personal loss</a>, bereft as they were of a familiar and intimate voice that had accompanied them through half a century’s life of writing, with Heaney’s own story woven into the turbulent story of Ireland.</p>
<h2>A life in letters</h2>
<p>The recently published edition of <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-letters-of-seamus-heaney/seamus-heaney/9780571341085#:%7E:text=Spanning%20his%20early%20days%20in,from%20a%20titan%20of%20poetry.">Heaney’s letters</a>, edited by poet Christopher Reid, is a marvellous addition for an audience always hungry for more Heaney.</p>
<p>Beginning with his “new life” in 1965 – marriage, house-buying in Belfast, manuscript acceptance – it bears witness to what Reid calls “the sheer outward-facing busyness” of Heaney’s life. It was a busyness that brought, alongside celebrity, increasingly obvious pressures on a poet always generous with himself, his time and his work.</p>
<p>It’s unsurprising that as his fame grew, so too did the demands made on him. And as writer Bel Mooney <a href="https://www.mailplus.co.uk/edition/books/329937">noted recently</a>, although “all of us who wanted a piece of him could have been fobbed off”, he was “just too nice”. The letters – abundant and revelatory, evidencing, as Reid puts it, Heaney’s “delight in his own fertile rhetoric” – are a treasure trove of delights for the reader.</p>
<p>But they prove Owen’s point about the challenges of celebrity, too: “Excuse the stationery … this jotter is to hand”; “Please forgive me for not being in touch”; “Please excuse the pencil, I’m on the plane …”; “You deserved to hear from me before this”; “Hurriedly, with love – Seamus”.</p>
<p>The generosity and warmth of the poet as a public figure is, of course, one of the reasons why he was and is beloved by many – not least those who, in huge numbers, encountered him in person through a lifetime of lectures, readings, workshops and launches. He once joked that one day his unsigned books would be more valuable.</p>
<h2>Faith in poetry</h2>
<p>That warmth and generosity came at a cost to Heaney personally, as he struggled to protect from public scrutiny those “whole areas of one’s life that one wants to keep free from the gaze of print”. He wanted to shield as well those elements of his “remembered soul landscape” that were the source of his inspiration – what Wordsworth termed “the hiding-places of my power”.</p>
<p>Protect them he did since it is, in the end, the imaginative generosity of the poems themselves, not the personal generosity of the man, that ensures his legacy. It does so in part because of Heaney’s faith in the poem – as answering to no agenda other than its own being, operating as its own “vindicating force”, undiminished by, and existing outside of, the noise and “busyness” of life.</p>
<p>In his <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1995/heaney/lecture/">1995 Nobel lecture</a>, Heaney spoke of poetry’s “gift for telling truth” – and beyond that, its capacity “to be not only pleasurably right, but compellingly wise”. It might even be “a retuning of the world itself”.</p>
<p>Few contemporary poets have devoted so much time to writing a defence of poetry as Heaney; fewer still have done so in terms so protective of poetry’s autonomy. Irish poet Leontia Flynn <a href="http://leontiaflynn.com/irish-university-review-radically-necessary-heaney/">writes</a> of finding herself “nearly as grateful for his defence of poetry as … for his poems”. </p>
<p>Heaney’s capacity to “credit marvels” in the world around him is, quite literally, the gift that keeps on giving. As he writes in his poem <a href="https://www.poetryireland.ie/publications/poetry-ireland-review/online-archive/view/fosterling">Fosterling</a>:</p>
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<p>Me waiting until I was nearly fifty</p>
<p>To credit marvels. Like the tree-clock of tin cans</p>
<p>The tinkers made. So long for air to brighten,</p>
<p>Time to be dazzled and the heart to lighten.</p>
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<p>In one of his finest lyrics, <a href="https://genius.com/Seamus-heaney-the-harvest-bow-annotated">The Harvest Bow</a>, the “throwaway love-knot of straw” plaited by his father is echoed in the intricate weaving, “twist by twist”, of its harvest bow of words.</p>
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<p>Its “golden loops” are a gateway to the past, and as we follow Heaney’s “homesick” memory of walking peaceably with his father, the beautifully crafted love-knot encircles and cradles an entire community and a way of life. The bow is a still a “frail device”. Like poetry, it is both transformative and under threat; but most importantly, it endures.</p>
<p>A decade after his death, Heaney’s voice, like the harvest bow, is “burnished by its passage, and still warm”.</p>
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<p><em>Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/something-good-156">Sign up here</a>.</em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220251/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fran Brearton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The great Irish poet left a legacy of astonishing poems that speak to new readers with their deep wisdom and quietly devastating imagery.
Fran Brearton, Professor of Modern Poetry, School of Arts, English and Languages, Queen's University Belfast
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/217435
2023-11-10T16:12:53Z
2023-11-10T16:12:53Z
Suella Braverman’s comments comparing Gaza protests with Northern Ireland are a grave misunderstanding of the facts
<p>The aim of Suella Braverman’s controversial <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/pro-palestine-protest-london-met-police-cbqnxbtv3">Times article</a> commenting on the ongoing protests over Gaza seems obvious. As with many of her recent and provocative statements, the assumption is that she is trying to undermine and ultimately replace Rishi Sunak as Tory leader by appealing to the party’s right. However, the methods used – and particularly the comparisons she made between marches in Northern Ireland and demonstrations in London – are more confusing. </p>
<p>This confusion is understandable, as Braverman herself seems confused in what she wrote. She linked marches over the Gaza conflict to “the kind we are more used to seeing in Northern Ireland”. She drew further comparisons when suggesting that some of those organising the London protests “have links to terrorist groups, including Hamas”.</p>
<p>From the article alone, it was not at all clear which Northern Ireland marches Braverman was referring to. In some ways it read as though she was trying to make a connection between Irish republicanism and support for Hamas. But marching in Northern Ireland is more associated with the unionist community. Even the head of the Orange Order – responsible for the overwhelming majority of marches in the region – was concerned enough to suggest that Braverman <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-67366165">should clarify</a> exactly which groups she was referring to. </p>
<p>Braverman later insisted she was indeed <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/nov/09/braverman-clarifies-northern-ireland-comments-amid-angry-criticism">referring to dissident republicanism</a>. And republicans do also participate in marches, but historically the most significant of these have been civil rights demonstrations to highlight the discrimination faced by the Catholic community. These marches were largely banned by the then Unionist government – something which Braverman appears to want in the case of the London protests, though she has denied this. Unionists justified their bans by making the same insinuations that Braverman makes in her Times article – that such marches can be a front for violent subversives. However, the violence triggered by civil rights marches in Northern Ireland was mainly enacted by the state – most famously and tragically of all on Bloody Sunday in January 1972, when the British army shot dead protesters, resulting in 14 deaths.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bloody-sunday-50-years-later-what-it-means-when-we-commemorate-trauma-174559">Bloody Sunday 50 years later: what it means when we commemorate trauma</a>
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<p>The march on Bloody Sunday was a protest against the use of internment without trial in Northern Ireland. Like the freedoms of expression and assembly – both of which are exercised in the Gaza protests – freedom from unlawful imprisonment is a fundamental democratic right. Indeed it is a fundamentally British right, given its place in the Magna Carta. Worryingly, Braverman, the home secretary, and thus a key figure in upholding British law, would seem to be struggling with such concepts. </p>
<p>Drawing an analogy with Northern Ireland in her efforts to defend her position was a poor decision. It showed the superficiality of her understanding of the region’s past conflict – a tendency common to many of the Tory leaders that Brexit has thrust upon us. Recall former prime minister Boris Johnson asserting that the Irish border was <a href="https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/republic-of-ireland/boris-johnson-mocked-for-saying-irish-border-like-camden-and-westminster/36648696.html">little different</a> to those dividing London boroughs, his deputy Dominic Raab admitting he had <a href="https://inews.co.uk/news/brexit/good-friday-agreement-dominic-raab-brexit-secretary-northern-ireland-peace-253106">not read the Belfast/Good Friday agreement</a>, or Braverman’s predecessor Priti Patel suggesting that the threat of food shortages in Ireland as a result of a no-deal Brexit should be used to <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/uk/brexit-tory-mp-backtracks-over-food-scarcity-in-ireland-1.3725093">pressure Dublin</a> in the ongoing negotiations. Awareness of the British government’s role in the catastrophic Great Irish Famine of the 1800s seemed non-existent. </p>
<h2>Purposeful confusion?</h2>
<p>It is hard to discern ignorance from intent, however. Braverman’s apparent linking of Gaza protesters with republican violence, and the perceived threat to Cenotaph commemorations this weekend, might have been an effort to conjure memories of the IRA bombing of a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-35197450">remembrance day event in Enniskillen in 1987</a>. Older readers of her Times article with a military background might make this connection. But it is horribly crude if Braverman meant to imply a common mentality between the Enniskillen bombers and protesters demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. </p>
<p>The reason that Braverman’s Times article is open to multiple interpretations, and creates much confusion, is that it deploys a common tactic of “culture warriors”. The lack of clarity is purposeful. It is enough to insinuate the malign intent of Gaza protesters or other such targets, and let social media do the rest. Even Metropolitan Police commissioner Mark Rowley <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/nov/05/dowden-concerns-about-pro-palestine-marches-armistice-day">noted this lack of care</a> in responding to Braverman’s description of the Gaza protests as “hate marches”. He told the News Agents podcast: “She’s picked two words out the English language and strung them together”.</p>
<p>And a lack of understanding of these sensitive subjects is also no barrier to their use and abuse by culture warriors. As long as a given intervention raises their political profile, it has served its purpose. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/suella-braverman-why-the-home-secretary-cant-force-the-police-to-cancel-a-pro-palestine-march-217399">Suella Braverman: why the home secretary can't force the police to cancel a pro-Palestine march</a>
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<p>A proper consideration of the Northern Ireland case creates more challenging lessons for figures like Braverman. Firstly, the successful reform of policing in the region ended its pro-unionist bias. And even recent <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-66679018">challenges</a> to policing in Northern Ireland have reminded us of the need to protect law enforcement from political interference. Braverman would do well to note this. </p>
<p>More broadly, and if we are to compare Northern Ireland with the Middle East, there is need to acknowledge that its peace process involved engagement with violent republicanism, successfully steering it towards democracy and political compromise. In Israel-Palestine, similarly, ways must be found to encourage violent actors towards purely peaceful methods. As with the militant republicanism, efforts to simply crush Hamas will likely prove counterproductive. Bloody Sunday was often said to be the single biggest recruiting sergeant for the IRA, and Israel’s current actions in Gaza will likely create a new generation of Hamas fighters. </p>
<p>The long and difficult process of building a peaceful and just Northern Ireland began with ceasefires. That is what most protesters over Gaza are demanding. True democrats owe them every support in their peaceful endeavours.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217435/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter John McLoughlin has received funding in the past from the AHRC, Leverhulme Trust, the Irish Research Council, and the Fulbright Commission. He is a member of Greenpeace.</span></em></p>
There are plenty of valuable parallels to be drawn from the Good Friday peace process that might be applied to Braverman’s thinking on protests. But she instead chose to inflame tensions.
Peter John McLoughlin, Lecturer in Politics, Queen's University Belfast
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/214219
2023-11-09T21:22:03Z
2023-11-09T21:22:03Z
New law sidesteps British culpability in Northern Ireland’s Troubles
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<p>The <a href="https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3160">Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act</a> became law in the United Kingdom on Sept. 18. It is an attempt to resolve the many open investigations into murders committed during the 30-year armed conflict in Northern Ireland known as <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/the-troubles-of-northern-ireland-history">the Troubles</a>.</p>
<p>The new law calls for setting up an independent commission to deal with the hundreds of killings that remain unsolved to this day. It would offer <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/4/uks-controversial-ngorthern-ireland-legacy-bill-all-you-need-to-know">conditional amnesty</a> to those who co-operate with the commission’s investigations.</p>
<p>The act was passed despite <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2023/09/06/northern-ireland-troubles-legacy-bill-what-it-means-for-victims-families/">widespread condemnation</a> from the communities of Northern Ireland and broader international parties. The British government says the act will “<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-57829037">draw a line under the Troubles</a>” and achieve reconciliation. But this claim is questionable and the act raises concerns regarding colonial legacies and the government’s culpability.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/amnesty-for-troubles-related-crimes-to-become-law-why-many-people-in-northern-ireland-oppose-the-bill-213029">Opponents of the act</a> argue that it violates the Good Friday Agreement by putting “<a href="https://www.coe.int/en/web/commissioner/-/united-kingdom-adopting-northern-ireland-legacy-bill-will-undermine-justice-for-victims-truth-seeking-and-reconciliation">victims’ rights at risk”</a> in ceasing all open criminal investigations. Sinn Fein, the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly, said the act is a “<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-66634919">denial of human rights of victims and their families</a>.” Critics also say it will not achieve its purported goals of reconciliation and may actually “<a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2022/11/22/primates-of-all-ireland-say-legacy-bill-will-deepen-divisions-in-northern-ireland/">deepen divisions</a>” between the communities of Northern Ireland. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/amnesty-for-troubles-related-crimes-to-become-law-why-many-people-in-northern-ireland-oppose-the-bill-213029">Amnesty for Troubles-related crimes to become law – why many people in Northern Ireland oppose the bill</a>
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<h2>A “Legacy and Reconciliation” Act</h2>
<p>The act seeks to promote reconciliation through a loosely defined “Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery.” This language of reconciliation and independent commissions appears on the surface to be <a href="https://www.unpo.org/downloads/ProfKnoops.pdf">based on notions of transitional justice and reconciliation</a>. Supporters note that the 1998 <a href="https://education.niassembly.gov.uk/post-16/snapshots-devolution/belfast-agreementgood-friday-agreement-1998">Good Friday Agreement</a>, which brought an end to the Troubles, also declared a goal of reconciliation.</p>
<p>Truth and reconciliation commissions are a <a href="https://www.ictj.org/truth-and-memory">key component of peace processes</a>, helping societies transition out of conflict and into peaceful relations. <a href="https://theconversation.com/do-truth-and-reconciliation-commissions-heal-divided-nations-109925">Despite their varying effectiveness</a>, they are generally seen as a positive step forward. </p>
<p>However, three factors reveal how the U.K. government’s agenda is disingenuous: the definition of justice, the dilemmas of colonial legacies and the government’s own culpability.</p>
<h2>The people should define justice</h2>
<p>Opposition to the act’s amnesty provision reflects a wider debate in peace processes between <a href="https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1011&context=ijps">retributive and restorative justice</a> and the role of amnesty. Retributive justice reflects the idea that perpetrators of crimes should be punished accordingly under the law. In Ireland, criminal justice for perpetrators — or retributive justice — is frequently described as inherent to victims’ rights. </p>
<p>Restorative justice emphasizes shared dialogue between the perpetrator and victim. However, offering perpetrators amnesty — or what some critics label impunity — to garner their participation is often criticized for <a href="https://www.beyondintractability.org/library/reconciliation-through-restorative-justice-analyzing-south-africas-truth-and-reconciliation">not always delivering justice</a> to victims.</p>
<p>South Africa, for example, selected a restorative justice process of <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20211226-desmond-tutu-s-truth-commission-rejected-retributive-justice-in-favour-of-healing">truth-telling, with amnesty</a>, to encourage perpetrator participation. But while dialogue occurred, action to implement the recommendations that followed was never taken, leaving many feeling justice had not been served.</p>
<p>The U.K.’s legislation suggests it is using amnesty to encourage perpetrators to come forward with the truth. However, one of the act’s other controversial moves includes <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/9/11/shut-it-all-down-uk-legacy-bill-threatens-troubles-era-atrocity-inquests">shutting down existing investigations</a> to shift all cases over to the new framework.</p>
<p>British military personnel are subject to a <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8352/">number of open investigations</a> for their role in over 3,500 deaths of the Troubles. In simultaneously applying amnesty and closing investigations, the act clearly serves the interests of the British government. The legislation’s claims to restorative justice become a way to prevent the truth of government’s culpability coming out.</p>
<h2>Reconciliation and colonial legacies</h2>
<p>Northern Ireland faces another issue similar to <a href="https://www.facinghistory.org/en-ca/resource-library/truth-reconciliation-0">Canada’s truth and reconciliation process</a>. There has been no transition of the imperial or colonial institutions. Simply put, the colonial state’s that perpetrated violence are still in power. The problems of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0924051921992747">non-transition</a>, colonialism and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ijtj/iju004">structural violence</a> are widely critiqued by scholars of transitional justice in an Indigenous context. These criticisms carry important lessons for Northern Ireland.</p>
<p>The U.K. government that has passed this legislation — without the consent of the Northern Irish people — still claims sovereign authority over the territory. While a transition of sorts occurred with the creation of the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998, there has been no transition of the Westminster government. Nor any transition of the Crown, whose imperial presence has been felt in Ireland for hundreds of years.</p>
<p>In Canada, despite being forced <a href="https://nctr.ca/about/history-of-the-trc/truth-and-reconciliation-commission-of-canada/">by legal settlement</a> to co-operate with Indigenous groups, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s <a href="https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Volume_6_Reconciliation_English_Web.pdf">final report</a> noted the government still retained a colonial lens of reconciliation in maintaining its “Crown Sovereignty.” The U.K. government is also defining reconciliation in a way that does not respond to the interests or appeals of the people of Northern Ireland. </p>
<h2>Historicizing crimes</h2>
<p>In seeking to draw a line under the conflict and relegating the issues to history, the act appears even more self-serving. The U.K. government is highly culpable in the Troubles — particularly in the <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/bloody-sunday-in-northern-ireland">1972 Bloody Sunday massacre</a> — lending to greater outcry at the notion they may be allowed to absolve themselves of responsibility through legislation.</p>
<p>When former British prime minister David Cameron <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jun/15/bloody-sunday-report-saville-inquiry">apologized for Bloody Sunday</a> in 2010, it was made clear that there was a distinction between the two regimes: his, and that of 1972. Records show that ministers as early as 1997 were aware of the impact of such an apology underpinning the <a href="https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2022/12/28/news/sir_patrick_mayhew_said_british_government_would_not_apologise_over_bloody_sunday-2960402/">liability of the British government</a> and calls for justice.</p>
<p>Proponents of restorative justice processes could argue that an amnesty approach is a possible step toward healing and reconciliation. But such processes must align with the demands of the communities, victims and survivors.</p>
<p>Outcry about the act in Northern Ireland represents the challenge of doing reconciliation without real institutional transition. And of ignoring the legacies of history without addressing the demands for justice in the present day.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214219/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samantha Twietmeyer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Opponents of the U.K. government’s Northern Ireland Troubles Act argue it violates the Good Friday Agreement by denying victims their right to justice.
