The Mediation Process in

Northern Ireland

Francis Tuifao, M.S.W., M.A.

The Mediation Process

in Northern Ireland

These structuralist and behaviourist attitudes displayed by the P-CROs (Peace

Conflict Resolution Organizations)1 studied, paralleled the wider academic debate
surrounding the dynamics of the Northern Ireland conflict and possible
approaches to managing or resolving it. These are those who argue, on the one
hand, that the rival ideologies of Irish nationalism and Ulster2 unionism can be
transcended through behaviourist mechanisms such as greater contact,
communication, dialogue, and new modes of thinking. Others take the structural
perspective that these rival ideologies are separate and antithetical identities
which cannot be integrated but must be recognized and accommodated through
political mechanisms such as consociationalism. This debate is ongoing within the
academic community, and is reflected by several contributions within this
volume.3
Feargal Cochrane describes how the so-called hybrid organizations known as the P-CROs
intervened in the Northern Ireland conflict as a consequence of the violent outbursts
between the Catholics and the Protestants. Cochrane sets out the dynamics of the
behavioral mechanism that results in a structure of two sides of identity. For example,
there is a tremendous hatred (animosity and resentment) for Great Britain on the part of
the Republicans.4 This hatred continued in Ireland, and even more so, as the Republican
movement focused on Ulster. Ulster continued to be dominated by British rule. The
Catholics of Ulster continued to be oppressed with regard to their cultural and religious
backgrounds. You can talk about all this coming together of Protestant and Catholics
working class, but heres yet another instance where the sectarian card was played and

P-CROs (Peace Conflict Resolution Organizations) are hybrid organizations. They are characteristics as NGO (NonGovernmental Organizations), which are non-profit & self-governing via voluntary participation. They make moral claims that are in
opposition to those held by dominant political elites, and they most actively challenge and seek to change the forces that fuel and
maintain the conflict and prevent peace. Such challenging claims and activities place these organizations at greater risk of antagonism
(from the state, the public, and other organizations making counterclaims) than would be expected of other NGOs. In addition, PCROs commonly identify themselves as part of a larger network or movement of peace and reconciliation organizations. As hybrid
organizations, P-CROs continually change their structures and activities in response to political, economic, and social changes in their
environments, Benjamin Gidron, Stanley Katz, Megan Meyer, Yeheskel Hasenfeld, Raviv, Schwartz & Jonathan K. Crane, Peace
and Conflict Resolution Organization in Three Protracted Conflicts: Structures, Resources and Ideology, International Journal of
Voluntary and Nonprofit Organization, Volume 10, Number 4, pp. 275-298, 1999.
2
Ulster is better known as Northern Ireland. The Four Province of Ireland is Leinster, Ulster, Munster, & Connacht . Ulster one of
the four provinces of Ireland.
3
Feargal Cochrane, Unsung Heroes? The Role of Peace and Conflict Resolution Organizations in the Northern Ireland Conflict,
Northern Ireland and the Divided World: The Northern Ireland Conflict and the Good Friday Agreement in Comparative Perspective,
(Editor: John McGarry), New York: Oxford University Press, 2001, pg. 150 - 151.
4
Republicans refers to Irish-Catholics, who are loyal to the Irish cause via Irish Independence. In addition, the Republicans
ultimate goal is to force Great Britain to withdraw from Northern Ireland and to re-unify both the North and South (Republic of
Ireland) into one United Ireland. Republican identity is also referred to as active military volunteers in the service of the Irish
Republican Army.
1

the people who had been united were effectively separated.5 In Ulster, sectarianism6
plays a powerful role among Catholics. Catholics of Ulster had encountered racism on the
part of the Northern Ireland government, which is operated by Protestants.7 The only
reason the Unionist8 system had been able to exist was the British turned a blind eye to its
injustices. The Unionist leadership with the mentality of the White racialists of South
Africa or Rhodesian movements a lesson before it built up too much strength.9
Sectarianism was an issue in Ulster, in which the Protestants in power in Northern Ireland
discriminate against the Catholics:
They are gathering to help me now, I am not afraid. If they are put down to-day,
they will get the upper hand to-morrow. I must be going to meet my friends. They
are coming to help me, and I must be there to welcome them. I must call the
neighbours togethers to welcome them.10
More Catholics of Ulster had joined the war against Britain to defend Ireland. Republican
leaders were known to recruit many Catholics of Ulster as new volunteers to advance the
Irish cause. The fact is Britain refused to leave Ulster, which is why the Republicans
continued their lengthy military campaigns against the Anglo-Saxon invaders:11
The Provisional IRA12 was ready for action. As many as 1,000 people in both
parts of Ireland could now be considered Volunteers for the Provos (PIRA) armed
wings. All were trained as guerrillas, gun-running, bomb-markers, officers or
ordnance supervisors, organizers, who concentrated on building a network of safe
houses and lines of escape that are vital in the sort of struggle that was about to be
waged. New Volunteers were trained security, intelligence work as spies,
facilitators in the setting up of Command Centres and securing arms dumps for
the rural aspect of the war. Supply routes for weapons and explosives were now
firmly established both from the 26 Counties from the Southern in the Northern
part of Ireland and from the U.S., England, Europe, the Middle East, and
elsewhere in the South. A sufficient number of young recruits almost all
5

Gerry Adams, "Free Ireland: Towards a Lasting Peace," (1994), Colorado: Roberts Rinehart Publishers, pg. 16.
Gerry Adams is the current President of Sinn Fein, which is the Political Wing of the I.R.A.
6
Sectarianism is the separation between Catholics and Protestants in Ulster.
7
The Protestants of Northern Ireland as British settlers, who wants to remain under British rule, but they are against the Republican
ideology, especially of an United Ireland.
8
Unionists refer to as Protestants of Northern Ireland.
9
Sean MacStiofain, Revolutionary in Ireland, (1975), Edinburgh: R& R Clark Ltd, pg. 103.
Sean MacStiofain (1929-2002) was an Irish Republican, who became the Chief of Staff for the Provisional Irish Republican Army in
1969-72. MacStiofain and the Republicans of Ulster broke away from the (Original) Irish Republican Army branch, or O.I.R.A due to
the conflicts in Ulster in attacks within all Catholic communities by Protestant and Loyalist Militias.
10
William Butler Yeats, Cathleen Ni Houlihan, (2006/1902), New York: Kessinger Publishing, Inc, pg. 768-9.
The play is about a typical Irish-Catholic family, who experience an unexpected visitor, who is described as an Old Woman. She
warns the family of a future uprising that would change their lives forever. This Old Woman is Cathleen Ni Houlihan, who is
representation of Mother Ireland. Cathleen Ni Houlihan is a metaphoric character of Deidre of the Sorrows and Danu, Great Mother
Goddess of the Gaelic gods.
11
Anglo-Saxon invaders refer to Great Britain.
12
IRA means the Irish Republican Army.

sessions that were held mostly in the South but sometimes in urban safe houses
and in isolated farm areas of the North.13
The Northern Ireland conflict continued for a quarter of a century, which was only meant
to serve the Republican goal of a United Ireland. The Northern Ireland conflict cost both
Catholic and Protestant lives, and resulted in no gain or benefit for either side. Instead, it
brought misery to the social environment of both communities. Recognizing that the
absence of an Irish dimension facilitated republican militancy, the UK and Irish
government unlimited rights of consultation on the making of UK public policy on
Northern Ireland, while encouraging in the Northern Ireland parties to come to agree
internal power-sharing.14 Brendan OLeary explains that both the Irish and British
governments decided to work together to put an end to the lengthy conflict. The Northern
Ireland conflict was a complicated issue in both the Catholic and Protestant communities,
which leads to this question: What was the third party within the mediation process, and
what was the conflict resolution approach that led to the Good Friday Peace Agreement
of 1998?

Were there other 'parties' Advocating for Peace in Northern Ireland?

Cochrane states, Since 1972 there has been no tier of government in Northern Ireland
that unionists could look to for leadership, while such leadership that was given was
characterized by failure and negativity.15 Cochrane writes that there were no parties
advocating for an end to the conflict. The development of the P-CRO sector within
Northern Ireland is a consequence of the unique historical political and economic
conditions experienced by the region during the period. The democratic deficit, together
with the experience of economic deprivation within Catholic and Protestant workingclass areas, led to a politicization around socio-economic issues, which in turn provided
the infrastructure for P-CRO to develop in response to the political conflict.16 Cochrane
explains that the P-CRO (non-government organizations) existed because of the dark
Kevin J. Kelley, The Longest War: Northern Ireland and the I.R.A., (1982) Connecticut: Lawrence Hill and Co Inc, pg. 137.
Brendan OLeary. Comparative Political Science and the British-Irish Agreement, Northern Ireland and the Divided World: The
Northern Ireland Conflict and the Good Friday Agreement in Comparative Perspective, (Editor: John McGarry), New York: Oxford
University Press, pp. 53-88, 2001, pg. 59.
15
Feargal Cochrane. Unsung Heroes? The Role of Peace and Conflict Resolution Organizations
in the Northern Ireland Conflict, Northern Ireland and the Divided World: The Northern Ireland Conflict and the Good Friday
Agreement in Comparative Perspective, (Editor: John McGarry). New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 137-156, 2001, pg. 140.
16
Cochrane, pg. 141.
13
14

history of segregation within Northern Ireland. OLeary stated, The Council of Ireland
of 1974, contained no all-Ireland parliamentary body; and that they had succeeded in
trimming down the ambitious cross-border institutions advocated by the Irish
government, the 17SDLP, and Sinn Fein18 the number of functional jurisdictions and the
powers of (some) cross-border bodies were curtailed by the unionist negotiators.19
OLeary describes how since 1974 the Irish government had worked together with Sinn
Fein, the SDLP and with the P-CRO in allowing the cross border bodies to be open to
both sides. OLeary points out that the Unionists were the underlying source of the
Troubles.20 The North-South Ministerial Council (NSMC); it was intended to bring
together those with executive responsibilities in Northern Ireland and in the
Republic.21OLeary explained that the NSMC was created by the Irish government and
the Catholic parties, while attempting to negotiate with the Unionists to have a mutual
relationship (as neighbors) with regard to the open border policy, so that citizens can
cross with any harassment.22 If this is case, then why is it a problem for the Unionists,
who are Protestants, to 'get along' with the Irish Republic and with the Catholic parties of
Northern Ireland? From 1972 to 1974, sector groups tried to intervene in support of a
possible peace process, but there were problems that could not be addressed. Because the
Unionists refused to enter negotiations with the Irish Republic and the Catholic parties
with regard to border control, the conflict become more intense, and violence occurred
throughout Northern Ireland. In order to understand the mediation process in Northern
Ireland, we must briefly consider the socio-economic status of the two communities.

