'The old days are over': Irish Republicanism, the peace process and the discourse of equality

Terrorism and Political Violence

Volumn 16, Issue 3, 2004, Pages 622-645

  McGovern, Mark ^a  

^a EDGE HILL UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 8844234981     PISSN: 09546553     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/09546550490509955     Document Type: Review

References (81)

1. Gerry Adams, President of Sinn Féin, Address to Sinn Féin Ard Fheis, 2003, http://sinnfein.ie/peace/speech/35, accessed 19/02/04
2. Barbara de Brun, Sinn Féin Spokesperson on European Affairs, Sinn Féin National Conference, Engine for Change: Women and Equality, Dublin, quoted in An Phoblacht/Republican News (6 November 2003).
3. Gerry Adams, Introduction to Agenda for Government: Sinn Féin Assembly Election Manifesto (November 2003) p.3.
4. Norberte Bobbio, Left and Right (Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1997) p.60.
5. Throughout this article, the terms Sinn Féin and Irish Republicanism refer to Provisional Sinn Féin. Provisional Sinn Féin and the Provisional IRA were created in 1970 after a split in the Republican movement from what became known as the Ofalial IRA. The Provisionals have since the early 1970s, been the most prominent political and paramilitary expression of modern Irish Republicanism. While there continue to be disparate strands of Republicanism, Provisional Sinn Féin is far and wide the most prominent voice of the tradition today.
6. Mark McGovern, 'Irish Republicanism and the Potential Pitfalls of Pluralism', Capital and Class 71 (2000) pp.133-162.
7. Colin Knox, 'See No Evil, Hear No Evil: Insidious Paramilitary Violence in Northern Ireland', British Journal of Criminology 42 (2002) pp.164-85.
8. Claire Mitchell, 'From Victims to Equals? Catholic Responses to Political Change in Northern Ireland', Irish Political Studies 18/1 (2003) pp.51-71.
9. Chris McCrudden, 'Equality and the Good Friday Agreement', in Joseph Ruane and Jennifer Todd (eds), After the Good Friday Agreement: Analysing Political Change in Northern Ireland (University College Dublin Press: Dublin 1999) pp.96-121.
10. It is worth noting that the paper will concentrate on developments in Northern Ireland and will only deal tangentially with Sinn Féin's development in the South.
11. Figures taken from http://www.rte.ie/news/assembly2003, accessed 20/02/04.
12. A similar pattern was repeated in other border areas: West Tyrone (-11.1 per cent), Fermanagh and South Tyrone (-5.3 per cent), Newry and Antrim (-10.4 per cent) and South Down (-10.2 per cent), http://www.ark.ac.uk/ elections/grecent.htm, accessed 17/02/03.
13. Jon Tonge, 'Victims of Their Own Success? Post-Agreement Dilemmas for Political Moderates in Northern Ireland', The Global Review of Ethnopotitics 3/1 (2003) p.51.
14. Catriona Ruane, Speech to Sinn Féin Ard Fheis, February 2004, http:// sinnfein.ie/news/detail/3584, accessed 29th February 2004.
15. The Young Life and Times Survey 1999 found that 65 per cent of Northern Irish youngsters aged between 14-17 declared that they were either 'not very much' or 'not at all' interested in politics.
16. John White, 'Young Citizens in Changing Times: Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland', Journal of Social Issues (Fall 1998) p.9.
17. Young Life and Times Survey on National Identity, 2003, http://ark.ac.uk/
18. NILT Political Attitudes Survey, 2001, http://www.ark.ac.uk/nilt/2001/ Political_Attitudes/, accessed 20/02/04.
19. Bernadette Hayes and Ian McAllister, 'Ethnonationalism, Public Opinion and the Good Friday Agreement', in Joseph Ruane and Jennifer Todd (eds), After the Good Friday Agreement: Analysing Political Change in Northern Ireland (Dublin: University College Dublin Press 1999) p. 39.
20. Roger MacGinty and John Darby, 'Government Not Politics!', NILT Research Update 2 (June 1999) p.2.
21. Roger MacGinty, 'What Our Politicians Should Know', ARK: Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive: Research Update 18 (April 2003).
22. Bernadette Hayes and Ian McAllister, 'Who Voted for Peace? Public Support for the 1998 Northern Ireland Agreement', Irish Political Studies 16 (2001) pp.73-93.
