symbols, language & identity in northern ireland

Paul Breen, INTO University of East Anglia

1Paul Breen INTO University of East Anglia, London

2

The IRA – Irish Republican Army. A left wing paramilitary organisation that fought for Irish unity.

ORANGE ORDER – A Protestant organisation that sees the act of ‘parading’ as essential to its cultural identity.

Burning streets and riots in Belfast –Sadly Belfast has been synonymous with sectarian rioting since the 1920s which reached a peak in the 70s and 90s during the era of ‘The Troubles.’

Unionist distrust & insecurity

Nationalist desire for Irish reunification

Refusal to accept nationalist identity & treat aspirations as

legitimate.

Union with Britain not an attractive

option for nationalists

3Paul Breen INTO University of East Anglia, London

Roots of conflict

British colonisation of Ireland

Plantations of 17th century

Demographic impact of this

Protestant state & decades of discrimination

4Paul Breen INTO University of East Anglia, London

5

From the 1920s up until the 1960s Northern Ireland was a state where the majority Protestant community exercised virtually 100% control of all institutions whilst the Catholics played little active part in society.

The police were Protestant. The law makers were Protestant. The Parliament was overwhelmingly Protestant. Catholics only had one Act passed in the whole existence of the Northern Ireland Parliament – The Wild Birds Act of 1930 (Tom Paulin, 1993).

6

MURALS were a way of expressing political identity in republican and loyalist areas of Northern Ireland, especially in urban parts such as Belfast and Derry, which the loyalists called Londonderry.

Is this young soldier trapped in the middle of two implacable enemies or is he part of an occupying army or is he protecting British rule in N. Ireland?

1998 Good Friday Agreement – signed after two years of ‘peace’ negotiations

Based on principles of inclusion, power-sharing & self-determination for the people of Northern Ireland (Todd, 2010; Nagle, 2012)

Strengthens British sovereignty but leaves way open for united Ireland in the future

Has this shaped a repositioning of nationalism?

7Paul Breen INTO University of East Anglia, London

Languages – English, Irish & Ulster Scots

Official language of the State is still very much unionist; downplaying Irishness

Not so much the languages spoken as how language itself is constructed to give legitimacy to ideologies

8Paul Breen INTO University of East Anglia, London

‘Love’ of the nation – a term colonised by both sides (Ahmed, 2004)

Nationalism’s investment of ‘love’ in the long-term goal of a united Ireland

Impact of this & the creation of a cycle which is like an affair that can never quite end

9Paul Breen INTO University of East Anglia, London

Clash of identities expressed in symbols –flags, emblems, cultural activities, and even sporting affiliations (Hassan, 2002)

Unionism’s fear of relinquishing dominance

Possibility of a ‘third space’ being created? (Rapp & Rhomberg, 2012)

Equilibrium needed, rather than neutrality

10Paul Breen INTO University of East Anglia, London

Deeper integration of nationalist symbols into the identity of the State

Nationalist demands for justice and equality presently outweigh demand for reunification

Unionists need to concentrate on macro-situation not the micro-situation

Reconciliation can only come about in the context of true equality of identities

11Paul Breen INTO University of East Anglia, London

Paul Breen INTO University of East Anglia, London 12