The Legacy of the Good Friday Agreement: Northern Irish Politics, Culture and Art after 1998 (Palgrave Studies in Compromise after Conflict)

This book provides a multidisciplinary collection of essays that seek to explore the deeply problematic legacy of post-Agreement Northern Ireland. Thus, the authors of this book look at a number of issues that continue to stymie the development of a robust and sustainable peacebuilding project, including segregation, contested parades and flags, ethnic party mobilization, and memorialization. Towards addressing these contemporary issues, authors are drawn from a range of disciplines, including politics, history, literature, drama, cultural studies, sociology, and social psychology. Charles I. Armstrong is a Professor of British literature at the University of Agder, Norway. David Herbert is Professor of Sociology at Kingston University, UK, and Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Agder, Norway. Jan Erik Mustad is Associate Professor in British Studies in the Department of Foreign Languages at the University of Agder, Norway.-- Provided by publisher General Editor’s Introduction 6 Acknowledgements 10 Contents 11 Notes on Contributors 14 List of Figures 18 List of Tables 19 Chapter 1: Introduction 20 From Euphoria to Aftermath 20 Unsettled Peace 23 The Structure of This Book 25 Bibliography 31 Chapter 2: The Northern Irish Peace Process: Political Issues and Controversies 34 Introduction 34 The Origins of the Peace Process 35 Negotiations: Front Stage and Behind the Scenes 36 Performing the Peace Process 38 The Centre Falls, Hardliners Triumph: 1998–2007 39 Peace in Our Time? 41 Paramilitarism 42 The Electoral Landscape 45 Inter-Communal Tensions 46 Dealing with the Past (and the Present) 47 Brexit 49 Evaluating the Peace Process 50 Bibliography 51 Part I: The Will to Change: Key Players and Events 53 Chapter 3: Tony Blair’s Honourable Deception: In Defence of the ‘Dirty’ Politics of the Northern Ireland Peace Process 54 Introduction 54 Deception and Politics 56 Deception and the Good Friday Agreement 57 The Referendum Campaign: An ‘Honourable’ Deception? 60 Blair’s Retreat on Prisoners and the Assembly Elections 65 Conclusion 70 Bibliography 71 Chapter 4: ‘George Mitchell’s Peace’: The Good Friday Agreement in Colum McCann’s Novel TransAtlantic 73 Introduction 73 Sixty-One Children: Mitchell as Person and Politician 75 Anatomy of a Hero 79 Fiction Without Fact? Wider Perspectives 83 Bibliography 86 Chapter 5: From Protest to Power: The Rise of the DUP 88 Introduction 88 Intra-unionist Rivalry 1998–2003: The Growth of the DUP and the Rise of a New Protestantism 90 The Centre Cannot Hold: The Assembly Election in 2003 93 The DUP Turnaround 2003–2006 95 The End and the Beginning 99 Bibliography 100 Part II: Winners, Losers and Beyond the Zero Sum Game? 101 Chapter 6: Troubling Victims: Representing a New Politics of Victimhood in Northern Ireland on Stage and Screen 102 Introduction: The Agreement and Victimhood 102 Troubling Victimhood 106 A ‘new’ Politics of Victimhood 111 Meeting at Menin Gate 112 A Belfast Story 117 Conclusions 118 Bibliography 119 Chapter 7: A Bitter Peace: Flag Protests, the Politics of No and Culture Wars 122 Introduction 122 The Form and Aesthetics of the Flag Protests 127 A Wider Context: Cultures of Protest 131 History and Context: The Politics of No 133 In Defence of Our Culture: Parades and Protests 138 Decline and Transition of the Flag Protests 142 Bibliography 143 Chapter 8: A Gender-Balanced Approach to Transforming Cultures of Militarism in Northern Ireland 146 Introduction 146 Cultures of Militarism 149 Cultures of Militarism in Northern Ireland 151 Republican Culture of Militarism 153 Loyalist Culture of Militarism 154 British Armed Forces Culture of Militarism 157 Transforming of Cultures of Militarism? 160 Conclusion: A Gender-Balanced Approach to Transforming Cultures of Militarism 161 Bibliography 163 Chapter 9: Making Hope and History Rhyme? Dealing with Division and the Past in Northern Ireland After the Good Friday Agreement 166 Introduction 166 The Reports 168 ‘A Shared Future’ (2005) 169 The Present: Between Positive Change, Economic Loss, and a Growing Tumour 169 The Past: Managing History 170 The Future: ‘A Normal Civic Society’ 171 A Challenge to Consociationalism 172 ‘The Report of the Consultative Group on the Past’ (2009) 173 The Present: Progress, but Still in the Shadows of the Past 173 The Past: Acknowledging Complexity and Pain 174 The Future: Reconciliation Through Truth, Apology, and Forgiveness 175 Historicising or Excusing? 