The Irish Relations

This book examines the evolution of British - Irish relations since 1921 and applies theories from political and social sciences, including international relations to the Irish/Northern Irish case. The book includes the generation and analysis of primary data on violence and constitutional debate; the analysis of primary sources such as state papers; and elite interviews with British and Irish officials, representatives of constitutional political parties in Northern Ireland, and leaders and activists of republican and loyalist parties/organisations. Part 1 looks at how the attempt to regulate the Irish nationalist challenge to the British state (through dominion status for the Irish Free State and partition) impacted on governance in both jurisdictions. The re-opening of the (Northern) Irish Question in the late 1960s is then analysed to demonstrate the continued primacy of opposing claims to national self-determination and their impact on subsidiary levels of conflict. The final part, covering the year 1985 to the present, then demonstrates how the relative equalization of national status, reflected in the bi-national, inter-governmental relationship, has been successful in regulating conflict by integrating vertically the bi-nationality at state, governmental, and societal levels. Finally, implications of the British-Irish approach are developed as contributions to the comparative theory and practice of ethno-national conflict regulation. Ã?Â?Ã?Â?

The Act of Union, coming into effect on 1 January 1801, portended the integration of Ireland into a unified, if not necessarily uniform, community. This volume treats the complexities, perspectives, methodologies and debates on the themes of the years between 1801 and 1879. Its focus is the making of the Union, the Catholic question, the age of Daniel O'Connell, the famine and its consequences, emigration and settlement in new lands, post-famine politics, religious awakenings, Fenianism, the rise of home rule politics and emergent feminism.

This essential new history of the Irish state synthesises existing research with new findings, and adopts fresh perspectives based on neglected European and American debates. It examines the evolution of Irish diplomacy from six consulate officers in the 1920s to sixty ambassadors in the 2010s, and provides an overview of a century of Ireland's diplomatic history that has previously only been examined in a piecemeal fashion. The author's original research findings are focussed particularly on Ireland's struggle for independence in a global context, and his original analysis gives an account of how the economic performance of the Irish state formed a perpetual context for its role in international relations even when this was not a priority of its diplomats. Equal attention is paid to the history of international Irish trade, the operations of bilateral Irish relations, and multilateral diplomacy. It highlights how the Irish state came to find its role in international relations mostly by means of the UN and EU, and analyses this trend in the light of international relations theory and European history.

Providing essays, sources with questions and worked answers, together with background to each topic within Irish history, Nick Pelling provides a good foundational text for the study of Anglo-Irish relations. For centuries the relationship between Ireland and England has been difficult. Anglo-Irish Relations, 1798–1922 explores the tempestuous events from Wolfe Tone's failed rising to Michael Collins's arguably more successful effort, culminating in the controversial Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921. Classic struggles between key figures, such as O'Connell and Peel, Parnell and Gladstone, and Lloyd George and Michael Collins, are discussed and analyzed. The deeper issues about the nature of British Imperial rule and the diversity of Irish nationalism are also examined, highlighting the historiographical debate surrounding the so-called 'revisionist' view.

This timely book provides the first sustained examination of cross-border relationships since the momentous sequence of events that began with the Good Friday agreement of 1998. It looks at changing patterns of North-South relations in three broad domains: politics and public administration, the economy, and civil society. Specific topics covered include the cross-border implementation bodies, the island economy, the voluntary sector, education, health, planning, public policy, and the EU. The book draws on findings from a two-year research project embracing a large, multi-disciplinary team based in Dublin, Belfast, Dundalk, and Armagh. The book also sets recent changes in perspective, outlining the evolution of cross-border relationships between partition in 1920 and the recent comprehensive settlement, and exploring the extent to which leaders North and South remained in denial about the evolving impact and implications of the border until the closing decades of the 20th century. The authors demonstrate how the search for a settlement in Northern Ireland has created a new dynamic in cross-border relationships, underlining the critical importance of these relationships in sustaining the peace process. In a trenchant assessment of future prospects, the book stresses the extent to which new North-South relationships have been dependent on external funding from the EU and the US. It argues that the diminution of these funds potentially threatens the sustainability of successful cross-border programs, putting the onus on the two governments to develop a more coherent and strategic approach to cross-border co-operation.

This landmark series of three volumes brings together selected essays from leading and specialist journals that have made a significant or original contribution to Irish historiography. Each volume contains a range of articles reappraising the major political themes of the period, but also offering new interpretations on social, economic, cultural and religious history, as well as women's history and historical geography. Introductions to each volume explain the specific and wider significance of the articles.

Anglo-Irish relations in the twentieth century can be described as being close but tortuous. This paradox is fused with Ireland's geographical location - both isolated from Europe and in close proximity to the main island of the British archipelago. Using a geopolitical analysis based on the theories of Sir Halford Mackinder, this book provides a new understanding of the strategic imperatives that have driven British policy throughout the turbulent events of the twentieth century. Containing material which has only recently been released by the Public Record Office, this book brings an entirely new perspective to the reality of Irish neutrality, and the pivotal importance of Northern Ireland in the Battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War. Furthermore, using US archival material, it gives a new insight into Ireland's geopolitical importance in the First World War, and her contribution to victory against the German U-boats.