Constructive ambiguity and the peace process in Northern Ireland

Low Intensity Conflict and Law Enforcement

Volumn 13, Issue 1, 2005, Pages 1-23

  Dingley, James ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS; PEACE PROCESS; POLITICAL CONFLICT; TERRORISM;

BELFAST [NORTHERN IRELAND]; EASTERN HEMISPHERE; EURASIA; EUROPE; NORTHERN IRELAND; UNITED KINGDOM; WESTERN EUROPE; WORLD;

EID: 26044444979     PISSN: 09662847     EISSN: 17440556     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/09662840500223531     Document Type: Review

References (134)

1. J.C. Dingley, 'Peace Process and Northern Ireland: Squaring Circles', Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 11, No. 3 (1999);
2. Thomas Hennessey, A History of Northern Ireland (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 1997) pp.276-9.
3. The Independent, 12 Oct. 1998, Review, p.3.
4. This is a major reason why Assembly elections are not called in Northern Ireland since the pro-Agreement Unionist party (UUP) has seen its vote steadily decline in the face of the anti-Agreement Democratic Unionist party (DUP). While internal opposition to the Agreement within the UUP has stiffened. J.C. Dingley, 'Peace in Our Time: Stresses and Strains on the Northern Ireland Peace Process', Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Vol. 25, No. 6 (2002).
5. The Agreement (Belfast: HMSO, 1998).
6. Dingley (2002). J.C. Dingley, 'Peace Process and Northern Ireland: Squaring Circles', Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 11, No. 3 (1999);
7. Ibid. J.C. Dingley, 'Peace Process and Northern Ireland: Squaring Circles', Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 11, No. 3 (1999);
8. The Agreement, p.20.
9. Terence Duffy and James Dingley, 'Northern Ireland and the UK since the Good Friday Agreement', Representation, Vol. 36, No.1 (1999).
10. The Independent, 7 Feb. 2000, Review, p.4;
11. James Dingley, 'Northern Ireland: the Unravelling Peace Process', Low Intensity Conflict and Law Enforcement, Vol. 9, No. 2 (2000).
12. The Independent, 8 Feb. 2000, Review, p.4.
13. PIRA are believed to have been behind a break-in at police Special Branch HQ in Belfast, stealing important security-related documents, The Independent, 25 March 2002, p.2;
14. Belfast Telegraph, 4 April 2002, p.1 and 19 April 2002, p.1.
15. Also, they were involved in running a major spying operation from Sinn Fein offices in the Assembly buildings at Stormont, The Independent, 12 Oct. 2002, p.2; 8 Nov. 2002, p.1;
16. The Times, 5 Oct. 2002, pp.1.and 11.
17. Kirsten Schulze, 'Taking the Gun out of Politics', in J. McGarry (ed.), Northern Ireland and the Divided World (Oxford: OUP, 2001), pp.261-2.
18. In several briefings given to the author by senior police officers they continually stressed that intercommunity tension was as bad as it had ever been and that serious tensions were barely held in check.
19. Tim Woods, Beginning Postmodernism (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1999);
20. Perry Anderson, The Origins of Postmodernism (London: Verso, 1998).
21. Floya Antheas, 'Theorising Identity, Difference and Social Divisions', in Martin O'Brien, Sue Penna and Colin Hay, Theorising Modernity (London: Longman, 1999).
22. Bill Rolston, 'What's Wrong with Multi-Culturalism? Liberalism and the Irish Conflict', in D. Miller (ed.), Rethinking Northern Ireland (London: Longman, 1998).
23. David Apter, 'Political Violence in Analytical Perspective', in David Apter (ed.), The Legitimization of Violence (London: Macmillan, 1997).
24. Hennessey;
25. M.L.R. Smith, Fighting For Ireland (London: Routledge, 1995).
