This unique study breaks new ground in engaging the study of Northern Ireland politics directly with broader debates about European integration and European governance. The text offers the most comprehensive coverage to date of the institutional development of Northern Ireland following the UK government’s devolution programme and Northern Ireland’s development as an autonomous policy actor in Europe. This study marshals evidence from Northern Ireland’s relationship with the European Union (EU) during the contemporary era of devolved power. The text argues that in Northern Ireland a series of national and regional constraints, complexities and divisions limit regional autonomy. These original insights question the synergy between devolution and the EU and query the existence of new forms of ‘governance’. This is a contribution of both immense substance and considerable importance and should be essential reading for those with an interest in Northern Ireland and EU politics.

How has it been possible for Irish political leaders to actively promote two of the largest challenges to Irish nation-statehood: the concession of sovereignty to the European Union and the retraction of the constitutional claim over Northern Ireland? The author of this book argues that such discourses are integrally connected and, what is more, embody the enduring relevance of nationalism in modern Ireland. As the most comprehensive study to date of official discourse in twentieth-century Ireland, this book traces the ways in which nationalism can be simultaneously redefined and revitalised through European integration. The text begins with an overview of the origins and development of Irish official nationalism. It then analyses the redefinition of this nationalism in meeting the challenges to Irish nation-statehood posed by the conflict in Northern Ireland and membership of the EU. New interpretations of the symbolic and practical importance of the island of Ireland have been central to this process. Indeed, the genius of the Irish was to employ innovative EU-inspired concepts in finding agreement with and within Northern Ireland on the one hand whilst, on the other, legitimising further European integration through the notion that it furthers traditional nationalist ideals such as Irish unity. Thus, Irish political leaders were remarkably successful in not only accommodating potent nationalist and pro-European discourses but in making them appear complementary. An over-reliance on this discourse, however, plus a critical failure to adjust it to the conditions it helped to fashion, contributed to the failure of the ‘Yes’ campaigns in the Irish referendums on the EU Treaties of Nice and Lisbon. The book concludes with an assessment of the reasons for these results and argues that the symbiotic relationship between Irish nationalism and European integration can be redeemed for a new era in EU–member-state relations. This book will appeal to any reader with an interest in the changing dynamics of Ireland’s relationship with the European Union and with Northern Ireland, as well as scholars of discourses on identity, territory and governance in Europe.

This book examines the economic and political contributions of the EU to the Northern Ireland peace process, tracing the genesis of EU involvement since 1979 and analysing how it acted as an arena in which to foster dialogue and positive cooperation. Based on extensive archival research and exclusive elite interviews this volume provides the first comprehensive study of how the EU contributed to the reconfiguration of Northern Ireland from a site of conflict to a site of conflict amelioration and peace-building. The book demonstrates that the relationship between Northern Ireland and the EU has been much more significant in the peace process than previously suggested.

The experience of one region over 25 years within the European Union forms the basis of an examination of how the EU impacts on a region's economy, on its society and on its particular problems. In the case of Northern Ireland, inclusion in the European Union has coincided with the most sustained campaign of political terrorism in western Europe.

This book examines how Ireland’s relationship with the EU was affected by a succession of crises in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The financial crisis, the Brexit crisis and the migration crisis were not of equal significance on the island of Ireland. The financial crisis was a huge issue for the Republic but not Northern Ireland, Brexit had a major impact in both polities, the migration and populism issues were less controversial, while foreign policy challenges had a minimal impact. The book provides a summary of the main features of each of the crises to be considered, from both the EU and the Irish perspective. Ireland and the European Union is the first volume of its kind to provide a comprehensive analysis on British–Irish relations in the context of Brexit. It assesses the Withdrawal Agreement and Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, the devolution settlement and the 1998 Agreement, as well as the European dimension to Northern Ireland’s peace process. The contributors explore a number of policy areas that are central to the understanding of each of the crises and the impact of each for Ireland. Chapters examine issues such as security, migration and taxation as well as protest politics, political parties, the media, public opinion and the economic impact of each of these crises on Ireland’s relationship with the EU.

Recent times have witnessed a dramatic turn around in Ireland's fortunes. From being a poor and peripheral state, it has emerged as a prosperous, dynamic and self-assured player among the nations of Europe. For many, the Irish experience provides a model of the potential rewards of European integration. But, just how far are changes in Irish society the result of EU membership? What difference has the EU made to Ireland and, for that matter, Ireland to the EU? This major new study of Irish-European relations provides a rich account of Ireland's membership of the EU and the impact of the EU on the institutions, policy and economy of Ireland It will be read with benefit by all who want to further understand what Europe means for Ireland and those wanting to learn from Ireland's experience in a comparative context.