Samantha Twietmeyer, Research fellow, Queen's University, Ontario
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/215113
2023-10-09T17:19:25Z
2023-10-09T17:19:25Z
Lough Neagh: UK and Ireland’s largest lake is being suffocated by business and agricultural interests
<p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Lough-Neagh">Lough Neagh</a> is the largest freshwater lake in the UK and Ireland. It is a protected area of special scientific interest and the source of <a href="https://www.niwater.com/news-detail/12350/Your-water-is-safe-to-drink/">40% of Northern Ireland’s drinking water</a>. </p>
<p>But it’s also the site of a severe environmental crisis and a public health emergency. Located about 20 miles west of Belfast, the lough has turned thick with <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/algal-blooms-advice-for-the-public-and-landowners/algal-blooms-advice-for-the-public-and-landowners">toxic blue-green algae</a>, resulting in the demise of both <a href="https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/environment/out-of-control-lough-neaghs-poisonous-bacteria-now-killing-swans-foxes-and-dogs/a1026634162.html">its own wildlife and people’s pets</a>. </p>
<p>This situation has brought about a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-66835897">sense of mourning</a> among local people and activists who, in September 2023, held a “wake” to highlight their fears that the lough is dying. Lough Neagh’s historic fishing industry, which is known for its <a href="https://www.loughneagheels.com/sustainability/">use of sustainable and traditional methods</a>, also faces the <a href="https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2023/09/15/news/fishing_for_lough_neagh_eels_world_renowned_has_collapsed_fishermen_locals-3617503/">threat of collapse</a> unless conditions improve.</p>
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<p>Multiple factors have made Lough Neagh particularly vulnerable to these perilous algal blooms, including <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0043135411004386#bib63">rising water temperatures</a> linked to global warming. However, the root causes of this crisis are decades of <a href="https://friendsoftheearth.uk/nature/lough-neagh-why-europes-wildlife-jewel-needs-space-breathe#:%7E:text=Dredging%20is%20a%20risk%20to%20waterfowl%2C%20fish%20populations%2C,Lough%20Neagh%20could%20fill%20over%2010%2C000%20volleyball%20courts.">sand dredging</a> and pollution stemming from <a href="https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.4319/lo.2007.52.1.0354">agricultural runoff</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/15/7m-tonnes-of-raw-sewage-a-year-discharged-into-northern-irish-rivers">sewage treatment</a> and <a href="https://niopa.qub.ac.uk/bitstream/NIOPA/3436/1/11015.pdf">septic tanks</a>. These activities have flooded the lough with nutrients on which the blue-green algae are thriving.</p>
<p>This crisis is far from a freak accident. It is the consequence of political negligence and institutional mismanagement, driven by an economy that has long prioritised growth over all else. </p>
<p>The same dynamic is responsible for the fragile state of nature throughout the rest of Northern Ireland. A <a href="https://stateofnature.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/TP25999-State-of-Nature-main-report_2023_FULL-DOC-v12.pdf">recent report</a> found that 12% of Northern Ireland’s wild species are now facing extinction. </p>
<p>Any economy that presupposes the exploitation of finite natural resources to fuel the endless exponential growth it needs to function and survive cannot be sustained indefinitely. The crisis at Lough Neagh illustrates the grave consequences of attempting to do so. </p>
<p>It has become a place for extracting resources and a dump site for the chemical byproducts of agricultural activities that seek to produce as much as possible at the lowest financial cost. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Farm machinery collecting silage in a field." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552748/original/file-20231009-25-8awptl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552748/original/file-20231009-25-8awptl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552748/original/file-20231009-25-8awptl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552748/original/file-20231009-25-8awptl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552748/original/file-20231009-25-8awptl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552748/original/file-20231009-25-8awptl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552748/original/file-20231009-25-8awptl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Northern Ireland’s landscape and biodiversity have been altered by the agricultural and food manufacturing industry.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/ballycastle-uk-0622-agriculture-collecting-silage-1523474765">Steve Allen/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Going for Growth</h2>
<p>Much of the groundwork for Northern Ireland’s current environmental crisis was laid in 2013 by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs’ (Daera) landmark “<a href="https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/publications/going-growth-strategic-action-plan-support-ni-agri-food-industry">Going for Growth</a>” policy. </p>
<p>The policy promotes more market-led innovation and sales growth in highly competitive international markets. As a result, it has spurred the greater use of phosphates, nitrogen and other inputs within Northern Ireland’s agricultural system. </p>
<p>It has also provided farmers with an incentive to <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10612-020-09488-3">intensify their beef and dairy production</a>. This has led to the increased production of slurry. When slurry leaks into the environment, it has the potential to pollute water catchments and waterways.</p>
<p>The Going for Growth strategy was developed in the context of a general push for economic growth as part of Northern Ireland’s “<a href="https://labourafterconflict.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/DoubleTransition.pdf">double transition</a>”, from war to peace and towards neoliberalism. Declared as “open for business” by political leaders, Northern Ireland has since become an attractive destination for various forms of socially and environmentally detrimental extractive economic activities.</p>
<p>These activities include <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-53213878">gold mining in the Sperrin Mountains</a>. Dalradian, the company proposing the project, claims the mine could provide a £750 million boost to the Northern Ireland economy.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Cows by the roadside in Northern Ireland." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552751/original/file-20231009-21-ekha7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552751/original/file-20231009-21-ekha7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552751/original/file-20231009-21-ekha7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552751/original/file-20231009-21-ekha7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552751/original/file-20231009-21-ekha7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552751/original/file-20231009-21-ekha7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552751/original/file-20231009-21-ekha7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Beef and dairy production in Northern Ireland has intensified since 2013.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cows-by-roadside-northern-ireland-1151460356">AU Media/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Institutional mismanagement</h2>
<p>The environmental impact of the Going for Growth strategy has been compounded by a general lack of regulatory oversight, policing and punishment of the pollution that accompanies it. </p>
<p>Still today, Northern Ireland does not have an independent environmental protection agency. The regulatory body it does have, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, is part of Daera, the very government department tasked with promoting growth within and through the agriculture and food manufacturing industry.</p>
<p>The unfettered way in which growth is promoted and pursued shows how short-term economic interests have been prioritised to the detriment of the future viability of sustainable food production and ecological stability in Northern Ireland. There is an absence of suitable policies and initiatives to support rapid change towards a sustainable food system and a just transition for farmers. </p>
<h2>Powerful vested interests</h2>
<p>These failures of governance are further complicated at Lough Neagh by a messy network of stakeholders with vested interests in its economic, rather than social and ecological value. This includes a colonial legacy of ownership, through which the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-northern-ireland-67006058">Earl of Shaftesbury</a> enjoys the rights of an “absentee landlord” over the lough’s bed and soil, even though its water is publicly owned. </p>
<p>The earl profits from these “business assets” through royalties from sand dredging. However, he argues that the current state of the water in Lough Neagh is not his responsibility and won’t relinquish his private ownership without significant compensation from public funds. In the past, the amount of compensation he would require has been estimated to stand at £6 million.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1709670221823254618"}"></div></p>
<p>This network of stakeholders also includes a politically powerful agricultural sector. The sector has been <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0743016720301340?casa_token=MRJIMlj84J4AAAAA:N6xfFl70q8BmGO64LJff29uNZpLCEa6s2Gdqls0J1aMpuCTpElReKRRtX_Efj0Omf60RWLyf">successful in lobbying</a> for reduced government oversight and increased state financial support. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, local people are disenfranchised in their ability to influence how the lough, the largest ecological commons on the island of Ireland, is managed and to whose benefit. </p>
<p>Given the political, regulatory and powerful vested interests involved, alongside issues with mismanagement, perhaps the real question here is not how and who is responsible for killing Lough Neagh but rather why this decline did not happen sooner.</p>
<p>Our only hope now is that this situation serves as a catalyst for Northern Ireland to rectify its practices and start on a path towards environmental restoration.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
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<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
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<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215113/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Barry receives funding from the ESRC. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Founder of Love Our Lough, a collective set up to cherish, protect and celebrate the beautiful Lough Neagh. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Calum McGeown does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The largest lake in the UK and Ireland has been blighted by toxic blue-green algae.
Calum McGeown, Research Assistant at the Centre for Sustainability, Equality and Climate Action, Queen's University Belfast
John Barry, Professor of Green Political Economy, Queen's University Belfast
Louise Taylor, Early Career Researcher and Ecotherapist., Queen's University Belfast
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/213029
2023-09-11T16:56:05Z
2023-09-11T16:56:05Z
Amnesty for Troubles-related crimes to become law – why many people in Northern Ireland oppose the bill
<p>The UK government’s <a href="https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3160">Northern Ireland Troubles (legacy and reconciliation) bill</a> – which has faced near universal opposition in Northern Ireland – has passed the House of Commons. The Commons rejected the latest Lords’ amendments, paving the way for the controversial bill to receive royal assent and become law in the coming weeks. </p>
<p>More than 1,000 killings relating to the 30-year armed conflict in Northern Ireland, known as the Troubles, are <a href="https://www.thedetail.tv/articles/new-figures-reveal-scale-of-unsolved-killings-from-the-troubles">still being investigated</a>. This bill will close down all methods of investigating Troubles-related offences, including criminal investigations, coroners’ inquests, police ombudsman investigations and civil remedies. </p>
<p>In their place, an <a href="https://icrir.independent-inquiry.uk/">independent commission</a> will review (rather than fully investigate) Troubles-related deaths and very serious injuries and provide reports to families. </p>
<p>Former soldiers and paramilitaries will be granted amnesty on the condition that they disclose their involvement in serious offences “to the best of their knowledge and belief”. In other words, perpetrators of historic violence will be protected from prosecution if they cooperate with the commission. </p>
<p>Families of victims have repeatedly expressed their opposition to these measures, which they see as <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-66226953">protecting perpetrators</a> at the expense of the victims. The Troubles, which ended with the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, saw more than 3,500 people killed, mostly by paramilitary groups and armed forces, including the British Army.</p>
<p>The UK government <a href="https://www.rightsandsecurity.org/assets/downloads/211216_Vexatious_Claims_Briefing_Website.pdf">has claimed</a> that there have been “vexatious claims” and a “cycle of reinvestigations” against former British soldiers, and that the legacy bill is needed to <a href="https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/troubles-legacy-government-pledge-to-end-cycle-of-reinvestigations-2482275">protect veterans</a>. </p>
<p>The bill has faced strong condemnation from the <a href="https://www.dfa.ie/news-and-media/press-releases/press-release-archive/2022/june/ireland-welcomes-decision-by-council-of-europe-on-northern-ireland-legacy-issues.php">Irish government</a>, the <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/12/1131742">UN</a>, the <a href="https://www.coe.int/en/web/commissioner/-/united-kingdom-adopting-northern-ireland-legacy-bill-will-undermine-justice-for-victims-truth-seeking-and-reconciliation">Council of Europe</a> and the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/legacy-bill-northern-ireland-peace-us-b2400571.html">US Congress</a>. These groups have argued that the bill will violate the UK’s obligations under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, as well as international human rights law.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/good-friday-agreement-25-years-on-the-british-government-is-seeking-to-undo-key-terms-of-the-peace-deal-203208">Good Friday Agreement: 25 years on, the British government is seeking to undo key terms of the peace deal</a>
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<hr>
<p>The bill also calls on the UK government to appoint people to lead a number of efforts to commemorate the Troubles. These include collecting oral histories from members of the public, conducting academic research and other projects to <a href="http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/globalassets/documents/raise/gfaseminars/gfa--25-years-policy-briefing-reconciliation---anna-bryson.pdf">“promote memorialisation”</a>.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Oral-History-Education-and-Justice-Possibilities-and-Limitations-for/Llewellyn-Ng-A-Fook/p/book/9781032069340">other post-conflict societies</a>, such measures have been valuable steps towards reconciliation, as they can contribute to more inclusive narratives of the conflict and provide a forum to acknowledge victims’ experiences.</p>
<p>However, the strength of opposition to the legacy bill will inevitably undermine these efforts in Northern Ireland, because families of victims feel their intergenerational trauma <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-66758261">will remain unresolved</a>.</p>
<h2>A controversial bill</h2>
<p>In Northern Ireland, victims and survivor groups have consistently opposed the bill, which they view as a denial of victims’ rights to truth. They have been supported by civil society groups, churches and the <a href="https://nihrc.org/publication/detail/advice-on-northern-ireland-troubles-legacy-and-reconciliation-bill-to-the-coe-committee-of-ministers">Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission</a>. </p>
<p>Notably, all five of Northern Ireland’s main political parties have called on the UK government to scrap the legislation – an unusual display of consensus. The Democratic Unionist Party <a href="https://mydup.com/news/lords-must-take-opportunity-to-tackle-toxic-legacy-bill">called the bill</a> an “insult” to the memory of victims.</p>
<p>The cross-community opposition to the bill is also striking given <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21647259.2021.1977016">academic research</a> and <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/a1fcf8b0-7986-4da8-a3c8-57dc7ad70004">public debate</a> on the enduring challenges Northern Ireland has faced in its journey to reconciliation.</p>
<p>In the rest of the UK, the Labour party and SNP have repeatedly voted against the legislation. The <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2023/06/30/scotland-to-opt-out-of-uks-controversial-troubles-legislation-unless-concerns-addressed/">Scottish Parliament</a> has voted to withhold legislative consent. In one of his first comments as shadow Northern Ireland secretary, Hilary Benn said a future Labour government would <a href="https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2023/09/06/news/benn_labour_government_would_repeal_troubles_legacy_immunity_law-3589767/">repeal the law</a>. <a href="https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2023/06/25/news/majority_of_public_oppose_government_s_legacy_bill_amnesty-3380710/">Public opinion data</a> also shows that most British people oppose the legislation.</p>
<h2>Northern Ireland politics</h2>
<p>This bill comes at a challenging time in Northern Irish politics. The power-sharing institutions, established by the Good Friday Agreement, have been suspended since 2022. This current impasse follows a three-year collapse in 2017-20. </p>
<p>The reasons for these failures are complex and many. However, they reflect how the peace process has stalled – political shocks such as Brexit have heightened political divides and caused instability.</p>
<p>The bill is unlikely to meet its stated goal of “reconciliation”. By contravening the terms and spirit of the Good Friday Agreement, this bill risks further unravelling the delicate balancing act that supported Northern Irish political life. It will also strain the relationship between the British and Irish governments, already damaged by Brexit.</p>
<h2>What happens next?</h2>
<p>When the bill becomes law, it will be swiftly met by legal challenges in the Northern Irish courts. These challenges will test whether the bill complies with the government’s human rights obligations. If it is found not to, the government will be under pressure to reform the proposals before any independent reviews can begin.</p>
<p>The Irish government is planning to seek <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/32acbfb9-75a8-4969-8315-a3e57e10221b">legal advice</a> about bringing an interstate challenge against the UK at the European court of human rights. The only other time this has happened was 52 years ago, during the Troubles. Ireland <a href="https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/fre#%7B%22itemid%22:%5B%22001-181585%22%5D%7D">challenged the UK</a> over its use of interrogation methods known as “the five techniques” on 14 men who were detained without trial by British security forces during the early years of the conflict.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/five-controversial-interrogation-techniques-still-not-judged-as-torture-in-missed-opportunity-for-human-rights-93708">Five controversial interrogation techniques still not judged as torture in missed opportunity for human rights</a>
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<p>An adverse ruling by the Strasbourg court would be a highly public repudiation of the UK’s failure to meet its human rights obligations.</p>
<p>With the next UK general election due by January 2025, it is possible the legacy bill could be repealed before the commission can begin work. This would allow police and judicial investigations to be reopened. But while this would be a welcome prospect for many, it would mean even more uncertainty and delays in the long-overdue efforts to reconcile with the past.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213029/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Professor Louise Mallinder has received research funding from the British Academy; the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; the Nuffield Foundation; the Economic and Social Research Council; and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. She is Vice-Chair of the Committee on the Administration of Justice, a human rights organisation based in Belfast.</span></em></p>
The Troubles ‘legacy and reconciliation’ bill will do little to promote reconciliation in Northern Ireland.
