Template for peace: Northern Ireland, 1972-75 - Softcover

McDaid, Shaun

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0719099765 ISBN 13: 9780719099762

Publisher: Manchester University Press, 2016

Synopsis

This book examines the creation and collapse of the first power-sharing administration in Northern Ireland, and British government policy during the period 1972-75. It also analyses the relationship between the British and Irish states during the 1972-75 period. Drawing on recently released archival sources, this book sheds new light on the events of this turbulent period, and questions many core assumptions about the political dynamics of the time. In particular, it challenges existing interpretations of the relationship between the Irish government and the representatives of constitutional nationalism in Northern Ireland and security co-operation between the British and Irish states. It revises the widely held view that the Irish government sought to use the Sunningdale Agreement's proposed Council of Ireland as a means of securing future Irish unity. It also examines the socio-economic problems which Northern Ireland faced at this time, and the attempts of the region's politicians to solve them, demonstrating the remarkable similarities between nationalist and unionist parties with regard to non-constitutional matters. It also challenges the view that the power-sharing experiment can be seen as a 'lost peace process', due to the levels of violence between 1972 and 1975. However, it demonstrates that the Sunningdale package, and the policies established during this period, provided the basic template for the current settlement in the region. It will thus be essential reading for students and scholars of modern British and Irish politics and the Northern Ireland conflict, and those interested in the politics of conflict resolution.

About this title

Review:

'Shaun McDaid's detailed, thorough and well-researched book on northern politics in the early 1970s is based heavily on the archival riches now available in Belfast, London and Dublin. It also draws admirably on wide reading beyond these sources, and it reaches some helpful judgements on this turbulent, short era . McDaid makes a major contribution to our precise grasp of the details of these years . It is a fascinating book, and a welcome addition to the shelves.' Professor Richard English, Handa Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence, University of St Andrews (Irish Historical Studies, Nov. 2014). , Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 4 September 2013|'McDaid presents us with a more nuanced account of the events surrounding the failed executive . He shows how the basic principles of Sunningdale - consent, power-sharing and the Irish dimension formed the basis of the current peace process . [but] quite rightly rejects the 'Sunningdale for slow learners' adage because of the levels of violence that existed and because of the fact that the paramilitaries on both sides were excluded from Sunningdale.' - Dr Martin McCleery, Queen's University Belfast (Irish Political Studies, Feb. 2015). |McDaid provides a comprehensive assessment of the position of several different parties in terms of political, social and economic policies through archival research. His book is recommended to researchers who work on the Northern Ireland peace process as it provides background information on the resolution efforts between the British and Irish governments and political parties., L Aytac Kadioglu, University of Nottingham, Political Studies Review, 1 August 2015 -- .

About the Author:

Shaun McDaid is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Research in the Social Sciences at University of Huddersfield -- .

About this edition

• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0719099765
• ISBN 13: 9780719099762
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 222