Case Of Northern Ireland Research Articles

Countering terrorism in Northern Ireland: the role of intelligence

This article aims to review some of the key lessons learnt by the Royal Ulster Constabulary's (RUC) Special Branch in the 37 years of the troubles in Northern Ireland. Above all counter-terrorism is an intelligence led operation and Special Branch are the key agency for this in all UK police forces, who have now benefited enormously from the expertise that the RUC's Special Branch built up over the years and have passed on to their colleagues throughout the UK. Intelligence is more often than not a human role and relies on human agencies, which was the case in Northern Ireland. The bulk of intelligence gathering was carried out at quite low levels although the sifting and analysing of it became a more specialist skill. Electronic intelligence and computerised systems were often quite low down in the order of priorities and uses, which tends to confound popular impressions. Agents, informers and good old fashioned ‘coppers’ who knew their patch were much more important both in terms of gathering information and in terms of undermining the terrorists morale from within and it was these factors that fundamentally defeated the IRA in Northern Ireland.

Demonstrating the Merits of the Peer Research Process: A Northern Ireland Case Study

This article discusses the benefits and challenges of involving peer researchers in social research projects. A research project on pupil participation in policy making on school bullying in Northern Ireland's schools was commissioned by the Office of the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People and undertaken by the National Children's Bureau in conjunction with researchers from Queen's University Belfast in fourteen schools across Northern Ireland, utilizing a mixed methods approach. We trained and employed nine 15—18-year-old peer researchers to support them in this project. After the project's completion, we conducted interviews with six of the peer researchers to investigate how they experienced their involvement in the research. We discuss the findings from these interviews and contextualize in a review of literature on research involving children and young people.

Regulatory planning for economic development in the countryside

This article examines the interaction between development control and economic development in the countryside within the context of contemporary debates on shifts in the agricultural sector from productivism to multi-functionality. Using planning application decisions from the case of Northern Ireland for the period 1994–95 to 2005–06, together with insights from high-level key informants with planning, economic development and environmental management expertise, the article critiques a perception that regulatory planning is in line with rural development ambitions to foster a multi-functional countryside. While the quantitative data indicate a high approval rate for economic development projects, the qualitative evidence points to limitations within the policy content and operational practices of the planning system. The article argues that regulatory planning must engage more deeply with rural development objectives.

An evaluation of the completeness of reporting of childhood tuberculosis

The sensitivity of the Enhanced Tuberculosis Surveillance (ETS) scheme for monitoring tuberculosis in children is unknown. We used the British Paediatric Surveillance Unit (BPSU) reporting scheme to conduct a prospective observational study of tuberculosis in children aged <16 yrs in the UK. Reported cases were then matched with records from the ETS database. A total of 320 cases were reported to the BPSU between January and December 2004. We estimated that there were 557 paediatric cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2004: 222 (40%) cases reported to both BPSU and ETS, 98 (18%) reported to BPSU but not ETS and 237 (42%) reported to ETS but not BPSU. Children aged <5 yrs were significantly less likely to be reported to ETS compared with older children (p<0.01). There is substantial under-reporting of childhood tuberculosis, especially of children aged <5 yrs. ETS provides a representative picture of the demographics but may miss approximately 20% of cases. This should be taken into account when planning training and resource requirements for tuberculosis. Increased efforts are needed to ensure that all paediatric cases are reported to ETS.

Intelligence and Controversial British Interrogation Techniques: the Northern Ireland Case, 1971–2

This paper focuses on the controversial British interrogation techniques known as the 'five techniques', which were used as aids to interrogation in Northern Ireland in the autumn of 1971. Its central argument is that despite the widespread backlash against the use of the 'five techniques' in Northern Ireland, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in Britain continued to support their use because of their benefits to intelligence-gathering. By examining the written histories of the 'five techniques' commissioned by the MoD and the course of MoD-led debates on the purposes of the techniques, we can gain an insight into official attitudes towards past and future uses of the techniques. Bolstered by evidence on the quantity and quality of the intelligence these techniques produced in the Northern Ireland case, this study contributes to debates on the relationship between intelligence-gathering and interrogation methods that can be described as ill-treatment or torture.

