Northern Ireland and the Anglo-Irish agreement: peace in our time?

The Anglo-Irish Agreement in November 1985 represented a watershed in Anglo-Irish relations. Its specific aim has been the removal of the unionist veto which has frustrated attempts to settle the Irish Question since the partition of Northern Ireland from the rest of the island in 1921. Heralded initially by many as the "solution" to the "troubles", the Agreement had much to live up to. To an extent initial accolades were functions of wishful thinking and condemnation that of knee-jerk reaction based upon instinctive fear. One can only hope that a path to resolution had been created despite such misgivings and high expectations. One thing has been evident, there has been a general confusion among nationalists and unionists as to what the Agreement allows for. This paper attempts to analyze where the Anglo-Irish Agreement fits into the scheme of things in the political context of Northern Ireland. In the third year since its passing there seems to be little external sign of resolution to the conflict, certainly nothing that might justify the grand expectations of those who would have seen it realize the ultimate withdrawal of Britain from Ireland. The Agreement remains as contentious now after three years as it was in the days after its passing. This raises the necessity of a re-appraisal of the situation and forces the question, can there ever be a peaceful solution if there continues to be such a fundamental disagreement as to what is at stake? One of the few certainties about Northern Ireland is that if the parties involved continue to approach the problem from opposite and intransigent perspectives, no agreement reached between Britain and Ireland on the future of Northern Ireland which "threatens" to succeed will be allowed to do so peacefully.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Political Science

Department dc:contributor.department

Political Science

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Year dc:date.issued

1988

Author dc:creator

• Heaney, James Francis

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10919/80078

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/80078