23. NILT 2001 Survey, http://www.ark.ac.uk/nilt/2001/Poutical-Attitudes/, accessed 21/02/04.
24. Chris Gilligan, 'Constant Crisis/Permanent Process: Diminished Agency and Weak Structures in the Northern Ireland Peace Process', Global Review of Ethnopolitics 3/1 (September 2003) p.36.
25. For analyses of consociationalism see Arend Lijphart, Democracy in Plural Societies (New Haven: Yale University Press 1977); Brendan O'Leary and John McGarry, The Politics of Antagonism: Understanding Northern Ireland (London: Athlone Press 1993); Robert Taylor, 'Northern Ireland: Consociation or Social Transformation', in John McGarry (ed), Northern Ireland and the Divided World: Post-Agreement Northern Ireland in Comparative Perspective (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2001) pp.36-54.
26. For analyses of consociationalism see Arend Lijphart, Democracy in Plural Societies (New Haven: Yale University Press 1977); Brendan O'Leary and John McGarry, The Politics of Antagonism: Understanding Northern Ireland (London: Athlone Press 1993); Robert Taylor, 'Northern Ireland: Consociation or Social Transformation', in John McGarry (ed), Northern Ireland and the Divided World: Post-Agreement Northern Ireland in Comparative Perspective (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2001) pp.36-54.
27. For analyses of consociationalism see Arend Lijphart, Democracy in Plural Societies (New Haven: Yale University Press 1977); Brendan O'Leary and John McGarry, The Politics of Antagonism: Understanding Northern Ireland (London: Athlone Press 1993); Robert Taylor, 'Northern Ireland: Consociation or Social Transformation', in John McGarry (ed), Northern Ireland and the Divided World: Post-Agreement Northern Ireland in Comparative Perspective (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2001) pp.36-54.
28. Arthur Aughey, 'The Art and Effect of Political Lying in Northern Ireland', Irish Political Studies 17/2 (2002) pp.1-16; and Paul Dixon, 'Political Skills or Lying and Manipulation? The Choreography of the Peace Process', Political Studies 50/4 (September 2002) pp.725-41.
29. Arthur Aughey, 'The Art and Effect of Political Lying in Northern Ireland', Irish Political Studies 17/2 (2002) pp.1-16; and Paul Dixon, 'Political Skills or Lying and Manipulation? The Choreography of the Peace Process', Political Studies 50/4 (September 2002) pp.725-41.
30. Aughey (note 26) p. 14.
31. Dixon (note 26) p.15.
32. See Mark McGovern and Peter Shirlow, 'Language, Discourse and Dialogue: Sinn Féin and the Irish Peace Process', Political Geography 17/2 (1998) pp.171-86.
33. McGovern and Shirlow (note 29); Kevin Bean, 'The New Departure', Causeway 6 (1995) pp.202-13.
34. McGovern and Shirlow (note 29); Kevin Bean, 'The New Departure', Causeway 6 (1995) pp.202-13.
35. Gerry Adams, An Phoblacht/Republican News (18 November 1999) p.8.
36. Anthony McIntyre, 'IRA Fighters Spilt Blood in Vein', Observer on Sunday (4 July 1999).
37. Dixon (note 26).
38. For example, in the week that saw the setting up of the power-sharing executive in December 1999, a correspondent for Sinn Féin's newspaper An Phoblacht (AP/RN) argued that 'it was a good time to be a Republican', AP/RN (02 December 1999) p. 17. While the previous 5 years of political machinations had been 'confusing', it was argued, this was so because 'that's winning for you'.
39. See, for example, Anthony McIntyre, 'Modern Irish Republicanism and the Belfast Agreement: Chickens Coming Home to Roost or Turkeys Celebrating Christmas?' in R. Wilford (ed), Aspects of the Agreement (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2001) pp.202-22.
40. Anthony McIntyre, 'Modern Irish Republicanism: The Product of British Strategies', Irish Political Studies 10 (1995) pp.97-122
41. Aughey (note 26).
42. Brendan O'Leary, 'The Nature of the British-Irish Agreement', New Left Review 233 (January-February 1999) pp.66-96.
43. McCrudden (note 9).
44. O'Leary (note 38) p.76.
45. Chris Gilligan, 'Devolving Power? Human Rights and State Regulation in Northern Ireland', in David Chandler (ed), Rethinking Human Rights: Critical Approaches to International Politics (Palgrave: London 2002) pp.79-96.
