Northern Ireland
Accord issue 8 - Striking a balance: the Northern Ireland peace process
Spanish and Russian language versions
The focal point of the Northern Ireland project is Accord issue 8, Striking a balance: the Northern Ireland peace process. First published in December 1999, it was updated in August 2003. The material in this issue was used as the basis for an Education Pack consisting of resources for group discussion and interactive learning.
Institutional collaboration
Conciliation Resources collaborated with the Community Relations Council (CRC) to produce the Education Pack. The Council exists in order to promote the improvement in community relations and the appreciation of cultural diversity. Its strategic aim is to help the people of Northern Ireland to recognize and counter the effects of communal division.
Community Relations Council
6 Murray Street
Belfast
Northern Ireland
BT1 6DN
UK
Tel: +44 (0) 28 90 227 500
Fax: +44 (0) 28 90 235 208
info@community-relations.org.uk
www.community-relations.org.uk
The Education Pack is available online here. It includes resources for group discussion and interactive learning, including a role-play simulation exercise that puts the participants into the shoes of the main actors in the Northern Ireland peace process.
The Pack can also be ordered from the Community Relations Council as a high quality printed resource, priced £10.00
Accord issue 8
The signing of the Belfast Agreement in Northern Ireland in 1998 was the result of long and arduous negotiations to end thirty years of sectarian violence and political stalemate. Accord 8 (published December 1999) explores the factors that led to the negotiations and outlines the impact of history on current aspirations. Describing the development of an environment for peace, it analyses the complex underlying forces and those aspects of the Agreement that have facilitated the process or caused problems with implementation.
Updated in 2003, Striking a balance: the Northern Ireland peace process now includes a new article by Clem McCartney highlighting weaknesses in the Agreement, including the challenge posed by issues such as decommissioning left unresolved in the political negotiations and continuing to haunt the process some five years later. He also analyses the negative effects of an increasingly elite bargaining process on outstanding issues and argues that a new culture of cooperative politics is required to embed the peace process.
Accord issue 8 was translated into Spanish by the Gernika Gogoratuz Peace Research Centre, and can be downloaded by clicking below:
Haciendo balance: El proceso de paz de Irlanda del Norte (PDF download 760kb)
For a hard copy please contact:
Gernika Gogoratuz Peace Research Centre, Artekale 1-10, Gernika-Lumo, Bizkaia, Spain Tel +34 94 625 3558
A Russian translation of Accord issue 8 is available (PDF download 3mb)
See also
Assessing groups and opportunities: a former government minister’s perspective: An interview with Mo Mowlam from Accord issue 16 (2005): Choosing to engage: armed groups and peace processes
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