176 ‘Programme for Cohesion, Sharing, and Integration’ (2010) 177 The Present: Safeguarding Identities and Building Confidence 177 The Past: Contextualisation and Making the Present Look Good 179 The Future: ‘A Peaceful, Secure, and Shared Future for All’ 179 Building Stability or Facilitating Apartheid? 180 Conclusion 181 Bibliography 183 Part III: The Efficacy and Narratives of Culture 186 Chapter 10: The Shore (2011): Examining the Reconciliation Narrative in Post-Troubles Cinema 187 Release and Promotion of The Shore 189 Domesticating Reconciliation 190 Reconciliation in The Shore 193 The Tourist Gaze 194 Recurring Motifs in Irish Cinema 196 Conclusion 198 Bibliography 199 Chapter 11: Elementals in Language: Seamus Heaney After the Good Friday Agreement 201 Transmutation 201 Anti-Alchemy 205 Fire and Earth, Water and Air: Electric Light and District and Circle 209 Alchemy 216 Bibliography 217 Chapter 12: Finished and Under Construction: Visual Representation and Spatial Relations in Post-­Ceasefire Northern Irish Poetry 219 Post-Ceasefire Perspectives and Aesthetics 219 The Political Aesthetics of Sinéad Morrissey’s Media Archaeology 222 The Politics of Quotidian Space: Leontia Flynn 228 Alan Gillis: Visual Landscapes and Framed Digital Selves 231 Conclusion 237 Bibliography 237 Chapter 13: Post-Good Friday Positions and Parallaxes in Sinéad Morrissey’s Poetry 240 Introduction 240 Double Visions and Diversity 243 Inbetweenness and Liminality 245 Incarceration and Liberty 248 Insights and Outlooks 251 Parallaxes 252 Conclusion 255 Bibliography 256 Part IV: The Future of Peace 258 Chapter 14: Legacies of 1998: What Kind of Social Peace Has Developed in Northern Ireland? Social Attitudes, Inequalities, and Territorialities 259 Introduction 259 Changing Social Attitudes? Education, Housing, and Harassment in the Life and Times Survey 1998–2016 261 The Ongoing Impact of the Troubles: The 2012 Poverty and Social Exclusion (PSE) Survey and Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure (NIMDM) 264 Neo-Liberalism and Liberal Peace Policies: Welfare Reform, Economic Stimulus, and Social Cohesion 266 Theories of Peace-Building and the Role of Non-­aligned Civil Society 269 Communications Technologies and Community Boundaries 274 Cultural Projects and Renegotiating Community Boundaries 275 Conclusion 277 Bibliography 278 Chapter 15: The Sociology of the Northern Irish Peace Process 281 Introduction 281 The Sociology of Peace Processes 283 Structural Problems in the Social Peace Process 288 Conclusion 294 Bibliography 297 Index 300 Front Matter ....Pages i-xxi Introduction (Charles I. Armstrong, David Herbert, Jan Erik Mustad)....Pages 1-14 The Northern Irish Peace Process: Political Issues and Controversies (Eamonn O’Kane, Paul Dixon)....Pages 15-33 Front Matter ....Pages 35-35 Tony Blair’s Honourable Deception: In Defence of the ‘Dirty’ Politics of the Northern Ireland Peace Process (Paul Dixon)....Pages 37-55 ‘George Mitchell’s Peace’: The Good Friday Agreement in Colum McCann’s Novel TransAtlantic (Charles I. Armstrong)....Pages 57-71 From Protest to Power: The Rise of the DUP (Jan Erik Mustad)....Pages 73-85 Front Matter ....Pages 87-87 Troubling Victims: Representing a New Politics of Victimhood in Northern Ireland on Stage and Screen (Stefanie Lehner)....Pages 89-108 A Bitter Peace: Flag Protests, the Politics of No and Culture Wars (Neil Jarman)....Pages 109-132 A Gender-Balanced Approach to Transforming Cultures of Militarism in Northern Ireland (Gladys Ganiel)....Pages 133-152 Making Hope and History Rhyme? Dealing with Division and the Past in Northern Ireland After the Good Friday Agreement (Sissel Rosland)....Pages 153-172 Front Matter ....Pages 173-173 The Shore (2011): Examining the Reconciliation Narrative in Post-Troubles Cinema (Seán Crosson)....Pages 175-188 Elementals in Language: Seamus Heaney After the Good Friday Agreement (Margaret Mills Harper)....Pages 189-206 Finished and Under Construction: Visual Representation and Spatial Relations in Post-Ceasefire Northern Irish Poetry (Anne Karhio)....Pages 207-227 Post-Good Friday Positions and Parallaxes in Sinéad Morrissey’s Poetry (Ruben Moi)....Pages 229-246 Front Matter ....Pages 247-247 Legacies of 1998: What Kind of Social Peace Has Developed in Northern Ireland? Social Attitudes, Inequalities, and Territorialities (David Herbert)....Pages 249-270 The Sociology of the Northern Irish Peace Process (John D. Brewer)....Pages 271-289 Back Matter ....Pages 291-297