The Limits of Local Accommodation: Why Contentious Events Remain Prone to Conflict in Northern Ireland

Abstract

This paper examines the difficulties of finding local solutions to the problem of contentious events in contemporary Northern Ireland. In so doing, it offers a sociological perspective on fundamental divisions in Northern Ireland: between classes and between communities. It shows how its chosen case study -parades and associated protests in north Belfastexemplifies the most fundamental problem that endures in post-Agreement Northern Ireland, namely that political authority is not derived from a common civic culture (as is the norm in western liberal democracy) but rather that legitimacy is still founded on the basis of the culture of either one or the other community. Haugaard's reflections upon authority and legitimacy are used to explore Northern Ireland's atypical experience of political conflict visa-vis the Western liberal democratic model. And the Bourdieusian concepts of field illusio and doxa help to explain why it is that parading remains such an important political and symbolic touchstone in this society.

Countering misinformation and disinformation during contentious episodes in a divided society: Tweeting the 2014 and 2015 Ardoyne parade disputes

“…These tensions illustrate the 'ethnic poker' that persist within highly segregated working-class districts in North Belfast, where zero-sum perceptions of space and politics have led rival interface communities to "unrealistically up the ante" against each other [9]. Hayward and Komarova (2014) also argued that efforts to find a local solution to the contentious parade were hampered by the fixed 'interpretative horizons' of both sides.…”

“…The ebb and flow of misinformation and disinformation during contentious public demonstrations such as Ardoyne can ultimately be attributed to the failure of political elites to satisfactorily address their root causes, rather than platforms such as Twitter that publish such content online. Hayward and Komarova (2014) argued that efforts to resolve the Ardoyne dispute during this period were the product of a dysfunctional political system in which openness to alternative interpretations was limited by the actions of ethno-political elites in the Stormont Executive [31]. Since 2007, the DUP and Sinn Fein's electoral dominance has been based on their operationalisation of ethno-sectarian differences, which have left little room for compromise on issues such as how to deal with contentious parades.…”

Religious, Political, and Geographical Determinants of Attitudes to Protestant Parades in Northern Ireland

“…While the Parades Commission encourages resolution through local dialogue, this has often been absent regarding contentious parades, due to mutual hostility between the Orange Order and Catholic Nationalist residents’ groups, themselves divided between mainstream and more militant republican orientations. As Hayward and Komarova (2014, 2) put it, “although elite level actors (including the Parades Commission) place a heavy emphasis on the vital role for local-level negotiation and accommodation … such efforts are inextricably hamstrung by the social realities of post-Agreement Northern Ireland.”…”