Intelligence and Controversial British Interrogation Techniques: the Northern Ireland Case, 1971–2

This paper focuses on the controversial British interrogation techniques known as the 'five techniques', which were used as aids to interrogation in Northern Ireland in the autumn of 1971. Its central argument is that despite the widespread backlash against the use of the 'five techniques' in Northern Ireland, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in Britain continued to support their use because of their benefits to intelligence gathering. By examining the written histories of the 'five techniques' commissioned by the MoD and the course of MoD-led debates on the purposes of the techniques, we can gain an insight into official attitudes towards past and future uses of the techniques. Bolstered by evidence on the quantity and quality of the intelligence these techniques produced in the Northern Ireland case, this study contributes to debates on the relationship between intelligence-gathering and interrogation methods that can be described as ill-treatment or torture.

Educating for Peace? Citizenship Education in Quebec and Northern Ireland

Previous articleNext article No AccessEducating for Peace? Citizenship Education in Quebec and Northern IrelandUlrike Niens and Marie‐Hélène ChastenayUlrike Niens Search for more articles by this author and Marie‐Hélène Chastenay Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Comparative Education Review Volume 52, Number 4November 2008Special Issue on Education in Conflict and Postconflict SocietiesGuest Editors: Lynn Davies and Christopher Talbot Sponsored by the Comparative and International Education Society Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/591296 Views: 278Total views on this site Citations: 19Citations are reported from Crossref History July 31, 2008 © 2008 by the Comparative and International Education Society. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Thursica Kovinthan Levi The Multiple and Intersecting Roles of Civics Textbooks in Conflict-Affected Sri Lanka, (Jun 2022): 63–80.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04676-6_4Edda Sant, David Menendez Alvarez-Hevia Policy and Research on Citizenship Education in the United Kingdom (1998–2018), (Nov 2020): 507–532.https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-7706-6.ch031Ana Ivenicki Multicultural Brazil in the BRICS Countries: Potentials for the Social Sciences and Humanities, Space and Culture, India 7, no.55 (May 2020): 14–22.https://doi.org/10.20896/saci.v7i5.641Bethany Mulimbi, Sarah Dryden-Peterson “There is still peace. There are no wars.”: Prioritizing unity over diversity in Botswana’s social studies policies and practices and the implications for positive peace, International Journal of Educational Development 61 (Jul 2018): 142–154.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2017.12.009Miri Yemini, Shira Furstenburg Students’ perceptions of global citizenship at a local and an international school in Israel, Cambridge Journal of Education 3 (Jan 2018): 1–19.https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2017.1418835Elizabeth Anderson Worden, Alan Smith Teaching for democracy in the absence of transitional justice: the case of Northern Ireland, Comparative Education 53, no.33 (Jun 2017): 379–395.https://doi.org/10.1080/03050068.2017.1334426Miri Yemini A Systematic Conceptual Review of Global Citizenship Education Empirical Studies Between 2005 and 2015, (Jan 2017): 59–93.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-38939-4_4Miri Yemini Local and Global Identities in Different Educational Contexts, (Jan 2017): 95–122.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-38939-4_5Heela Goren, Miri Yemini Global citizenship education redefined – A systematic review of empirical studies on global citizenship education, International Journal of Educational Research 82 (Jan 2017): 170–183.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2017.02.004Angela Rickard, Roger S. P. Austin Assessing Impact of ICT Intercultural Work, (Jan 2017): 102–120.https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-1709-2.ch007Beth C. Rubin We Come to Form Ourselves Bit by Bit, American Educational Research Journal 53, no.33 (Jun 2016): 639–672.https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831216646871Tony Gallagher, Gavin Duffy Education for Citizenship Education and Social Justice in Northern Ireland, (Oct 2016): 523–544.https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51507-0_25Angela Rickard, Alma R.C. Grace, Roger S.P. Austin, Jane M. Smyth Assessing Impact of ICT Intercultural Work, International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Education 10, no.33 (Jul 2014): 1–18.https://doi.org/10.4018/ijicte.2014070101Lindsay Ellis Law and order in the classroom: reconsidering A Course on Citizenship , 1914, Journal of Peace Education 10, no.11 (Apr 2013): 21–35.https://doi.org/10.1080/17400201.2012.711755Ulrike Niens, Una O'Connor, Alan Smith Citizenship education in divided societies: teachers' perspectives in Northern Ireland, Citizenship Studies 17, no.11 (Feb 2013): 128–141.https://doi.org/10.1080/13621025.2012.716214Alan McMurray, Ulrike Niens Building bridging social capital in a divided society: The role of participatory citizenship education, Education, Citizenship and Social Justice 7, no.22 (Jun 2012): 207–221.https://doi.org/10.1177/1746197912440859Reynaldo Ty Social injustice, human rights-based education and citizens’ direct action to promote social transformation in the Philippines, Education, Citizenship and Social Justice 6, no.33 (Oct 2011): 205–221.https://doi.org/10.1177/1746197911417413Lynn Davies The Different Faces of Education in Conflict, Development 53, no.44 (Nov 2010): 491–497.https://doi.org/10.1057/dev.2010.69Edda Sant, David Menendez Alvarez-Hevia Policy and Research on Citizenship Education in the United Kingdom (1998–2018), (): 302–327.https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-7110-0.ch013

