DOCSLIB.ORG

Fortnight Magazine

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Fortnight Magazine september 2020 issue 479 50 FORTNIGHT@ politics, arts & culture in northern ireland What future for Northern Ireland? Four Futures by Richard Humphreys, Tom Hadden, Colin Harvey and Hugh Logue; The Economics of NIRexit by Katy Hayward; ‘Others’ identity issues; New normality by Malachi O’Doherty and Covid Monologues x 7 contact us at: [email protected] www.fortnightmagazine.org ean: 978 0141 77628 6 To register for further information on future publications contact us on our website www.fortnightmagazine.org and fill in the form in the Contact section. To contact us on more general editorial issues write to [email protected]. To order and pay for more printed copies of this issue transfer £10 per copy to the Fortnight Publications Ltd account at the the Ulster Bank (sort code 98-00-60, acc. no. 13076431) and enter your postal address at [email protected]. Copies may also be collected or ordered direct from No Alibis, 83 Botanic Avenue, Belfast BT7 1JL; telephone 028 9031 9601; email [email protected]. Contents ortnight @50 Editorial 1 Futures Richard Humphreys: What do we talk about when What future for Northern we talk about a United Ireland? 2 Colin Harvey: Imagining a New Ireland Ireland? f 5 Tom Hadden: Plus ça change …? 8 Hugh Logue: Ireland: a positive conversation 12 Fortnight is back. This new issue is partly to Politics celebrate the 50th anniversary of our first issue but Feargal Cochrane: ‘It’s a long way from Finchley’ 15 also to look forward into the future. Bobby McDonagh: Evolving Irish attitudes 17 When we started in 1970 Northern Ireland was Jamie Pow: More democracy with citizens’ assemblies 19 facing a troubled and uncertain future. Over the next Katy Hayward: Customs, consent and compromise 22 forty years we played a small part in the search for peace and stability. We ceased publication in 2012 Identity when the situation seemed more peaceful and Paul Nolan: The lives of Others 25 settled – and when people stopped buying printed Claire Mitchell: Divided politics – blended lives 27 magazines. Tamilore Awonusi: Can I be more than … 29 Now that we are again facing an uncertain future we Martyn Turner: Nor’n Irish for ever 31 are relaunching the magazine both in an initial printed version and also in a digital format which will Law be free at the point of delivery. The aim is to Brice Dickson: The on-going Bill of Rights debate 33 recreate Fortnight as a forum for diverse Louise Mallinder: What next for dealing with the past 36 contributions on the full range of our political, economic, cultural and artistic lives in a territory Culture caught by history between the British and Irish Malachi O’Doherty: Changed normality 40 nations and states. Andy Pollak: Fortnight – a very short history 44 Arts What future for Fortnight Damian Smyth: Fifty years of contested writing 50 We are planning to develop a platform for Edna Longley; The currency of poetry 54 new and younger voices, both as writers Des O’Rawe: Screen politics 58 and as more digitally savvy editors and Steafán Hanvey: Snaps from a cooler remove 61 publishers, to help preserve and develop Covid Monologues the Fortnight tradition of dispassionate analysis, political debunking, cultural Gina Donnelly: Don’t tell me to smile 65 enjoyment and social irreverence. If you Rose Curry: Rebirth 67 are interested please get in touch. But Alice Malseed: The pandemic is online 69 remember, that also in the Fortnight Anne Devlin: The Daily Leopard 71 tradition, it is likely to be largely unpaid Jane McCarthy: Epistolary at the end of summer 73 but hopefully intellectually and otherwise Rosemary Jenkinson: Kim’s Corona Love 75 rewarding. Sarah Reid: A Toxic Lover 77 Books EDITOR: Tom Hadden LITERARY EDITOR: Anne Devlin Mary Robinson on Kevin Boyle biography 79 Design by Wendy Dunbar, Dunbar Design Malachi O’Doherty on new Troubles thrillers 80 Printed by W&G Baird Ltd, Antrim © Fortnight Publications Ltd 2020 o5rtnight0 f@ What do we talk about when we talk about a United Ireland? Richard Humphreys Richard Humphreys is a a judge of the High Court of Ireland. He writes in a personal and academic capacity. His latest book is Beyond the Border: The Good Friday Agreement and Irish Unity after Brexit (Merrion Press, 2018). Speaking in Downing Street on than it is a repudiation of the idea of a single all- 19th November, 1984, island entity. Margaret Thatcher offered the However, as Mrs Thatcher anticipated, that is out. It is out because the Good Friday Agreement following analysis of what a acknowledges the need for special arrangements for united Ireland might look like: the divided society of the 6 counties, and for those “a unified Ireland was one arrangements to continue indefinitely. Those arrangements include a British dimension in solution. That is out. A second perpetuity in the form of an entitlement to UK solution was