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Northern Ireland: Constitutional Proposals and the Problem of Identity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2009

J. R. Archer
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Extract

Since 1969 nearly eighteen hundred people have died in the troubles in Northern Ireland. Personal injuries, bombings, rioting and intimidation have also left deep scars on community life. In this context some may argue that there is little point in discussing constitutional proposals, for there can be no settlement until the “politics of the vendetta” and the “policies of the latent atrocity” have worked themselves out. We should, however, not neglect the long-term constitutional possibilities which may minimize the creation of new violence, if not stop the vicious circle of violent reactions to violent provocations. It is the purpose of this paper to examine the arguments for and against some of the proposals which ave recently been put forward. Before these arguments are considered it is necessary to consider briefly the development of the present constitutional situation in Northern Ireland.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Review of Politics , Volume 40 , Issue 2 , April 1978 , pp. 255 - 270
Copyright
Copyright © University of Notre Dame 1978

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References

1 Fortnight (Belfast), 12 1976 July 1977Google Scholar.

2 The problem of place names is great for a student of Northern Ireland. Nationalists prefer expressions such as “the Six Counties” and “the North of Ireland,” whereas Unionists often refer to “Ulster.” The use of “Northern Ireland” in this paper will no doubt annoy some partisans but will probably arouse less ire than the other names.

3 See Calvert, H., Constitutional Law in Northern Ireland (London, 1968), pp. 58–9Google Scholar.

4 See Windlesham, Lord, “Ministers in Ulster: the Machinery of Direct Rule,” Public Administration, 51 (1973), 261–272CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

5 For a good journalistic account of the strike see Fisk, R., The Point of No Return: the strike which broke the British in Ulster (London, 1975)Google Scholar.

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12 See e.g. Fortnight, August 1975, pp. 4, 5.

13 Irish Times, 20 March, 1976, 5.

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15 A notable exception to this point of view among pro-united Ireland writers is the present leader of the major opposition party in the Republic. His almost Utopian scheme for unity resulting from huge reforms in the South is found in Fitzgerald, G., Towards a New Ireland (London, 1972)Google Scholar.

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25 Quoted in Observer, 2 June, 1974, p. 9. See also a reference to Ulster nationalism as a major force by the then secretary of state for Northern Ireland, Merlyn Rees.

26 See e.g. Beckett, J. C., “Northern Ireland,” Journal of Contemporary History, 6 (1971), 121–134CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Bell, G., The Protestants of Ulster (London, 1976)Google Scholar; Farrell, M., Northern Ireland: the Orange State (London, 1976)Google Scholar.

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28 Hibernia (Dublin), 18 06, 1976, p. 12Google Scholar.

29 Fortnight, 12 September, 1975, pp. 4, 5.

30 See report on the Coleraine Conference on the economic implications of various political solutions to the Northern Ireland problem: Fortnight, 15 November 1974, pp. 3, 4, 5 and also 1 April 1977, pp. 7, 8.

31 Fortnight, July 1976, p. 10. The most active SDLP supporter of independence is Paddy Devlin. For his plan see Hibernia, 4 June, 1976, p. 3. Other prominent members of the minority community such as Father Desmond Wilson have argued that a separate Northern Ireland state is the best guarantee for northern Catholics, see Irish Times, 13 November 1976, p. 5.

32 For a full discussion on some of these points plus a general discussion on constitutional options see Rose, R., Northern Ireland: a Time of Choice (London, 1976)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.