Terroristic Narratives: On the (Re) Invention of Peace in Northern Ireland

Spectres of History: Nationalist Party Politics and Truth Recovery in Northern Ireland

“…Indeed, since the IRA's ceasefire of 1994, this edifice has become more and more important for maintaining party unity and, accordingly, ‘acts of commemoration [have] intensified on an industrial scale’ (McDonald, 2008, p. 121; see also McDowell, 2006). The fact that commemorations inevitably remain incomplete, that they always point to alternative histories, forgotten events and silenced voices is evidenced by the fact that Sinn Féin and the PIRA have been less than forthcoming about their own history, including the practice – and the war crime – of ‘disappearing’ individuals (Edwards and McGrattan, 2011; Moloney, 2010).…”

Social Immobility, Ethno-politics, and Sectarian Violence: Obstacles to Post-conflict Reconstruction in Northern Ireland

“…Male ex-combatants are implicitly posited as especially qualified as "community leaders" due -somewhat paradoxically -to their histories of collective political violence and the militarized, ethno-cultural masculinities which have underscored such histories. At the least, the promotion of ex-combatant community leadership is accepted as a "realistic" or practical approach to local peacekeeping and peacebuilding initiatives (Ashe 2009;Edwards and McGrattan 2011). Given the exponential growth in attention to masculinities and gendered relations of power in social research more broadly, it is surprising that emphasis on the subject has been relatively sparse in studies of conflict and peacebuilding -especially when considering the inextricable link between masculinities and nationalisms.…”

“…For example, McAuley et al (2010), who emphasize the importance of former paramilitary leadership in "community-based restorative justice," also acknowledge that the same ex-combatants remain generally committed to mutually-exclusive ethno-political objectives of loyalism or republicanism. Edwards and McGrattan (2011) argue that re-centering such individuals in the peace process through voluntary organizations is detrimental to the production of a more transformative type of "peace." According to them, such approaches to peacebuilding risk replicating structures and cultures of paramilitarism, maintaining the power of hostile groups who hold counter-intuitive "ideological continuities of the past" under the guise of "community leadership" (Edwards and McGrattan 2011:363).…”

“…Somewhat paradoxically, in a likely attempt to cushion the effect of ex-prisoner disenfranchisement, government grants have at the same time continued to support paramilitary-linked organizations, such as the Ulster Political Research Group, setting aside "3.5 million" pounds for "unemployed, disbanded UDA men," among others (Hughes et al 2007:48). Critics of such policies argue that funding known paramilitary organizations can "serve to reinforce the status and 'legitimacy' of the latter in the areas they control, thus perpetuating the problems of division and segregation" (Hughes et al 2007:48; Consequently, the cessation of violence, and limited forms of cooperation, are posited as "realistic" standards of a successful peace (see Ashe [2009] and Edwards and McGrattan [2011] for similar critiques). Although political pandering is certainly part of the equation in Northern Ireland (and most places in which elections take place for that matter) the potential role played by political elite in proactively inciting tension is often -and surprisingly -overlooked with respect to post-conflict societies.…”

Masculinities in Transition? Exclusion, Ethnosocial Power, and Contradictions in Excombatant Community-based Peacebuilding in Northern Ireland

“…Male excombatants are implicitly posited as especially qualified as “community leaders” due—somewhat paradoxically—to their histories of collective political violence and the militarized, ethnocultural masculinities which have underscored such histories. At the least, the promotion of excombatant community leadership is accepted as a “realistic” or practical approach to local peacekeeping and peacebuilding initiatives (Ashe 2009; Edwards and McGrattan 2011).…”