confederation of citizenship, as well as entrenched requirements on two states. That is out. A third rights, non-discrimination and parity of esteem, solution was joint authority. which are to apply “whatever choice is freely exercised by a majority of the people of Northern That is out.” Ireland”. But Mrs Thatcher got 2 out Power-sharing institutions are also provided for, of 3 right. Not bad by and on balance this can also be seen as a default position into the future unless otherwise agreed. conventional standards. Admittedly there is no explicit provision about what happens to devolution after unity as there is for citizenship and parity of esteem, but the default status of the institutions arises not so much from A unitary state express language as from the general principle of the The traditional default continuation of treaty provisions unless or until idea of a united Ireland is otherwise agreed between the contracting states. that of a unitary state, or The notion of a version of a united Ireland that a single 32-county entity. involves recognition of an entitlement to Britishness Republicans sometimes is a real challenge to armchair nationalism. Do refer derisively to a ‘32 nationalists, particularly Southern nationalists, county Free State’, but that is more a rejection of really have the ‘cultural bandwidth’ to accommodate the social and economic policies of the Irish State the British identity, to use the striking phrase coined 2 FORTNIGHT @ 50 FUTURES by John Wilson Foster? Time will tell, but to sound a lot more sincere if we start to see a bit of nationalism needs to have an honest conversation this up front. Actions speak louder than words, so with itself before it can plausibly talk about Irish the question really is what is nationalism going to unity. do to accommodate the British/ Protestant/ There are grounds for pessimism. If anyone unionist/ loyalist identity now – not just someday. suggests that very modest steps to accommodate the (In that regard, maybe is it worth mentioning that British identity should be considered, they must run the next Commonwealth Games are coming up in the gauntlet of battalions of red-faced Southern 2022 in Birmingham. Something to think about nationalists licking their pencils to fill the letters maybe.) pages with their 26-county brand of patriotic Paddywhackery. Joint authority The Irish Constitution is certainly not fit for A second model for Irish unity is purpose in a 32 county context. It is in many that of joint authority. That is also respects a nationalist document for a nationalist out, at least as a permanent end-state. It is out people. Sure, some of the cold 1930s religiosity has because the Good Friday Agreement rules out all been expunged, but much remains. Its opening such exotic, brainstorming solutions and offers a words, “In the name of the Most Holy Trinity...”, parallel and symmetrical choice between a United and the Catholic-nationalist narrative that Kingdom or a united Ireland based on 50% follows in the Preamble, are culturally +1 vote of the people of Northern Ireland, unintelligible to the modern ear and The Irish subject to parallel consent in the South. emphatically so to the non-nationalist ear. Constitution Parity of esteem means that unionism Even more fundamentally, the right to is certainly is not a superior concept to nationalism, so full political participation under the Constitution is confined to Irish citizens, not fit for there cannot be a convenient rule-change who alone can be members of the purpose in a as soon as unionism gets outvoted. In an Oireachtas. So if a unionist wants to take 32 county alternative historical universe, the time for unionism to advance the merits of joint national political office today, or in a united context. Ireland under the 1937 Constitution, he or authority was at the multi-party talks in she has to thereby become in law an Irish 1996–98. But unionism didn’t have that citizen. That is contrary to the fundamental foresight. Instead it bet the farm on precept of the Good Friday Agreement that permanently staying ahead on the 50%+1 threshold acknowledges the right of everyone in Northern – a bet that looks increasingly misjudged, especially Ireland to be Irish or British or both as they after Brexit. For anyone to suggest this or any other individually decide. Indeed you can’t be exclusively Union-friendly change to the Good Friday British and even be allowed to vote in a referendum Agreement rules of engagement now, or as soon as under the Constitution, let alone hold elective nationalism looks like achieving its objectives under office. So in that and other respects, the 1937 those rules, would be an exercise in intellectual Constitution impedes the very unity it is at pains to dishonesty, the rejection of which will be as champion.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • John F. Morrison Phd Thesis
