“Was There Ever a Before?”

Abstract

We know the cessation of conflict is not the solution to all the drivers of that conflict. In the case of Northern Ireland, it is far too much to expect that slightly more than 20 years of “peace”—faltering and hesitant throughout—somehow has counteracted completely the prior 30 years of destabilizing conflict (let alone the 800 years of deep identity divisions). In this current moment, while many elements of the peace agreement have held fast, the peace seems more fragile than ever. Part II of this book offers a real-time assessment of the degree to which contemporary Northern Ireland is letting its hard-earned peace slip through its fingers. Engaging these coupled realities of risk and resilience in the context of contemporary accelerators and triggers of potential conflict will help us understand the challenges and opportunities a society faces in moving from conflict to a stable, enduring, and sustainable peace.