Louise Mallinder, Professor of Law, Queen's University Belfast
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/211307
2023-08-10T15:41:29Z
2023-08-10T15:41:29Z
The personal details of Northern Ireland’s main police force have been leaked – three reasons why that’s incredibly dangerous
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542149/original/file-20230810-25-hntwlu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=101%2C135%2C3653%2C2898&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Damien Storan</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Data breaches are not a good look for any institution or organisation. But depending on the nature of the data leaked and the organisation, some breaches can be more serious and have greater consequences than others.</p>
<p>This is certainly true of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), which has <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-66447388">accidentally published information</a> about all its police officers and civilian personnel in response to a <a href="https://www.psni.police.uk/latest-news/update-data-breach-investigation">freedom of information (FoI) request</a>. This included a spreadsheet containing their names, their roles and where they were based. </p>
<p>The document was available online for several hours on the FoI website What Do They Know before being taken down. The PSNI is conducting an investigation into how this happened.</p>
<p>It has been reported that the spreadsheet contained approximately 345,000 pieces of data relating to every police officer. In confirming the breach, the PSNI attributed it to “human error” and stated that they were taking the matter “extremely seriously”. </p>
<p><a href="https://news.sky.com/story/dissident-republicans-claiming-to-be-in-possession-of-leaked-psni-information-chief-constable-says-12937320">PSNI chief constable Simon Byrne</a> said in a press conference that dissident republicans claim to have some of the information and that the force is considering whether officers need to be moved from their places of work for their safety.</p>
<p>The data breach is said to encompass all serving staff including specialist firearms units, the <a href="https://www.psni.police.uk/about-us/our-departments/operational-support/tactical-support-group">tactical support group</a> (which is responsible for public order and riot control) and those assigned to the <a href="https://www.psni.police.uk/about-us/our-departments/crime">specialist operations branch</a> who command and assist in complex investigations. </p>
<p>A remarkable wealth of information about PSNI personnel has been leaked, by any stretch of the imagination. Of the many reasons why this is so serious, three stick out in particular. </p>
<h2>1. Risking violence</h2>
<p>A data breach of this nature is likely to leave any police force red-faced, yet for the PSNI the consequences extend far beyond public embarrassment. The long and contested history of problems with policing in Northern Ireland means that there are both practical dangers and specific sensitivities that even the most well-crafted apology won’t be able to assuage.</p>
<p>The most immediate problem is that the personal information of serving police officers is now potentially in the public domain. This raises the question of who might have accessed this information and what they might do with it.</p>
<p>Today’s levels of violence in the north of Ireland are incomparable to the past but the threat of violence against serving police officers remains. This threat comes mainly from armed Irish republican groups who have rejected the peace process and Good Friday agreement.</p>
<p>To them, PSNI officers represent “legitimate targets” because they uphold the constitutional status quo of post-Good Friday agreement Northern Ireland. Unlike other nationalists and more moderate republicans who have come to accept reformed policing, for these armed groups the PSNI remains a “British” police force tasked with enforcing partition on the island of Ireland.</p>
<p>The live nature of the threat to PSNI officers was brutally reiterated this year when <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/john-caldwell-northern-ireland-police-detective-released-from-hospital-after-being-shot-several-times-in-front-of-son-12862006">PSNI detective chief inspector John Caldwell</a> was <a href="https://theconversation.com/omagh-police-shooting-why-attack-comes-at-a-difficult-time-in-northern-ireland-200592">shot in County Tyrone in February</a>. Several of the people due to be tried for his attempted murder are <a href="https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/dci-john-caldwell-attempted-murder-27013359">also accused of being involved with the IRA</a>. </p>
<p>Crucially, Caldwell was targeted while he was off duty and packing up after leading a youth football training session. The people who attacked him appear to have known where to find him outside of work, clearly illustrating how personal information about PSNI officers could be used to devastating effect. </p>
<p>To make matters worse, it has been reported that the details of <a href="https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/psni-apologises-to-officers-and-civilian-staff-after-major-security-breach/a1823676448.html">40 PSNI staff based at MI5</a> are included in the breach. Personnel of this nature would surely represent prize targets to Irish republicans. </p>
<p>Any attack on these people that resulted in injury or death would be seen as a huge propaganda coup at a time when the armed campaigns of these groups are sporadic and stuttering.</p>
<h2>2. Stoking community tensions</h2>
<p>At the same time, the data breach speaks to a more difficult question around just how accepted the PSNI are in certain working-class communities. The struggle to recruit officers from working-class Catholic, nationalist, republican backgrounds is well documented. </p>
<p>Anyone from this background within the PSNI is unlikely to tell anyone beyond their closest family and friends what their job is. This is partly because of the security threat but also because of the problematic relationship their community had with the PSNI’s predecessor force, the <a href="https://pureadmin.qub.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/137233744/IPSRedraftMainText.pdf">Royal Ulster Constabulary</a>.</p>
<p>Yet the PSNI is also experiencing difficulty recruiting from working-class Protestant, unionist, loyalist areas too. Ongoing political tensions, including <a href="https://factcheckni.org/articles/did-unionism-always-oppose-the-northern-ireland-protocol/">Brexit</a>, disputes about which <a href="https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/issues/identity/flag-2012.htm">flags should fly over public buildings</a> in Northern Ireland and the policing of <a href="https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/psni-confirm-eight-arrests-during-27316038">Orange Order parades</a>, have put these communities at a remove from the PSNI. It is unlikely, then, that officers from within these communities would make their jobs publicly known either.</p>
<h2>3. Reviving unresolved grievances</h2>
<p>Some will also have been reminded of the past by this data breach, which has echoes of the deliberate intelligence leaks that used to come out of the <a href="https://www.policeombudsman.org/PONI/files/5c/5ce315c0-ca34-45c3-9dcc-7f4c2d2c4658.pdf">Royal Ulster Constabulary</a> during the years of conflict. The force passed the personal details <a href="https://twitter.com/RelsForJustice/status/1689183802407460864">of nationalists to state agents</a> within loyalist groups, who are accused of then murdering them. </p>
<p>This remains at the core of grievances over state collusion during the Troubles. While this latest data breach is different in nature, it nonetheless rubs at a sore spot for victims still waiting for truth and justice.</p>
<p>The leaking of personal details about every serving PSNI officer is without doubt an unmitigated disaster for the PSNI, politically and organisationally. While the force has apparently set up a “gold group” – the highest internal emergency response – significant damage has already been done.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211307/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin Hearty does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The attempted murder of an off-duty officer just a few months ago is clear evidence of what can happen when the personal information of PSNI staff becomes public.
Kevin Hearty, Lecturer, Queen's University Belfast
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/206969
2023-06-06T14:29:01Z
2023-06-06T14:29:01Z
UK PM Sunak visits Washington to strengthen ties, watch baseball – having already struck out on trade deal
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530357/original/file-20230606-21-psgkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C0%2C3820%2C1784&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'I don't drink coffee, I take tea' -- the quintessential Englishman in, well, D.C.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-joe-biden-meets-with-britains-prime-minister-news-photo/1251744533?adppopup=true">Paul Faith/WPA Pool/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Alongside <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uks-sunak-says-he-wants-build-biden-ties-washington-trip-2023-06-03/">meetings with President Joe Biden</a>, U.S. business leaders and members of Congress, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/bac3258e-6051-4658-bdc4-8acfc9410242">take in a baseball game</a> during a Washington trip that starts June 7, 2023. He may be given the honor of <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rishi-sunaks-us-visit-baseball-biden-and-billions-in-investment-lcl8lcjzm">throwing out the first pitch</a>; many at home will be hoping he doesn’t drop the ball.</p>
<p>It is a high-stakes visit for Sunak, his first to Washington since becoming prime minister in October 2022. The British leader will be keen to <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/biden-business-baseball-uk-pms-213136143.html">showcase his close relationship with Biden</a>. And he will want to underscore <a href="https://ecfr.eu/article/sanity-returns-to-british-foreign-policy/">his more stable and pragmatic foreign policy</a>, in contrast to his predecessors, <a href="https://theconversation.com/boris-johnsons-messy-political-legacy-of-lies-scandals-and-delivering-brexit-to-his-base-186601">Boris Johnson</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk-prime-minister-forced-from-office-amid-economic-turmoil-chaos-in-parliament-and-a-party-in-disarray-192795">Liz Truss</a>.</p>
<p>Yet Sunak, despite being prime minister for less than a year, is under great pressure. His party remains far <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/uk-opinion-polls">behind in the polls</a>, less than 18 months before the next general election is held in the U.K. </p>
<p>He has little time to burnish his credentials as a leader, and Washington may not be the most fertile ground to do so. Bilateral relations between London and Washington have been <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/bac3258e-6051-4658-bdc4-8acfc9410242">thorny in recent years</a>, and three topics illustrate the challenges – and possible opportunities – ahead for Sunak: trade, Northern Ireland and security.</p>
<h2>The forgotten trade deal</h2>
<p>Sunak and Biden will have a busy agenda during talks due to take place in the Oval Office on June 8, but one topic will be conspicuously absent. As a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-30/uk-s-sunak-won-t-push-biden-for-trade-deal-on-us-visit-next-week#xj4y7vzkg">Downing Street spokesperson confirmed</a> prior to the trip: “We are not seeking to push a free trade agreement with the U.S. currently.” </p>
<p>This is in stark contrast to what Sunak’s Conservative Party manifesto had touted in the 2019 general election – the second to take place since a 2016 referendum upset the U.K.’s trading setup by triggering the country’s exit from the European Union.</p>
<p>The document promised that in a post-Brexit U.K., 80% of trade would be covered by <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-conservative-manifesto-explained/">free trade agreements within three years</a>.</p>
<p>Negotiations for a trade deal with the U.S. began in 2020 under the Trump administration, but made limited progress. The pandemic, and the question of access of U.S. agricultural goods to the U.K. market, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/1fd173a6-8718-4798-b692-685801ec1604">further disrupted talks</a>. In particular, U.K. concerns about <a href="https://www.mercatus.org/research/policy-briefs/removing-barriers-us-uk-agricultural-trade">differing food standard practices in the U.S.</a>, such as chlorine-washed chicken or hormone-treated beef, complicated discussions.</p>
<p>Yet the broad <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/article/a-new-horizon-in-u-s-trade-policy/">ideological shift in American attitudes toward trade</a> proved the main obstacle. Since taking office, the Biden administration has consistently expressed its skepticism of emulating past free-trade agreements. According to the administration, these deals have too often ended up <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/03/us/politics/biden-free-trade.html">impoverishing American workers</a>, while enriching multinational firms. </p>
<p>That shift on trade policy is not limited to members of the administration. Both Democrats and Republicans, even if for different reasons, have become <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/25/joe-bidens-economy-trade-china-00096781">more critical of unfettered globalization</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in a lifejacket stands on a boat in front of white cliffs" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530355/original/file-20230606-23-psgkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C147%2C3912%2C2468&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530355/original/file-20230606-23-psgkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530355/original/file-20230606-23-psgkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530355/original/file-20230606-23-psgkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530355/original/file-20230606-23-psgkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530355/original/file-20230606-23-psgkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530355/original/file-20230606-23-psgkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Don’t expect the U.S. to throw a lifeline on trade any time soon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/BritainPolitics/52fef49e7bc546f4bcc3cbcd3a645ae6/photo?Query=Rishi%20sunak&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=3488&currentItemNo=6">Yui Mok/Pool Photo via AP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In lieu of any breakthrough on a trade deal between the two countries, the U.K. has been focusing efforts on <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/trade-minister-in-us-to-sign-fourth-trade-pact-with-a-us-state">striking deals with individual U.S. states</a>. In particular, the U.K. government hopes Rishi’s visit can pave the way for closer partnerships with California and Texas.</p>
<p>But these will have only a modest impact at best, when the U.K. economy is forecast to <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-recession-economy-inflation-international-monetary-fund-growth-forecast/">grow by only 0.4% in 2023</a>.</p>
<h2>The shadow of Northern Ireland</h2>
<p>With trade unlikely to further cement U.S.-U.K. ties, Sunak will also have to navigate the divisive question of Northern Ireland. There is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/10/why-joe-biden-is-so-invested-in-defending-good-friday-agreement">still strong bipartisan support in the U.S. for the 1998 Good Friday Agreement</a>, which ended 30 years of conflict in Northern Ireland. This reflects the historic role played by Democratic and Republican administrations <a href="https://theconversation.com/good-friday-agreement-how-the-us-came-to-be-a-key-broker-in-northern-irelands-peace-deal-202584">in helping to mediate and implement the accord</a>.</p>
<p>In that context, the U.K.’s exit from the EU served only to fuel tension between London and Washington. Brexit negotiations lingered for many years because of the sheer difficulty of reconciling conflicting pressures over the status of Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K. but borders the Republic of Ireland, which remains an EU member state. </p>
<p>Throughout the prolonged Brexit process, American politicians across the aisle repeatedly expressed <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/20/pelosi-warns-changes-to-northern-ireland-protocol-could-affect-us-trade-deal-with-britain">their concerns to the U.K. government</a>. They emphasized the need to avoid measures that could restore a hard border on the island of Ireland. Among those airing such views was Joe Biden, who <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1306334039557586944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1306334039557586944%7Ctwgr%5E707718523194ac7991194adfce8016bce541f538%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheconversation.com%2Fgood-friday-agreement-how-the-us-came-to-be-a-key-broker-in-northern-irelands-peace-deal-202584">warned in 2020,</a> “We can’t allow the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland to become a casualty of Brexit.”</p>
<p>Biden’s deeply rooted <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/10/why-joe-biden-is-so-invested-in-defending-good-friday-agreement">emotional attachment to Ireland</a> has hardly abated since he has been in office. His recent visit in April, for the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, was <a href="https://theconversation.com/good-friday-agreement-joe-bidens-historic-visit-to-ireland-comes-during-turbulent-times-203258">rich in personal significance and symbolism</a>. </p>
<p>Most of the trip was viewed as a homecoming, with Biden visiting his ancestral roots in Ireland. His time in Northern Ireland was brief in comparison, with only a <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11964121/Joe-Biden-meet-Rishi-Sunak-visit-Belfast-today-no-trade-talks.html">terse meeting with Sunak</a>. And if the message was not sufficiently clear, later remarks by Biden at a fundraiser <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/joe-biden-northern-ireland-brits-screw-around/">left little doubt</a> as to the president’s feelings. He went to the island of Ireland “to make sure the Brits didn’t screw around” with the region’s peace process, he said.</p>
<p>Sunak did <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/bac3258e-6051-4658-bdc4-8acfc9410242">win some praise for the recent Windsor Framework</a>, which addressed some of the tension over Northern Ireland. But he has yet to solve the prolonged <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/1488bce3-7da9-4d16-b3f1-d4c465e218a5">boycott of power-sharing institutions</a> by the pro-U.K. Democratic Unionist Party.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, Sunak will have his work cut out for him to convince Biden that the U.K. can play a constructive role in further stabilizing Northern Ireland. </p>
<h2>Better off sticking to security and China</h2>
<p>Trade and Northern Ireland will likely bring little joy for Sunak. He will, however, be on far more fertile ground when the discussion shifts to the realm of security.</p>
<p>The prime minister has signaled on many occasions his <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-17/sunak-says-uk-aligned-with-us-on-china-mulls-investment-curbs#xj4y7vzkg">very close alignment with the U.S.</a> insofar as tackling China. At the recent G7 summit in Japan, Sunak <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/britain-prime-minister-rishi-sunak-ranks-china-top-threat-global-security-g7-summit/">defined Beijing</a> as “the biggest challenge of our age to global security and prosperity.” And the March 2023 <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/03/13/fact-sheet-trilateral-australia-uk-us-partnership-on-nuclear-powered-submarines/">signing of the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal</a> in San Diego further confirmed the U.K.’s tilt to the Indo-Pacific.</p>
<p>Regarding Ukraine, the U.K. has frequently been at the vanguard of providing support and new weapons to Kyiv. In May 2023, Sunak announced a plan, with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/16/uk-and-netherlands-agree-international-coalition-to-help-ukraine-with-f-16-jets">build an “international coalition</a>” to help Ukraine acquire F-16 fighter jets. </p>
<p>Britain also led the way in being the first Western country <a href="https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2023/05/15/britain-to-train-ukrainian-pilots-supply-more-missiles-and-drones/">to supply long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine</a>. This was after being the first country to agree to deliver battle tanks to support the Ukrainian army. And that bullishness <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/how-the-uk-helped-convince-the-us-and-its-allies-to-spend-big-to-help-ukraine-in-its-war-with-russia-193918302.html">reportedly played a key part</a> in convincing Washington to lift its objection to sending F-16s to Ukraine.</p>
<p>The alignment in the field of global security will undoubtedly help Sunak’s attempt to ingratiate himself with Biden. But the harder test will be whether this convergence between Washington and London can extend to NATO. </p>
<p>The alliance will hold a crucial summit in Lithuania in July, where it will discuss longer-term plans to support Ukraine. That will include the thorny question of offering NATO membership to Kiev, which does not yet <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/05/14/ukraine-nato-membership-vilnius-summit/">have unanimous support among members</a>.</p>
<p>Even without talk of a trade deal, in terms of agenda items on Sunak’s visit, the bases are loaded. It is questionable whether he can hit a home run though.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206969/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Garret Martin receives funding from the European Union for the research center he co-directs at American University, the Transatlantic Policy Center.</span></em></p>
The UK leader’s visit to the US comes amid trouble at home, with low ratings for his Conservative Party. But don’t expect much joy for Sunak on trade or Northern Ireland.
