The peace process in Ireland: new challenges for the geographical imagination

Abstract

The prospects for the peaceful resolution of a conflict are conditioned by the spatial context. Some aspects of this spatial context are the product of human agency, and may therefore be amenable to social engineering. However, other aspects of the spatial context are fixed: if perceived to be part of the problem, they must be circumvented by other means. Irish nationalist claims to the territory of Northern Ireland are based on the fact that Ireland is a relatively small island, and is therefore perceived by nationalists as a ‘natural’ political unit. These demands are rejected by the unionist majority of people living within Northern Ireland, who claim they are British. The recent peace process in Ireland was initiated by Irish nationalists. Given the unwillingness of republicans within the nationalists movement to contemplate any solution which does not entail the incorporation of the whole of Northern Ireland into an all-Ireland state, the peace process is viewed by many unionists as a devious attempt to achieve nationalist objectives by an alternative route. However, the fact that people in both communities in Northern Ireland enjoyed the benefits of an uneasy peace for 15 months may have changed the context: peace, whithout prior conditions, is now perceived by many people to be an important goal in its own right. The challenge to geographers is to try to identify a new ‘post-nationalist’ spatial context which could povide an acceptable compromise for both communities in Northern Ireland. This will require imagination, but the will for peace is strong.