More than twenty years after the peace agreement signed in Belfast on 10 April 1998, an assessment is overdue, particularly given the current political context in Northern Ireland. A serious political crisis led to the suspension of the regional institutions from January 2017 to January 2020, and the Brexit negotiations did not facilitate the search for a solution, especially as the confidence-and-supply agreement between the British Conservative Party and the DUP prevented London from acting as an honest broker between Sinn Féin and the DUP. At the same time, the issue of the Irish border created tensions between Dublin and London. This situation was compounded by the resurgence of rioting, mostly in Loyalist areas of Belfast and Derry/Londonderry, in April 2021, against the backdrop of Brexit's Northern Ireland Protocol and communal resentment.
Emanating from a conference jointly organised at the University of Caen Normandy and La Rochelle University, this collection of essays - bringing together academic and independent scholars from various disciplines and nationalities - takes a critical look at the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement, from the collaboration between Dublin and London to the new political configurations in Northern Ireland, as well as interfaith, cultural, social and economic developments. Divided into three main parts, it furnishes an opportunity to better understand the reasons for the apparent deterioration in inter-community understanding since 1998, but also to study the numerous initiatives that have sought to promote reconciliation, be it in the economy, the working environment, in the literary and artistic spheres, in schools or in the urban landscape.
Olivier Coquelin is Senior Lecturer in British and Irish Studies at the University of Caen Normandy where he is a member of the research group in Irish studies (GREI - ERIBIA). His research work focuses on the history and ideology of Irish political and social movements in the period eighteenth to twentieth century.
Brigitte Bastiat holds a PhD in Media and Communication Studies (University of Paris 8). She teaches English at La Rochelle University, is a member of the CRHIA (Research Centre for International Atlantic History). She has published on identity, gender representations in the Irish theatre and cinema and has co-translated two plays by Owen McCafferty.
Frank Healy is a lecturer in English for Special Purposes at La Rochelle University, and a member of the CRHIA (Research Centre for Atlantic and International History). He has published work on identity, migration and sport, and has co-translated two plays by Northern Irish playwright Owen McCafferty.