Garret Martin, Senior Professorial Lecturer, Co-Director Transatlantic Policy Center, American University School of International Service
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/204898
2023-05-04T12:13:22Z
2023-05-04T12:13:22Z
The coronation of King Charles III: 5 Essential reads on the big royal bash – and what it all means
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524195/original/file-20230503-19-lkmnde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5559%2C3692&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A yarn of pomp and pageantry</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/king-charles-iii-coronation-knitted-decoration-on-a-post-news-photo/1487129510?adppopup=true">Planet One Images/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The United Kingdom is about to embark on an orgy of flag-waving pomp and pageantry in celebration of <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/coronation-of-king-charles-iii-134594">King Charles III’s coronation</a>.</p>
<p>Charles is already the ruling monarch, having ascended to the throne following the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61585886">death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II</a> in 2022. So this is more of a chance for him and everyone else to dress up and have a bit of an old-fashioned royal <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/knees-up">knees-up</a>.</p>
<p>Despite events taking place in a relatively small island off the coast of mainland Europe, the footage of King Charles being anointed with oil and accepting the regalia of state will be broadcast across the world. Here is The Conversation’s guide on what to expect.</p>
<h2>1. 3 days of celebration</h2>
<p>Not content with dedicating just one day to the coronation, the Brits are putting on a <a href="https://theconversation.com/king-charles-iii-coronation-what-to-expect-this-coronation-weekend-202183">three-day extravaganza</a> starting May 6, 2023. As <a href="https://pure.royalholloway.ac.uk/en/persons/pauline-maclaran">Pauline Maclaran</a> from the Royal Holloway University of London explained, that Saturday will be dedicated to the actual formal proceedings. Sunday will give way to street parties across the U.K. The final installment takes place on Monday, a day when the British public will be excused from work but encouraged to spend the day volunteering.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A postcard of King Charles III." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524196/original/file-20230503-26-adkpqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524196/original/file-20230503-26-adkpqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524196/original/file-20230503-26-adkpqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524196/original/file-20230503-26-adkpqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524196/original/file-20230503-26-adkpqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524196/original/file-20230503-26-adkpqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524196/original/file-20230503-26-adkpqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A souvenir of the big occasion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/king-charles-iii-coronation-postcards-on-sale-in-a-souvenir-news-photo/1252040968?adppopup=true">Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But it won’t just be Brits marking the occasion, especially at the central event on Saturday. As Maclaran noted: “In testimony to the monarchy’s ‘soft power,’ foreign dignitaries and world leaders will be among the 2,000 anticipated guests taking their places in the abbey alongside members of the royal family. …” </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/king-charles-iii-coronation-what-to-expect-this-coronation-weekend-202183">King Charles III coronation: what to expect this coronation weekend</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<h2>2. A notable no-show</h2>
<p>There will be one notable absence among the overseas well-wishers at the coronation: President Joe Biden.</p>
<p>The U.S. leader’s decision not to attend has resulted in some U.K. newspapers’ raising a stink over a “royal snub.” Not so, wrote <a href="https://www.bu.edu/history/profile/arianne-chernock/">Arianne Chernock</a>, a royal watcher at Boston University. In fact, <a href="https://theconversation.com/bidens-coronation-no-show-is-no-snub-more-telling-is-whom-he-sends-to-king-charles-big-day-202934">no U.S. president has ever attended</a> a British monarch’s coronation. </p>
<p>But, Chernock notes, what is perhaps of more importance is whom the U.S. leader sends in his stead. Delving through the experiences of Biden’s predecessors, she noted: “If history is a guide, who is sent across the Atlantic will telegraph particular American ideas and aspirations. The delegation will also reflect the president’s own personal agenda.”</p>
<p>In the past, that has meant signaling America’s disgust at the rise of European fascism and recognizing the changing role of women in society.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bidens-coronation-no-show-is-no-snub-more-telling-is-whom-he-sends-to-king-charles-big-day-202934">Biden's coronation no-show is no snub – more telling is whom he sends to King Charles' big day</a>
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<hr>
<h2>3. But look who is going</h2>
<p>Some have put Biden’s decision not to attend down to a purported animosity “Irish Joe” feels toward the British. That far-fetched theory seems even more so when you look at who is attending. </p>
<p>Michelle O'Neill, president of Sinn Féin – a political party that has as a central aim the end of British rule in Northern Ireland – noted in her response to the invite that while she is an Irish republican, she recognizes “there are many people on our island for whom the coronation is a hugely important occasion.”</p>
<p>As <a href="https://pure.qub.ac.uk/en/persons/peter-mcloughlin">Peter John McLoughlin</a> at Queen’s University Belfast <a href="https://theconversation.com/sinn-fein-at-the-coronation-how-to-understand-michelle-oneills-decision-to-attend-king-charless-big-day-204695">pointed out</a>, in framing language in an all-Ireland context, O'Neill was signaling her refusal to accept Ireland’s partition. But her presence nonetheless points at a meaningful commitment to the Northern Ireland peace process. </p>
<p>“Charles’ invitation to Sinn Féin to attend his coronation is in keeping with this process of reconciliation and the normalization of relations between Britain and Ireland. Sinn Féin’s acceptance of the invitation is part of the same effort, but also has a more political intent,” McLoughlin wrote.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sinn-fein-at-the-coronation-how-to-understand-michelle-oneills-decision-to-attend-king-charless-big-day-204695">Sinn Féin at the coronation: how to understand Michelle O'Neill's decision to attend King Charles's big day</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>4. Charles’ transatlantic cousins</h2>
<p>Most Americans did not got an invite for the coronation. But that shouldn’t stop residents of Buckingham, Virginia, or Westminster, Colorado, from joining in the fun alongside the folk of their place namesakes in the U.K. Indeed, there might be one or two people there who can legitimately lay claim to having a bit of royal blood themselves.</p>
<p><a href="https://le.ac.uk/people/turi-king">Turi King</a>, professor of genetics and public engagement at the University of Leicester in the U.K., did the number crunching and found that for those who claim any British ancestry, “the chances that not one of your 13-times great grandparents was directly descended from Edward III are tiny.” It’s all down to math, you see. </p>
<p>“It’s fair to ask what it really means to say that someone is a direct descendant of royalty,” King pondered. “My experience is that it means something different to each person. As a geneticist I would find it fascinating to know how I’m related to royalty, but I’d be equally interested to know about the lives of my other many ancestors. To me the most thought-provoking aspect is that we’re all related to one another.”</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/raise-a-glass-to-your-cousin-king-charles-iii-204137">Raise a glass to your cousin, King Charles III</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>5. What next for Charles?</h2>
<p>So what comes after the coronation party? For Charles it may be a right-royal hangover – one hundreds of years in the making.</p>
<p><a href="https://search.asu.edu/profile/3326871">Tobias Harper</a> of Arizona State University noted that <a href="https://theconversation.com/charles-iii-faces-challenges-at-home-abroad-and-even-in-defining-what-it-means-to-be-king-190339">Charles faces major challenges</a>. Many countries, including those that are part of the Commonwealth, are reevaluating their colonial past – and that leads to uncomfortable questions about the role of the British monarchy and what role, if any, the current king should have.</p>
<p>Meanwhile at home, he has inherited a United Kingdom that looks decidedly un-united amid the fallout of Brexit and growing fissures between the four nations it represents. And then there is Charles’ own perceived faults – his meddling in politics, which stand in contrast to his mother’s political neutrality.</p>
<p>“If being king in 2022 sounds tricky, it’s because it is,” wrote Harper. “Charles will struggle to serve all his constituencies well. There are many ways he can fail. It’s not even clear what ‘success’ means for a British monarch in the 21st century. Is it influence? Harmony? Reflecting society? Setting a good example? Survival?”</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/charles-iii-faces-challenges-at-home-abroad-and-even-in-defining-what-it-means-to-be-king-190339">Charles III faces challenges at home, abroad – and even in defining what it means to be king</a>
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</em>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204898/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
The pageantry of the coronation will be broadcast around the world. Here’s what to expect over the three days of celebrations.
Matt Williams, Senior International Editor
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/204507
2023-05-02T11:20:35Z
2023-05-02T11:20:35Z
DNA study sheds light on Scotland’s Picts, and resolves some myths about them
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523315/original/file-20230427-20-enm6fg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C21%2C4716%2C3137&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pictish stones feature distinctive symbols.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Cathy MacIver</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The people known as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picts">the Picts</a> have puzzled archaeologists and historians for centuries. They lived in Scotland during the early medieval period, from around AD300 to AD900, but many aspects of their society remain mysterious.</p>
<p>The Picts’ unique cultural characteristics, such as large stones decorated with distinct symbols, and lack of written records, have led to numerous theories about their origins, way of life, and culture. </p>
<p>This is commonly referred to in archaeology as the “Pictish problem”, a term popularised by the <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Problem_of_the_Picts_Edited_by_F_T_W.html?id=EWZEtwAACAAJ&redir_esc=y">title of a 1955 edited book</a> by the archaeologist Frederick Threlfall Wainwright.</p>
<p>Our genetic study of human remains from this period challenges several myths about the Picts. These include a proposed origin in eastern Europe, as well as a longstanding idea that the inheritance of wealth passed down the female side of the family.</p>
<p>We attempted to shed light on the Picts’ origins and legacy by sequencing whole genomes – the full complement of DNA in human cells – from skeletons excavated at two cemeteries. </p>
<h2>Stone monuments</h2>
<p>These cemeteries, at Balintore in Easter Ross and Lundin Links in Fife, date to between the 5th and 7th centuries AD. The results of our research have been <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1010360">published in PLOS Genetics</a>.</p>
<p>The Balintore burials are not well understood, but Lundin Links is characterised by <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00766097.2017.1296031">exceptional stone monuments</a>. The burials take the form of round or rectangular cairns – where numerous stones are piled up as markers – and long cists. Cists are stone-built “boxes” that hold the remains of the dead. </p>
<p>The cemetery probably housed people of a high-status, but this is still hypothetical due to the limited knowledge of these burials and society more generally during this period. Human remains in general from the Pictish era are relatively scarce and often poorly preserved.</p>
<p>There is no known settlement associated with Lundin Links. This is a common issue in Pictish archaeology, as the extent of their settlements is still largely unknown. Recently, however, excavations led by Professor Gordon Noble at the University of Aberdeen have <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Picts/J1iZEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0">discovered several new Pictish sites</a>, frequently hillforts, around Scotland.</p>
<h2>Origin myths</h2>
<p>In our study, we looked at how genetically similar the Pictish genomes were to other ancient genomes from Britain and Ireland, Scandinavia and mainland Europe dating to the Iron Age, Roman, Anglo-Saxon and Viking periods. Our findings support a prevailing view that the Picts descended from Iron Age groups in Britain and Ireland. </p>
<p>This contrasts with older, often elaborate, myths of exotic origins, such as the one recounted in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecclesiastical_History_of_the_English_People#:%7E:text=The%20Ecclesiastical%20History%20of%20the,Roman%20Rite%20and%20Celtic%20Christianity.">Ecclesiastical History of the English People</a>, written by the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Bede-the-Venerable">Anglo-Saxon scholar Bede</a> in AD731. This claimed that the Picts migrated from Scythia (a historical region around the northern coast of the Black Sea) to northern Britain.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="DNA double helix" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523394/original/file-20230428-16-hmppm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523394/original/file-20230428-16-hmppm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523394/original/file-20230428-16-hmppm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523394/original/file-20230428-16-hmppm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523394/original/file-20230428-16-hmppm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523394/original/file-20230428-16-hmppm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523394/original/file-20230428-16-hmppm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The researchers used a method that involves looking at long stretches of DNA.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/blue-helix-human-dna-structure-1669326868">Billion Photos / Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other theories include an origin in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrace">Thrace</a> (a historical region in south-east Europe) and islands to the north of Britain.</p>
<p>We sequenced two genomes to medium or high coverage, meaning that we determined the order of the “letters” in the DNA code multiple times while piecing together the highly fragmented genetic sequence. This allowed us to “zoom in” on the genetic diversity – or variation – in the ancient and modern people from our study, gaining greater analytical resolution.</p>
<p>We were able to look at fine-scale differences among ancient and modern groups across Britain and Ireland. We applied a method that investigates something called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_by_descent">identity-by-descent (IBD)</a>. This involves looking at relatively long stretches of DNA (“chunks” of chromosomes) that are shared by different individuals. </p>
<p>IBD is an indicator of relatedness via shared genetic ancestors. While we all share ancestors, sometimes we share more recent genetic ancestors with some individuals than with others. In this scenario, we would also share more IBD segments of DNA. </p>
<h2>Female inheritance</h2>
<p>The Pictish genomes share more long DNA chunks with present-day people from western Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We interpreted this as a sign of genetic continuity from the Pictish period to the present-day. </p>
<p>But present-day populations in Britain and Ireland also share relatively high amounts of IBD segments with Anglo-Saxon genomes from southern regions, suggesting mixture between populations in a south-to-north direction.</p>
<p>This fascinating insight provides a glimpse into the demographic processes that have shaped genetic diversity and population structure in present-day populations. However, there were also small but significant differences in the genetic similarity between Pictish genomes and other ancient groups, such as Iron Age genomes we compared them with. </p>
<p>This suggests that “Pictish genetic ancestry” was not static or homogenous. Instead, the genetic variation among ancient people reflects dynamic and complex communities.</p>
<p>Lastly, we managed to address an intriguing question. Bede stated that when the Picts stopped off in Ireland before settling in Britain, they were allowed to marry local women on the condition that Pictish succession passed down the female line. </p>
<p>This led to the notion that the Picts followed a tradition of “matrilineal succession”, where the sister’s son inherits the wealth instead of sons on the male line – a system often associated with women marrying locally. Scholars now believe this idea was probably fabricated to boost Pictish identity and validate specific rulers.</p>
<p>We sequenced complete genomes of mitochondria – structures in cells, often described as biological “batteries” – in seven samples from Lundin Links. They all carried unique mutations, meaning that none of the individuals were closely related on the maternal line. </p>
<p>This is more consistent with female exogamy, where women marry outside their social group. This is just one population sample from one location, though, so more research is required to test whether this holds elsewhere.</p>
<p>The study fills gaps in our understanding of the genetic landscape of Britain and Ireland during the early medieval period. It provides a baseline for future studies to investigate the complex genetic ancestry of present-day populations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204507/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Linus Girdland Link was supported by the school of geoscience, University of Aberdeen. Kate Britton was supported by the Leverhulme Trust during production of this manuscript. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adeline Morez was supported by ECR strategic support of early career researchers in the faculty of science at LJMU, awarded to Linus Girdland-Flink.</span></em></p>
The genetic study challenges previous theories about the origins and culture of the Picts.