17

SDLP means the Social Democratic Labour Party

Sinn Fein is an Irish political party that represents both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The name means we
ourselves alone in Irish language. Sinn Fein was founded by Arthur Griffith in 1905. Sinn Fein has historically been associated with
the Provisional IRA (in Northern Ireland). Sinn Fein also represents all Catholic populations in Northern Ireland.
19
Brendan OLeary. Comparative Political Science and the British-Irish Agreement, Northern Ireland and the Divided World: The
Northern Ireland Conflict and the Good Friday Agreement in Comparative Perspective, (Editor: John McGarry), New York: Oxford
University Press, pp. 53-88, 2001, pg. 60.
20
OLeary, pg. 60.
21
Ibid, 60.
22
Ibid, 60.
18

Catholics and Protestants: Northern Irelands Socio-Economic Status

To begin to understand the Troubles23 of Northern Ireland, it is best to present a historical
overview of the socio-economic status of the Irish and the British. This will explain how
the Catholics and Protestants have come to have this same relationship in Northern
Ireland. Friedrich Engels wrote:
The English wars of conquest from 1100 to 1850 (au fond they lasted as long as
this, as did also martial law) utterly ruined the country. With regard to most of the
ruins, it has been established that the destruction took place during these wars.
Thus the very people have acquired their unusual character and, for all their
fanatical Irish nationalism, the fellows no longer feel at home in their own
country. Ireland for the Anglo-Saxons! That is now becoming a reality. The
Irishman knows that he cannot complete with the Englishman, who comes armed
with resources in every respect superior to his own; emigration will continue until
the predominantly, indeed almost exclusively, Celtic nature of the population has
gone to pot. How often have the Irish set out to achieve something and each time
been crushed, politically and industrially!24
Engels discussed the historical essence of Irelands conflict with England in his letter to
Marx.25 He explained in the letter to his comrade Karl Marx that Ireland is like a
wasteland or a graveyard, per horrible reminiscences of centuries of failed uprisings and
warfare against the English. Engels further described in his letter that he witnessed the
rising tension of the Republican26 movement occurring in Ireland and England.27 He was
familiar with the British presence in Ireland, and the Irish population residing in
London.28 Engels began to look at the history of Ireland to understand the Irish social
class status within the British hierarchy. As mentioned earlier, the Irish are Celtic
descendants, which Engels had mentioned in his writings. Celtic culture is very important
because it describes the Irish identity. To understand Celtic tradition, we must start with
Celtic religion, which was very important to the Celts. The Celts worshipped nature. It is
also important to examine the Druids, because they were at the heart of the Celtic
lifestyle. The Druids were the main leaders and councilors in ancient Irish society.

23

The Troubles or Northern Ireland conflict is the most common term referring to the ethno-nationalist (between the Catholics and
Protestants) that continued in the province of Ulster (Northern Ireland), the Republic of Ireland, England, and Europe. The duration of
the Troubles began from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended in the Good Friday Peace Agreement of 1998.
24
Friedrich Engels, Engels to Marx in London, Der Briefwechsel zwischen, (1856), pg. 50.
25
Engels, Engels to Marx in London, (1856), pg. 50.
26
Republican means being connected to the Irish identity, such as Celtic decadency and being Anti-British.
27
Friedrich Engels, Engels to Marx in London, Der Briefwechsel zwischen, (1856), pg. 50.
28
Engels, Engels to Marx in London, (1856), pg. 50.

In the Celtic tradition, children are trained to become warriors and leaders within
their own community, including the military realm. Celtic children can choose to become
Druids. Leslie Ellen Jones says, Healing wells, fountain, and springs pervade the Celtic
lands, and these sites are way often associated with demystified goddess.29 Jones
describes the concept of water as the source of life in the Celtic mindset. Essentially, the
Celts worshipped water, land, and the sky, which related to Mother Earth.30 This was no
different than Christianity (Roman Catholicism) that would play a vital role in Irish
culture. The Druid was not an individual priest of another religions; he was the
representative of an entire way of life.31 Jones explained how the Druids represented
everything about the Celtic religion and its way of life. In Celtic culture, and in Irish
heritage particularly, Druids were important because they were considered High Priests
and played a religious as well as a political role. Gerhard Herm writes:
The existence of Druids, vates and bards - a class of wise men who, though not
priests in the traditional sense, led an existence that is difficult to determine
alongside the warriors society of the Celts. They served the tribes and clans as
judges, prophets, soothsayers, wise men and as keepers of the collective memory,
but they were not bound by the ordinary rules of behaviour. In the midst of
quarreling, rivalry and feuding them seem to have stood for what was common to
all, the essence perhaps of some Celthood, whatever that may be.32
Herm explained that the Druids were not just High Priests, but they represented authority
and were peacekeepers in Celtic society.33 Herm also explained that the Druids were the
representative of what is a Celt. The reason Celtic people put their faith in the Druids
was because they had the answers about the source of life, and many other things.34
Georg Wilhelm Hegel described, The reflective history is the pragmatic. The events are
many, but their universal idea and their inner connection are one. This nullifies the past
and makes the event present. Pragmatic reflections, no matter how abstract, belong
indeed to the present, and the stories of the past are quickened into present-day life.35
Hegel explained that when a major event occurs in which a native way of life is no longer
safe and operational within the community, a difficult transitional process results, forcing
Leslie Ellen Jones, Druids, Shaman, and Priest: Metaphors of Celtic Paganism, (1998), Great Britain: Hisarlik Press, pg. 44.
Jones, Druids, Shaman, and Priest: Metaphors of Celtic Paganism, pg. 44.
31
Jones, pg. 32.
32
Gerhard Herm, The Celts, (1978), New York: St. Martins Press, pg. 61-2.
33
Herm, The Celts, pg. 61-2.
34
Ibid, pg. 32.
35
Georg Wilhelm Hegel, Reason in History, (1988/1837), New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, pg. 7.
29
30

adaptation to a foreign lifestyle and the erasing of traditions and lifestyles. According to
Hegel, the ancient Celtic society and the Druids were now replaced by the English. In his
letter to his friend Marx, Engels writes, The English do not want the Irish to be
connected to their native culture because it leads to resistance against their foreign
power.36
In Engels work, The Conditions of the Working Class in England, he writes, The
Irishmen who migrate (from their homelands) for fourpence to England, on the deck of a
steamship on which they are often packed like cattle, insinuate themselves everywhere.
The worst dwellings are good enough for them; their clothing causes them little trouble,
so long as it holds together by a single thread; shoes they know not; their food consists of
potatoes and potatoes only; whatever they earn beyond these needs they spend upon
drink. What does such a race want with high wages?37 Engels explained that the Irish
went to England because there was nothing back in their homelands. The Great Potato
Famine of 1848 was devastating Ireland. Engels observed that the Irish came to England
with nothing, and how most of them would wear ragged clothes, sometimes without
shoes.38 This became an advantage for the British factory owners who could employ them
for little or no wages, in some cases working for food and shelter only.39 Douglas
Woodwell writes:
The modern-day Protestant community of Northern Ireland descends primarily
from Scottish settlers who began arriving in significant numbers in the 17th
century after Britain assumed control of Ulster, which was the last unconquered
province in Ireland. After mass settlement began, Protestants received preferential
political and economic treatment in comparison to the treatment of the native
Catholic population. Land was redistributed to Protestants to such a degree that at
the beginning of the 18th century, Catholics owned only 14 percent of available
farmland in Ireland.40
Woodwell explained that the history of Ireland via Ulster involved Englands mission to
recruit foreign settlers from Scotland to reside in the region. During that period, England
attempted to convert all of Ireland to Protestantism, which ended in failure. Ulster

Friedrich Engels, Engels to Marx in London, Der Briefwechsel zwischen, (1856), pg. 50.
Friedrich Engels, The Conditions of the Working Class in England, (2001/1845), London: ElecBook, pg. 163.
Engels, The Conditions of the Working Class in England, (2001/1845), pg. 163-164.
39
Ibid, pg. 165.
40
Douglas Woodwell. The Troubles of Northern Ireland: Civil Conflict in an Economically Well-Developed State, Understanding
Civil War, (Editor: Paul Collier and Nicholas Sambanis), Washington D.C: World Bank Publications, pp. 161-190, 2005, pg. 162.
36
37
38

