The Blair Years – A Northern Irish Perspective

Sean Farren (1)

1 UTLN UFR LSH - Université de Toulon - UFR Lettres et Sciences Humaines

This paper looks at New Labour’s devolution policies form the vintage point of the Northern Irish experiment. It explores the multiple consequences of the new constitutional framework set down by the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, from the logical redefinition of British-Irish relations to the less self-evident potential redefinition of cross-border relations in Ireland itself. The paper also looks back on the history of devolution to Northern Ireland with a view to bringing out the crucial contribution of the Blair administration. Finally it provides an insider’s view into the operations of the Northern Irish Executive and through comparative analysis highlights the specificities of devolution Northern Irish style.

Mots clés: Belfast Agreement; British-Irish relations; constitutional reform; cross-border relations; Devolution; Good Friday Agreement; Northern Ireland

Domaines: Littératures

Sean Farren. The Blair Years – A Northern Irish Perspective. Observatoire de la société britannique, 2007, 3, pp.231--245. ⟨10.4000/osb.304⟩. ⟨hal-01330831⟩