Extending Peace to the Grassroots
Challenge
From the early 1970’s to the mid 1990’s
Northern Ireland was the site of bitter conflict
between those struggling for reunification with
the rest of Ireland and those wanting the region
to remain a part of the United Kingdom. The
Irish-British international border could not be
agreed upon. To overcome this tension the
Belfast Agreement was signed in 1998, between
the British and Irish governments regarding how
Northern Ireland should be governed. However,
the Agreement failed to transform the
relationship between opposing ethnic
communities in the Northern Ireland region. The
conflict raged between two social categories,
Catholics and Protestants, both largely
hereditary and immutable. The Agreement had
left the groups believing that the state did not
effectively represent their interests, arbitrate
intergroup disputes, or protect them and prepare to defend them against the
violence that pursued in retaliation. Not only had ethnic conflict persisted in the
wake of the Agreement but it also became institutionalized. Those elected were
compelled to identify with one of the sectarian groups, thus ensuring that differing
identities persisted. To work towards resolution two things would have to be
done: the building of inclusive institutions and reshaping ethnic identities and
beliefs.
Process
Ethnic identities and beliefs are social constructions; as such, they are likely to
change. The Agreement had devised a governing system based on sectarian
self-identification of elites, reinforcing historic ethnic differences as opposed to
providing incentive to transcend communal boundaries. As a result, difficulty
arose in establishing trust across the communities. The lack of trust created
immediate challenges to institutionalize the governing arrangements of the
Agreement fully. Building trust is best done by strengthening civil society and
working towards reconciliation. By strengthening civil society and achieving
reconciliation identities can then slowly evolve over time. This means that the
people of Northern Ireland would need to redefine their identity and ultimately the
two ethnic groups must come to their own internal settlement. A just and lasting
peace requires not just pacts or secret agreements by political elites, but rather a
true reconciliation between the former adversarial communities. The Agreement
did not provide this, leaving social and political tension between the communities.
The Agreement had attempted to break the historical divide between
communities by re-envisioning a Northern Ireland that belonged to both through
the context of a developed local government. Encouraging the groups to
participate jointly in governance would ensure that each group assumes its
beliefs, values and security are protected by the state. The effective
implementation of such a complex, multilevel agreement cannot be achieved by
the political elites without mass-based support. Decisions cannot be made by
political leaders alone, but requires active involvement within and between
communities. However, in such a divided society, trust will mean not only that
individuals are willing to interact with members of the other community but also
that they are willing to share in governance and societal institutions without fear
of being harmed. The legacy of sectarianism in Northern Ireland makes trust very
difficult. There are historic expectations of fear, suspicion, revenge and
recrimination. Leaders hoped that the Agreement may “unfreeze” long-held
beliefs and attitudes and that emerging cooperation might create the expectation
of future, reciprocal, cooperative interactions.
Resolution
To overcome Northern Ireland’s ethnic conflict focus should be shifted from
institutions to civil society, from elites to the grassroots level. Although the
Agreement creatively provided political institutions that allowed elites to share
power, these institutions cannot promote peace at the grassroots level or the
level of a fully functional democracy while societal trust remains low. To repair
societal trust, Northern Ireland must look outside of formal institutions. Peace
agreements require the mass public to endorse them, if no other reason than to
give the new government, institutions and arrangements legitimacy in the eyes of
the communities. Local populations must be involved in the peace process and
the subsequent new political institutions to make the process self-sustaining.
Northern Ireland must also foster civil society by finding and encouraging ways
for the divided communities to interact, so as to create a united, ethnically mixed
society.
A lack of reconciliation threatens the Agreement. The people of Northern Ireland
have failed to confront the fullness of their history- the good and the bad. It is
therefore crucial for all citizens of Northern Ireland to reconcile and define a
shared vision for the future. As we look into the future of Northern Ireland,
reconciliation between the communities would make the building of a civil society
an easier task. By constructing a shared history the communities can delink
identity from the events of the past, and by changing these identities, they set the
foundation for healing the deep rifts that reinforce sectarianism, undermine civil
society and fuel the ethnic security dilemma.
Outcome
Sustainable peace in Northern Ireland cannot rely solely upon elite politicians
and power sharing, but needs to be built from the ground up. Such an approach
stresses building better relationships between the communities at the grassroots
level. The betterment of these relationships requires that identities change to
resolve the ethnic security dilemma that remains in the wake of the Agreement.
This can best be accomplished through reconciliation and strengthening of civil
society, each of which reduces fear and mistrust and raises expectation of future
cooperation. Civil society and reconciliation promise to support the Agreement
and the progress it has made in conflict management. The Agreement works
best when constituents expect cooperation from their representatives, permitting
the type of negotiations and compromise commonly found in successful
democracies. In this way, societal trust can generate trust in the political process.
These institutions in return can then reinforce social trust. Conflict resolution will
not be fully realized until there is an improved associational life that successfully
integrates Catholics and Protestants in social networks that create the
interpersonal trust, social capital, and civil society necessary for a fully
functioning democracy. This will require groups to address their past and
construct a shared vision of the future, thereby reducing sectarian identities and
providing room for other identities to develop and assert themselves. Such
actions require long-term perspective. Northern Ireland must now be vigilant
against the reemergence of prior obstacles and address two remaining hurdles to
positive peace: the creation of a civil society that integrates both sides of the
conflict and the construction of a shared historical truth about conflict itself.
Learn more about Extending Peace to the Grassroots:
Lessons from the Northern Ireland Peace Process
Extending Peace to the Grassroots