CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM IN NORTHERN IRELAND: IMPLICATIONS FOR COMMUNITY RELATIONS POLICY AND PRACTICE

Abstract

The role of macro‐level processes in determining the effectiveness or otherwise of micro‐level initiatives is a theme that is developed in this paper. Based on efforts to tackle division between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland through cross‐community contact, the paper will argue that the structural context within which contact occurs has important implications for the extent to which achievements of particular encounters are extrapolated to the wider community.