The Peace Process in Northern Ireland
This text has been written as a dissertation for the Journalism Research postgraduate course at the John Logie Baird Centre, a postgraduate and research centre, organised collaboratively by the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde.
The text describes and analyses recent developments in the Northern Ireland conflict and the prospects of the peace process.
The work covers the period from The Downing Street Declaration (December 1993) until the unexpected wave of violence in mid-July 1996. It primarily focuses on the events of 1996, when the IRA ceasefire ended and the elections to the Northern Ireland Peace Forum were held.
The study is based on newspaper articles, materials available on the World Wide Web and standard reference resources, as well as interviews with academics, journalists and politicians in Northern Ireland.
The text also includes results of the author's research into the views of Northern Ireland citizens at the time of the election (May 1996) and after the outbreak of violence (July 1996). It summarises several possibilities of resolving the conflict and also briefly mentions several problems of reporting and analysing Northern Ireland issues.
You can download the full text of this dissertation:
The text in Microsoft Word 6.0 format (195 KB)
The text in Word for Macintosh 5.1 format (189 KB)
or read it in the HTML format:
1. Introduction (Foreword, Research Methodology)
2. The conflict in Northern Ireland (2.1 The cause and the consequences, 2.2. Paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland ,2.3 A historical background of the conflict, 2.3.1 The creation of Northern Ireland, 2.3.2 "The Troubles" - Northern Ireland since 1968)
3. The Peace Process in Northern Ireland (3.1 1992 - 1993: The peace process begins, 3.2 The Joint Declaration (The Downing Street Declaration), 3.3 The IRA ceasefire, 3.4 From the Frameworks for the Future to the Mitchell Commission, 3.5 The end of the ceasefire
3.6 The elections to the Peace Forum, (3.6.1. The aims of the elections and the party talks,3.6.2. The electoral system, 3.6.3. The political parties significant for the elective and peace processes , 3.6.4. The political situation,3.6.5. The Northern Ireland elections: Results, reactions, implications, 3.6.5.1 The results, 3.6.5.2 The reactions and implications, 3.6.5.3 The public opinion in Northern Ireland, 3.6.5.4 Political developments after the elections, 3.6.5.5 The elections - Conclusions)
3.7. The wave of violence in July 1996
4. The possibilities for future development