Confronting the Irish Past

Building peace in Northern Ireland today, which involves Ireland as a whole, requires confronting the violence and intolerance of Ireland’s 1912–1923 decade. The 1998 Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement established power-sharing arrangements between the two divided communities in Northern Ireland. The Agreement is not set in stone but is rather a hopeful yet uncertain project. Making it put down deep cultural roots requires some confrontation with and transformation of the history, and the socially constructed memories, of Ireland’s decisive decade 1912–1923, which was violent and divisive.