Stop-Go Democracy: The Peace Process in Northern Ireland Revisited

Political conflict and community sectarianism have plagued Northern Ireland’s society

for several generations. The Good Friday Agreement (GFA)of April was seen by many to be an end-point to this particular period of instability and to herald a new

beginning for the region based on a carefully constructed range of institutions based on

power sharing between the unionists and the nationalists, negotiated through inclusive

consensus.This study seeks to examine the problems and difficulties that emerged after

the GFA and will attempt to answer the questions: What went wrong? and Why has this

peace process experienced difficulties and setbacks during the implementation phase?

The study will try to illustrate what problems have emerged in the attempts to

implement the institutions of the GFA and explain the wider reasons behind these and

why they have become such difficult sticking points in the peace process.