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by St Andrews Research Repository 'THE AFFIRMATION OF BEHAN?' AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE POLITICISATION PROCESS OF THE PROVISIONAL IRISH REPUBLICAN MOVEMENT THROUGH AN ORGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS OF SPLITS FROM 1969 TO 1997 John F. Morrison A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2010 Full metadata for this item is available in Research@StAndrews:FullText at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/3158 This item is protected by original copyright ‘The Affirmation of Behan?’ An Understanding of the Politicisation Process of the Provisional Irish Republican Movement Through an Organisational Analysis of Splits from 1969 to 1997. John F. Morrison School of International Relations Ph.D. 2010 SUBMISSION OF PHD AND MPHIL THESES REQUIRED DECLARATIONS 1. Candidate’s declarations: I, John F. Morrison, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 82,000 words in length, has been written by me, that it is the record of work carried out by me and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. I was admitted as a research student in September 2005 and as a candidate for the degree of Ph.D. in May, 2007; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of St Andrews between 2005 and 2010. Date 25-Aug-10 Signature of candidate 2. Supervisor’s declaration: I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of Ph.D.
    [Show full text]
  • Paddy Devlin: Republican Labour and the Catholic Community The
    Paddy Devlin: Republican Labour and the Catholic Community The Labour movement tends to clash with Catholicism in vastly differing world-views, concepts of state power, and social change,1 and these battles took place in Northern Ireland as elsewhere. Indeed one of the many absurdities of the fashionable labelling of all Ulster Protestants as instinctive political conservatives is that a basic glance at the Labour movement in Northern Ireland reveals the prevalence of numerous Protestants. Many of the key figures of Labour in Northern Ireland, and especially those who came to prominence within the Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP), were Protestant: Alex Boyd, Harry Midgley, Billy McMullen, Sam Kyle, Jack Beattie, David Bleakley, Tom Boyd, Billy Boyd, Vivian Simpson, and many others.2 One figure who breaks this trend is my grandfather Paddy Devlin, who was born and grew up in the Catholic working-class Lower Falls area of Belfast known as the Pound Loney. Paddy was a fiercely individualist and often changeable politician whose compassion and vision was matched by his aggression and idiosyncratic revision(s). Like many Irish politicians, what he said at one time tended to change over a relatively short space of time. However, we can surmise that what he represents in many ways is ‘Republican Labour’: a confusing choice of language in that this was a real political party in Northern Ireland headed at one time by my grandfather’s Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) colleague Gerry Fitt.3 Though this association was Fitt’s, in some ways Republican Labour perfectly captures my grandfather’s political synthesis.
    [Show full text]
  • The Immigrant in Contemporary Irish Literature
    From Byzantium to Ballymun A review of Literary visions of multicultural Ireland: the immigrant in contemporary Irish literature. Ed. Pilar Villar-Argáiz. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2014. Pb 2015. 273 pps. A book like Literary visions of multicultural Ireland: the immigrant in contemporary Irish literature has been long-awaited, and since its publication the topic of migrations has become more burning than ever. That the phenomenon of immigration is more striking in Ireland than in many other countries is due to several factors, the most striking of which would be that Ireland has (1) known a centuries-long history of emigration, (2) an almost equally long history of being colonized and (3) a small population on a much divided island. In The Ex-Isle of Erin (1997) O’Toole punningly catches the inversion of the above situation as the tradition of ‘exile’ has been replaced by mass immigration while the country has been ‘un-islanded’ in its embrace by the EU’s vaster network of (mainly) continental countries. This densely printed book contains 18 contributions divided over four parts: Part I deals with ‘Irish multiculturalisms: obstacles and challenges’; Part II ‘‘Rethink[s] Ireland’ as a postnationalist community’; Part III focuses on ‘‘The return of the repressed’: ‘performing’ Irishness through intercultural encounters’; Part IV, finally, looks at ‘Gender and the city’. In this review I will first present the Irish sociological background as sketched by the contributors, then discuss each of the literary genres scrutinized in this book and conclude with a general assessment. That Ireland has undergone major changes since Mary Robinson became president is obvious.