became Protestant, whereas the rest of Ireland still remains Catholic. Working-class
Protestants and Catholics competed heavily for jobs and Belfast began to develop the
patterns of sectarian residential segregation that characterize the city today. The pressures
of the industrial revolution and inward migration to the city fostered major sectarian
rioting that occurred in 1835, 1843, 1857, 1864, and 1872.41 The relations between the
Irish and the British affected both communities in Northern Ireland, especially when it
came to employment. Northern Irelands history tells a tragic story of how Englands
failure to convert all of Ireland to Protestantism resulted in investment in the province of
Ulster. As a Protestant region, Ulster had intense patterns of segregation that led to
centuries of violent attacks against both Catholics and Protestants. Northern Irelands
history is not sufficient to explain the conflict. Moreover, in order to properly explain the
1998 mediation peace process it is necessary to touch on Irelands history in relationship
to the Great Britain.42
Englands Conquest of Ireland: Brief History
The question is how did Great Britain emerge as one of the most powerful nationstates in the world? It is clear that we have to look into English history to understand how
they began to conquer other countries, and look into when England arrived in Ireland.
English arrival resulted in the conquest of Ireland. Peter Berresford Ellis writes:
Diarmada Mac Murchadha43 arrived in Ireland with an army of Foreigners (English
armies) and he retook the kingship of Hy Cennselaig (Leinster). A week was the
High King of Ireland in his house before he heard that Mac Murchadha had found
great strength and returned to power in Leinster. The High King and King of
Breifne44 and the King of Meath45 and men of Dublin with them, marched to
Woodwell. The Troubles of Northern Ireland: Civil Conflict in an Economically Well-Developed State, Understanding Civil
War, pg. 163.
42
United Kingdom of Great Britain is a collective nation state. This collective nation-state was united under the marriage politics
between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom Scotland. The Kingdom of Scotland was a separate sovereign state from 843 to
1707. In 1707, both England and Scotland united to become a unified nation-state that represented one identity. The British identity
was formed. Under the Acts of Union in 1801, Ireland joined the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until 1948 when the
Republic of Ireland became its own separate sovereign state.
43
Diarmada Mac Murchadha (11101 May 1171) was a King of Leinster in Ireland. Mac Murchadha was deprived of his kingdom by
the High King of Ireland for the dispossession of abducting the wife of the King of Breifne. To gain his kingdom back, he seeks help
from outside of Ireland. By 1169, the Leinster king had formed an alliance from King Henry II of England. In return of receiving his
kingdom back, Mac Murchadha pledged an oath of allegiance to the foreign king (Henry II of England). The English had sent troops
through their alliance in support of the King of Leinster. The Leinster king showed his appreciation to the English king via marriage
politics in regards to his daughter Aoife in marrying the English kings warlord Richard de Clare, who is known as Strongbow. The
English king then formed a large army for a second invasion to Ireland by 1171 through the leadership of Strongbow, who later
became the Lordship of Ireland. This invasion became a fact through the alliance with the Leinster king and how England conquered
Ireland by 1171 A.D.
44
Breifne is an ancient region in Ireland, which is located between the provinces of Ulster, Leinster, and Connaught.
45
Meath is a country in Ireland. It is located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Meath (meaning
41

Ferdorcha and encamped a week awaiting envoys from Diarmada. A party of

warriors left the camp to seek combat and six of them were killed by the
Foreigners. Whereupon the High Kings army issued forth and put to flight
Diarmada and his Foreigners at which Diarmada submitted to the High King and
paid tribute, hostages and gave O'Ruairc five score ounces of gold for
compensation for his wife.46
Ellis described how the English armies arrived in Ireland. It started from an alliance with
the King of Leinster. Diarmada Mac Murchadhas main goal was to once again become
the Leinster king. His ambition came at a cost. The English had exploited Mac
Murchadha's ambition through a treaty that gave King Henry II of England a perfect
motive to enter Ireland through Leinster.47 When the English king had dispatched his
military forces to Leinster, this began their conquest of foreign lands.48 Brendan Smith
states, In Airgialla49 (modern-day Oirialla) as in other parts of the country targeted for
English expansion at this time, the king secured for himself a permanent and immediate
stake in affairs by retaining substantial estates in his own lands. Although the English
were men of military of experience, these grantees were primarily royal servants rather
than great landed magnates. The type of expertise and resource they brought was
appropriate to Airgialla, a stable kingdom which had posed no drastic military threat to
the English since their arrival, but would have been unsuitable in Meath with its
fissiparous politics and powerful Irish neighbours. From the outset, the segment of
Airgialla which become county Louth was a part of Ireland particularly open to influence
from the center of power in England and this was to continue to be a distinguishing
feature of its history throughout the Middle Ages.50 Smith explained the English army
arrived in Ireland in 1169 and established their presence in Airgialla.51 The English used
their policies with the Kingdom of Airgialla in order to enter Irish soil. England was
interested in expanding its kingdom to include Ireland, so that it could later seize the
entire geography of Ireland to advance its own political power. Several of the Irish
province-kings had willingly submitted to Henry II when he came to Ireland in 1171. In
the interval between 1171 and 1185 the Irish had become all the more aware of the need
to find themselves a protector, because the expansion of the colony was proceeding apace
and their status was being rapidly undermined.52 Since the arrival of the English, Ireland
had no leadership from their kings or from the ancient chieftains due to the English
occupation of their homeland. The objective was for Ireland to serve only English
interests.

middle).
46
Peter Beresford Ellis, Eyewitness to Irish History, (2004), New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., pg. 33.
47
Ellis, Eyewitness to Irish History, (2004), pg. 33.
48
Ibid, pg. 33.
49
Airgialla was the name of an Irish kingdoms and federations, which it was formed around the 7th century. The historical region
spanned the provinces of Leinster and Ulster with the modern day Lough and Monaghan. Airgialla were a group of mainly unrelated
dynasties, located in what is now central and southern Ulster, who had formed a military federation during the late 7th century.
Airgialla means the "hostage of gold, and it was best described the Kingdom of Airgialla.
50
Brendan Smith, Colonisation and Conquest in Medieval Ireland: The English in Louth, 1170-1330, (1999), New York: Cambridge
University Press, pg. 31.
51
Smith, Colonisation and Conquest in Medieval Ireland: The English in Louth, 1170-1330, (1999), pg. 31.
52
Sean Duffy, Ireland in the Middle Ages, (1997), New York: St. Martins Press, pg.101.

The granting out of Airgialla was followed by its English conquest and settlement.
English warlords (who negotiated treaties with many Irish kings and chieftains) may have
come to some arrangement in 1185, and the English warlords had certainly
acknowledged later than some Irish kings shad held their land of them, but once the Irish
kings was deceased; English interests in these Irish areas were pursued by military rather
than diplomatic means.53 Smith described in how the English had pretended to be
friends with their Irish neighbors via treaties and alliances. Once the Irish kings and
chieftains had died, the English saw an opportunity to seize control of their land. By the
twentieth century, Ireland became Englands first colony.

Social Theories to the Northern Ireland Situation

National consciousness, and nation-states, it is necessary to turn to the large
cluster of new political entities that sprang up in the Western hemisphere, all of
which self-consciously defined themselves as nations, as (non-dynastic) republics.
For not only were they historically the first such states to emerge on the world
stage, and therefore inevitably provided the first real models of what such states
should look like, but their numbers and contemporary births offer fruitful
ground for comparative enquiry.54
Benedict Anderson explains how the imagination community becomes a reality wherein
communities are created through boundaries in ones mindset. According to Anderson the
imagination community has two facets: (1) human beings and (2) space. People create an
imagination community in order for them to seek a safety refuge of what or how a
utopian society would look like in their mindsets. Imagination community becomes a
motivational tool for people to pursue in building a utopian society with a perpetual peace
for them to reside under a new society and its government.55 As the English occupied
Ireland, what was the relationship between the foreigners and the indigenous people?
How were the Irish treated in their homeland?
Biopolitics is relevant in relation to the Irish conflict, as it describes the role
or positions it plays in a community or in an institution.56 Biopolitics, created in
the eighteenth century as techniques of power present at every level of the social
53

Smith, pg. 32.

Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, (1983), London, UK: Verso,
pg. 48.
55
Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, (1983), pg. 48.
56
Michel Foucault, History of Sexuality Volume 1: An Introduction, (1978), New York: Vintage Books, pg.141.
54

10

body and utilized by very diverse institutions (the family and the army, schools
and the police, individual medicine and the administration of collective bodies),
operated in the sphere of economic processes, their development, and the forces
working to sustain them.57 One-way of describing biopolitics is how a prisoner is
treated in the context of his or her crimes. An inmate is a criminal that needs
discipline by the correctional employees, who have the authority and the power to
punish them for their crimes. For example, when someone violates a law in
society, they get apprehended and go to prison. That is discipline and Foucaults
notion of biopolitics. Biopolitics would apply to the Irish situation due to the
colonization by the English. Michel Foucault writes:
The reformers proposed a whole panoply of penalties that were natural by
institution and which represented in their form the content of the crime. Those who
abuse public liberty will be deprived of their own; those who abuse the benefits of
law and the privileges of public office will be deprived of their civil rights
speculation and usury will be punished by fines; theft will be punished by
confiscation; vainglory by humiliation; murder by death; fire-raising by the stake.
In the case of the prisoner, the executioner will present him with a goblet the
contents of which will be thrown into his face; thus he will be made to feel the
horror of his crime by being offered an image of it; he will then be thrown into a
cauldron of boiling water.58
Foucault discussed how a prisoner is treated in the context of his or her crimes. Of
course, this applies to a criminal, who has violated societys laws. As we can see, a prison
becomes like an authority figure in controlling the inmates, who have no rights. The
prison is the best example of biopolitics, because the inmates are stripped of their rights.
The point of Foucaults argument is how prisons can be intimidating due to their political
community. A prison has walls and fences that are built so that prisoners cannot escape.
Foucault argued that prison is also within ones mindset. Prison is only a place. Prison is
our imagination.59 Thomas More explains:
Natives and colonists soon combine to form a single community with a single
way of life, to the great advantage of both parties. If the natives wont do what
theyre told, theyre expelled from the area marked out for annexation. If they try
to resist the Utopians declare war - for they consider war perfectly justifiable,

Foucault, History of Sexuality Volume 1: An Introduction, (1978), pg.141.

Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, (1977), New York: Vintage Books, pg. 105.
59
Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, (1977), pg. 105.
57
58

11

when one country denies another its natural rights are not using themselves, but
are merely holding on as a worthless piece of property.60
More described utopia as an imaginary community with a new form of government with
laws and a society from which all citizens can benefit. One can imagine that a prison
facility is an example of space. Adding a utopian ideal within that space, it becomes a
newly imaginary community.
According to Antonio Gramsci, Hegemony is characterized by the combination
of force and consent, which balance each other reciprocally, without force predomination
excessively over consent.61 Gramsci describes hegemony as when a nation occupies a
foreign country in order to expand its empire. In the case of the English conquest, all Irish
land was confiscated in order to become a future powerful empire. The essential goal was
to dominate Ireland and force the Irish into slavery. As slaves to their Anglo-Saxon62
master, the Irish began their long-term rebellion against them. This meant the Irish
rebellion is equivalent to an Irish insurrection.
Tiqqun argues, Those who have found less humiliation and more advantage in a
life of crime than in sweeping floors will not turn in their weapons, and prison wont
teach them to love society.63 Tiqqun discussed the role of inmates in a prison facility.
When an inmate is being treated unfairly, he or she might resist the prison authority. The
dead prisoners were stabbed, beaten and hit with stones in the fighting. Television
footage showed hundreds of worried and weeping relatives of inmates gathered around
the prison fence.64 Prison riots are a reality within prison facilities. Writing about a
Mexican prison riot, Jose Decordoba explained the riot had ignited due to two rival
prison gangs fighting for power. According to Decordoba, the inmates operate inside the
walls and control the overall population within the facilities the Mexican prison system.
Mexican prison gangs are controlled through the cartel warlords that dominate Mexican
politics:
Prison reform is a pending agenda item in Mexico. The strategy has been to arrest a
lot of people, but when you warehouse prisoners in prisons that are overcrowded
Thomas More, Utopia, (1965/1516), New Work: Penguin Classic Books, pg. 79-80.
Antonio Gramsci, The Prison Notebook, (1925-35/1968), New York: Bobbs-Merrill Company, pg. 243.
62
Anglo-Saxons referred to England's ethnic culture. England's culture is based combined with Germanic roots, such as the Angles,
Saxons, and the Juts (Germanic tribes), who settled in Britain around the 5 th to the 9th century.
63
Tiqqun, The Coming Insurrection, (2009), Los Angeles: Semiotext, pg. 26.
64
Jose De Cordoba, Mexico Prison Riot Leaves 44 Dead, The Wall Street Journal, February 20, 2012, accessed May 7, 2012,
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203358704577233192848519360.html.
60
61

12

and poorly managed, you are likely to have this kind of warfare breakout inside
prisons. Prison conditions in all of Latin America have deteriorated as governments
through the region incarcerate more people as they try to deal with a wave of
violence linked in part to drug cartels. The region's creaky judicial system means
that many times prisoners awaiting trial for minor crimes are kept in the same
population as the worst criminals.
Decordoba explained that the prison system in Mexico is a problem because the
management within the administration cannot be reformed due to the lack of authority.
Due to the lack of authority in the Mexican prison system, the inmates control everything.
The issue is safety for correctional staff because their lives are now in danger. The issues
with the prison system in Mexico, apply to Latin American prison systems as well.65
Tiqqun's theory (insurrection) would best describe the authority has no power to control
the prison population because the inmates rule within the prison walls in the Mexican and
the Latin American prison systems. Tiqqun writes:
Revolutionary movements do not spread by contamination but by resonance.
Something that is constituted here resonates with the shock were emitted by
something constituted over there. A body that resonates does so according to its
own mode. An insurrection is not like a plague or a forest fire a linear process
which spreads from place to place after an initial spark. It rather takes the shape of
a music, who focal points, through dispersed in time and space, succeed in
imposing the rhythm of their own vibrations, always taking on more density. 66
He asserts that the notion of insurrection is like the creation of a utopian society based on
an incident that has occurred. Insurrection is a response to how a nation-state invades and
conquers foreign lands. Tiqqun's theory would apply to the Irish conflict with the
English, who had assimilated into Ireland. Since 1169, the Irish pursued rebel campaigns
to fight against the tyranny of English oppression. Since 1169, the Irish had begun to
pursue a sustained rebellion against the tyranny of English oppression. Over the
centuries, Irish rebellions had resulted in many failures. In 1798, the Irish conflict would
change Irish politics forever.

65
66

Ibid, Internet.
Tiqqun, (2009), pg. 12-13.

13

1798 - Birth of the Irish Republicanism

Irish Republicanism begins with the rich culture and heritage, with its origins in Celtic
culture. Prior to the Roman invasion Celts were the indigenous people of Europe. The
Celts were a warring people. Warfare was best understood as the essence of the Irish way
of life. Like their Celtic ancestors, the Irish were warriors within a tribal society. Wars
were a way of life for the Celts, and being a warrior meant defending the clans from
being invaded by outsiders. Tribal politics were Celtic politics. Clans waged wars against
each other for political power and status within the society. In addition, Clans represented
themselves as nation-states in Celtic politics. My point is the Celts did live in peace,
while the complexity of warfare was often mustered only within the indigenous society.
Conquering Ireland, set the stage for Englands rise to power in European politics. In
1798 Irish Republicanism was born:
BRIDGET: You did not tell us your name yet, maam.
OLD WOMAN: Some call me the Poor Old Woman, and there are some that call me
Cathleen, the daughter of Houlihan.
PETER: I think I knew someone of that name once. Who was it, I wonder? It must have
been someone I knew when I was a boy. No, no, I remember, I heard it in a song.
OLD WOMAN: They are wondering that there were songs made for me; there have been
many songs made for me. I heard one on the wind this morning.
Do not make a great keening
When the graves have been dug to-morrow.
Do not call the white-scarfed riders
To the burying that shall be to-morrow.
Do not spread food to call strangers
To the wakes that shall be to-morrow
Do not give money for prayer
For the dead that shall die to-morrow. . .
They will have no need of prayers, they will have no need of prayers.
MICHAEL: I do not know what that song means, but tell me something I can do for you.
PETER: Come over to me, Michael.
MICHAEL: Hush, father, listen to her.67

William Butler Yeats, Cathleen Ni Houlihan, (1902), New York: Macmillan Company, pg. 708.
The play is about the Gillanes, an Irish-Catholic family, who received an unexpected visit from an Old Woman, who has no name.
As the Gillanes discovered, the Old Woman is Mother Ireland, who rallied her people to fight for her freedom. Yeats play takes
place in 1798, which is the Birth of the Republicanism.
67

14

Irish history has a very brutal and dark side with respect to encounters with the English.
Moreover, the War on the British68 has lasted for over a quarter of a century. Irish
Republicanism has been the dominant ideology since 1798:
Lord Edward Fitzgerald still put his faith in the French was evident. That he
thought an expedition was still planned was shown in his eagerness to pull the
shadowy United army into some kind of shape, with regiments, colonels, minor
officers and a commander. Lord Edward wanted to promote an immediate
revolution and assist a French invasion of England by spreading rumours among
Catholics that the Protestant Orangemen were going to attack their chapels as they
assembled for Christmas Mass. Such a use of the growing sectarian divisions both
within and beyond the movement would have been anathema to Lord Edward; the
last thing he wanted was an uprising that might assume the character of a religious
as well as a civil war.69
Stella Tillyard explained that the Birth of the Irish Republicanism symbolizes the ongoing war against Great Britain. Tillyard also mentioned a particular Irish Republican
leader, Edward Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald, once a British soldier, wanted a revolution similar
to the American and French counterparts within his homeland. Under Republicanism,
both Catholics and Protestants70 would unite for the first time under one banner to
overthrow their foreign enemies. The Irish (as Republicans) envied the French for having
beheaded their king and establishing a Republic, as a symbol of their own independence.
The Irish wanted to establish a Republic, as a symbol of their own independence. In
1798, a rebellion was launched in Ireland. Irish Republicanism was founded by Theobald

British are referred to as the English. The term British is a collective socially constructed identity integrated with the English and
the rest of the Celtic identity, such as the Scottish, Cornish, Manx, and the Welsh. The term was first constructed as an political
identity in 1603 when the Stuarts: Scottish Dynasty, who represented the Kingdom of Scotland, inter-married with the Kingdom of
England. The United Kingdom of Great British and Ireland was then established, but it did too hold as a Confederacy Nation-State
until 1701 when the Windsor Dynasty allowed for the socially constructed identity to become a reality. This socially constructed
identity was born in result of the Glorious Revolution, in which and ways the Stuart Dynasty were forced out of English and Scottish
politics. Moreover, the Battle of the Boyne occurred in which the defeat of the Catholic rebels that supported James II of the Stuart
with the alliance of the French was decimated by the Protestant forces in support of William the Orange.
69
Stella Tillyard, Citizen Lord: The Life of Edward Fitzgerald: Irish Revolutionary, (1997), New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux,
pg. 234-5.
Edward Fitzgerald (1763-1798) was a famous Irish rebel who was renowned for his gallantry and bravery, and a leading conspirator
behind the uprising of 1798 against British rule in Ireland. Like Wolfe-Tone, he was a Protestant and Dissenter. Fitzgerald joined the
British army 1778, when he was just fifteen years ago. In 1781, he fought against the so-called Colonists in the American
Revolutionary War. By 1783, he was elected to the Irish Parliament due to his Irish-Protestant ascendancy background. It was the
influence of the French Revolution, which led him to be honorable discharged from the British army in 1792. Four years later, he
joined the Society of the United Irishmen, which was a nationalist organization that aspired to free Ireland from English control. The
Irish Nationalist organization had appointed him as the Head of the Military Committee. His position and task was to form a solid plan
for an uprising, while to obtain aid from the French revolutionary regime. Although the French delayed in supplying arms and troops,
Fitzgerald's committee went ahead with its plans for a general rebellion. The uprising insurrection was set for May 23, 1798. In March
government agents seized Fitzgeralds co-conspirators. Fitzgerald himself was arrested in Dublin on May 19, after a fierce struggle
during which he was shot in the arm. He died of his wound in prison several weeks later. The rebellion broke out at the appointed
time, but the rebellion was suppressed.
70
In actually, the Dissenters were the main Protestant group that joined the Resistance movement.
68

