Facets of Self in Northern Ireland: Explorations and Further Questions

Abstract

The conflict in Northern Ireland, at its most basic, is a struggle between those who desire the political unification of the whole of the island of Ireland and those who wish to remain part of the United Kingdom. In the Downing Street Declaration of December 15, 1993, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Taoiseach of Ireland acknowledge that peace, stability, and reconciliation will be facilitated “through a process of dialogue and cooperation based on full respect for the rights and identities of both traditions in Ireland.” It is usually assumed that in Northern Ireland there are two antithetical communities which are characterized by a unity between religious and national identities (Weinreich, 1985), with Protestants espousing a British and Catholics embracing an Irish identity. Empirical research based on population surveys (Benson & Sites, 1992; Gallagher, 1989; Moxon-Browne, 1991) using questionnaires involving forced choice options (Cairns & Mercer, 1984) and open-ended techniques (Trew, 1983), have shown that to view the allegiances of people in Northern Ireland in terms of a simple dichotomy is an oversimplification of the patterns of identification in the province. Additionally, (1986) have demonstrated that national identity can be enhanced, attenuated or reversed in specific situations. In discussing the complexity of the divisions in Northern Ireland, (1991) acknowledges the existence of “two cultures” in the province but points out that “...the fact of a forced marriage in a single polity over the past seventy years has produced its own cultural entity.”