Author Description

The belief that there is no solution to the conflict in Northern Ireland has come to dominate academic and journalistic commentary. The first objective of this collection of essays is to show why this belief is mistaken. There are in fact many possible solutions to the conflict, and in this book authoritative academic and political figures present in accessible language their considered arguments for the most feasible and reasonable proposals for political progress in Northern Ireland in the 1990s. Their essays make clear that it is the multiplicity of possible solutions which often makes the discussion of progress so diffuse and inchoate. The editors have organized the collection in an analytical framework which will help the reader assess the options presented. They also provide a historical introduction to set the arguments in context, a conclusion which weighs their relative merits, and appendices giving the texts of the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement and the 1989 Review of the Inter-Governmental Conference, as well as data on political violence and electoral behavior. The Future of Northern Ireland offers a lucid presentation of the possibilities for progress which aims to improve the quality of thinking and dialogue both within and outside Northern Ireland.