INTRODUCTION: PEACE AND SOCIETY IN NORTHERN

IRELAND, 1994–2014

by Justin Dolan Stover

In 2014, the world will observe the centenary of the start of the

first global war. The Great War had far-reaching international con-

sequences and influenced a variety of successive regional affairs. In

Ireland, it shelved a potential civil war between nationalist and

Unionist paramilitaries and prompted a political truce over the

question of self-government, or Home Rule, for the duration of the

war. However, this issue was not settled in the postwar peace nego-

tiations. As the guns of the giants fell silent, a “war of the pyg-

mies,” of which Winston Churchill spoke, emerged, personified by

localized political, sectarian conflict and paramilitary violence in Ire-

land and what would become the partitioned, self-governed state of

Northern Ireland.

Among other immediate social, political, and economic concerns,

the partition of Ireland entrenched divisive social identities and gener-

ated narratives of abandonment from two distinct communities:

Southern Irish Loyalists within the Irish Free State and nationalist

Catholics in the North. Each group became the victim of political

pragmatism, newly created minorities from what had previously been

a Catholic- and nationalist-dominated Ireland within a broader Protes-

tant United Kingdom. This contrast was more acutely displayed in

Northern Ireland in the decades that followed the creation of the state,

particularly in Belfast and Derry. The creation of a special, Protestant

police force and discriminatory housing and employment practices sus-

tained an atmosphere of tension and communal division between Prot-

estants and Catholics. Campaigns of violence by the Irish Republican

Army, particularly along the border following the Second World War,

threatened to further destabilize the situation. This conflict escalated

in the late 1960s, alongside the number of civilian victims and the

overall presence of the British Army. Collectively termed “the Trou-

bles,” sectarianism, terror, and division remained prominent features

of the Northern Ireland landscape for nearly thirty years.

PEACE & CHANGE, Vol. 39, No. 4, October 2014

© 2014 Peace History Society and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

439

The announcement of a cease-fire by the Irish Republican Army

in 1994 helped to establish a basis for negotiation on issues of politi-

cal representation, social order, and community relations in Ulster and

between the political centers of Belfast, Dublin, and London. Four

years later, the Good Friday, or Belfast Agreement, established a vari-

ety of protocols to foster peace, many that called for reciprocal recog-

nition of cultural identity among Ulster’s antagonists. As we reflect on

the twenty years now past since the cease-fire, we must ask: What

“progress” has been made? In what ways has peace been fostered and

sustained? What, if anything, has this process changed in the realms

of forgiveness and reconciliation?

The contributors to this special volume offer a variety of insights

in this regard, ranging from case studies of perceived cultural erosion

to theoretical analyses of identity politics. Cultural identity remains at

the heart of their concerns; each suggests reciprocal recognition of

trauma, loss, and perceptions of suffering as vehicles for reconcilia-

tion.

Landon E. Hancock examines how individuals and organizations

in Northern Ireland and elsewhere use and apply historical narratives

to justify their own perceived self-image as well as that of their cul-

tural and political “opponents.” This, Hancock argues, may be identi-

fied as a significant factor that contributed to the outbreak of the

Troubles and a remaining obstacle to enduring peace. More specifi-

cally, Hancock suggests that history may in fact act as a hindrance to

progress as groups vying for cultural dominance of a divided region

tend to act from a defensive position—one that rejects the legitimacy

of cultural rivals, interpreting them as threats rather than as part of

the wider communal framework. Such “narratives of identification”

are indeed generational. Hancock highlights this by providing a micro-

history of chosen trauma, reiterated within Protestant communities of

Northern Ireland since the Irish Rebellion of 1641, an event that wit-

nessed Catholic-directed violence verging on massacre. Defensive, ter-

ritorial behavior, demonstrated through annual marches and daily

Unionist symbolism, reinforce Hancock’s observation that, for many,

there appears to be limited capacity to accommodate both nationalist

and Unionist traditions in portions of Ulster.