PEACEBUILDING CONTRIBUTIONS OF NORTHERN IRELAND PRODUCERS OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH‐ORIENTED MEDIA

The Northern Ireland (NI) case study examined here offers us insights into how the media can involve children in peacebuilding and conflict resolution, as well as, how the quantity and quality of these efforts are influenced by contextual and institutional factors. The findings emerged from analyses of initiatives by producers, commissioning agents, and other supporters of the use of media to advance conflict resolution. The liberal, human relations ideology required of producers is analyzed along with the critique and approaches of two opposing schools of thought. The overall conclusion is that, collectively, there is a rich corpus available to assist young media consumers, their parents, and educators to understand a range of issues involved in the transition from confrontation to democratic, nonviolent management of social life should they decide to engage in such efforts.

Reconfiguring Spaces of Conflict: Northern Ireland and the Impact of European Integration

The Irish border has historically been one of the most contested borders in Europe. In the context of the peace process and EU membership, co-operation between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland has been encouraged, supported and normalised, although internal borders of segregation stubbornly remain. This paper offers a conceptualisation of borders in conflict cases and a theoretical account of how European integration can affect their transformation. Analysis of the Northern Ireland case shows there are ambiguities within integration that allow for a ‘rebordering’ of identities at the same time as the state border diminishes in significance.

The Role of Political Discourse in Conflict Transformation: Evidence from Northern Ireland

This article introduces this volume by constructing a model for analysing political discourse as an instrument of conflict and peace, drawing on evidence from the Northern Ireland case. It identifies three processes, or stages, in a peace process in which political discourse can play a unique and crucial role: (i) the construction of a (conceptual) framework within which negotiations can take place, (ii) the facilitation of agreement between moderate and extreme positions, and (iii) the forging of common ground. The motivating thesis of this research is that discourse analysis is a vital resource for deepening our knowledge of why, how and when violence can erupt and peace can be built.

Negotiating Tactics in Low Intensity Conflicts: The Cases of Northern Ireland, the Basque Country and Corsica

AbstractThe article examines via the cases of Northern Ireland, the Basque country and Corsica the theories and practice of negotiating methods in long‐standing violent intrastate conflicts. Despite the uniqueness of each case depending on contextual and circumstantial parameters this article reaches general answers that contribute to establishing commonalities vis‐à‐vis conflict resolution and the effectiveness of certain peace processes and the failure of others. In general, the three case studies show that policies designed to accommodate fuller recognition and rights to an ethnic community have been more successful in preventing or diminishing polarisation and violent conflict than rigid policies. For a long lasting solution the parties involved would have to redefine their relationship in a way that either they could realise their goals without violent conflict or in a way that their goals would no longer conflict.

