<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>A qualitative methodology was used to interview 120 participants from 2010 and 29 participants from 2020 who shared their experiences and perceptions about the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) and their peacebuilding work. Longitudinal findings reveal that the participants were critical of the Agreement and the disconnect between politicians and the grassroots as well as recognizing that the Agreement has brought about relative peace in Northern Ireland. While the participants attest to the relative success of the GFA, they also note several criticisms including sectarian politics, new paramilitaries, Brexit, legacy of the past, continuing divisions in Northern Ireland, and the disconnect between politicians and local community peacebuilders. The participants’ criticisms are significant as they attest that while the social peace at the grassroots level is moving forward the political peace is not as evidenced by the recent Unionist backlash against Brexit.</p>
</abstract>

A qualitative methodology was used to interview 120 participants from 2010 and 29 participants from 2020 who shared their experiences and perceptions about the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) and their peacebuilding work. Longitudinal findings reveal that the participants were critical of the Agreement and the disconnect between politicians and the grassroots as well as recognizing that the Agreement has brought about relative peace in Northern Ireland. While the participants attest to the relative success of the GFA, they also note several criticisms including sectarian politics, new paramilitaries, Brexit, legacy of the past, continuing divisions in Northern Ireland, and the disconnect between politicians and local community peacebuilders. The participants’ criticisms are significant as they attest that while the social peace at the grassroots level is moving forward the political peace is not as evidenced by the recent Unionist backlash against Brexit.

Civil Society Organizations, the Good Friday Agreement, and the Northern Ireland Peace Process

St. Paul’s College, University of Manitoba

Department of Applied Human Sciences, College of Health and Human Sciences

Treatises and Documents, Journal of Ethnic Studies / Razprave in Gradivo, Revija za narodnostna vprašanja

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

A qualitative methodology was used to interview 120 participants from 2010 and 29 participants from 2020 who shared their experiences and perceptions about the...

Civil Society Organizations, the Good Friday Agreement, and the Northern Ireland Peace Process

Published Online: Jun 30, 2023

Page range: 161 - 176

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/tdjes-2023-0011

Keywords
economic aid, civil society organizations, peacebuilding, Good Friday Agreement

© 2023 Seán Byrne et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Civil Society Organizations, the Good Friday Agreement, and the Northern Ireland Peace Process

Published Online: Jun 30, 2023

Page range: 161 - 176

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/tdjes-2023-0011

Keywordseconomic aid, civil society organizations, peacebuilding, Good Friday Agreement

© 2023 Seán Byrne et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
economic aid, civil society organizations, peacebuilding, Good Friday Agreement