Linus Girdland Flink, Visiting lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University, lecturer in biomolecular archaeology, University of Aberdeen
Adeline Morez, Post-doctorate researcher, Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier, visiting lecturer, Liverpool John Moores University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/204695
2023-04-28T13:03:26Z
2023-04-28T13:03:26Z
Sinn Féin at the coronation: how to understand Michelle O'Neill’s decision to attend King Charles’s big day
<p>Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O'Neill’s acceptance of the offer to attend the coronation of King Charles III may come a surprise to some. It is standard protocol for such an invitation to be made to all significant political parties in the UK, including those in the devolved regions, and Sinn Féin is now the largest party in the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-61355419">Northern Ireland Assembly</a>. However, history is a complicating factor in this case, and even today Sinn Féin still refuses to take its seats in the Westminster parliament. This is an expression of its refusal to recognise British sovereignty over Northern Ireland.</p>
<p>Sinn Féin will argue that attending Charles’s coronation is merely a mark of respectful neighbourly relations rather than any act of fidelity. It is, of course, also a gesture to Ulster unionists. Indeed, on <a href="https://twitter.com/moneillsf/status/1651194550029897729">announcing her intention to attend</a> the event, O'Neill said as much, declaring that it was “time to respect our differing and equally legitimate aspirations” in Northern Ireland. While still emphasising her own republicanism, she also recognised that “there are many people on our island for whom the coronation is a hugely important occasion”. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1651194550029897729"}"></div></p>
<p>By invoking an all-Ireland context, O’Neill was implicitly restating her refusal to accept the country’s partition. But her words also suggest there is a wider audience for Sinn Féin’s gesture. It is not only a signal to unionists and neighbours across the water but to voters in the Republic of Ireland. Indeed, it was arguably the latter who prompted Sinn Féin’s shift in position regarding the British crown in recent years. This is a change that started in 2011 with Queen Elizabeth’s <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-13420053">visit to the Republic of Ireland</a>.</p>
<p>On that occasion, Sinn Féin quickly realised that it was out of step with southern Irish opinion. Still holding to a traditional republican stance, the party was boycotting the Queen’s visit but then seemed surprised at how she was received by ordinary people, who <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/may/19/queen-ireland-visit-respect-adams">cheered and applauded her at various engagements</a>. Seemingly in response to this, Michael Browne, Sinn Féin mayor of Cashel, decided to defy the party’s instructions by meeting the Queen and shaking her hand.</p>
<h2>Symbolic meetings</h2>
<p>Rather than being reprimanded, Browne’s actions pointed the way forward for his party colleagues. When the Queen visited Northern Ireland the following year, Martin McGuinness was equally eager to meet her and shake her hand. The Queen’s reciprocation provided an <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-22079975">enduring image of the Northern Ireland peace process</a>, and a move that was rich in symbolism. McGuinness was a former commander in the IRA, the organisation responsible for killing the Queen’s cousin, Lord Mountbatten, in 1979. The Queen was head of the British armed forces, whose soldiers had killed 14 civil rights protesters in McGuinness’s hometown in 1972. Their meeting demonstrated to all that this violence was in the past. Both figures showed tremendous leadership in this moment.</p>
<p>A further two years on and McGuinness was also raising a glass to toast the Queen’s health during a banquet at Buckingham Palace, the occasion celebrating the first state visit to the UK by an Irish President, Michael D. Higgins. Other such gestures followed from each side, and even before he became King, Charles showed that he was eager to continue his mother’s efforts to advance peace in Northern Ireland. He met and shook hands with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/may/19/prince-charles-and-gerry-adams-share-historic-handshake">Gerry Adams</a> in 2015, an act which also had personal resonance given Charles’ closeness to Lord Mountbatten, who had acted as something of a mentor to the young prince in the 1970s. </p>
<p>Now King, Charles’ invitation to Sinn Féin to attend his coronation is in keeping with this process of reconciliation and the normalisation of relations between Britain and Ireland.</p>
<h2>Smart politics</h2>
<p>Sinn Féin’s acceptance of the invitation is part of the same effort, but also has a more political intent. Since the Queen’s visit in 2011, the party’s support has gradually grown, surging in the last Irish election in 2020, and with all <a href="https://www.politico.eu/europe-poll-of-polls/ireland/">polls suggesting</a> it will win the next. Sinn Féin is thus eager to show voters in the Republic that it is now ready to lead the country, and to reassure those who might feel it lacks the necessary political tact and diplomacy to represent Ireland on the world stage. Good relations with its nearest neighbour, whatever the difficult past, or the more recent tensions over Brexit, are essential to this. By attending King Charles’ coronation, Sinn Féin is demonstrating that it is up to the task.</p>
<p>Dissident republicans will claim that O’Neill is “selling out” in attending King Charles’ coronation, but Sinn Féin will argue that it is still advancing its core mission. Majority mandates in both parts of Ireland will bolster its demands to hold referendums on Irish reunification in the two jurisdictions – as is permitted under the terms of the <a href="https://www.dfa.ie/media/dfa/alldfawebsitemedia/ourrolesandpolicies/northernireland/good-friday-agreement.pdf">Good Friday Agreement</a>, the deal that ended the conflict in Northern Ireland.</p>
<p>Indeed, this intent is encoded in O’Neill’s statement on the issue. Saying that it was “time to respect our differing and equally legitimate aspirations” meant recognising unionists’ desire to remain part of the UK, but also nationalists’ to unite Ireland. O’Neill continued by saying it was also “a time to firmly focus on the future and the opportunities that the next decade will bring”. Sinn Féin regularly insists that referendums on Irish reunification should be held within the next decade, so its supporters know what is being inferred.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the party will continue to use its growing power in both parts of Ireland to press for greater co-operation and alignment between the two jurisdictions, suggesting that this will smooth the path towards their eventual unification. The IRA once claimed that it was engaged in a “long war” to force the British state from Northern Ireland and unite with the Republic. Sinn Féin, by contrast, is playing a long political game, but one geared towards the same end goal.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204695/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter John McLoughlin has received funding in the past from the AHRC, Leverhulme Trust, the Irish Research Council, and the Fulbright Commission. He is a member of Greenpeace.</span></em></p>
Sinn Féin refuses to sit in the Westminster parliament because that would mean recognising the British crown. Here’s why the coronation is a different matter.
Peter John McLoughlin, Lecturer in Politics, Queen's University Belfast
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/203975
2023-04-26T14:23:50Z
2023-04-26T14:23:50Z
Belfast has more peace walls now than 25 years ago – removing them will be a complex challenge
<p>Quite how the Troubles shaped the city of Belfast is yet be fully contended with. In 1969, the British army <a href="https://theconversation.com/belfasts-walls-are-physical-reminders-of-an-imperfect-peace-20621">erected makeshift barriers</a> to limit conflict between the city’s nationalist communities (mainly comprising Catholic residents) and the neighbouring loyalist communities (mainly comprising Protestant residents). </p>
<p>As the hostilities unfolded, the number of what are paradoxically known as <a href="https://theconversation.com/peace-walls-and-other-social-frontiers-can-breed-crime-and-conflict-in-cities-97283">“peace walls”</a> increased. Many became permanent fixtures. Even after the Good Friday Agreement formalised the end of the Troubles in 1998, peace walls continued to be built.</p>
<p>Today, Belfast counts <a href="https://revistascientificas.us.es/index.php/astragalo/article/download/20407/18157/79299">30.5km of walls</a> in a total of <a href="https://www.belfastinterfaceproject.org/sites/default/files/publications/Interfaces%20PDF.pdf">97 different barriers</a> and forms of defensive architecture, including walls, fences, gates and closed roads. These are primarily in the working-class communities of the north, west and east of the city. In fact, it now has more walls than at the time of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/good-friday-agreement-25-years-on-the-british-government-is-seeking-to-undo-key-terms-of-the-peace-deal-203208">Good Friday Agreement</a> in 1998.</p>
<p>These serve not only as physical barriers separating recognised groups with varying political, cultural or religious beliefs. They are also psychological reminders of the entrenched sectarian divisions that have long existed in the city. </p>
<h2>Significant obstacles</h2>
<p>In 2013, the Northern Ireland Executive set an ambitious target to remove all peace walls by 2023. This was part of a <a href="https://www.executiveoffice-ni.gov.uk/landing-pages/together-building-united-community-tbuc">strategy</a> devised to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement and to demonstrate that the country has moved beyond the Troubles. </p>
<p>Very little has actually been achieved, however. In November 2022, Flax Street, in north Belfast, was reopened along Crumlin Road. Before that, in 2020 a corrugated metal barrier at Duncairn Gardens, that borders the New Lodge area, was replaced with a composite structure of brick topped with light metal fencing, through which residents on either side can now see. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A brick-based fence barrier on a street." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521877/original/file-20230419-14-sza07m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521877/original/file-20230419-14-sza07m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521877/original/file-20230419-14-sza07m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521877/original/file-20230419-14-sza07m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521877/original/file-20230419-14-sza07m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521877/original/file-20230419-14-sza07m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521877/original/file-20230419-14-sza07m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One of the replaced walls in Duncairn Gardens, alongside the New Lodge area.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Teresa Garcia Alcaraz</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But the government is yet to establish a clear strategy for what comes next. There are a number of reasons for this. </p>
<p>For a start, people have become used to the walls existing, some of them have been there many years and have become normalised. And in some areas there’s still a marked lack of trust between communities, so the walls stand for a sense of protection. Then there are the cost and logistical challenges that include potentially re-routing roads, adapting infrastructure and further modifying the urban landscape.</p>
<p>Finally, the political situation in Northern Ireland remains complex. Progress towards peace and reconciliation is always a slow process, and in the Northern Irish context in particular. The collapse of the devolved power-sharing executive and assembly in 2017 has made the deadline of 2023 for removing the walls appear <a href="https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/publications/when-the-walls-come-tumbling-down-the-role-of-intergroup-proximit">increasingly unrealistic</a>. Being seen to support the removal of the walls is, potentially, politically risky.</p>
<p><strong>The security barriers and other forms of defensive architecture in residential areas of Belfast:</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A map showing walls and barriers in Belfast." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521876/original/file-20230419-26-5s2pdd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521876/original/file-20230419-26-5s2pdd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=793&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521876/original/file-20230419-26-5s2pdd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=793&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521876/original/file-20230419-26-5s2pdd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=793&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521876/original/file-20230419-26-5s2pdd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=996&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521876/original/file-20230419-26-5s2pdd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=996&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521876/original/file-20230419-26-5s2pdd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=996&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Teresa Garcia Alcaraz</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Divided public opinion</h2>
<p>Belfast is what urban geographers term a “contested environment”. How residents in such environments cope with conflict is revealed, in part, in their everyday activities. In periods of relative calm, people in Belfast move about freely. They participate in political, social and cultural events. During <a href="https://theconversation.com/political-frustration-in-northern-ireland-has-heightened-tension-around-marching-season-163397">marching season</a>, however, as during summer months, the areas next to the walls become perilous. </p>
<p>In Belfast, gates and walls are often considered as means of solving problems but their presence divides opinion. If there is support for removing them, particularly among <a href="https://pure.qub.ac.uk/en/publications/bringing-down-the-walls-young-peoples-perspectives-on-peace-walls">younger generations</a>, a <a href="https://www.justice-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/justice/public-attitudes-to-peace-walls-2019-findings.PDF">survey</a> prepared for the UK Department of Justice in 2020 showed that 42% of people want the walls to remain in place for reasons of security and safety. <a href="https://www.ulster.ac.uk/incore/impact/peace-walls-research">Research</a> has indeed shown that for communities living with this history of violence, the barriers provide a sense of security, so people are worried about the consequences of removing them. </p>
<p>The idea of implementing other changes was put to respondents, including installing CCTV cameras, improving youth programmes and promoting opportunities for the two communities to come together. While this made some people reconsider their position, 17% stated that they would not want peace walls to come, down no matter what preparations are made. </p>
<p>The same study found that 37% of respondents had never interacted with anyone living on the other side of the nearest peace wall. This chimes with <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312016220_Ordinary_everyday_walls_Normalising_exception_in_segregated_belfast">research</a> that has shown that the walls perpetuate division and sectarianism. They create physical barriers that restrict social interaction and reinforce negative stereotypes. </p>
<p>What is clear, from all <a href="https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.550561">studies on the subject</a>, is that any plans to demolish the walls must be carried out in a careful and sensitive manner. They must take into account the apprehensions and concerns of the local population.</p>
<p>Getting rid of physical barriers is not enough. We need alternative solutions for promoting integration and getting communities to trust one another. People need to feel empowered, too, to engage with regeneration projects tackling poverty, violence and social disenfranchisement. These issues serve to divide and exclude, just as tangibly as walls do. </p>
<p><em>The introduction of this article has been changed to remove stylistic similarities with that of a source.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203975/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Teresa García Alcaraz receives funding from Spanish Ministry of Education (Margarita Salas Fellowship)</span></em></p>
Belfast’s peacewalls are psychological reminders of the sectarian divisions that have long existed in the city.
Teresa García Alcaraz, Postdoctoral researcher in the School of Natural and Built Environment (QUB), Queen's University Belfast
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/202892
2023-04-21T14:53:26Z
2023-04-21T14:53:26Z
How the Troubles affected healthcare in Northern Ireland
<p>Celebrating a quarter century of “peace” since the signing of the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/the-25th-anniversary-of-the-belfast-good-friday-agreement#:%7E:text=The%20Belfast%20Agreement%2C%20also%20known,signed%20on%2010%20April%201998.">Good Friday Agreement</a> will undoubtedly lead many to question how much things have really changed for the better in Northern Ireland. Especially since <a href="https://reparations.qub.ac.uk/assets/uploads/Land-Report-Dec20-SP.pdf">segregation remains the norm</a> in many areas of life, including housing and education. Attention will once again turn to <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/cg1l0z5lgp4t">the Troubles</a> and its legacy.</p>
<p>Between 1968 and 1998 more than 3,700 people were killed and up to 100,000 injured. It was the job of the Northern Ireland health service to treat the wounded while continuing to provide healthcare for all the other medical needs of the population.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://healthcareandthetroubles.wordpress.com">my research</a> for an upcoming book, I interviewed former healthcare workers who lived and worked during the Troubles.</p>
<p>As a medical historian I wanted to explore how the conflict had an impact on the health service, both on its operation and its workers. Their experiences are often overlooked, but provide us with vital insight into the conflict itself and its enduring legacies.</p>
<p>In times of war, healthcare is put under tremendous strain. People are not always able to reach hospitals, and money normally used to pay for services is often diverted for other purposes.</p>
<p>In Northern Ireland, the Troubles affected hospitals and other community services. Because money was being used to treat victims, there were concerns that other patients were losing out. A nurse from the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast explained that patients attending for routine operations would often be sent home when the injured came in needing emergency surgery.</p>
<p>Hospitals were also damaged in the violence. In 1991 a <a href="https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1991/nov/04/musgrave-park-hospital-bombing">bomb exploded at Musgrave Park Hospital</a> in Belfast, killing two people and injuring 10 others. The damage put hospital beds out of use and cost around a quarter of a million pounds to rebuild the damaged orthodpaedic wing.</p>
<h2>Medical progress through trauma</h2>
<p>The Troubles resulted in many injuries which medical staff had little or no experience of dealing with. Major incidents had a huge emotional impact and brought new medical challenges. But many spoke of learning from these traumatic experiences. They all condemned the horrors and destruction, but were thankful for the knowledge they gained to help others. </p>
<p>These experiences led to lifesaving new medical innovations. One was the development of titanium plates to repair skulls damaged by gunshot wounds or bomb injuries. The use of high velocity weapons during the early 1970s and the significant number of gunshot head wounds created a need that had to be urgently addressed.</p>
<p>At the Royal Victoria Hospital, neurosurgeon Derek Gordon and dentist George Blair combined their different expertise to devise a new kind of <a href="https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/neurosurgeon-who-was-globally-renowned-for-work-during-troubles/36462555.html">skull plate</a>. Their new design made from titanium was light, strong, flexible and relatively inexpensive to make. The new approach proved successful and was used worldwide.</p>
<h2>Mental health</h2>
<p>One of the most significant legacies from the Troubles was the impact on mental health. Northern Ireland has the highest level of <a href="https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/explore-mental-health/publications/mental-health-foundation-northern-ireland-manifesto-2022">poor mental health in the UK</a>. These levels have been linked <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(18)30392-4">directly to the conflict</a>.</p>
<p>The country also has the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-63806309">highest suicide rate in the UK</a> and a significantly higher percentage of prescriptions for drugs to treat anxiety and depression than the rest of the UK. Then there is the challenge of younger generations “inheriting” <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/mental-health-problems-the-hidden-legacy-of-the-troubles-1.4005470">poor mental health</a>, through the effects on parenting and the environment they grow up in.</p>
<p>Research has shown that substance abuse is a <a href="https://www.publichealth.hscni.net/sites/default/files/48.%20Appendix%202%20Trauma%20Alcohol%20and%20Drugs%20Comorbidity%20-%20Report.pdf">deeply entrenched</a> social problem in Northern Ireland. Similar to prescription drugs, alcohol has been used as a coping mechanism by many, again presenting a challenge and <a href="https://www.niauditoffice.gov.uk/files/niauditoffice/media-files/235243%20NIAO%20Addictions%20Services%20Report__NEW%204.pdf">additional cost</a> to the health service. </p>
<p>Medical staff had to cope with emotional effects of working in a bloody conflict, witnessing firsthand the horrifying injuries and deaths caused by the violence. One doctor described his experience:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Some things were too horrible to be forgettable and even today, talking about or even thinking about them brings on the tears. I still waken during the night with terrible dreams about those days.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yet staff were expected to have a “get on with the job” attitude. There was a commonly held belief that healthcare staff were immune to the effects, and many did not seek help. Some felt it would frowned on while others thought it would be insulting to the victims of the violence, believing those directly affected had it much worse.</p>
<p>There was also a lack of services available to staff. This only changed after the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12558918/">Omagh bomb in 1998</a>. Instead, medical staff created their own coping methods. Interviewees spoke of how they counselled one another over cups of tea and organised social events, or used <a href="https://belfastcomedyfestival.com/laughing-away-our-troubles-the-relationship-between-comedy-and-conflict-in-northern-ireland/">black humour</a> to keep them going. One interviewee explained: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>[The period] wasn’t overly pleasant, but it was life and we lived that life … and managed to have some laughs too, usually at the antics of ourselves.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In May 2008, The <a href="https://www.cvsni.org">Northern Ireland Commission for Victims and Survivors</a> was established to advocate for the needs of Northern Ireland people. However, there continue to be concerns about the funding and availability of mental health services. In response a number of charitable organisations now provide <a href="https://www.communityni.org/beneficiaries/victim-support">care and support</a>.</p>
<p>Overall, my research revealed that the health service in Northern Ireland was hugely affected by the conflict, chiefly the damaging effect of the bloody violence on the mental health of medical workers as well as the general population. Positive aspects, such as the creation of innovative medical techniques, came at a high cost.</p>
<p>Still, many healthcare workers I spoke to look back fondly on their careers during this period. They despised the violence, but appreciated the opportunity to help victims and survivors, while cherishing the strong bonds they forged with colleagues.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202892/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ruth Duffy received PhD funding from the Department for the Economy. Her book, Healthcare and the Troubles: The Conflict Experience of the Northern Ireland Health Service 1968-1998, will be published by Liverpool University Press in 2024.</span></em></p>
The long-term legacy can be linked to poor mental health, high levels of suicide and alcohol and drug problems – but also innovation.