Introduction: national identity in transition? Moving out of conflict in (Northern) Ireland1

This thematic section of Nations and Nationalism starts from a question of substantive political importance: How does institutional change – in particular reforms towards ethno-national equality and the opening of borders – affect national identification in divided regions? It takes the case of Northern Ireland where a radical process of institutional change is under way. It uses new approaches to national identity to map different aspects of change and continuity – in categories of identity and in their interrelations and contents, in elite and in everyday popular identifications (for useful overviews, see Abdelal et al. 2003; Ashmore et al. 2004). It examines the trajectory of the Protestant minority in the Irish state to show possible repertoires of change. The authors look respectively at self-reported categories of identity, official discourses of identity, and popular understandings of nationality. The introduction outlines the relevance of this research to current comparative and theoretical debates.

Suicide and Young People: The Case of Northern Ireland

Suicides in Northern Ireland are examined in the context of what is known about global and regional trends with respect to gender and age, and change over time. For Northern Ireland, suicide numbers and rates are plotted for 10–24 year olds from 1967 to 2005. Questions are raised about the validity of officially registered suicides in the light of inverse correlations with accidents, and the importance of car crashes as a cause of death for this age group. The increase in suicides during the transition to peace over the past decade is considered in terms of research on mental health and the conflict, and assumptions about the legacies of violence. Among a range of professionals there is a lack of recognition of conflict-related issues and how these impact on children and young people. The article concludes with an agenda for research into self-harm and suicide contagion.

“Ancient Enmities” and Modern Conflict: History and Politics in Northern Ireland

This article investigates the role of history and historical consciousness in deeply divided societies. It looks at the case of Northern Ireland. It argues that, while the conflict here is caused by contemporary divisions, perceptions of the past have had considerable influence. Recent years have seen efforts to change historical attitudes and this has aided political accommodation. An important lesson from the conflict in Northern Ireland points to the need to challenge such historical perceptions.

Religion and Politics: The Case of Northern Ireland

This article looks at the role of religion in politics. Northern Ireland provides not only a good case study for this issue but also an opportunity to see how the subject has been approached in academic literature over the last forty years. It is argued here that religion can be a modern day, independent factor of considerable influence in politics. This has been important not only in Northern Ireland but also elsewhere in Western Europe in the twentieth century. This reality has been largely ignored until recently, partly because the situation in Northern Ireland has often been studied in a limited comparative context, and partly because of restrictive intellectual assumptions about the role of religion in politics.

Epidemiology of STIs: UK

The epidemiology of STIs in the UK has undergone marked changes over the last century. After two major peaks in syphilis and gonorrhoea coinciding with the two World Wars, the incidence of these STIs decreased dramatically after World War II, with the advent of penicillin. The 1960s and 1970s saw a resurgence of gonorrhoea and syphilis, and the male:female ratio of reported syphilis cases increased, suggesting that transmission among men who have sex with men (MSM) was increasing. STI incidence again declined in the 1980s with the advent of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, suggesting that widespread changes in sexual risk behaviour patterns were occurring. These decreases were not sustained, however, and during the mid-to-late 1990s both viral and bacterial acute STIs increased substantially. This trend has been most marked in young people and MSM. Numbers of reported gonococcal infections more than doubled to between 1995 and 2003, to 24,157 cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; syphilis increased more than tenfold to 1580 cases as a consequence of localised outbreaks, particularly in MSM. Data from 2003 compared with 2002 indicate stabilization or slowing of some STIs, including gonorrhoea and genital herpes, numbers of which decreased by 4% and 3% respectively. Rates of genital warts, chlamydial infection and syphilis continued to increase. Delivery of appropriate, effective STI preventive interventions targeted to those at highest risk, including young people and MSM, continues to be a public health priority.