26. Jonathan Tonge, Northern Ireland (London: Prentice Hall, 1997), Chap. 6.
27. Smith;
28. Ed Moloney, A Secret History of the IRA (London: Penguin, 2002).
29. Smith;
30. Moloney.
31. Smith;
32. Moloney. Current media speculation concerning 'Stakeknife', a top security forces mole in PIRA, directly relates to this point;
33. see The Independent, 12 May 2003, pp.1 and 3.
34. Moloney.
35. Mark Urban, Big Boys Rules (London: Faber, 1992);
36. Paul Bew and Gordon Gillespie, Northern Ireland: A Chronology of the Troubles (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 1999), pp.207-8.
37. Moloney;
38. Smith.
39. Two of the most devastating attacks here were Greysteele and Loughinisland in the early 1990s, Bew and Gillespie, pp.278 and 291. Senior members of the security forces report a major shift in 'ordinary' Catholic tolerance of PIRA following these attacks.
40. Hennessey;
41. Smith.
42. Hennessey;
43. Smith;
44. Moloney.
45. Duncan Morrow, 'Northern Ireland 1972-95', in Arthur Aughey and Duncan Morrow, Northern Ireland Politics (London: Longman, 1996).
46. Morrow;
47. Paul Bew, Peter Gibbon and Henry Patterson, Northern Ireland 1921-1996 (London: Serif, 1996), Chap. 6.
48. Thomas Hennessey, The Northern Ireland Peace Process (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 2000), pp.38-48.
49. Moloney.
50. ASU stands for active service unit - normally a four-man squad and the basic terrorist unit of PIRA. Security sources continually affirm the steady stream of volunteers to join and train for these units.
51. Hennessey (2000), pp.80-8.
52. Hennessey (2000);
53. Moloney;
54. Rick Wilford (ed.), Aspects of the Belfast Agreement (Oxford: OUP, 2001).
55. Wilford, particularly the chapter by Henry Patterson, 'From Insulation to Appeasement'.
56. The Sunday Times, 6 April 2003, p.21; and 20 April 2003, p.8. Both reports are examples of the kind of trading still being offered by the government.
57. The Independent, 25 April 2002, p.2.
58. Time, 3 Sept. 2001, pp.32-3,
59. The Guardian, 15 Aug. 2001, p.5.
60. Paul Bew, Peyter Gibbon and Henry Patterson, Northern Ireland, Political Forces and Social Classes (London: Serif, 1995).
61. Dingley (2002).
62. Patterson, in Wilford.
63. James Dingley, 'Marching Down the Garvaghy Road', in Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 14, No. 3 (2002).
64. Chris Ryder and Vincent Kearney, Drumcree (London: Methuen, 2001);
65. Ruth Edwards, The Faithful Tribe (London: HarperCollins, 1999).
66. Dingley (2000).
67. Patterson, in Wilford.
68. The failure to call elections to resolve the (May 2003) crisis is a clear indication of this since the government fears that the anti-Agreement DUP would emerge as the clear Unionist voice. The Independent, 2 May 2003, p.2.
69. House of Commons, Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, The Financing of Terrorism in Northern Ireland, Vol. 1 (London: The Stationery Office, 2002).
70. See note 38.
71. Dingley (2000);
72. Andrew Silke, 'Beating the Water: The Terrorist Search for Power, Control and Authority', Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 12, No. 2 (2000).
73. See note 49.
74. Dingley (2002).
75. Not until after the New York terrorist attacks of 11 Sept. 2001 did PIRA even make a token gesture on decommissioning. However, it has been the total inadequacy of PIRA moves in this area that was a major factor in calling off the current elections, The Independent, 2 May 2003, p.2.
76. See note 11.
77. Dingley (2002).
78. James Dingley, 'The Bombing of Omagh, 15th August 1998', Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Vol. 24, No. 6 (2001).
79. The Sunday Times, 21 Oct. 2001, p.19;
80. Dingley (2002).
