From Good Friday to Good Relations: sectarianism, racism and the Northern Ireland state

Authors:
  • RMRobbie McVeigh
    Robbie McVeigh
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Abstract
This article addresses the nature of contemporary racism and sectarianism in Northern Ireland in the context of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) and its outworking. It responds to the increasing dominance of the ‘good relations’ model for understanding and addressing race and sectarian division in Northern Ireland. It debunks the gathering support for the notion that Northern Ireland is somehow ‘post-sectarian’ – finding instead a state formation that hides its incapacity to address rising racism and sectarianism under the fig leaf of ‘good relations’. It locates these key developments in the specific new formation of the statelet which has emerged from the GFA.