46. Van Borooah, 'Is There a Penalty to Being a Catholic in Northern Ireland: An Econometric Analysis of the Relationship Between Religious Belief and Occupational Success', European Journal of Political Economy 15 (1999) pp.163-92; and Maura Sheehan and Mike Tomlinson, The Unequal Unemployed: Discrimination, Unemployment and State Policy in Northern Ireland (Aldershot: Ashgate 1999).
47. Van Borooah, 'Is There a Penalty to Being a Catholic in Northern Ireland: An Econometric Analysis of the Relationship Between Religious Belief and Occupational Success', European Journal of Political Economy 15 (1999) pp.163-92; and Maura Sheehan and Mike Tomlinson, The Unequal Unemployed: Discrimination, Unemployment and State Policy in Northern Ireland (Aldershot: Ashgate 1999).
48. McCrudden (note 9) p.96.
49. Colin Harvey and Stephen Livingstone, 'Human Rights and the Northern Ireland Peace Process', European Human Rights Law Review 2 (1999) pp.162-77.
50. McCrudden (note 9) p.114.
51. Ibid, p. 106.
52. Gerry Adams, President of Sinn Féin, Address to Sinn Féin, Ard Fheis, 2003, http://sinnfein.ie/peace/speech/35, accessed 19/02/04.
53. I b i d.
54. Barbara de Brun, Sinn Féin Spokesperson on European Affairs, Sinn Féin National Conference, Engine for Change: Women and Equality, Dublin, quoted in An Phoblacht/Republican News (6 November 2003).
55. Catriona Ruane, Sinn Féin MLA (South Down) quoted in An Phoblacht/Republican News (11 December 2003) p.4.
56. Catriona Ruane, Speech to Sinn Féin Ard Fheis 2004, http://sinnfein.ie/news/detail/3584, accessed 29 February 2004.
57. Martina Anderson, 'The Great Experiment', An Phoblacht/Republican News (16 October 2003).
58. I b i d.
59. Agenda for Government: Sinn Féin Assembly Election Manifesto (November 2003). p.6.
60. Ibid, p.12.
61. Ibid, p.25.
62. Ibid, p.67.
63. Ibid, p.78, p.80, p.75.
64. Ibid, p.46.
65. Rights for All: A Sinn Féin Discussion Document (Belfast: Sinn Féin 2004).
66. Barbara de Brún, 10 December 2003, http://sinnfein.ie/gaelic/news/ detail/2573, accessed 27 February 2004.
67. Gerry Adams, President of Sinn Féin, Address to Sinn Féin Ard Fheis, 2003, http://sinnFéin.ie/peace/speech/35, accessed 19 February 2004.
68. Rights for All (note 60) p.5.
69. Mitchel McLaughlin, quoted in An Phoblacht/Republican News (25 September 2003).
70. Terry Eagleton, The Illusions of Postmodernism (Oxford: Blackwell 1996) p.326.
71. Stan Moran, 'Patrick Pearse and Patriotic Soteriology: The Irish Republican Tradition and the Sanctification of Political Self-Immolation', in Yonah Alexander and Alan O'Day (eds), The Irish Terrorism Experience (Aldershot: Dartmouth 1991) pp.9-23. See also, for example, Richard Kearney, Transitions: Narratives in Modern Irish Culture (Manchester: Manchester University Press 1988).
72. Stan Moran, 'Patrick Pearse and Patriotic Soteriology: The Irish Republican Tradition and the Sanctification of Political Self-Immolation', in Yonah Alexander and Alan O'Day (eds), The Irish Terrorism Experience (Aldershot: Dartmouth 1991) pp.9-23. See also, for example, Richard Kearney, Transitions: Narratives in Modern Irish Culture (Manchester: Manchester University Press 1988).
73. Liam O'Dowd, 'Shaping and Reshaping the Orange State: An Introductory Analysis', in Liam O'Dowd, Bill Rolston and Mike Tomlinson (eds), Northern Ireland: Between Civil Rights and Civil War (London: CSE Books 1980) pp.1-29.
74. For a fuller discussion of this understanding of Republicanism, see McGovern (note 6).
75. Frank Burton, The Politics of Legitimacy: Struggles in a Belfast Community (London: Routledge 1978).
76. Brendan O'Leary, Explaining Northern Ireland: Broken Images (Oxford: Blackwell 1996).
77. McGovern (note 6).
78. Eamon McCann, interviewed by Anthony McIntyre, The Blanket: A Journal of Protest and Dissent (18 November 2003).
79. Mitchell (note 8).
80. Paddy Hillyard, Grace Kelly, Eithne McLaughlin, Demi Patsios and Mike Tomlinson, Bare Necessities: Poverty and Social Exclusion in Northern Ireland: Key Findings (Democratic Dialogue: Belfast 2003) pp.64-5.
81. Gerry Adams, Ard Fheis Presidential Speech, 2004, http://www.sinnfein.ie/ gaeilc/news/detail/3574.