81. Dingley (2002);
82. Dingley (2000).
83. Moloney;
84. Hennessey (2000);
85. Wilford.
86. The Times, 4 Jan. 2003, p.12;
87. The Independent, 4 Feb. 2003, pp.4 and 21 Feb. 2003, p.5.
88. See notes 59 and 47.
89. Peter Shirlow, 'Class, Materialism and the Fracturing of Traditional Alignments', in Brian Graham, In Search of Ireland (London: Routledge, 1997).
90. See notes 42 and 52.
91. Duffy and Dingley;
92. Dingley (2002);
93. B. Grofman and A. Lijphardt, Electoral Laws and Their Political Consequences (New York: Agathon, 1986).
94. Dingley (2000); and (2002).
95. Colin Coulter, Contemporary Northern Irish Society (London: Pluto, 1999;
96. Graham.
97. Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities (London: Verso, 1991);
98. James Kellas, The Politics of Nationalism and Ethnicity (London: Macmillan, 1991);
99. A.D. Smith, National Identity (London: Penguin, 1991).
100. John McGarry and Brendan O'Leary (eds), Explaining Northern Ireland (Oxford: Blackwell, 1995);
101. John Whyte, Interpreting Northern Ireland (Oxford: Clarendon, 1991).
102. John Coakley, (2001), 'The Agreement and the Republic', in Wilford.
103. Paul Doherty, 'The Numbers Game: The Demographic Context of Politics', in Aughey and Morrow (1996).
104. Paul Bew, Henry Patterson and Paul Teague, Between War and Peace (London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1997), particularly Chaps 5 and 6;
105. Paul Teague, 'Discrimination and Fair Employment in Northern Ireland', in Paul Teague (ed.), The Economy of Northern Ireland (London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1993).
106. See note 70
107. Patriack Buckland, A History of Northern Ireland (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 1981);
108. Hennessey (1997).
109. At one stage the RUC was 19 per cent Catholic and when the Hunt commission on the RUC at the beginning of the current 'troubles' reported it found no evidence or complaints of discrimination, see John Whyte, 'How Much Discrimination Was There Under the Unionist Regime, 1921-68?', in Tom Gallagher and James O'Connell (eds), Contemporary Irish Studies (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1983).
110. Coulter, pp.48-51.
111. Smith;
112. Adrain Hastings, The Construction of Nationhood (Cambridge: CUP, 1997).
113. Thomas Hylland Eriksen, Ethnicity and Nationalism (London: Pluto, 1993).
114. Eric Hobsbawm, Nations and Nationalism (Cambridge: Canto, 1992), p.117.
115. Rolston.
116. Coulter
117. Dingley (2002).
118. Tonge, Chap. 6.
119. Bew, Patterson and Teague, Part 1.
120. Alan Parkinson, Ulster Loyalism and the British Media (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1998).
121. See, e.g., The Independent, 29 July 2000, p.8, 21 Aug. 2000, p.4.
122. and for the election results see The Independent, 15 June 2004, p.5.
123. The Sunday Times, 27 Aug. 2000, p.16,
124. The Independent, 15 June 2004, p.5.
125. At President Bush and Prime Minister Blair's April meeting in Northern Ireland the DUP alone of the mainstream parties was not invited to meetings. The Independent, 8 April 2003, p.8.
126. See note 85.
127. The Independent, 9 June 2001, p.7 and 11 June 2001, p.4.
128. See note 11.
129. James Dingley, 'Peace Processes and Northern Ireland: Squaring Circles?', Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 11, No. 3 (1999).
130. See note 87.
131. Not only does Sinn Fein assert this on a regular basis but it is the stated objectives 1, 2 and 3 of PIRA's Green Book, p.1. (the formal constitution) in its most recent edition (2002).
132. The Independent, 6 April 2004, pp.10- 11; and 18 May 2004, p.13.
133. The Independent, 1 Sept. 2004;
134. Mary Dejevsky, p.33.