The contributions to this book challenge much conventional understanding of a number of important issues relating the Troubles. These include: the genesis and establishment of a functioning government in Northern Ireland in the context of Ireland's turbulent post-1916 revolutionary period; claims of systematic unionist discrimination in housing and employment and the origins of the Northern Ireland civil rights movement; the ideology of Irish nationalism particularly its traditional sectarian exclusivism and its legitimization of violence and the decisive contribution of the security forces in bringing the conflict to an end. The contributions relating to the post-1998 period explore post-Brexit unionist and nationalist 'expectations and anxieties' within the framework of patterns of thought embedded in nationalism and unionism and assess the operation of the institutions of government in Northern Ireland; the political motivations that have directed dealing with the past and current economic arguments for Irish unity.
Patrick J. Roche graduated with a BA in economics and politics from Trinity College Dublin (1970) and an MA in political philosophy from University of Durham (1972). He lectured in economics at Ulster University (1974-1995) and was elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 1998. His publications on Irish nationalism include a contribution to Jurgen Elvert (ed), Northern Ireland: Past and Present (1994) and articles published in the Salisbury Review and since 1991 he has co-edited with Brian Barton four volumes on the 'Northern Ireland question' the most recent of which was The Northern Ireland Question: The Peace Process and the Belfast Agreement published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2009.
Brian Barton, graduated from Queen's University Belfast in modern history (1967) and was awarded an MA by the University of Ulster (1979) and completed a PhD in history at Queen's University (1994). He tutored in modern history with the Open University (1995-2013) and held research fellowships at Queen's University, Belfast and Churchill College, Cambridge and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He has authored or edited over twelve books on Irish history and politics. His most recent publications include The Belfast Blitz: the City in the War (2015); The Secret Court Martial Records of the Easter Rising (2010) and (co-authored with Michael Foy) The Easter Rising (2011). He co-edited with Patrick Roche and contributed to four published volumes on the 'Northern Ireland question' the most recent being The Northern Ireland Question: The Peace Process and the Belfast Agreement (2009). He also contributed chapters on Northern Ireland to A New History of Ireland, Vol. VII, Ireland 1921-1984 produced by the Royal Irish Academy and published by Oxford University Press in 2003.