15

Wolfe-Tone.71 Wolfe-Tone, a Protestant, resented his British identity. Thus, he later

formed a powerful alliance between the Protestants72 and Catholics73 in support of Irish
Republicanism. Theobald Wolfe-Tone spoke:
The great object of my life has been the independence
of my country. Looking upon the connection with England
to have been her bane. I have endeavoured by every
means in my power to break that connection . . . to
create a people in Ireland . . . by uniting the Catholics
and the Dissenters. For a fair and open war: I was prepared;
if that has degenerated into a system of assassination,
massacre, and plunder I do . . . most sincerely lament it.74
Wolfe-Tones famous Trial speech showed that he achieved his ultimate goal of
establishing Irish Republicanism in his homeland. Irish Republicanism became the new
Irish Insurrection. There was no doubt that Wolfe-Tone had to assist the peasants. His
purpose is to recruit peasants, as foot soldiers to his rebel army. Wolfe-Tone already
gained alliance with the Dissenters, who found themselves excluded from Irish
governmental politics. The Dissenters would support the new cause of Irish
Republicanism to secure Irelands freedom and finally become an independent country.
Wolfe-Tone thought institutionalized religion fostered ignorance and timidity, and he
never quite lost his belief that the Catholic masses were ignorant and lacking in spirit.
Behind his own lingering Protestant prejudices, however, lay a growing conviction of the
fundamental injustice of excluding Irish Catholics from political life of the nation.75
Wolfe-Tone recognized the problems between Catholics and Protestants, and wanted to
achieve the goal of uniting Protestants and Catholics, under an Irish identity, or
preferably, the Republican identity. As mentioned earlier, Northern Ireland has a dark

Theobald Wolfe-Tone (1763 1798) is an Irish revolutionary political leader. He is also the founding member of the United
Irishmen. Thus, he is the founding father of the Irish Republicanism. He was captured by the British forces and was taken prisoner.
Before his execution, Wolfe-Tone attempted suicide and died later from his wounds (eight days after his attempt) in order to avoid
being hanged due to his involvement in the 1798 Irish Rebellion.
72
During Wolfe-Tones time, there were Protestants that joined the Irish Republicanism cause, whom were Dissenters. Dissenters
are English, Scottish, and non-British ethnicity land owners, who settled in Ireland. Dissenters are part of the Protestant class only due
to their religion. Wolfe-Tone was a Dissenter himself, who came from Swiss-German and Irish background, yet he supported the
Catholics (whom were peasants during his time) into convincing them to join the Irish Republican Cause.
73
During Wolfe-Tones time, Catholics were the peasants of the British hierarchy. They were the low-class within their native
homelands.
74
Marianne Elliott, Wolfe-Tone: Prophet of Irish Independence, (1989), New Haven: Yale University Press, pg. 1.
Theobald Wolfe-Tones Famous Trial Speech in Dublin Court on November 10th 1798.
*This was Wolfe-Tones Famous Speech in his Trail before his death. He was in Trail due to his failed efforts of the 1798 Irish
Revolution that was crushed by the British Empire.
75
Ibid, pg. 3.
71

16

history. What led to the animosity and resentment between the Catholics and Protestants?
This is key to understanding the mediation peace process of 1998 and the particular event
that continues to affect communities in Northern Ireland, which the political leaders
involved could not ignore. We now must examine the famous historical event that
changed the province of Ulster.
1690 Battle of the Boyne
If the (Glorious)76 Revolution in England was bloodless, the same could not be
said to Scotland and Ireland. The war in Ireland dragged on for three years. There
were a number of bloody battles notably the Boyne and Aughrim and a series
of debilitating sieges, in which besiegers and besieged suffered heavy casualties.
The Revolution was also, in time, to transform the relationship of Scotland and
Ireland with England.77
John Miller explained that Ireland waged a series of wars against England. Thus, Irish
wars were continuing on Irish soil. Whereas 78James IIs policies found little support in
England or Scotland, they were enthusiastically endorsed by the Catholic majority in
Ireland. By the end of 1688 the army was predominately79 Catholic and much of Irelands
government was in Catholic hands. He (James) needed the Irish and they needed him.
Miller described the event in which James II was overthrown in England and fled to
Ireland. He knew that he could seek sanctuary because of the large Irish population that
supported him via representation of a Catholic monarchy:
William (the Orange)80 had to go to Ireland in person to end what he saw as an
irritating distraction from the main theatre of war on the continent. His
intervention seemed decisive: on 1 July 1690 he defeated the Jacobites at the
crossing of the Boyne and marched on to Dublin, while James fled the country.81
Miller discusses the 1690 Battle of the Boyne. William the Orange had ended Catholic
King James rebellion. Problems ensued for many Irish people in the centuries to come.

76

Glorious Revolution was known to be the overthrow of King James II of England by English parliamentarians with William of
Orange of Holland. This was in 1688. Williams successful invasion of England with his Dutch fleet and army led to his ascending of
the English throne as William of England, with his wife Mary II of England.
77
John Miller, The Glorious Revolution, (1983), New York: Addison Wesley Longman Limited, pg. 92.
78
James II (1633-1701) was the King of Scotland, England, and Ireland until he was overthrown in 1688, which this event was known
as the Glorious Revolution. He is the last Roman Catholic king to reign over the three kingdoms (England, Scotland, and Ireland).
79
Miller, The Glorious Revolution, (1983), New York: Addison Wesley Longman Limited, pg. 96-97.
80
William the Orange (1650 1702) was also known as William III over England and Ireland. He was also the King of Holland,
which he was mainly known for the Glorious Revolution. He was the sole victor of the Battle of the Boyne of 1690, which he drove
Catholic King James II of the Stuart dynasty out of Ireland.
81
Miller, The Glorious Revolution, pg. 97.

17

Not all Catholics lost their lands in the forfeitures that followed the wars, but the small
surviving band of Catholic landowners gradually withered away. Some families died out,
some Catholics converted (to Protestantism) in order to qualify for office. Catholics were
in most respects second-class citizens. While there was much surly resentment and some
agrarian violence, there was little concerted resistance to Protestant rule (in Ireland). The
days of Catholic nationalism lay in the future.82 Miller describes how in the aftermath of
the Battle of the Boyne that Catholics of Ireland had lost their status within the class
system. Because William the Orange was a Protestant King, Protestantism became the
new dominate elite in Irish social class systems. David Hempton writes:
The rise of the Irish Catholic nation as the most conspicuously successful fusion
of faith and identity anywhere in the British Isles; the role of religion in creating
an Ulster Protestant world-view in opposition to a vigorous Catholic nationalism
which has led to one of the most intractable problems of the modern world; and
the growth of religious pluralism in urban Britain, and its consequences for
national homogeneity, social class and popular belief and practice.83
Hempton explained that religion became a new identity. For example, to be Catholic
meant he or she is Irish84 and Republican. On the other hand, being Protestant meant he
or she continues to support the British85 and their presence in Ireland. Since 1690, this
new religious ideology became established in the province of Ulster and in all of Ireland,
and represented the two different cultures. Although most of Ireland became a Republic86
by 1948, Northern Ireland would carry this religious culture and identity within the socalled colony, followed by a new era known as the Troubles.
Troubles in Northern Ireland
Thomas Hennessey states, Unionists believed that to preserve their membership of the
British nation they had a right to threaten loyalist rebellion. Unionists denied that
nationalists87 had a right to even call Ireland a nation.88 Hennessey explained that since

82

Miller, pg. 99.

David Hempton, Religion and Political Culture in Britain and Ireland: From the Glorious Revolution to the Decline of Empire,
(1996), New York: Cambridge University Press, pg. 143.
84
Irish meant ethnicity, such as being connected to the ancient Celtic culture. This meant to resist Anglo-Saxon presence on Irish soil.
85
British would represent being loyal as citizens to Great Britain.
86
Ireland became a Republic or nation-state by 1948. Ireland broke away from Great Britain. Today, Ireland is known as the
Republic of Ireland.
87
Nationalist meant Irish-Catholics and Republicans, who want to seek Irelands independence from Great Britain.
88
Thomas Hennessey, A History of Northern Ireland: 1920-1996, (1997), New York: St. Martins Press, pg. 3.
83

18

1924,89 the Unionists had control over Northern Ireland. Tim Pat Coogan writes, The
Irish Troubles are generally understood to refer to a murderous dispute which, for the
past quarter of a century only, has come to involve the English and the Irish in a sectarian
quarrel in the north-eastern part of Ireland commonly, but erroneously, referred to as
Ulster.90 Coogan explained that the fighting between the Irish and the English had
shifted the warfare from all of Ireland into Ulster. What is Irish versus English had been
transformed into Catholics versus Protestants. Peter Taylor writes:
From its birth, Northern Ireland was a state under siege born amidst widespread
sectarian violence, in particular in Belfast and Derry. Belfast witnessed the most
vicious sectarian rioting of all that led to mass expulsions of Catholic workers
from the Protestant-dominated shipyards and engineering works. It is estimated
that around 10,000 Catholic workers were put out of their jobs and 23,000
Catholics were driven out of their homes. The I.R.A. was active too, trying to
destabilized the state from the very beginning and complete the business that
partition had left unfinished. To most loyalists, the minority nationalist population
was seen as the I.R.A.'s sleeping partner as it shared the same aim of achieving a
united Ireland.91
Taylor describes how Northern Ireland was given a birth in 1924 under the Irish Free
State Treaty of 1922. There was sectarian violence between the Protestant communities
and the Catholic communities. Catholics became excluded from employment due to their
identity. Moreover, Catholics were evicted from their homes. They were forced to live in
poverty. In 1968, the Catholic minority began a civil rights campaign against
discrimination and for equality. The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), the police of the
Protestant-controlled government, forcefully broke up the peaceful demonstrations,
which were also attacked by Protestant vigilante groups. The Irish Republican Army,
which had been dormant, began to organize to defend the Catholic community and raised
the old demand to reunite the island of Ireland. Thus the struggle intensified and the
British government suspended the Protestant-controlled governing body and imposed
direct rule from London.92 Louis Kriesberg and Bruce W. Dayton explained that by
1974 the Unionists had lost political power in Northern Ireland, when the conflict had
gotten out of control. The event that eventually came to symbolize of the British policy
89