    [Show full text]
  • Free Derry – a “No Go” Area
    MODULE 1. THE NORTHERN IRELAND CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT 5: FREE DERRY – A “NO GO” AREA LESSON LESSON DESCRIPTION 5. This lesson will follow up on the events of The Battle of the Bogside and look at the establishment of a “No Go” area in the Bogside of Derry/Londonderry. The lesson will examine the reasons why it was set up and how it was maintained and finally how it came to an end. LESSON INTENTIONS LESSON OUTCOMES 1. Explain the reasons why • Students will be able to explain barricades remained up after the the reasons why “Free Derry” was Battle of the Bogside. able to exist after the Battle of the 2. Explain the reasons why the Bogside had ended and how it barricades were taken down. came to an end. 3. Demonstrate objectives 1 & 2 • Employ ICT skills to express an through digital media. understanding of the topic HANDOUTS DIGITAL SOFTWARE HARDWARE AND GUIDES • Lesson 5 Key • Suggested • Image • Whiteboard Information Additional Editing • PCs / Laptops Resources Software • M1L5 • Headphones / e.g. GIMP Statements Microphone • Digital • Audio Imaging Editing Design Sheet Software e.g. • Audio Editing Audacity Storyboard www.nervecentre.org/teachingdividedhistories MODULE 1: LESSON 5: LESSON PLAN 61 MODULE 1. THE NORTHERN IRELAND CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT 5: FREE DERRY – A “NO GO” AREA ACTIVITY LEARNING OUTCOMES Show the class a news report via This will give the pupils an insight as BBC archive footage which reports to how and why the barricades were on the events of the Battle of the erected around the Bogside area of Bogside (see Suggested Additional Derry/Londonderry.
    [Show full text]
  • The Troubles in Northern Ireland and Theories of Social Movements
    11 PROTEST AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS Bosi & De Fazio (eds) Bosi Fazio & De and Theories of of Theories and in Northern Ireland The Troubles Social Movements Social Edited by Lorenzo Bosi and Gianluca De Fazio The Troubles in Northern Ireland and Theories of Social Movements The Troubles in Northern Ireland and Theories of Social Movements Protest and Social Movements Recent years have seen an explosion of protest movements around the world, and academic theories are racing to catch up with them. This series aims to further our understanding of the origins, dealings, decisions, and outcomes of social movements by fostering dialogue among many traditions of thought, across European nations and across continents. All theoretical perspectives are welcome. Books in the series typically combine theory with empirical research, dealing with various types of mobilization, from neighborhood groups to revolutions. We especially welcome work that synthesizes or compares different approaches to social movements, such as cultural and structural traditions, micro- and macro-social, economic and ideal, or qualitative and quantitative. Books in the series will be published in English. One goal is to encourage non- native speakers to introduce their work to Anglophone audiences. Another is to maximize accessibility: all books will be available in open access within a year after printed publication. Series Editors Jan Willem Duyvendak is professor of Sociology at the University of Amsterdam. James M. Jasper teaches at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. The Troubles in Northern Ireland and Theories of Social Movements Edited by Lorenzo Bosi and Gianluca De Fazio Amsterdam University Press Cover illustration: Two rows of RUC Land Rovers keeping warring factions, the Nationalists (near the camera) and Loyalists, apart on Irish Street, Downpatrick.