Ruth Duffy, Research Fellow, School of Arts, English and Languages, Queen's University Belfast
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/203258
2023-04-06T10:24:30Z
2023-04-06T10:24:30Z
Good Friday Agreement: Joe Biden’s historic visit to Ireland comes during turbulent times
<p>The US president, Joe Biden, is expected in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. His visit will be one of historic symbolism and of personal significance, as an Irish Catholic president who has spoken proudly of his ties to the country.</p>
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<p>A few weeks ago, the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/joe-biden-rishi-sunak-visit-belfast-good-friday-agreement-anniversary/">formally invited</a> Biden to come to Northern Ireland to mark the anniversary of the peace deal, which the US helped broker. The UK has much work to do to repair relations with the US following the Trump-Johnson years, especially if they are to pursue a much desired trade deal that has been stymied partly due to <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1306334039557586944">US concerns</a> about the safety of the Good Friday Agreement post-Brexit.</p>
<p>The four-day visit comes at a fragile time for the agreement, threatened by post-Brexit trade arrangements and political tensions in Northern Ireland. <a href="https://www.itv.com/news/utv/2023-01-10/emb-unless-power-sharing-restored-president-biden-loathe-to-come-to-ni">Power-sharing</a> in the Northern Ireland assembly – a key feature of the Good Friday Agreement – has been in limbo for over a year, due to a boycott by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). In <a href="https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/most-unionists-would-now-vote-against-the-good-friday-agreement-new-poll-suggests-42316811.html">a recent poll</a>, a majority of Northern Irish unionists said they would vote against the agreement if a referendum were held today.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rishi-sunaks-brexit-deal-how-the-stormont-brake-could-block-new-eu-laws-from-northern-ireland-200773">Rishi Sunak's Brexit deal: how the Stormont brake could block new EU laws from Northern Ireland</a>
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<p>The visit has other historical symbolism and personal relevance for the US president. Biden will spend <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/joe-biden-usa-visit-ireland-good-friday-irish-trip/">three days</a> in the Republic of Ireland. For that part of the island, the visit will be less about Northern Ireland issues, and more around the historically resonant imagery of an Irish Catholic president returning to his roots.</p>
<p>There is a long history of US presidents visiting Ireland. It is thought that 23 of the 46 presidents have been of <a href="https://epicchq.com/story/us-presidents-with-irish-heritage/">Irish heritage</a>. Until the early 1960s, most visits were by former presidents whose families <a href="https://discoverulsterscots.com/emigration-influence/america/scotch-irish-america-timeline/leaders-nations">originated in Northern Ireland</a>.</p>
<p>In 1963, John F. Kennedy became the first sitting – and first Irish Catholic – president to visit. His sojourn was widely viewed as a symbolic homecoming. Both Irish and American media at the time described it as <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09670880801994240">a “sentimental journey”</a>. Biden, the second Irish Catholic US president, will stir memories of Kennedy.</p>
<p>Biden will spend time visiting his ancestral home and meeting family in County Louth and County Mayo. He is clearly proud of his Irish roots, often referencing how his family history has shaped his political career and worldview. As he <a href="https://www.irishcentral.com/news/politics/joe-bidens-love-letter-irish-roots">wrote in 2016</a>: “Northeast Pennsylvania will be written on my heart. But Ireland will be written on my soul.”</p>
<p>Biden has knowingly taken on the Kennedy mantle as a politician. Over the years he has come to personify a liberal politics of empathy, in which his Irish ancestry and Catholicism function as moral touchstones. However, this can shroud an underlying reality, that Ireland and the US are <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2022/07/26/is-ireland-slowly-breaking-up-with-the-us/">increasingly adrift</a>, out of sync on matters political and cultural. </p>
<p>At the same time, Irish America is ageing and growing more conservative, with very few new emigrants refuelling it. Biden represents a disappearing figure, the last of a once powerful tribe of liberal Irish American politicians.</p>
<h2>A diplomatic mission</h2>
<p>Biden’s visit should not be understood as purely a sentimental journey. Indeed, looking back we can see that Kennedy’s visit was much more of a diplomatic mission than many viewed it in 1963. </p>
<p>Kennedy visited Ireland on his return from Berlin, after giving one of the most important speeches of the Cold War. His engagement with Ireland at that time aligned the controversially neutral state with the <a href="https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1963-06-28/2/">forces of “freedom”</a>. And behind the scenes, a good deal of diplomatic and economic business was carried out that would benefit Ireland’s relations with the US for years to come.</p>
<p>As with Kennedy’s visit, economic diplomacy will be important, most obviously in the promise of <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-01/us-companies-aim-to-pour-billions-into-northern-ireland-after-brexit-deal#xj4y7vzkg">US investment in Northern Ireland</a> to reward and secure the new EU-UK deal on Brexit.</p>
<p>It is also a chance for Biden to repair the US’s global reputation for leadership in liberal internationalism, which has been on the back foot since the Trump administration. </p>
<p>Biden views the Good Friday Agreement as a significant achievement of US foreign policy, and one that enjoys bipartisan support in the US. To celebrate it today is to assert the US’s support for the rule of law in foreign policy, and promote the agreement as a model of peace for other post-conflict states. He’ll receive a warm welcome, but like Kennedy, the visit is something more than just sentimental.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203258/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liam Kennedy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The US president’s sentimental journey comes during a fragile political moment in Northern Ireland.
Liam Kennedy, Professor of American Studies, University College Dublin
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/202584
2023-04-06T09:59:10Z
2023-04-06T09:59:10Z
Good Friday Agreement: how the US came to be a key broker in Northern Ireland’s peace deal
<p>Between 1820 and 1920, four million people emigrated from Ireland to the US. Many were fleeing hunger and destitution and so brought with them an <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/emigrants-and-exiles-9780195051872?cc=gb&lang=en&">“exile” nationalism</a> – a conviction that they were forced to leave by British misgovernment and exploitation of Ireland. Little wonder, then, that the Irish diaspora in the US played a crucial role in supporting, and particularly financing, the struggle for Irish independence. </p>
<p>When the Northern Ireland conflict broke out in the late 1960s, Irish America again mobilised in support of the region’s nationalist minority community. The diaspora saw the conflict in simplistic terms, as a renewal of the fight for Irish freedom from British imperial domination. </p>
<p>Events like <a href="https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/events/bsunday/chron.htm">Bloody Sunday</a> in January 1972 – when British troops shot dead 13 civil rights protesters in Derry – understandably reinforced such views. As a result, money and even arms (more easily acquired in the US) began to flow across the Atlantic and into the IRA’s hands. In this period, therefore, Irish American actions only contributed to further bloodshed in Northern Ireland.</p>
<p>By the 1990s, the diaspora was playing quite a different role, one which was crucial to the region’s peace process and the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. There were various reasons for this. Firstly, more sensible voices had emerged in Irish America. Instead of supporting the IRA, or advocating a British withdrawal and the reunification of Ireland, they pressed for radical reform that would achieve <a href="https://academic.oup.com/dh/article/43/4/671/5518859">real equality for the nationalist minority.</a></p>
<p>Secondly, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the global picture had drastically changed. Previously, the White House had largely avoided commenting on Northern Ireland. The US relied on the British government to contain the communist threat in Europe and would not risk offending it for fear of losing that support. But with the collapse of the Soviet Union, president Bill Clinton did not need to worry in the way that his predecessors did about damaging the Anglo-American “special relationship”. He thus listened to those in Irish America who argued that the White House should <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/30001915?casa_token=Flk9hFl3FxQAAAAA%3ACyM6j0H_YqkWijWWgmc8WpdXOfx7zKDeAhSUh3DyAFBKrejG89sdgNzW7f2Ymi4OWLt5XvKdPeZaM2wVgI7tPjkGtObtjzG0YMfnGx0TfQ9aYpYHgQ">play a role in the peace process</a> then emerging in Northern Ireland. </p>
<p>Most controversial was Clinton’s decision in January 1994 to give Gerry Adams a US visa. This came at a time when the IRA was still bombing Britain, and the Sinn Féin leader was seen by most people as an apologist for republican violence. The British government was <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/how-britain-tried-to-stop-gerry-adams-getting-us-visa-1.3739551">outraged by Clinton’s decision</a>, and John Major refused to take his calls for some time afterwards – a undeniable rarity in US-UK relations. However, when the IRA called a ceasefire six months later, Clinton appeared to be vindicated. Giving Adams a US visa had allowed the Sinn Féin leader to demonstrate to the IRA the gains that could be made by adopting a purely political strategy.</p>
<h2>Chairing tense talks</h2>
<p>Clinton then sent a trusted confidante, the recently retired US senator, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/29736367?casa_token=YvI9bryj3TAAAAAA%3AV3IhITNorIKSEsg6zKvIxCw0VpuBrnhVKuHNIDBLDD02FXStzIO94BFC5ePyCbrIu0kdSv4l_XPLMATb1S49XJD5_GwNsc4Z970q_pT3-ENq45jzKg">George Mitchell</a>, to chair peace talks in Northern Ireland. Mitchell managed to steer discussions in which some parties still refused to directly address one another, and instead communicated only through him as chair of the talks. His patience was phenomenal, and Mitchell played a major role in bringing about the Good Friday peace settlement.</p>
<p>After Clinton left office in 2001, the George W. Bush administration helped in the difficult process of implementing this accord. The IRA still refused to decommission its weapons, but pressure from the US – which, after 9/11, showed no tolerance for anything that might be seen as terrorist activity – helped force it to do so. Similarly, the Bush administration pushed Sinn Féin towards accepting reformed policing arrangements in Northern Ireland. </p>
<p>In Irish America, figures like <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/fresh-light-shed-on-edward-kennedy-role-in-northern-irish-peace-process-1.2372644">Ted Kennedy</a>, who had been crucial in bringing Sinn Féin into the peace process, now insisted that it accept all the rules of the new political order. Even the hardline unionist party, the DUP, was impressed, and was eventually obliged to share power with Sinn Féin.</p>
<p>Thereafter, the US played a limited role in Northern Ireland – until Brexit. The UK’s departure from the EU created significant challenges in managing the Irish border, and thus posed a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/sep/16/us-uk-trade-deal-in-danger-if-good-friday-agreement-jeopardised-democrats-warn">threat to the Good Friday Agreement</a> as it is generally considered a hard border on the island of Ireland would go against the spirit of the deal. Irish America responded by reorganising and lobbying to protect the accord. Even when running for the presidency in 2020, Joe Biden – fiercely proud of his own Irish heritage – famously tweeted a warning to the UK: “We can’t allow the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland to become a casualty of Brexit.”</p>
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<p>After Biden’s election, pressure from the White House undoubtedly helped steer Boris Johnson towards a Brexit deal which prioritised peace in the region. </p>
<p>This also explains why Biden will be <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-65110382">visiting Northern Ireland</a> to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. The US government, and Irish America, both feel that they helped create peace the region, and want to preserve and celebrate this achievement.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202584/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter John McLoughlin has received funding in the past from the AHRC, Leverhulme Trust, the Irish Research Council, and the Fulbright Commission. He is a member of Greenpeace.</span></em></p>
Bill Clinton and senator George Mitchell were central in keeping the players at the table so that the historical deal could be signed in 1998.
Peter John McLoughlin, Lecturer in Politics, Queen's University Belfast
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/203208
2023-04-06T09:53:05Z
2023-04-06T09:53:05Z
Good Friday Agreement: 25 years on, the British government is seeking to undo key terms of the peace deal
<p>The Good Friday Agreement ended a conflict that claimed more than 3,500 lives between 1968 and 1998. It is estimated that one-third of the adult population in Northern Ireland has been directly affected by bereavement, physical injury or trauma.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.peaceagreements.org/">Peace agreements</a> often now include provisions (such as truth commissions) to deal with the legacy of past conflict. Addressing the rights and needs of victims, these mechanisms seek to balance competing demands for truth, justice, accountability and reconciliation. The Good Friday Agreement controversially provided for the release of all paramilitary prisoners who had served two years and agreed to the peace process. But broader legacy issues were deemed a bridge too far.</p>
<p>The “moment” of political agreement presents a unique opportunity to confront the horrors of past conflict and violence. As a lawyer interviewed in the course of <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/jp/academic/subjects/law/human-rights/lawyers-conflict-and-transition">recent research</a> I carried out with colleagues on the South African transition noted:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The first five or ten years is a great window of opportunity in every way … [you have to] use that space because it all really closes down.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The rights and needs of victims were not central to the Good Friday Agreement negotiations. A 1998 <a href="https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/issues/violence/victims.htm">report</a> by Northern Ireland victims commissioner Sir Kenneth Bloomfield proposed practical measures to deal with their pain and suffering – but, in many respects, the window of opportunity was lost. In the decades following the agreement there was <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt201415/jtselect/jtrights/130/13005.htm">pressure from the European Court of Human Rights</a> to deal effectively with Troubles-related offences and deaths. In response, successive UK governments commissioned a series of initiatives to explore how everyone involved might holistically deal with legacy issues.</p>
<p>But it wasn’t until 2014, after multiple false starts, that the British and Irish governments and four of the five main political parties in Northern Ireland finally signed up to the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-stormont-house-agreement">Stormont House Agreement</a>. This proposed an independent historical investigations unit to look at outstanding cases relating to deaths during the Troubles and an information recovery body that would enable people to seek and privately receive (via interlocutors) information about the Troubles-related deaths of their relatives. The information provided to this body would not be admissible in legal proceedings. There was also provision for a major oral history archive and an implementation group to lead on broader reconciliation efforts.</p>
<h2>Backtracking on the GFA</h2>
<p>Following years of delay, the UK government finally committed to legislating for the Stormont House Agreement legacy mechanisms <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/856998/2020-01-08_a_new_decade__a_new_approach.pdf">in 2020</a>. But in a dramatic about-turn just weeks later, then prime minister Boris Johnson <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51487695">sacked</a> his secretary of state for Northern Ireland and scrapped the Stormont House Agreement, instead pushing for a sweeping amnesty for Troubles-related crimes. This was fuelled by a misleading narrative that there has been a “witch-hunt” against British army veterans who served in Northern Ireland (only one veteran has been successfully prosecuted since 1998).</p>
<p>For the past year, the UK government has been moving forward with the <a href="https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3160">Northern Ireland Troubles (legacy and reconciliation) bill</a>. This fundamentally undermines the Good Friday Agreement. The incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) into domestic Northern Irish law was a cornerstone of the GFA. This bill significantly limits the ability of people in Northern Ireland to challenge alleged breaches of the ECHR by closing access to the criminal, civil and coronial courts for Troubles-related cases.</p>
<p>The GFA also committed the UK government to “devolve policing and justice issues” to Northern Ireland, as indeed occurred in 2010. This bill now seeks to unravel key elements of the devolution of policing and justice. It proposes to grant people accused of serious Troubles-related crimes conditional immunity from prosecution, setting the conditional bar so low as to make that immunity practically guaranteed. Many regard this as a thinly veiled attempt to ensure that state actors are not held to account for their actions in Northern Ireland.</p>
<p>The bill is opposed by Northern Ireland’s victims, the Council of Europe, UN special rapporteurs, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, the Irish government and all political parties in Northern Ireland. The government has suggested that the existing legal system is not delivering for victims. The legislation thus proposes setting up a commission to help victims recover information, but the proposed body lacks the legal powers to access the kind of information necessary to enable people to find out what happened during the Troubles.</p>
<p>All accept that successful prosecutions in Troubles-related cases will now be few and far between (and nobody can serve more than two years for Troubles-related offences). The key point is that legal investigations have been increasingly successful in recent years in <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-56986784">delivering information to families</a> and exposing embarrassing details concerning <a href="https://www.policeombudsman.org/getmedia/2952cfb0-4403-4e31-a349-e0a2b632e089/Loughinisland-Report.pdf">state involvement</a> in past human rights violations.</p>
<h2>An anniversary and a time for action</h2>
<p>The implementation of the Good Friday Agreement has, in recent years, been significantly undermined by the government’s focus on matters English. There has been a notable determination that British army veterans should not be prosecuted, or indeed even properly investigated for conflict-era offences, and indifference about the implications of such a policy in Northern Ireland and its compatibility with international human rights law.</p>
<p>Ireland’s taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, has indicated that the Irish government <a href="https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2023/0309/1361255-legacy-bill/">could not rule out taking an interstate case</a> to Strasbourg if the UK government makes its bill law as they believe it contravenes the European Convention on Human Rights.</p>
<p>In the meantime, victims are being retraumatised by the ongoing denial of their right to find out the truth about what happened to their loved ones and to see those responsible held to account.</p>
<p>The EU and the US administration played a crucial role in securing the peace agreement in 1998. The best efforts of Dublin, Brussels and the Biden administration are now required to prevent it unravelling.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203208/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna Bryson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
A law making its way through parliament that would grant widespread immunity from prosecution for people accused of crimes during the Troubles.