1924 was the year Northern Ireland was established as a British colony under the 1922 Irish Free State Treaty.
Tim Pat Coogan, The Troubles: Irelands Ordeal and the Search for Peace, (1996), New York: Palgave: St. Martins Press, pg. 1.
91
Peter Taylor, Loyalists: War and Peace in Northern Ireland, (1999), New York: TV Books, pg. 25-26.
92
Louis Kriesberg and Bruce W. Dayton, Constructive Conflicts: From Escalation to Resolution, 4th Edition, (2012), New York:
Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., pg. 109.
90

19

in Northern Ireland, was that of 30 January 1972, known as Bloody Sunday. 93 Thirteen
men, all apparently unarmed, were shot dead, and seventeen wounded, by members of the
Parachute Regiment in Derry.94 Hennessey explained that Bloody Sunday was the event
that forced the British government to seize control of the government of Northern Ireland.
Although the incident happened in 1972, it was evidence that the Unionists could no
longer control domestic affairs in their own state.95 The political gains made by black
Americans during this period provided the single greatest source of inspiration for the
civil rights movement in Northern Ireland, and it is no coincidence.96 Woodwell
explained that Catholics wanted the same rights as Blacks in America. This became a
problem for the Protestant government. The Unionists sent the RUC to break up the
protests, while the Protestants targeted their violent attacks on the Catholic population.
During this time, Catholics could not defend themselves, so the IRA was re-established to
protect and defend the Catholic community. Protestant-Catholic thing (1969 - in
Northern Ireland), it was like driving two horses, one faster than the other. The Catholic
one was galloping along, but we kept saying, Slow down or Dont forget that youve
got somebody coming along beside you whos a bit slow wait.97 Van Voris described
the relationship between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland and segregation
based on identity. For example, in Northern Ireland Catholic meant being a Republican,98
whereas Protestant meant being a Loyalist.99 Only in Northern Ireland, would these two
communities with their respective religious identities represent two races that had been
waging war with each other since 1169 A.D. Frantz Fanon writes:
A national culture is not a folklore, nor an abstract populism that believes it can
discover the peoples true nature. A national culture is the whole body of efforts
made by a people in the sphere of thought to describe, justify, and praise the
action through which that people has created itself and keeps itself in existence.
93

Bloody Sunday occurred on January 28 1972 in the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland, which 26 unarmed civil rights
protesters were shot by soldiers of the British Army. Thirteen males, unarmed, were shot and killed in the event. This incident
occurred during a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march, which the British soldiers involved were members of the First
Battalion of the Parachute Regiment. This event had marked the establishment of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA)
existence in the status of recruitment of new Catholic volunteers into the military organization in a war against Great Britain. Bloody
Sunday remains among the most significant events in the Troubles of Northern Ireland.
94
Thomas Hennessey, A History of Northern Ireland: 1920-1996, (1997), New York: St. Martins Press, pg. 206.
95
The Unionists lost their political power in Northern Ireland in 1974. The Unionists (Protestants) had rule Northern Ireland affairs
from 1924 to 1974 (50 years) until London took control of Northern Irelands government affairs (from 1974 2000) in order to
monitor the Troubles of Northern Ireland.
96
Douglas Woodwell. The Troubles of Northern Ireland: Civil Conflict in an Economically Well-Developed State, Understanding
Civil War, (Editor: Paul Collier and Nicholas Sambanis), Washington D.C: World Bank Publications, pp. 161-190, 2005, pg. 64.
97
W.H. Van Voris, Violence in Ulster: An Oral Documentary, (1975), Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, pg. 125.
98
Republican means being connected to the Irish identity, such as Celtic decadency and being Anti-British.
99
Loyalist means being a British citizenship.

20

A national culture in underdeveloped countries should therefore take its place at

the very heart of the struggle for freedom which these countries are carrying on.100
Fanon mentioned the term national culture. National culture applied solely to either the
Catholics or Protestants. On the other hand, the Catholic identity does relate to Irish
Nationalism. Irish Nationalism is a metaphor for a new Irish Insurrection in Northern
Ireland. This new identity was reformed within the ideology of Republicanism in
preparation for war once again against the Anglo-Saxon invaders. In Brian Friels most
controversial play The Freedom of the City:
LILY: Dyou see our place? At this minute, the Milkman, is shouting up from the road.
The Store owner always see me the best quality eggs, sausage, chicken, beef, and
meats at a low price. I miss my husband and my children. And Im here in the
Mayors parlour, dressed up like Cathleen Ni Houlihan and drinking port wine. Ill
tell you something, Skinner: its a very cruel unfair world.
SKINNER: Never for us Catholics.
MICHAEL: Thats the purpose of the Peaceful Demonstration March. The Fight for
Equality and the Injustices against us Catholics. Martin Luther King once
said, I had a dream that Whites and Blacks are playing together in the
playground. I aim to achieve that goal. Catholics and Protestants will live
together in peace. That I swear it.
SKINNER: Since the days of Hugh ONeill, we Catholics have suffered brutally against
the evil hands of Queen Elizabeth, Oliver Cromwell, William the Orange, and
Protestant England. It continues today.101
Friel's play described the harsh realities of what it meant to be a Catholic versus a
Protestant. Moreover, Friels play points out the damage England has done historically to
the province of Ulster. The Northern Ireland conflict continues to be so complex due to
the English occupation and the way Christianity as a cultural identity has been
incorporated within Ulster.
Whos the 3rd Party?
In September I received a telephone call from Erskine Bowles, the Presidents
Chief of Staff.
Hi, Erskine. Howre you doing?
Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth (1963), New York: Grove Press, pg. 233.
Brian Friel, Freedom of the City, (1973), Washington. D.C.: The Catholic University of American Press, pg. 141.
The play is about three character, Elizabeth Lily Doherty, Michael Hegarty, and Adrian Fitzgerald, who goes by the nickname of
Skinner, were Catholic protesters in participation of the famous event. The Bloody Sunday event on January 28th, 1972, in where
Thirteen Catholics were killed by the British S.A.S. (Secret Army Services) from the direct order of the Ulster Union regime, which
was a Protestant regime, who controlled Northern Irelands government at the time. The three Catholics found themselves hiding in an
unknown shelter of what later became known as the government building. These three Catholics would eventually come to rely on
each other for survival in regardless of the massacred violence outside of Derry, or Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
100
101

21

Im doing just fine, Senator.

Whats up?
The president would really like you to help him out, getting ready for the
debates with Bob Dole. I repeated my reasons for declining. He was ready for
each of them. The staff had prepared several volumes of background material.
They would ship them to me in Northern Ireland. After I read them I could
suggest how they could best be condensed. They would reduce to three the
number of days that my presence would be required before each debate. And, if I
didnt want to attend the actual debates, I didnt have to. They werent worried
about my being out of touch politically. They had plenty of people whose job was
to stay in touch.
Senator, the president and I both think youre the best person to help on this.
The debates are going to be critical. Wed like you to do this.
He paused, then concluded: Senator, the president is sitting here with me.
Would you like me to put him on the line?
No, Erskine, that wont be necessary. Ill do it.102
U.S. Senator George Mitchell received an unexpected phone call from President
Bill Clintons Chief of Staff regarding an assignment to Northern Ireland. His task was to
mediate a peace negotiation between the Catholics and Protestants with the involvement
of both the Irish and British governments. Antony Alcock writes:
The problem for the governments (Irish and British) was how to get the unionists
to negotiate with Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA, without prior
decommissioning at the same time as bringing Sinn Fein into the political process
by getting it to subscribe to a code of principle prepared by Senator George
Mitchell of the United States along with two colleagues. All parties had to
subscribe to these principles as a condition for admission to the talks. It was not
until September 1997 that this problem was overcome and issues were
substantively addressed.103
Alcock explained that during the Northern Ireland peace process, both the Irish and
British government were concerned about having the Unionists working with Sinn Fein
on the same negotiating table, with both sides applying the famous Mitchell Principles104
George J. Mitchell, Making Peace, (1999), New York: Albert A. Knopf: Random House, pg. 77.
U.S. Senator George Mitchell (1933) is a politician and business. He is a democrat, who served as State Senator from Maine from
1980 to 1995. He is best known for his leading role in negotiations for peace in Northern Ireland under President Bill Clintons
administration. He is the primary architect for the famous Mitchell Principles that the Irish and British governments, including the
political parties (Catholic and Protestant) in Northern Ireland to agree in participation in the peace talks that led to the 1998 Good
Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland.
103
Antony Alcock, From Conflict to Agreement in Northern Ireland: Lessons from Europe, Northern Ireland and the Divided
World: The Northern Ireland Conflict and the Good Friday Agreement in Comparative Perspective, (Editor: John McGarry), New
York: Oxford University Press, pp. 159-180, (2001), pg. 170.
104
The Mitchell Principles are described as six ground rules created by the United States Senator George Mitchell, who was heavily
involved in the Northern Ireland peace process. The six ground rules are 1) To democratic and exclusively peaceful means of
resolving political issues, 2)To the total disarmament of all paramilitary organizations, 3) To agree that such disarmament must be
verifiable to the satisfaction of an independent commission, 4) To renounce for themselves, and to oppose any effort by others, to use
force, or threaten to use force, to influence the course or the outcome of all-party negotiations, 5) To agree to abide by the terms of any
102