    [Show full text]
  • Friedensnobelpreisträger Alljährlich Am 10
    WikiPress Friedensnobelpreisträger Alljährlich am 10. Dezember, dem Todestag Alfred Nobels, wird der Frie- Friedensnobelpreisträger densnobelpreis vom norwegischen König in Oslo verliehen. Im Jahr 1901 erhielt Henri Dunant für die Gründung des Roten Kreuzes und seine Ini- Geschichte, Personen, Organisationen tiative zum Abschluss der Genfer Konvention als Erster die begehrte Aus- zeichnung. Mit dem Preis, den Nobel in seinem Testament gestiftet hatte, wurden weltweit zum ersten Mal die Leistungen der Friedensbewegung Aus der freien Enzyklopädie Wikipedia offiziell gewürdigt. Im Gegensatz zu den anderen Nobelpreisen kann der zusammengestellt von Friedensnobelpreis auch an Organisationen vergeben werden, die an ei- nem Friedensprozess beteiligt sind. Dieses Buch stellt in ausführlichen Achim Raschka Beiträgen sämtliche Friedensnobelpreisträger seit 1901 sachkundig vor. Alle Artikel sind aus der freien Enzyklopädie Wikipedia zusammen- gestellt und zeichnen ein lebendiges Bild von der Vielfalt, Dynamik und Qualität freien Wissens – zu dem jeder beitragen kann. Achim Raschka hat einige Jahre seines Lebens damit verbracht, Biologie zu studieren, und vor vier Jahren sein Diplom mit den Schwerpunkten Zoologie, Humanbiologie, Ökologie und Paläontologie abgeschlossen. Er ist verheiratet und Vater von zwei Kindern, hat einen Facharbeiterbrief als Physiklaborant, ist ehemaliger Zivildienstleistender einer Jugendherberge in Nordhessen sowie ambitionierter Rollenspieler und Heavy-Metal-Fan. Während seines Studiums betreute er verschiedene Kurse, vor allem in Ökologie (Bodenzoologie und Limnologie), Zoologie sowie in Evolutions- biologie und Systematik. Seit dem Studium darf er als Dozent an der Frei- en Universität in Berlin regelmäßig eigene Kurse in Ökologie geben. Au- ßerdem war er kurz beim Deutschen Humangenomprojekt (DHGP) und betreute mehrere Jahre Portale bei verschiedenen Internetplattformen. Zur Wikipedia kam Achim Raschka während seiner Zeit im Erziehungs- urlaub für seinen jüngeren Sohn.
    [Show full text]
  • Orca.Cf.Ac.Uk/126699
    This is an Open Access document downloaded from ORCA, Cardiff University's institutional repository: http://orca.cf.ac.uk/126699/ This is the author’s version of a work that was submitted to / accepted for publication. Citation for final published version: Lagana, Giada 2017. A preliminary investigation on the genesis of EU cross-border cooperation on the island of Ireland. Space and Polity 21 (3) , pp. 298-302. 10.1080/13562576.2017.1379928 file Publishers page: https://doi.org/10.1080/13562576.2017.1379928 <https://doi.org/10.1080/13562576.2017.1379928> Please note: Changes made as a result of publishing processes such as copy-editing, formatting and page numbers may not be reflected in this version. For the definitive version of this publication, please refer to the published source. You are advised to consult the publisher’s version if you wish to cite this paper. This version is being made available in accordance with publisher policies. See http://orca.cf.ac.uk/policies.html for usage policies. Copyright and moral rights for publications made available in ORCA are retained by the copyright holders. A preliminary investigation on the genesis of EU cross-border cooperation on the island of Ireland Dr Giada Lagana, Cardiff University Please cite the published version: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/V3XJMMyA79NFVms48aPJ/full Abstract The Good Friday Agreement of April 1998 led to the creation of a new set of political institutions within Northern Ireland and between Great Britain and the island of Ireland. A central tenet of the agreement was to promote cross-border cooperation on an all Ireland and border region basis and, consequently, the new institutional setting for this cooperation forms the core of this research.