Gender, Citizenship, and the Future of the Northern Ireland Peace Process

Gender, Citizenship, and the Future of the Northern Ireland Peace Process Margaret Ward (bio) It has been seven years since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement and eleven years since the first IRA cease-fire, yet political stability in Northern Ireland remains elusive. This article considers developments over the past decade from a gender perspective, in order to argue that the lack of gender parity that exists throughout Northern Irish society is a key factor in hindering the development of a new, shared future. International commitments to the promotion of women's equality and the work of academics and activists in peace and conflict studies provide empirical and theoretical evidence for including a gendered perspective in negotiating and implementing peace agreements. There has been increasing international recognition that a "gender-blind" approach to conflict resolution and reconstruction has been a critical element in the global failure to achieve a sustainable peace. Concerted pressure, particularly from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in conflict zones, has resulted in the adoption of a crucial measure, the promotion of which has done much to improve the visibility of women in war-torn societies.1 On 31 October 2000, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1325 on "Women, Peace and Security," calling for the full integration of women in all efforts regarding conflict resolution and [End Page 262] postconflict implementation. This landmark resolution is helping to achieve greater gender parity in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, but it is one that the British and Irish governments have ignored in their efforts to resolve the Northern Ireland conflict. Achievement of Resolution 1325 requires a "critical mass" of women at all levels of society, and recognition that formal peace processes are not the only arena. Women's involvement in informal processes of peace-building includes "constructing the conditions of society to foster peace through development and aid, human rights education, reconciliation and the restoration of community life."2 However, unless high-level representation is achieved, the good practice that exists at community level cannot be disseminated or developed into policy initiatives. Equally, because it is at peace accords where the foundations for a future society are often set, it is at this level where gender issues should be addressed and where a gender perspective on peace should be incorporated.3 The opportunities opened up by UN Resolution 1325 have enabled women to demonstrate what their priorities for peace and for the construction of citizenship would be. Research from Scandinavia reveals that it is mostly female politicians who place women's issues on the formal political agenda.4 Christine Chinkin has given examples from Sierra Leone, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, and East Timor. In every situation women have argued that NGOs—and women's groups specifically—have the right to participate in the work of reconstruction and that human rights relating to women, including health, education, political rights, and equality, should be recognized. Significantly, as Chinkin points out, despite such extensive grass roots activity, a huge gap remains between these community-based processes and the formal, official negotiation processes of peace settlements that Resolution 1325 has not been able to bridge. The reality is that a peace process is a "top-down process," whereby local [End Page 263] communities— especially women—are typically excluded and women, despite their activity in informal peace processes, remain largely absent from the formal negotiations.5 This was not the case in Northern Ireland during the period in which the Good Friday Agreement was negotiated. Then, women were unusually visible in the political sphere. On the British Government side, day-to-day oversight of the negotiations was in the hands of Dr. Mo Mowlam, in her role as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. As Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Liz O'Donnell formed part of the Irish Government delegation, while the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition made a major contribution to the agreement. What was achieved for women in the agreement will be discussed subsequently, as the legacy of the agreement is evaluated. What is significant, in terms of female political participation, is the fact that, although numbers elected to the Assembly have...

Consociational Theory, Northern Ireland's Conflict, and its Agreement 2.-What Critics of Consociation Can Learn from Northern Ireland

AbstractIn the second of two articles the authors show what integrationist critics of consociational theory can learn from the case of Northern Ireland, namely, that consociation may be more realistic than integration, that a ‘grand coalition’ may have more virtue than the ‘minimum-winning’ variety, that consociations can be both liberal and democratic, and that PR-STV has considerable advantages over integrationists’ preferred electoral system, the Alternative Vote.

New Politics, New Identities?:: The Case of Northern Ireland*

New Politics, New Identities?:: The Case of Northern Ireland*

Consociational Theory, Northern Ireland's Conflict, and its Agreement. Part 1: What Consociationalists Can Learn from Northern Ireland

AbstractIn the first of two articles the authors show what consociational theory may learn from the case of Northern Ireland, namely, the importance of external agencies in making and implementing consociational settlements, the relations between consociational and self-determination settlements, the ‘complexity’ of internal settlements, the merits of STV (PR) in electoral arrangements, innovations in using proportional representation decision rules to allocate ministerial portfolios, and conceptual modifications. A second article addresses what anti-consociationalists may learn from the same case.