Northern Ireland: Challenges of Peace and Reconciliation Since the Good Friday Agreement

The Good Friday Agreement, signed in Belfast in 1998, has been under scrutiny for over 20 years, particularly in the current political context in Northern Ireland. The Brexit negotiations and the issue of the Irish border have created tensions between Dublin and London. This collection of essays examines the implementation of the Agreement, interfaith, cultural, social, and economic developments, and the initiatives to promote reconciliation.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 298 pages
Publication date: 22 December 2021
Publisher: Peter Lang International Academic Publishers

More than two decades after the peace agreement was signed in Belfast on April 10, 1998, an assessment is long overdue, especially given the current political context in Northern Ireland. A severe political crisis led to the suspension of the regional institutions from January 2017 to January 2020, and the Brexit negotiations did not facilitate the search for a solution, especially as the confidence-and-supply agreement between the British Conservative Party and the DUP prevented London from acting as an honest broker between Sinn Féin and the DUP. At the same time, the issue of the Irish border created tensions between Dublin and London. This situation was compounded by the resurgence of rioting, mostly in Loyalist areas of Belfast and Derry/Londonderry, in April 2021, against the backdrop of Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol and communal resentment.

Emanating from a conference jointly organized at the University of Caen Normandy and La Rochelle University, this collection of essays – bringing together academic and independent scholars from various disciplines and nationalities – takes a critical look at the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, from the collaboration between Dublin and London to the new political configurations in Northern Ireland, as well as interfaith, cultural, social, and economic developments. Divided into three main parts, it provides an opportunity to better understand the reasons for the apparent deterioration in inter-community understanding since 1998, but also to study the numerous initiatives that have sought to promote reconciliation, be it in the economy, the working environment, in the literary and artistic spheres, in schools, or in the urban landscape.

Weight: 453g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781789978179
Edition number: New ed