    [Show full text]
  • Volume I Return to an Address of the Honourable the House of Commons Dated 15 June 2010 for The
    Report of the Return to an Address of the Honourable the House of Commons dated 15 June 2010 for the Report of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry The Rt Hon The Lord Saville of Newdigate (Chairman) Bloody Sunday Inquiry – Volume I Bloody Sunday Inquiry – Volume The Hon William Hoyt OC The Hon John Toohey AC Volume I Outline Table of Contents General Introduction Glossary Principal Conclusions and Overall Assessment Published by TSO (The Stationery Office) and available from: Online The Background to Bloody www.tsoshop.co.uk Mail, Telephone, Fax & E-mail Sunday TSO PO Box 29, Norwich NR3 1GN Telephone orders/General enquiries: 0870 600 5522 Order through the Parliamentary Hotline Lo-Call: 0845 7 023474 Fax orders: 0870 600 5533 E-mail: [email protected] Textphone: 0870 240 3701 The Parliamentary Bookshop 12 Bridge Street, Parliament Square, London SW1A 2JX This volume is accompanied by a DVD containing the full Telephone orders/General enquiries: 020 7219 3890 Fax orders: 020 7219 3866 text of the report Email: [email protected] Internet: www.bookshop.parliament.uk TSO@Blackwell and other Accredited Agents Customers can also order publications from £572.00 TSO Ireland 10 volumes 16 Arthur Street, Belfast BT1 4GD not sold Telephone: 028 9023 8451 Fax: 028 9023 5401 HC29-I separately Return to an Address of the Honourable the House of Commons dated 15 June 2010 for the Report of the Bloody Sunday Inquiry The Rt Hon The Lord Saville of Newdigate (Chairman) The Hon William Hoyt OC The Hon John Toohey AC Ordered by the House of Commons
    [Show full text]
  • Neill Lecture Theatre, Trinity Long Room Hub)
    MONDAY 22 JULY 9:30: Fóram iarchéimithe | Postgraduate Forum (Neill Lecture Theatre, Trinity Long Room Hub) 11:00: Osclaíonn clárú | Registration opens (Arts Building 2nd Floor) 12:00: Cruinniú Gnó IASIL | IASIL Executive Meeting (Neill Lecture Theatre, Trinity Long Room Hub) 14:30: Fáilte agus Lánseisiún | Welcome and Keynote (Burke Theatre, Arts Building 1st Floor) ‘Framing Irish Poetry: Groarke, Flynn, O’Reilly’ Matthew Campbell (University of York) 16:00: Tae/Caife | Tea/Coffee 16:30: Lánphainéal | Plenary Panel (Burke Theatre, Arts Building 1st Floor) ‘50 Years of The Critical Ground’ Angela Bourke, Patricia Coughlan, Michael Kenneally, Chris Morash, Shaun Richards, Eve Patten (Cathaoirleach|Chair) 18:00: Fáiltiú | Welcome Reception (Lower Concourse, Arts Building 1st Floor) 19:00: Léamh Ficsin Dhuais Rooney | Rooney Prize Fiction Reading (Burke Theatre, Arts Building 1st Floor) Hugo Hamilton, Caitriona Lally, Kevin Power, Carlo Gébler (Cathaoirleach|Chair) Chuir an Dr Peter Rooney tacaíocht fhial ar fáil don léamh seo | The reading is generously supported by Dr Peter Rooney 1 TUESDAY 23 JULY 9:30: Seisiún Painéal 1 | Panel Session 1 (Mis)Representations: Oscar Wilde on Film (Neill Lecture Theatre, Trinity Long Room Hub) The Happy Prince: Biography, Boys, and Binaries Helena Gurfinkel (Cathaoirleach|Chair) Oscar Wilde, Postmodern Identities and Brian Gilbert’s Graham Price Wilde Sexual representation and the zeitgeist: Wilde, film, Julie-Ann Robson and A Man of No Importance Writing Art (TRiSS Seminar Room, Arts Building 6th Floor)
    [Show full text]
  • Black Power and the Start of the Northern Ireland Troubles Prince, S
    Research Space Journal article ‘Do what the Afro-Americans are doing’: Black Power and the start of the Northern Ireland Troubles Prince, S. Prince S. ‘Do What the Afro-Americans Are Doing’: Black Power and the Start of the Northern Ireland Troubles. Journal of Contemporary History. 2015;50(3):516-535. doi:10.1177/0022009414557908 Canterbury Christ Church University’s repository of research outputs http://create.canterbury.ac.uk Please cite this publication as follows: Prince, S. (2015) ‘Do what the Afro-Americans are doing’: Black Power and the start of the Northern Ireland Troubles. Journal of Contemporary History, 50 (3). pp. 516-535. ISSN 0022-0094. Link to official URL (if available): http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022009414557908 This version is made available in accordance with publishers’ policies. All material made available by CReaTE is protected by intellectual property law, including copyright law. Any use made of the contents should comply with the relevant law. Contact: [email protected] 'Do What the Afro-Americans Are Doing': Black Power and the Start of the Northern Ireland Troubles On the night of the 2008 American elections, Derry's 'Reclaim the Spirit of '68' group welcomed two Black Panthers to a local bar named in honour of a Nicaraguan revolutionary. A member of the group, Eamonn McCann, had earlier published an opinion piece in the city's newspaper criticising the assumption that Northern Ireland's past could be understood entirely and could not be understood other than in terms of Protestant and Catholic or of British unionist and Irish nationalist.