John Nagle also explores the use of cultural and political symbols

as potential arbiters of peace, as well as their established roles as insti-

gators of conflict. He does so by examining the political dynamics and

communal mobilization that stemmed from recent protests over the

440 PEACE & CHANGE / October 2014

decision to reduce the number of days the Union flag would fly over

Belfast City Hall and other symbolic buildings. Nagle suggests the flag

issue is representative of a distinct type of conflict among ethnic

groups in deeply divided societies: that of nonrecognition of an oppos-

ing group identity. He posits that through applying the theory of ag-

onism, which seeks to foster mutual recognition of traumatic pasts as

a means of grievance regression and reconciliation, real peace might

be achieved in Northern Ireland. But recognition is simply not enough,

he argues, and a simple, sweeping amnesty for past crimes may only

exacerbate the issue, thus preventing true reconciliation. Drawing

important parallels and discrepancies between the Good Friday Agree-

ment and similar frameworks in Macedonia, Bosnia, and Lebanon, he

argues that both communal interaction and reciprocal recognition of

past traumas are the paths to real social change.

Group formation, the collective psyche, political symbolism, and

objects of identity are at the heart of the work produced by Elena

Mastors and Nicole Drumhiller. They, too, use the Union flag contro-

versy to illustrate prevalent cultural tensions in Northern Ireland, but

in different ways. Utilizing findings from interviews they conducted,

and mapping conflict within Belfast’s “interface areas,” where nation-

alist and Unionist interests overlap, the authors suggest the flag con-

troversy to represent a single episode within a broader consultative

political process. While their article mainly focuses on the ways in

which Protestant organizations feel the flag issue to represent an

attack on their cultural heritage, its examination of the role of the

Alliance Party as a voice of neutrality and mutual recognition speaks

to some of the points raised by Nagle, as well as to a neutral approach

to conflict resolution.

Some of the arguments, reflections, and speculations presented

within this volume are revisited in Cillian McGrattan’s contribution.

McGrattan, too, suggests that agonistic theory may help to dissolve

some entrenched cultural barriers between communities, and that sus-

tainable peace in Northern Ireland requires a reciprocal acknowledg-

ment of not only an opposing ideology’s traumatic past, but of one’s

own place within it. However, McGrattan’s hypothesis ultimately

attempts to hold the middle ground. He warns that in exploring the

history of a violent, sectarian conflict, exposing too much truth may

destabilize the peace process. On the other hand, a general amnesty

for past wrongs or perceived wrongs should also be avoided as it may

prevent an enduring peace by suggesting that violent precedents are

Introduction 441

trivial and the losses they produced outweighed in the overall interests

of peace.

Reflecting on peace and society during the Troubles and since will

certainly elicit a variety of responses, many of which do not feature in

this volume. Instead, the contributors put forward an overarching con-

cept regarding the origin, course, and de-escalation of the Troubles.

Simply, history informs individual as well as collective identity and is

in turn informed by it; the past is real and not something that can so

easily be forgotten, forgiven, or reconciled. This is not for lack of

tools or desire but perhaps stems from an underlying dualism within

the extreme sections of Northern Ireland society, one that simulta-

neously harbors elements of tribalism while resenting perceived

oppression.

This is not to suggest that attempts at peace over the last twenty

years have been futile, or that progress cannot be observed. Indeed,

one might even suggest that more recent milestones represent the very

type of reciprocal recognition suggested in this volume as necessary to

ensure enduring peace. For instance, the monumental visit of Queen

Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh to Ireland in 2011 marked the

first visit of a British monarch to Ireland in a century, a clear mark of

human empathy as well as diplomacy. The following year, Deputy

First Minister and former Irish Republican Army commander Martin

McGuinness shook hands with the Queen in Belfast. One Sinn F�ein

representative commented that in their meeting McGuinness “empha-

sized the need to acknowledge the pain of all victims of the conflict

and their families,” echoing elements of agonism highlighted in this

volume.

Despite these gestures at the state level, Belfast may find even the

most recent history repeating itself. Fresh outrages over the size of

Union flag displays erupted in June ahead of the Orange marching sea-

son. Whether an innocent gesture, a repercussion from the decision to

reduce the number of days the Union flag flies over Belfast City Hall,

or a deliberate provocation, this most recent episode is an omnipresent

reminder of the force of symbols and identity in divided societies.

442 PEACE & CHANGE / October 2014