Anna Bryson, Senior Lecturer in the School of Law and a Fellow at the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, Queen's University Belfast
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/202986
2023-04-06T09:51:58Z
2023-04-06T09:51:58Z
Good Friday Agreement: the early 1990s back-channel between the IRA and British government that made peace possible
<p>In February 1990, in the midst of the Troubles, Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness publicly invited the British government to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022343311417982">reopen a back-channel</a> used during previous phases of contact with the IRA in the 1970s and during the 1981 hunger strike.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If [the British government] think there is something to be lost by stating publicly how flexible they would be, or how imaginative, we are saying they should tell us privately … there is an avenue which they are aware of whereby they can make what imaginative steps they are thinking about known to the Republican movement.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It was a crucial early step on the road to the Good Friday Agreement.</p>
<p>The British government, acting in conditions of the greatest secrecy, took McGuinness up on his offer the following year. An MI5 officer who went by the name Robert McLaren liaised with intermediary <a href="https://www.derryjournal.com/news/people/brendan-duddy-a-life-in-the-shadows-3254147">Brendan Duddy</a>, a Derry businessman who had played this role on several occasions since 1972. The aim was an <a href="https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/events/peace/pp9398.htm">IRA ceasefire</a> followed by political negotiations. On the British side only prime minister John Major and a handful of senior officials knew of the initiative. Duddy told me in 2009: “the very moment Robert appeared, the very second he appeared, I knew: the British government don’t send Robert to me unless they want to do business.”</p>
<p>The prospect of a negotiated end to the IRA campaign had first been explored more than a quarter century earlier. In June 1972, William Whitelaw, the British secretary of state for Northern Ireland, told his cabinet colleagues that, after three years of conflict and almost 400 deaths, “it was inescapable that some understanding would have to be reached with the ‘Provisional’ IRA; no solution seemed possible unless their point of view were represented.”</p>
<p>But although Whitelaw met secretly with IRA leaders in London in 1972 and Labour PM Harold Wilson sanctioned secret talks again in 1975, for most of the 30 years of conflict, orthodox thinking held that the IRA and the political party associated with them, Sinn Féin, would never compromise and that any settlement would have to exclude them.</p>
<p>Perhaps the biggest stumbling block was the Republicans’ central ideological demand – that the British government “acknowledge the right of the Irish people to determine their own future without let or hindrance.”</p>
<p>But as early as 1972 British officials considered whether it might be possible to accommodate them. After Whitelaw’s meeting with the IRA a senior civil servant noted that “the formula of the IRA was very close to the position of Mr Lynch [the Irish prime minister], that the future of Ireland should be decided by the people of Ireland as a whole.”</p>
<p>The question, though, was how this could be squared with the principle that Ireland could only be reunited if a majority in Northern Ireland agreed. In the 1990s a way would finally be found to do it.</p>
<h2>Secret talks</h2>
<p>The secret contacts that started in 1991 culminated in an IRA ceasefire offer made through the back-channel in early 1993. But the British government didn’t respond by agreeing to talks, as the Republicans had expected they would. After a period of recrimination the back-channel fell into disuse and was then dramatically revealed by the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1993/nov/28/northernireland">Observer newspaper in November 1993</a>. Ironically, this exposure helped to accelerate movement towards a compromise peace settlement.</p>
<p>Speaking in 2020, not long before his death, John Chilcot, permanent under-secretary in the Northern Ireland Office in the 1990s and perhaps the single most important driver of the peace process on the British side, told me of the sense of deep uncertainty created by the revelation of the back-channel, and the subsequent sense of relief:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The whole thing came to a head I think on the Monday after the Observer revelations … it wasn’t known whether the House of Commons would call for [secretary of state Patrick Mayhew’s] head on a platter and possibly John Major’s as well, instead of which the reverse happened. The whole of the House of Commons, or all of it that mattered, rose up to say ‘thank God. This is the right thing to be doing’ … my heart was in my mouth that Monday, same as Patrick Mayhew’s. I was in the House of Commons, in the official box and it was a wonderful moment actually.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Chilcot felt a sense “of immense relief and coupled with, I think, something more positive, elation really, that it really looked as though the thing was going to take wing and who knows, succeed. It took a long time after that, but nonetheless, that was a turning point.”</p>
<p>Within weeks the British and Irish governments had issued the <a href="https://www.dfa.ie/media/dfa/alldfawebsitemedia/ourrolesandpolicies/northernireland/peace-process--joint-declaration-1993.pdf">Downing Street Declaration</a>. It included a British acknowledgement, for the first time, of a right to Irish self-determination, albeit one that was heavily qualified and subject to the agreement of a majority in Northern Ireland/</p>
<p>In August 1994, the IRA finally announced an end to its campaign. There were further twists and turns before the Good Friday Agreement, including a return to IRA violence in 1996 before they finally ended their campaign in July 1997.</p>
<p>Nine months later, on April 10 1998, the Belfast Agreement – or Good Friday Agreement as it became popularly known – was signed after intensive talks chaired by <a href="https://theconversation.com/good-friday-agreement-how-the-us-came-to-be-a-key-broker-in-northern-irelands-peace-deal-202584">US special envoy George Mitchell</a>. The settlement guaranteed a place in government to all parties that enjoyed significant electoral support, including Sinn Féin. It opened the way to conflict resolution measures aimed at bedding down the peace – including police reform, the removal of troops from the streets, and the early release of paramilitary prisoners. The text on self-determination from the Downing Street Declaration, with a few embellishments, was incorporated word for word into the Good Friday Agreement and endorsed by all of the parties to the Agreement.</p>
<h2>Going official</h2>
<p>The 1998 agreement was the achievement of the British and Irish governments, of all the political parties in Northern Ireland (with the exception of the DUP), and of external actors such as the then US president, Bill Clinton. But the ending of the IRA’s armed campaign was a prerequisite for the inclusive negotiations that produced the agreement. And ending the IRA campaign had required engagement between the British government and the IRA. As Chilcot told me in a 2010 interview: “Ultimately … the basic players in this game are the British government and the republican movement.”</p>
<p>The back-channel may have collapsed in public acrimony in late 1993, but it had helped to establish the foundations for the agreement that followed. The argument within the IRA for a ceasefire to facilitate talks had been won. The argument within the British state for a negotiated settlement that included Republicans had been significantly advanced. This was no trivial achievement at a time when powerful forces in the British state continued to oppose contact.</p>
<p>The back-channel made it possible for both sides to nurture trust and understanding. They learned about the constraints within which the other party was operating and gradually became willing to make the moves and concessions that would allow the other party to move in turn.</p>
<p>It was through the <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/deniable-contact-9780192887535?lang=en&cc=gb">back-channel</a> that the British government and Sinn Féin began to build a new and less conflictual relationship. This was crucial to the ending of violent conflict.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202986/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Niall Ó Dochartaigh received funding from the Irish Research Council </span></em></p>
Secret, behind-the-scenes talks were going on years before the official Belfast Agreement was signed – and made the whole thing possible.
Niall Ó Dochartaigh, Professor of Political Science, University of Galway, University of Galway
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/195336
2023-04-06T09:50:45Z
2023-04-06T09:50:45Z
New school resources on the Good Friday Agreement will give pupils valuable understanding – if they are used
<p>The <a href="https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/">UK National Archives</a> has produced <a href="https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/news/new-education-resources-highlight-good-friday-agreement/">educational resources</a> for secondary schools to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. </p>
<p>Signed on April 10 1998, the agreement marked the end of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the establishment of a new shared institution, the Northern Ireland assembly. It also established new formal political relationships between Ireland and the UK, and on the island of Ireland.</p>
<p>The school resources are detailed and provide important context. But some political nuance is overlooked – and the history of teaching on Irish history in British schools suggests there is a risk they may not be widely used. In Northern Ireland, meanwhile, their generally optimistic tone may limit their effectiveness. </p>
<p>The resources include a video, two sets of slides and associated guides and a student workbook. They provide teachers in secondary schools and colleges throughout the UK with materials for a school assembly and follow-up classroom work. </p>
<p>The assembly materials provide a brief history of Northern Ireland, before outlining the nature of the political violence that occurred during the Troubles, the journey towards peace, and the positive impact of the agreement over the past 25 years.</p>
<h2>Core principles</h2>
<p>The follow-up resources are designed to support discussion about the agreement and how it brought an end to the conflict. They cover the deal’s three core principles: respect, consent and identity – including the right of anyone in Northern Ireland to identify as British, Irish or both, and to hold citizenship and a passport for either or both countries.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VQXBpt5RArY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Video resource on the Good Friday Agreement from the UK National Archives.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The resources cover the three strands of political institutions established by the agreement and the actions that followed its implementation. Paramilitary organisations decommissioned their weapons and accepted the principle of consent – that the constitutional position of Northern Ireland will only change if a majority of people vote to support it. Members of these groups who had been imprisoned for crimes before the signing of the agreement were released from jail on a licence, which could be revoked if they rejoined a paramilitary group or supported paramilitary activities.</p>
<p>The security presence on the streets was rolled back and the number of British troops deployed in Northern Ireland was steadily reduced. A major reform of policing produced a new – and more representative – police service.</p>
<p>The materials explain how these measures aimed to move Northern Ireland in the direction of peace and stability. They were intended to reduce levels of violence, promote reconciliation and forgiveness, and move from relationships based on fear to ones based on trust. Students are encouraged to explore this further by designing a campaign to promote the lessons of the agreement for other areas of conflict around the world.</p>
<p>The resources from the National Archives are wide-ranging and helpfully set the Good Friday Agreement in context. Violent political conflicts rarely end in a moment, but after a long process.</p>
<p>Some political nuances are avoided. The conflict is cast as between communities, with the security forces implicitly presented as a neutral arbiter in the middle. However, <a href="https://www.amnesty.org.uk/ni-troubles">responses to</a> the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) bill <a href="https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3160">currently working</a> its way through parliament suggest a more complex reality. </p>
<p>The bill will limit investigations or inquests into Troubles-related deaths and is supported by those trying to protect <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/05/10/legal-immunity-troubles-veterans-co-operate-new-commission-deaths/">military veterans</a> from prosecution. It <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2022/05/26/everyone-opposes-the-troubles-legacy-bill-but-the-conservatives-may-get-away-with-it/">is opposed</a> by all political parties in Northern Ireland as it will provide effective amnesty for many of those accused of killing people during the Troubles. </p>
<h2>Reckoning with challenges</h2>
<p>The resources also underplay some of the challenges the agreement has faced. The Northern Ireland assembly has been suspended due to political disputes for <a href="https://factcheckni.org/articles/has-the-executive-been-in-a-state-of-collapse-for-40-of-its-existence/">about 40%</a> of its tenure. It is currently suspended, as the assembly has failed to elect a speaker or executive since the May 2022 election. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Landscape photo of a white building with neoclassical columns" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519541/original/file-20230405-1644-htswrt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519541/original/file-20230405-1644-htswrt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519541/original/file-20230405-1644-htswrt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519541/original/file-20230405-1644-htswrt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519541/original/file-20230405-1644-htswrt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519541/original/file-20230405-1644-htswrt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519541/original/file-20230405-1644-htswrt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Northern Ireland assembly sits in the parliament building, Stormont.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beautiful-parliament-building-stormont-northern-ireland-245930107">Josemaria Toscano/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In part this comes from the mechanisms built into the assembly to promote consensus-building. Contentious issues not only require majority support in the assembly, but also a <a href="https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/why-does-the-northern-ireland-assembly-keep-collapsing/">set level of support</a> among the blocs of Members of the Legislative Assembly who designate either as unionist or nationalist. The aim was to promote cooperation, but it has more often led to decisions being blocked or vetoed. The architecture of the agreement was predicated on a more inclusive approach by elected politicians than has actually been achieved.</p>
<p>Studying the agreement could pose some interesting questions in schools in Britain. But the likelihood is that few schools in Britain will make use of these educational resources. <a href="https://www.history.org.uk/publications/categories/300/resource/7288/teaching-history-44">Irish history</a> has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/03/british-schools-irish-history-brexit">not previously</a> been taught to <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/88797/british-empire-queen-elizabeth-india-ireland-africa-imperial">any significant extent</a> in <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/abroad/my-london-history-students-knowledge-of-ireland-is-at-times-shocking-1.3882014">British schools</a>. </p>
<p>A similar gap in provision <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/young-irish-people-idolise-gerry-adams-ireland-the-troubles-3xcmjjw7g">in Irish schools</a> may also have produced a poor level of knowledge of the peace process in Northern Ireland. </p>
<p>In Northern Ireland especially, the generally optimistic and uncritical approach of the resources may make them less effective. </p>
<p>The achievement of 25 years ago should be celebrated. In Northern Ireland, we also need to engage frankly with the limitations of the agreement if the drive for a more peaceful and settled society is to be achieved. Northern Ireland has come very far in a relatively short time, but we’re not there yet.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195336/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tony Gallagher has received funding from a range of organisations including the ESRC, the Department of Education in Northern Ireland, Atlantic Philanthropies, the International Fund for Ireland and Sixteen Consultancy (Belfast). He is a member of the Board of the Maze Long Kesh Development Corporation and the WAVE Trauma Centre.</span></em></p>
The resources do a good job in explaining that political conflicts rarely end in a moment, but after a long process.