    [Show full text]
  • The Decline of the SDLP and Their European Election Brexit Headache Written by Conor Kelly
    The Decline of the SDLP and their European Election Brexit Headache Written by Conor Kelly This PDF is auto-generated for reference only. As such, it may contain some conversion errors and/or missing information. For all formal use please refer to the official version on the website, as linked below. The Decline of the SDLP and their European Election Brexit Headache https://www.e-ir.info/2019/04/22/the-decline-of-the-sdlp-and-their-european-election-brexit-headache/ CONOR KELLY, APR 22 2019 Once heralded around the world as the vanguard movement for peace and civil equality in Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland’s Social Democratic & Labour party now finds itself eclipsed by its rival Sinn Féin and verging on the point of political extinction. By their own admission, in the years since the culmination of their flagship achievement, the Good Friday Agreement, the SDLP has lost its ‘message’ and its electoral performance in Northern Ireland’s nationalist community has declined sharply from 70% in the 1990s to well under 30% today. Since the retirement of party founder and Nobel Peace Prize laureate John Hume in 2001, the party has gone through several leaders and lost its entire representation in both the European and British parliaments. In the years since Hume’s departure, they have struggled to find a role in a post-civil rights, post-peace process era of Northern Irish politics and have had their share of seats in the Stormont Assembly drop from twenty-four in 1998 to just twelve in 2017. Another contemporary account of the SDLP decline tends to focus on the party losing its place as the voice of the nationalist community due to the anomalous rise of Sinn Féin in the post-Good Friday Agreement era.
    [Show full text]
  • Monitoring the Peace? : Northern Ireland's 1975 Ceasefire Incident Centres and the Politicisation of Sinn Féin
    Dr Tony Craig March 2013 [email protected] Monitoring the Peace? : Northern Ireland’s 1975 ceasefire incident centres and the politicisation of Sinn Féin. During the Provisional IRA’s (PIRA) 1975 ceasefire, two different sets of incident centres were established across Northern Ireland in order to monitor and avert escalation of violence between Republicans and Security Forces. While one group of these offices were run by the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) and administered by clerks in the Northern Ireland Civil Service, very quickly Sinn Féin (taking advantage of their decriminalisation in 1974) established their own incident centres to coordinate their communication with the government. This article argues that the establishment of the Sinn Féin incident centres set a precedent for the future political activity of the Provisional Republican Movement; that their activity during the 1975 ceasefire played an important formative role in the evolution of the group’s political strategy; and that this experience, acquired from the work done during the 1975 truce, was of far greater influence than is appreciated in current accounts. The period surrounding the PIRA’s 1975 ceasefire has recently become the site of a large amount of new research due in equal measure to the availability of new archive resources1 as well as the rich comparisons that can be drawn between this failed ceasefire and the PIRA’s later attempts in 1994 and 1996.2 The emphasis of the new studies has often been to look in detail at the talks between the British Government
    [Show full text]