Between stability and collapse: Internal and external dynamics of post‐agreement institution‐building in Northern Ireland1

Abstract

Introduction On 14 October 2002, the then British secretary of state for Northern Ireland, Dr. John Reid, announced the suspension of devolved government in Northern Ireland as of midnight the same day by an order made under the Northern Ireland Act 2000. Unlike the previous two suspensions, on 11 August 2001 and 21 September 2001 which were only ‘technical’ 24-hour suspensions to allow the political parties in Northern Ireland to resolve a deadlock over the decommissioning of weapons in possession of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Sinn Fein’s membership in the Executive this latest suspension, similar to the very first one on 11 February 2000, had no time limit attached to it.