The Northern Ireland Question

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xii

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2. Introduction

   • Brian Barton, Patrick J. Roche

   Pages 1-11

3. The Historical Background to the Belfast Agreement

   • Brian Barton

   Pages 12-37

4. Negotiating the Belfast Agreement

   • Thomas Hennessey

   Pages 38-56

5. Implementing Devolved Government 1998–2002

   • Graham Gudgin

   Pages 57-83

6. The Belfast Agreement and the Constitutional Status of Northern Ireland

   • Austen Morgan

   Pages 84-104

7. The Electoral Dynamics of the Belfast Agreement

   • Sydney Elliott

   Pages 105-130

8. Unionism and the Belfast Agreement

   • Christopher Farrington

   Pages 131-146

9. Northern Nationalism and the Belfast Agreement

   • Cillian McGrattan

   Pages 147-164

10. Republican Paramilitaries and the Peace Process

    • Jonathan Tonge

    Pages 165-180

11. Loyalist Paramilitaries and the Peace Process

    • Ian Wood

    Pages 181-204

12. The Belfast Agreement and Southern Irish Politics

    • Catherine O’Donnell

    Pages 205-221

13. The United States and the Peace Process

    • Adrian Guelke

    Pages 222-237

14. The Triumph of the Belfast Agreement

    • Paul Bew

    Pages 238-245

15. The Case against the Belfast Agreement

    • Dennis Kennedy

    Pages 246-264

16. Conclusion

    • Brian Barton, Patrick J. Roche

    Pages 265-269

17. Back Matter

    Pages 270-286

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The book examines how the Belfast Agreement came about and its effect on unionism, nationalism, the paramilitaries, electoral support for local parties and the constitutional position of Northern Ireland. It also considers the extent to which the Agreement may be regarded as an exercise in political cynicism or the basis for lasting peace.

• constitution
• government
• Historical Background
• nationalism
• British Politics

'The Belfast Agreement of 1998 has undergone rigorous and at times dangerous tests. Brian Barton and Patrick Roche have assembled a team of experts who give a comprehensive history of an unlikely compromise that has influenced and reflected politics and society in Northern Ireland, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.' - George Boyce, Emeritus Professor, University of Swansea, UK

'This is a uniformly readable, challenging, and insightful collection of essays on the Northern Ireland Peace Process. It offers impressive intellectual range, authoritative scholarship, and incisive critical comment and analysis. It should be read and reflected upon by all students of Northern Ireland politics and, indeed, the Province's politicians themselves.' Graham Walker, Professor of Political History, Queen's University Belfast, UK

'This invaluable resource for future students of the Belfast Agreement and the social, political, economic and cultural circumstances that led to it, is worth acquiring for the sparkling contributions of Paul Bew (broadly supportive) and Dennis Kennedy (more than sceptical) alone.' - Dr Ruth Dudley Edwards, Historian and Commentator

• Department of History, The Open University, UK

  Brian Barton

• Northern Ireland

  Patrick J. Roche

BRIAN BARTON tutors in history with the Open University, and has authored or edited eleven books on Irish history and politics. These include, Secret Court Martial Records of the 1916 Easter Rising, and The Easter Rising (co-author with Michael Foy). He also contributed chapters on Northern Ireland to A New History of Ireland, Vol. 8.

PATRICK J. ROCHE was Lecturer in Economics at the University of Ulster, UK (1974-96) and a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (1998-2003). Publications include a contribution on contemporary Irish nationalism to Jurgen Elvert (ed), Northern Ireland: Past and Present, and co-editor (with Brian Barton) of three books on the Northern Ireland question including, The Northern Ireland Question: Nationalism, Unionism and Partition.

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