Northern Ireland : between war and peace

After reviewing the political conflict of the last two decades in Northern Ireland, this book concludes that there are repeated failures of understanding between the internal political actors in the North and their supposed external allies.

The Anglo-Irish agreement and the Brooke talks are recent illustrations of the British government's desire to minimalize its presence in the North, and the gap between the Irish goverment's rhetorical commitment to nationalism and the reality of contemporary politics in the South.

The authors maintain that neither unionists nor nationalists have a perspective which can engage with the real political conditions of the 1990s.

Though sanguine about the prospects for change, they argue the need for the development of a modern democratic politics in the North, which can move beyond the present stalemate.

Paul Bew is the author of "Conflict and Concilication in Irish Nationalism 1890-1910", "The State in Northern Ireland" with Peter Gibbon and Henry Patterson, and "The Dynamics of Irish Politics" with Ellen Hazelkorn and Henry Patterson. Henry Patterson is the author of "The Politics of Illusion: Republicanism and Socialism in Modern Ireland", and co-author with Paul Bew of "The British State and the Ulster Crisis".

Paul Teague is the editor of "Beyond the Rhetoric: Politics, the Economy and Social Policy in Northern Ireland", and co-author with John Grahl of "1992 - The Big Market: The Future of the European Community".