Tony Gallagher, Professor of Education, Queen's University Belfast
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/201548
2023-04-05T12:22:41Z
2023-04-05T12:22:41Z
Each generation in Northern Ireland has reflected on the ‘troubles’ in its own way – right up to ‘Derry Girls’
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517925/original/file-20230328-2526-vb272r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C12%2C4031%2C3005&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A mural in Derry commemorating the TV show 'Derry Girls,' which follows the lives of teenagers growing up amid Northern Ireland's troubles.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dominic Bryan</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A 9-year-old boy lies on the floor of a working-class rowhouse in Belfast, Northern Ireland, wondrously watching American Westerns on TV. Outside, though, the world’s gone mad. Broken glass and shattered masonry. Barricades go up. Rifle-toting soldiers patrol the streets. </p>
<p>It’s August 1969, the summer that Northern Ireland’s ‘troubles’ flared into violence.</p>
<p>The scene is from “Belfast,” director Kenneth Branagh’s ode to growing up in <a href="https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/victims/docs/group/htr/day_of_reflection/htr_0607c.pdf">the grinding conflict</a> that would go on to kill several thousand people. Branagh’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja3PPOnJQ2k">Academy Award-winning film</a> premiered in 2021, more than two decades after <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-certain-war-to-uncertain-peace-northern-irelands-good-friday-agreement-turns-20-94624">the Good Friday Agreement</a> brought the troubles to a close on April 10, 1998 – 25 years ago this month.</p>
<p>This was the second period of so-called troubles in Ireland. The first involved a bloody <a href="https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/irish-war-independence">guerrilla war</a> that ended in 1921, with the island partitioned into an independent, mostly Catholic south and a mostly Protestant north that remained part of the United Kingdom.</p>
<p>But that division did little to settle the age-old war of cultural identity. Since then, each generation of artists has used theater, song and film to reflect on their states’ still-uneasy peace – made <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/explainers-53724381">all the more complicated</a> by Brexit.</p>
<h2>‘Four green fields’</h2>
<p>For hundreds of years, <a href="https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2008/10/06/negative-stereotypes-of-the-irish/">British culture stereotyped the “native” Irish</a> as savage, bestial, childlike, lazy, belligerent and, above all else, unruly: a tribe that needed British civilization – and, therefore, its colonization. Irish nationalists like poet W.B. Yeats, who wanted to free the whole of Ireland from British rule, felt they had to <a href="https://ernie.uva.nl/upload/media/eb201b85e5cb00114d568245a59cc05f.pdf">flip this script</a> by purging the island of “Anglo” influences, reviving the Irish language and promoting Celtic arts.</p>
<p>In 1902, Yeats wrote the masterpiece of this Celtic revival, “<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/49611/49611-h/49611-h.htm">Cathleen ni Houlihan</a>.” The one-act play dramatizes traditional songs and legends about a poor old woman driven from her farm by strangers. Cathleen recruits a groom – on the eve of his wedding day, no less – to help fight to retrieve her “four beautiful green fields.” </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518837/original/file-20230401-16-mima2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white picture of a woman holding up a lantern in a doorway to a room with three people in it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518837/original/file-20230401-16-mima2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518837/original/file-20230401-16-mima2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518837/original/file-20230401-16-mima2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518837/original/file-20230401-16-mima2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518837/original/file-20230401-16-mima2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518837/original/file-20230401-16-mima2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518837/original/file-20230401-16-mima2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A scene from ‘Cathleen ni Houlihan.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scene_From_Cathleen_Ni_Houlihan_-_Project_Gutenberg_eText_19028.jpg#/media/File:Scene_From_Cathleen_Ni_Houlihan_-_Project_Gutenberg_eText_19028.jpg">Project Gutenberg/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s an obvious allegory: She is Ireland, the fields are Ireland’s four provinces, and the strangers are the British. The blood of Irish martyrs nourishes the old woman, and at the play’s end, Cathleen transforms into a young girl “with the walk of a queen.”</p>
<p>Cultural pride helped fuel support for Irish independence, and the Irish Republican Army drove the British out of three of the island’s four provinces by 1922. But a majority of people in much of the final province, Ulster, identified as British, so <a href="https://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/partition-of-ireland-explained-477342/">a new national border was drawn</a> to separate the two communities. </p>
<p>That gerrymandered border sparked a civil war in the new Irish Free State between the “die-hard” nationalists, who wanted to keep fighting the British till they abandoned the north, and the “Free Staters,” who compromised to make peace. Martin McDonagh’s 2022 film “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11813216/awards/?ref_=tt_awd">The Banshees of Inisherin</a>,” nominated for nine Academy Awards, can be viewed as an allegory of the Irish Civil War – the tragedy when brothers in arms turn their guns on one another.</p>
<h2>Spiraling crisis</h2>
<p>Many Protestants loyal to the U.K. viewed the culture of Northern Ireland’s minority Catholic population <a href="https://www.executiveoffice-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/execoffice/commission-on-fict-final-report.pdf">as a threat</a> and treated them as second-class citizens. In the late 1960s, in part <a href="https://www.irishcentral.com/opinion/niallodowd/how-martin-luther-king-inspired-north-uprising#:%7E:text=By%20marching%20through%20%22Protestant%20territory,defend%20the%20right%20to%20protest.%22&text=Northern%20Ireland's%20sectarian%20nature%20was%20revealed%20to%20the%20world.">inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.’s</a> civil rights activism in the U.S., Catholics began campaigning against discrimination. Their demands were met with violence, like the 1972 <a href="https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/events/bsunday/chron.htm">Bloody Sunday</a> massacre, in which British soldiers shot and killed 14 unarmed protesters in Derry, also known as Londonderry – rival names that themselves reflect the sharp divide between communities.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518836/original/file-20230401-18-bsc9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A soldier stands on a street as two young children, one holding a fake shield, stand in front." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518836/original/file-20230401-18-bsc9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518836/original/file-20230401-18-bsc9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=763&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518836/original/file-20230401-18-bsc9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=763&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518836/original/file-20230401-18-bsc9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=763&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518836/original/file-20230401-18-bsc9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=959&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518836/original/file-20230401-18-bsc9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=959&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518836/original/file-20230401-18-bsc9vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=959&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A soldier on patrol in Belfast in 1969.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/two-children-the-boy-with-rude-toy-weapons-stands-by-a-news-photo/514704064?adppopup=true">Bettmann/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Tribal feelings spiraled higher, pitting mostly Protestant “unionists” loyal to the U.K. against Catholic “nationalists” who sought reunion with the Republic of Ireland. Neighborhoods were segregated and <a href="https://theworld.org/stories/2020-01-14/northern-ireland-still-divided-peace-walls-20-years-after-conflict">giant walls went up</a> to keep Catholic and Protestant apart, but wave after wave of reprisals came anyway, including bombings and sniper attacks.</p>
<p>As the troubles intensified, folk musician Tommy Makem’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkTmsNM4fLM">popular song “Four Green Fields</a>” drew again on the legend of Ireland as a poor old woman:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>“I have four green fields, one of them’s in bondage</em></p>
<p><em>In strangers’ hands, that tried to take it from me</em></p>
<p><em>But my sons have sons as brave as were their fathers</em></p>
<p><em>My fourth green field will bloom once again,” said she.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>It became <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHhPeNv90co">a nationalist battle call</a>, and a sign of the times, as plenty of young men joined the IRA’s campaign against British control of Northern Ireland.</p>
<p>Nowhere was the “them and us” attitude more evident than on the gable ends of rowhouses, where nationalists and unionists each painted murals celebrating their heroes and remembering the atrocities perpetrated by the other side. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518827/original/file-20230331-26-7zn9nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People in dark coats hold white crosses in front of a purple and red mural with people's faces painted in it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518827/original/file-20230331-26-7zn9nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518827/original/file-20230331-26-7zn9nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518827/original/file-20230331-26-7zn9nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518827/original/file-20230331-26-7zn9nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518827/original/file-20230331-26-7zn9nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518827/original/file-20230331-26-7zn9nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518827/original/file-20230331-26-7zn9nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Families of the victims and supporters walk past a mural featuring the 14 victims of Bloody Sunday as they commemorate the 50th anniversary of the massacre, in 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/families-of-the-victims-and-supporters-walk-past-a-mural-news-photo/1238082451?adppopup=true">Charles McQuillan/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘Sing a new song’</h2>
<p>In the mid-1970s, a group of writers and actors, including <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/seamus-heaney">the Nobel laureate poet Seamus Heaney</a>, tried to blaze a way out of this cultural death spiral. Calling themselves “Ireland’s Field Day,” they tried to create art that could be <a href="https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/postcolonialstudies/2014/06/20/field-day-theatre-company/">a “fifth province</a>” of Ireland, a place that would transcend sectarian politics.</p>
<p>U2 wrote its hit song “<a href="https://youtu.be/bCP9rkTsbKQ">Sunday, Bloody Sunday</a>,” the first song on its 1983 album “War,” in the same spirit. It begins with images reminiscent of the massacre in Derry 11 years before:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>Broken bottles under children’s feet</em></p>
<p><em>Bodies strewn across the dead-end street</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>In U2’s telling, the villain is not the other side. The enemy is the violence itself, generated by the feedback loop of Nationalism and unionism. The only way out is to refuse “to heed the battle call.” </p>
<p>The album ends with <a href="https://youtu.be/pt9Xc4jO-Yc">the song “40</a>,” a soulful echo of the Bible’s 40th Psalm: “I will sing … sing a new song.” </p>
<p>This kind of thinking helped lead the war-weary people of Northern Ireland to <a href="https://www.dfa.ie/media/dfa/alldfawebsitemedia/ourrolesandpolicies/northernireland/good-friday-agreement.pdf">the Good Friday Agreement</a>, also called the Belfast Agreement, in 1998. Its deals shaped the power-sharing system Northern Ireland has today, which <a href="https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/government_in_ireland/ireland_and_the_uk/good_friday_agreement.html">legitimizes both identities</a>. People in Northern Ireland can choose to be citizens of the U.K., citizens of the Republic of Ireland, or both. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518835/original/file-20230401-22-l6uydl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white photo shows a band performing on stage in front of a large illustration of a boy's face." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518835/original/file-20230401-22-l6uydl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518835/original/file-20230401-22-l6uydl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518835/original/file-20230401-22-l6uydl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518835/original/file-20230401-22-l6uydl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518835/original/file-20230401-22-l6uydl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518835/original/file-20230401-22-l6uydl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518835/original/file-20230401-22-l6uydl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">U2 performs on a television show in 1983, with an illustration from the cover of its ‘War’ album behind it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-edge-bono-larry-mullen-jnr-adam-clayton-performing-live-news-photo/85238270?adppopup=true">Erica Echenberg/Redferns via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It has, by and large, worked. Over the years, this commitment to religious, political and racial equality tamped down the tribalism and violence. The border between Ireland and Northern Ireland became less and less relevant. By 2018, half of the people in Northern Ireland <a href="https://www.ark.ac.uk/ARK/sites/default/files/2022-05/update147_0.pdf">described themselves</a> as “neither nationalist nor unionist.”</p>
<h2>A new generation</h2>
<p>Brexit, however, has turned the line between Ireland and Northern Ireland into the only land border between the U.K. and the EU. Both nationalist and unionist identities are on the uptick, and the proportion of people in Northern Ireland claiming neither identity <a href="https://www.ark.ac.uk/ARK/sites/default/files/2022-05/update147_0.pdf">has plummeted to 37%</a>.</p>
<p>Even so, anthropologist <a href="https://pure.qub.ac.uk/en/persons/dominic-bryan">Dominic Bryan</a>, co-chair of Northern Ireland’s Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture, and Tradition, is optimistic that culture has built up a resistance to “us versus them” tribalism – reflected, in part, by how people remember the troubles.</p>
<p>He sent me a picture of a mural in Derry, painted one year after Brexit, which celebrates Lisa McGee’s hit TV show “Derry Girls.” Launched in 2018, the comedy follows the fictional lives of five teenagers <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/09/10/757529881/in-northern-ireland-derry-girls-balance-teen-comedy-and-sectarian-conflict">growing up in the troubles</a>. Though the show focuses on a Catholic community, it defuses the “us and them” way of thinking about identity. An episode called “Across the Barricades” satirizes facile attempts to get Catholic and Protestant kids to bond; it ends when they recognize their common enemy: parents.</p>
<p>In the last episode of the first season, while the kids deal with the anxieties of a high school talent show, the tone shifts dramatically. The adults are watching a TV news report of “one of the worst atrocities of the Northern Irish conflict.” A bomb has killed 12 people and injured many more, and “anyone with medical training” is urged to “come to the scene immediately.”</p>
<p>The audience doesn’t know if the bomb was detonated by Catholic terrorists or Protestant terrorists. It doesn’t matter. The violence is like a tornado or an earthquake: a disaster suffered by all of Derry’s citizens, who pick up the pieces together.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201548/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joseph Patrick Kelly is affiliated with the Charleston County (SC) Democratic Party. </span></em></p>
Twenty-five years after the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement, Northern Ireland is still resisting the culture of violence.
Joseph Patrick Kelly, Professor of Literature and Director of Irish and Irish American Studies, College of Charleston
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/202196
2023-04-04T12:15:00Z
2023-04-04T12:15:00Z
New EU-UK trade deal has promise for Northern Ireland and US as well
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518029/original/file-20230328-518-tnu3a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=23%2C0%2C7919%2C5306&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, left, and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen announce their new trade agreement. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/britains-prime-minister-rishi-sunak-and-european-commission-news-photo/1247535827">Dan Kitwood/Pool/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A new trade agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom, which left the EU in 2020, could have finally found a way to safeguard peace in Northern Ireland after Brexit reignited old tensions.</p>
<p>The deal between the EU and the U.K., called the <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9736/">Windsor Framework</a>, lays out new rules about how trade will move between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, the island that consists of Scotland, Wales and England, the other three provinces of the United Kingdom.</p>
<p>Among other changes, the Windsor Framework creates two categories of items being shipped from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. Items intended to stay in Northern Ireland would have free passage, but those destined to cross the border into the Republic of Ireland – which is in the EU – would face stringent screening. </p>
<p>The agreement has been <a href="https://www.irishcentral.com/news/politics/windsor-framework-ratified">ratified by the U.K. Parliament and the European Union</a>. But it remains to be seen whether Northern Ireland’s unionist political parties will accept it and lift their boycott of the provincial government.</p>
<p>Since unionists’ refusal to join the power-sharing assembly began in 2022, elected representatives in Northern Ireland have not been able to tackle a growing backlog of critical issues, including the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/nov/19/northern-irish-healthcare-in-crisis-amid-political-deadlock">declining quality and availability of health care</a>, the shortage of housing, the <a href="https://viewdigital.org/crushed-by-the-cost-of-living-crisis/">rising cost of energy</a> and <a href="https://www.newsletter.co.uk/business/consumer/cost-of-living/northern-ireland-being-hit-harder-by-cost-of-living-crisis-than-other-parts-of-the-uk-as-more-forced-to-cut-back-on-essentials-which-research-shows-4020648">inflation</a>.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=V4yncf0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">scholars</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=6nkxNe8AAAAJ">of</a> Northern Irish politics, we see a newly approved trade deal as an opportunity to return Northern Ireland’s political attention to those crucial issues.</p>
<h2>A history of trouble</h2>
<p>In the late 1960s, a period of violence known as “The Troubles” began, pitting nationalists, who want Northern Ireland to become part of the Republic of Ireland and are mostly Catholic, against unionists, who want it to remain part of the United Kingdom and are mostly Protestant. Over the following three decades, <a href="https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/sutton/tables/Status_Summary.html">about 3,500 people were killed</a> and <a href="https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/ni/security.htm#05">another 47,000 were injured</a> in riots, assassinations and other violence. These events were largely in the six counties of Northern Ireland, which are part of the U.K., but also happened in the neighboring nation of Ireland and the remainder of the U.K., on the island of Great Britain. </p>
<p>A 1998 agreement between the U.K. and Irish governments and various political groups in Northern Ireland ended the violence. That deal, called the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-61968177">Good Friday Agreement by nationalists and the Belfast Agreement by unionists</a>, set up a power-sharing provincial government in Northern Ireland, close links between this new government and the Irish government, and various systems for cooperation and coordination between the U.K. and Irish governments. </p>
<p>The agreement also allowed people who lived in Northern Ireland to identify as Irish, British or both and carry passports from both places. These measures made it easier for people with different identities in Northern Ireland to coexist, and in some cases to express complex identities. Today, for example, <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/over-one-third-of-north-s-population-hold-irish-passport-1.4814375">more than one-third of Northern Ireland’s population</a> carry an Irish passport.</p>
<p>And the 1998 agreement says that the decision about whether Northern Ireland should remain part of the U.K. or unite with Ireland should be decided only by a majority vote of Northern Ireland’s people.</p>
<p>When the agreement was signed, both the U.K. and Ireland were part of the EU. The EU’s common market allows goods, people and business activities to flow freely between member nations, without customs or passport controls. </p>
<p>Within a few years of the 1998 agreement, trade and people were flowing seamlessly, rendering the border all but invisible – especially after the U.K. removed <a href="https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/issues/politics/border/border-violence.htm">military installations and the fortified barriers</a> at the land border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518030/original/file-20230328-5054-txd7na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A large commercial truck stops at a gate with a booth and a person holding a piece of paper." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518030/original/file-20230328-5054-txd7na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518030/original/file-20230328-5054-txd7na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518030/original/file-20230328-5054-txd7na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518030/original/file-20230328-5054-txd7na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518030/original/file-20230328-5054-txd7na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518030/original/file-20230328-5054-txd7na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518030/original/file-20230328-5054-txd7na.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The port of Belfast is a crucial point in trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/freight-lorries-are-checked-after-disembarking-from-the-p-o-news-photo/1247533288">Paul Faith/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Brexit risks peace</h2>
<p>With the help of a strengthening EU, the peace was stable until 2016. That year, the people of the U.K. voted to leave the EU, though the majority of <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/brexit-northern-ireland-votes-to-remain-in-the-eu-1.2697132">voters in Northern Ireland wanted to remain</a> in the union. </p>
<p>The departure of the U.K. from the EU meant the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland mattered again. It would no longer be a technical, administrative boundary between EU member nations, but rather a point where goods and people would flow into and out of the EU and a non-EU country. </p>
<p>Tensions flared over where to put these checks and the possible new divisions they would create between either Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K.</p>
<p>In 2019 the U.K. and the EU agreed to a deal, called the Northern Ireland Protocol, that established a kind of border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. It involved burdensome and slow customs checks on all goods arriving at Northern Irish ports and prohibitions on some goods including sausages, medicines, plants and potatoes. </p>
<p>Those problems sparked stiff resistance from unionists, who said it had done what they feared: <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-46988529">separated them from their nation</a>.</p>
<p>In 2022, in protest against the Protocol, the Democratic Unionist Party, a key party in Northern Irish politics, <a href="https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/no-stormont-return-until-ni-protocol-is-replaced-dup-leader-says/42170991.html">withdrew from the provincial government</a>, effectively shutting it down. </p>
<p>Now, the Windsor Framework keeps key border protections around the EU but eases a lot of the restrictions created in the 2019 agreement.</p>
<h2>A key US role</h2>
<p>There is an element of U.S. foreign policy at work here, too. The U.S. was <a href="https://joewilson.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/wilson-resolution-calls-for-full-implementation-of-belfastgood-friday">key to negotiating the 1998 agreement</a>, and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/10/why-joe-biden-is-so-invested-in-defending-good-friday-agreement">successive administrations</a> have championed it as the only way to a sustainable peace. </p>
<p>When the U.K. voted to withdraw from the EU, the departure meant the U.K. needed to negotiate a new trade agreement with the U.S. But the U.S. decided to force the U.K. to work out its departure from the EU – in ways consistent with the 1998 agreement – before U.S.-U.K. trade talks could truly begin.</p>
<p>With the Windsor Framework agreed upon, the U.S. will <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/13/politics/biden-northern-ireland-visit/index.html">likely send President Joe Biden</a> to visit both Ireland and Northern Ireland, potentially as soon as April, to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1998 agreement. The new U.S. special envoy to Northern Ireland for economic affairs, Joe Kennedy III, a former Democratic congressman from Massachusetts, is also <a href="https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2023/01/19/news/us_envoy_promises_to_champion_northern_ireland_s_compelling_potential_-3005755/">expected to travel to Northern Ireland soon</a>, with U.S. investors eager to take advantage of <a href="https://www.newsletter.co.uk/business/us-president-joe-bidens-special-envoy-to-northern-ireland-joe-kennedy-hears-call-from-ni-business-for-new-economic-good-friday-agreement-4064604">Northern Ireland’s unique connections</a> with both the EU and the U.K. markets.</p>
<p>All eyes are now on the Democratic Unionist Party. Its members voted against the Windsor Framework in the U.K. Parliament in late March, but the people of Northern Ireland, including many unionists and the business community, want a functioning government.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202196/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kimberly Cowell-Meyers is affiliated with the Ad-hoc Committee to Protect the Good Friday Agreement but does not represent the group and the views expressed here are her own. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carolyn Gallaher is affiliated with the Ad-hoc Committee for the Protection of the Good Friday Agreement. This is an ad-hoc, bi-partisna voluntary group. It is not a lobby and there are no membership fees or responsibilities for members. It also does not have 501c3 status. However, we are not representing this group. The views expressed here are our own. </span></em></p>
A newly approved trade deal could be an opportunity to return Northern Ireland’s political attention to pressing issues of health care, housing, energy costs and inflation.
Kimberly Cowell-Meyers, Assistant Professor, Department of Government, American University School of Public Affairs
Carolyn Gallaher, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, American University School of International Service
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