Since 2006, according to the Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, the largest portion of people in Northern Ireland identify themselves as neither Unionist nor Nationalist but as 'Neither'. This fact is difficult to tally with the patterns of polarised election results and the narratives of a 'culture war' that dominate most analyses of contemporary Northern Ireland. This article examines the existence of this large portion of the population in Northern Ireland who reject the identities upon which the 1998 Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement is centred. We find that those identifying as Neither Unionist nor Nationalist are predominantly female, they come from all religious backgrounds, all age groups, all national identities (though predominantly both British and Irish). The clear majority of those who identify as Neither Nationalist nor Unionist appear to be rejecting what is on offer from the political parties in Northern Ireland. The article concludes that the 1998 Agreement has created the conditions for a growing number of people to identify as Neither Unionist nor Nationalist, but at the same time it makes the emergence of any strong alternative, 'third way' type of politics difficult to envisage.
Dealing with the legacy of ethnic conflict: Confronting 'Othering' through transformative adult education -a Northern Ireland Case Study.
AbstractDespite its peace process, Northern Ireland remains a deeply divided society. The legacy of a thirty year conflict has ensured the state continues to be prone to outbreaks of violence over contentious issues such as Orange Order parading and the flying of national flags.
Research highlights that romantic relationships of young people are not all ‘puppy love’ but can be also abusive. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a gendered phenomenon as it primarily affects women who are at a higher risk of more severe forms of violence and also suffer more severe consequences than young men. IPV leads to substantial negative outcomes such as mental health decline, economic insecurity and/or academic underachievement. Particularly for young females, education is a powerful protective factor against re-victimisation and economic dependence which often forces women to remain trapped in abusive relationships. This review was conducted to integrate and summarise research available on IPV and its impact on young women’s educational well-being to fill a significant gap in the literature. Under the guidance of PRISMA, terms related to the criteria of young women aged 10–24, IPV and education were searched in the databases EBSCO, PsycINFO, Scopus, ProQuest and CINAHL. While the initial search yielded 6005 articles, we were left with only 10 articles for the analysis. In summary, the evidence suggests that females tend to display issues around concentration, absenteeism and academic disengagement, as well as decline in performance such as failing grades and higher drop out rates.
Since the beginning of the Northern Ireland conflict in the late 1960s, Irish nationalism has been identified as a prominent force in the political culture of the state. Recent studies have suggested, however, that the ‘Nationalist’ population has become increasingly content within the new political framework created by the peace process and the aspiration for Irish unity diminished. In placing the Northern Ireland situation within the theoretical framework of nationalism, this paper will analyse how these changing priorities have been possible. Through an analysis of Irish language study in Northern Ireland's schools, the paper will examine how the political ideals espoused by the nationalist Sinn Féin Party reflected the priorities of the ‘nationalist community’. It will be contended that the relationship between the ideology and ‘the people’ is much more complex than is often allowed for and that educational inequalities are a significant contributing factor to this.
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