The New Politics of the Irish Republic
Document Type Article
New Left Review, September-October
Abstract
In the last two years, a series of events has occurred which, taken together, seemed to signify developments of such importance that even those observers of Irish politics most prone to relish or lament its apparent barren continuities have begun to contemplate the possibility of a radical opening of perspectives. Most attention has inevitably focused on initiatives concerning Northern Ireland, from the joint Declaration agreed by the British and Irish prime ministers on 15 December 1993, responding to unprecedented revisionist thinking amongst the leadership of the republican movement, through to the IRA’s cessation of hostilities announced on 31 August 1994, after a relentless ‘armed struggle’ against the British state for over twenty years. This article looks at the implications of these events for politics in the Republic of Ireland.