22

created by U.S. Senator George Mitchell. U.S. Senator Mitchell writes, When I arrived
to Northern Ireland I found to my dismay, a widespread feeling of pessimism among the
public and the political leaders. Its a small well-informed society where I quickly
became well known. Every day, people would stop me on the street, in the airport, in a
restaurant. They always began with a compliment. Thank you Senator, God bless
you, We appreciate what youre trying to do . . . But they always ended in despair.
But youre wasting your time. This conflict cant be ended. Weve been killing
each other for centuries and were doomed to go on killing each other forever.105 U.S.
Senator G. Mitchell explained that he noticed the people of Northern Ireland saw the
conflict as (there is) no hope. No hope of ending this war between the Catholics and
Protestants that had gone on for centuries. He noted the strong pessimism within the
social environment (in Northern Ireland) that continued to segregate the two
communities. Kirstein E. Schulzel writes:
Eleven-week-long review of the peace process under the auspices of former US
Senator George Mitchell; the solution agreed by Trimble106 and Adams in itself
did not differ significantly from what had been proposed in the Way Forward. It
stipulated an inclusive executive, the decommissioning of paramilitary arms, and
that decommissioning would be carried out in a manner determined by the
International Commission. It also resolved the sequencing stating the devolution
should take effect, then the Executive should meet, and then the paramilitary
groups should appoint their authorized representatives, all on the same day, in that
order.107
Schulzel explained that eleven weeks into the negotiation both sides may have agreed to
some extent, but it seemed that nothing had been done. The agreement was to remove
guns from the negotiation table. In other words, the idea was for Sinn Fein to assist the
IRA in decommissioning effective immediately, as part of the peace agreement.108 That

agreement reached in all-party negotiations and to resort to democratic and exclusively peaceful methods in trying to alter any aspect
of that outcome with which they may disagree; and 6) To urge that "punishment" killings and beatings stop and to take effective steps
to prevent such actions.
105
George J. Mitchell, Principles of Peace: Northern Ireland and the Middle East, (1999), Jerusalem: The Harry S. Truman Research
Institute for the Advancement of Peace: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, pg. 5.
106
David Trimble (1944) was a Protestant politician, who played a key role in the negotiations that led to the 1998 Good Friday
Agreement. He was later elected to become the first minister of Northern Ireland.
107
Kirstein E. Schulzel, Taking the Gut Out of Politics: Conflict Transformation in Northern Ireland and Lebanon, Northern Ireland
and the Divided World: The Northern Ireland Conflict and the Good Friday Agreement in Comparative Perspective, (Editor: John
McGarry), New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 253-275, 2001, pg. 265 - 266.
108
Schulzel, Taking the Gut Out of Politics: Conflict Transformation in Northern Ireland and Lebanon, Northern Ireland and the
Divided World: The Northern Ireland Conflict and the Good Friday Agreement in Comparative Perspective, pg. 266.

23

did not happen because the IRA's inner circle had refused.109 This made the peace process
agreement more complex:
Since the Mitchell Review did not change the substance or sequence already
proposed in July, the question remains what made government before guns more
acceptable in November. The answer can be found in the fact that it was the only
option which could possibly achieve decommissioning and in the successful
outcome of both David Trimbles and Gerry Adams party-political strategy of
incrementally gaining sufficient support to avoid an outright split. The answer lies
in the changes that took place in the approach, the dynamics, and the
environment.110
Schulzel explained that understanding Irish politics meant guns and bombs. What this
meant was removing guns and bombs from Irish politics. The main question was how to
remove guns from the negotiating table. (Michael) Collins was a Nationalist to the core.
He had also been intimately connected with the process by which Ireland was
partitioned.111 Collins failed to remove guns and bombs from Irish politics. It cost him
his life.112 Now, both Catholics and Protestants were at the negotiating table with the
British and Irish governments hoping to devise a solution to end the conflict.
What is the Conflict Resolution?
The recommendations of the Mitchell Report were subsumed by the unionist call
for elections to the negotiations, followed by the collapse of the IRA ceasefire
with Canary Wharf bombing113 on 9 February 1996 and the consequent exclusion
of Sinn Fein from the negotiations. Canary Wharf confirmed unionist beliefs that
decommissioning was absolutely necessary. Accordingly, it became the first issue
on the agenda when the multi-party negotiations began in June 1996, and
remained on the agenda without solution throughout the first year of talks. In June
1997 the partieseven without Sinn Feinwere as deadlocked as ever on the
issue of disarmament, and the two governments were looking for a way out.114

Schulzel, Taking the Gut Out of Politics: Conflict Transformation in Northern Ireland and Lebanon, pg. 266
Schulzel, pg. 266.
111
Tim Pat Coogan, Michael Collins: The Man Who Made Ireland, New York: Palgrave, 1990, pg. 333.
112
Michael Collins (1890 - 1922) was an Irish revolutionary leader, Director of Intelligence for the Irish Republican Army. He was a
member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. He was also President of the Irish Republic. Collins was assassinated in 1922, during
the Irish Civil War.
113
The Canary Wharf bombing occurred on February 9, 1996. It was conducted by the IRA, and it brought to an end of their
seventeen-month ceasefire. The bombing killed two people, which an estimate property damage total cost: 100 million pounds. The
location of the incident is in London.
114
Kirstein E. Schulzel, Taking the Gut Out of Politics: Conflict Transformation in Northern Ireland and Lebanon, Northern Ireland
and the Divided World: The Northern Ireland Conflict and the Good Friday Agreement in Comparative Perspective, (Editor: John
McGarry), New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 253-275, 2001, pg. 260.
109
110

24

Schulzel explained that the Canary Wharf bombing had ended the long months of the
cease fire. The incident had raised concerns about the IRA decommissioning115. The
problem was that Sinn Fein did not participate in the negotiation, making the peace talks
(during the 1996 and 1997) more difficult. As for the Irish and British governments, they
could not participate in the negotiation because they needed Sinn Fein involved to begin
the process of mediation and possible IRA decommissioning. Mitchell writes:
If the agreement is approved in referendums North and South, it offers the chance
for a better future. But to secure that future it will take the good-faith efforts of
the leaders gathered here, and the commitment of all the people of Northern
Ireland. Making the Assembly work, making the North/South Council effective,
will test these leaders as much as did getting this agreement. The people of
Northern Ireland will make the difference.
This agreement proves that democracy works, and in its wake we can say
to the men of violence, to those who disdain democracy, whose tools are bombs
and bullets: Your way is not the right way. You will never solve the problems of
Northern Ireland by violence. You will only make them worse.116
Mitchell explained that his efforts to bring the Catholics and Protestants, with the help of
the British and Irish governments were fraught with difficulties. In the end, the U.S.
Senator got all of them to agree on one account. This agreement proves that democracy
works, and in its wake we can say to the men of violence: Your way is not the right
way.117 The following is the aspect of the Mitchell Principles that influenced those
involved in the mediation peace progress:
Sinn Feins stated commitment is to secure a peace settlement which both
removes the causes of conflict and takes all the guns, British, republican, unionist,
nationalist and loyalist, out of Irish politics. The Sinn Fein position actually goes
beyond the Mitchell Principles. Their affirmation of the principles is therefore
quite compatible with their position. As to the IRAs attitude to the Mitchell
Principles per se, well, the IRA would have problems with sections of the
Mitchell Principles.118
Mitchell explained that Sinn Fein was the first party to adapt the Mitchell Principles. In
addition, Sinn Feins acceptance of the principles became a huge criticism on the part of

115

Decommission means disarmed all weapons. Decommission was mainly used as part of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 in
regards to the Irish Republican Army to disarm all weapons.
116
George J. Mitchell, Making Peace, (1999), New York: Albert A. Knopf: Random House, pg. 181 - 182.
117
Mitchell, pg. 181 - 182.
118
Ibid, pg. 115.

25

many Republicans, in that the party lost some of its support. Afterwards, both the British
and Irish governments also adopted the Mitchell Principles:
It doesnt take courage to shoot a policeman in the back of the head, or to murder an
unarmed taxi driver. What takes courage is to compete in the arena of democracy,
where the tools are persuasion, fairness, and common decency. You should help to
build this society instead of tearing it apart. You can learn something from some of
the lives youve destroyed, like those of Damian Trainor and Philip Allen. They were
two young men, best friends, who saw each other as human beings, not as a
Protestant and a Catholic. Philip was to be married with Damian as his best man.
Instead they lie buried, near each other, sharing death as they shared life, victims last
month of a brutal and senseless murder. Their deaths showed what Northern Ireland
has had to endure. Their lives showed what Northern Ireland can be.119
Mitchell asserted that democracy is an ideal that can be restructured and rebuilt as a safe
society. Yet, Northern Ireland was an unsafe social environment where innocent Catholic
or Protestant lives were taken through the barrel of a gun or by a bomber. Democracy is
the topic that is specifically connected to the Mitchell Principle:

To democratic and exclusively peaceful means of resolving political issues.

To the total disarmament of all paramilitary organizations.

To agree that such disarmament must be verifiable to the satisfaction of an

independent commissions.

To renounce for themselves, and to oppose any effort by others, to use force, or
threaten to use force, to influence the course or the outcome of all-party
negotiations.

To agree to abide by the terms of any agreement reached in all-party negotiations

and to resort to democratic and exclusively peaceful methods in trying to alter any
aspect of that outcome with which they may disagree.

To urge that punishment killing and beating stop and to take effective step to
prevent such actions.120

These six ground rules of the Mitchell principles describe the exclusion of disarmament
of guns and bombs in Irish politics for a perpetual peace. The six principles were
enunciated in January in a report from former US Senator George Mitchell, who may be
involved in chairing part of the talks. The Mitchell report said arms decommissioning in
119
120

Ibid, pg. 115.

Mitchell Principles, (2013), Accessed on April 29, 2013: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitchell_Principles.

26

advance of talks was not realistic, suggesting instead that parties to talks should give six
detailed assurances of their commitment to exclusively peaceful methods. These included
an absolute undertaking to employ peaceful means to achieve aims and a commitment to
eventual verifiable total disarmament.121 David McKittrick explained that the Mitchell
Principles confirm that if perpetual peace is what the Northern Ireland parties and the
Irish and British governments seek, then both guns and bombs must be excluded from
Irish politics. The Mitchell Principles were created as a policy for all parties to accept
before the negotiations began. In other words, the peace talks cannot start without all
parties being aware of this policy122 to seek alternative paths to a perpetual peace:
At 6:30, I received a telephone call from Blair and Ahern.
Hello.
Hello, George. This is Tony Blair. Berties on the line with me.
Hello, Prime Minister. Hello, Taoiseach.
George, we know youre planning to deliver the first draft of the
agreement to the parties tonight.
Thats right. I told them a little while ago that wed try to get it to them
by nine oclock.
Youre aware that weve been talking here about Strand Two issues.
Yes, I know. Hows it going?
Well, were making good progress but were not quite finished. Thats
what were calling about.
I started getting edgy. What do you mean?
We arent finished on Strand Two issues yet so we dont think you
should include a Strand Two section in the draft you give them tonight.
How can I do that?
Well, perhaps you could give them a draft on everything else and just
provide an oral summary on Strand Two. Just talk about it, but dont give
them anything on it in writing.
I was stunned. There was a long pause as I tried to figure out what to say.
Ahern jumped in. George, this is Bertie. We know this makes it difficult for you.
But were making progress here. Were close to an agreement. We just
need a little more time to get there.
How much more time?
Im not sure. The weekend should be enough.
Im pleased to announce that the two Governments, and the political
parties of Northern Ireland, have reached agreement. The agreement proposes
changes in the Irish Constitution and in British constitutional law to enshrine the
principle that it is the people of Northern Ireland who will decide, democratically,
their own future. The agreement creates new institutions: a Northern Ireland
121

David McKittrick, Sinn Fein ready to accept Mitchell principles, (1996), Accessed on April 29, 2013:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/sinn-fein-ready-to-accept-mitchell-principles-1348380.html.
122
Mitchell Principles is a policy only to apply for the Northern Irelands peace talks.

27

Assembly, to restore to the people the fundamental democratic right to govern

themselves; and a North/South Council, to encourage cooperation and joint action
for mutual benefit. It deals fairly with such sensitive issues as prisoners, policing,
and decommissioning.123
Mitchell explained that the Northern Ireland parties and both Irish and British
governments were reaching an agreement for a perpetual peace. Part of their agreement
involved decommissioning both the Protestant paramilitias124 and the IRA. The Mitchell
Principles were the guidelines for all parties to pursue as key to resolution of their
conflict.
Conclusion
The stories in Saturdays newspapers were mostly positive. Ulster
chooses hope over hate (the Times of London). Peace at last for Ulster (the
Independent). The new beginning, Historic day as peace deal is sealed at last
(Irish Independent). For the first time in a long time it was a pleasure to read the
papers over breakfast.
I had interviews with several reporters that morning in the lobby of the
hotel. The last one was with David Lynch of USA Today. After we finished, I
said good-bye to and thanked the hotel staff. David and I then walked out of the
hotel and across the parking lot toward the car that waited to take me to the
airport. I said good-bye to David and opened the car door. Suddenly, someone
called my name. I turned to see two elderly, gray-haired women walking toward
me. One of them grabbed my hands and said, We want to thank you. Not for us,
our lives are nearly over, but for our grandchildren, whose lives are just
beginning. Thanks to you theyll lead lives of peace and hope, something weve
never known. Then, with tears of joy streaming down their faces, they hugged
me.
Those words will echo in my mind forever. They made it all worthwhile.125
In conclusion, Mitchells efforts had paid off. Finally, all parties came to an
agreement. We want to thank you. Not for us, our lives are nearly over, but for our
grandchildren, whose lives are just beginning. Thanks to you theyll lead lives of peace
and hope, something weve never known.126 This last passage described how the U.S.
Senator was approached by two elderly women. Although he had not been aware of their

George J. Mitchell, Making Peace, (1999), New York: Albert A. Knopf: Random House, pg. 154 - 155.
Protestant Paramiltias are the Ulster Volunteer Forces, Ulster Defense Association, Ulster Protestant Association, Ulster Freedom
Fighters, and Loyalist Volunteer Forces.
125
Mitchell, Making Peace, pg. 183.
126
Ibid, pg. 183.
123
124

28

presence, these two senior ladies told him that his efforts will secure the lives of their
grandchildren of living in a safe environment.
After this event, the agreement became final, and became known as the Good
Friday Peace Agreement of 1998. If President Clinton did not send Mitchell to head the
peace negotiations in Northern Ireland, the Troubles in Northern Ireland would have
continued, and more innocent lives (both Catholics and Protestants) would have been
taken in the pointless cycle of violence. Because of the Good Friday Peace Agreement of
1998, the Northern Ireland government was finally created and both Catholics and
Protestants could work together in order to govern their own state. Today, the Northern
Ireland government continues to operate in a way in which both sides can be leaders of
their own communities and of their own new state.

29

Bibliographies
Adams, Gerry. Free Ireland: Towards a Lasting Peace. Colorado: Roberts Rinehart
Publishers. 1994.
Alcock, Antony. From Conflict to Agreement in Northern Ireland: Lessons from
Europe, Northern Ireland and the Divided World: The Northern Ireland Conflict
and the Good Friday Agreement in Comparative Perspective. Editor: John
McGarry, pp. 159-180. New York: Oxford University Press. 2001.
Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread
of Nationalism. London: Verso. 1983.
Cochrane, Feargal. Unsung Heroes? The Role of Peace and Conflict Resolution
Organizations in the Northern Ireland Conflict, Northern Ireland and the
Divided World: The Northern Ireland Conflict and the Good Friday Agreement in
Comparative Perspective. Editor: John McGarry, pp. 137-156. New York: Oxford
University Press. 2001.
Coogan, Tim Pat. Michael Collins: The Man Who Made Ireland. New York: Palgrave.
1990.
Coogan, Tim Pat. The Troubles: Irelands Ordeal & the Search for Peace. New York:
Palgave: St. Martins Press. 1996.
De Cordoba, Jose. Mexico Prison Riot Leaves 44 Dead, The Wall Street Journal,
February 20, 2012. [Internet].
Duffy, Sean. Ireland in the Middle Ages. New York: St. Martins Press. 1997.
Elliott, Marianne. Wolfe-Tone: Prophet of Irish Independence. New Haven: Yale
University Press. 1989.
Ellis, Peter Berresford. Eyewitness to Irish History. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
2004.
Engels, Friedrich. The Conditions of the Working Class in England. London: ElecBook.
2001/1845.
Engels, Friedrich. Engels to Marx in London. Der Briefwechsel zwischen. 1856: 40,
49-50.
Fanon, Frantz. The Wretched of the Earth. New York: Grove Press, 1963.
Foucault, Michel. Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Vintage
Books. 1977.

30

Foucault, Michel. History of Sexuality: An Introduction Volume 1. New York: Vintage

Books. 1978.
Friel, Brian. Freedom of the City. Washington. D.C.: The Catholic University of
American Press. 1973.
Gidron, Benjamin, Katz, Stanley, Meyer, Megan, Hasenfeld, Yeheskel, Schwartz, Raviv,
& Crane, Jonathan K. Peace and Conflict Resolution Organization in Three
Protracted Conflicts: Structures, Resources and Ideology, International Journal
of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organization. Volume 10, Number 4, pp. 275-298,
1999.
Gramsci, Antonio. The Prison Notebook. New York: Bobbs-Merrill Company.
1929-35/1968.
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm. Reason in History. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
1988/1837.
Helm, Gerhard. The Celts. New York: St. Martins Press. 1978.
Hempton, David. Religion and Political Culture in Britain and Ireland: From the
Glorious Revolution to the Decline of Empire. New York: Cambridge University
Press. 1996.
Hennessey, Thomas. A History of Northern Ireland: 1920-1996. New York: St. Martins
Press. 1997.
Jones, Leslie Ellen. Druids, Shaman, & Priest: Metaphors of Celtic Paganism. Great
Britain: Hisarlik Press. 1998.
Kelly, Kevin J. The Longest War: Northern Ireland and the IRA. Connecticut: Lawrence
Hill & Co Inc. 1983.
MacStiofain, Sean. Revolutionary in Ireland. Edinburgh: R&R Clark Ltd. 1975.
McKittrick, David. Sinn Fein ready to accept Mitchell principles. (1996). [Internet].
Miller, John. The Glorious Revolution. New York: Addison Wesley Longman Limited.
1983.
Mitchell Principles. (2013). [Internet].
Mitchell, George J. Making Peace. New York: Albert A. Knopf: Random House. 1999.
Mitchell, George J. Principles of Peace: Northern Ireland & the Middle East. Jerusalem:

31

The Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace: The
Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 1999.
More, Thomas. Utopia. New Work: Penguin Classic Books. 1965/1516.
OLeary, Brendan. Comparative Political Science and the British-Irish Agreement,
Northern Ireland and the Divided World: The Northern Ireland Conflict and the
Good Friday Agreement in Comparative Perspective. Editor: John McGarry, pp.
53-88. New York: Oxford University Press. 2001.
Schulzel, Kirstein E. Taking the Gut Out of Politics: Conflict Transformation in
Northern Ireland and Lebanon, Northern Ireland and the Divided World: The
Northern Ireland Conflict and the Good Friday Agreement in Comparative
Perspective. Editor: John McGarry, pp. 253-275. New York: Oxford University
Press. 2001.
Smith. Brendan. Colonisation and Conquest in Medieval Ireland: The English in Louth,
1170-1330. New York: Cambridge University Press. 1999.
Taylor, Peter. Loyalists: War and Peace in Northern Ireland. New York: TV Books.
1999.
Tillyard, Stella. Citizen Lord: The Life of Edward Fitzgerald: Irish Revolutionary. New
York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1997.
Tiqqun. The Coming Insurrection. Los Angeles: Semiotext. 2009.
Van Voris, W.H. Violence in Ulster: An Oral Documentary. Amherst: University of
Massachusetts Press. 1975.
Woodwell, Douglas. The Troubles of Northern Ireland: Civil Conflict in an
Economically Well-Developed State. Understanding Civil War. Editor:
Paul Collier & Nicholas Sambanis, pp. 161 190. Washington D.C: World
Bank Publications. 2005.
Yeats, William Butler. Cathleen Ni Houlihan. New York: Kessinger Publishing, Inc.
2006/1902.

32