A course designed to give the student a strong hands-on understanding of the dynamics within the Northern Ireland conflict, what sustained it for so long, why the Irish Peace Process emerged when it did and how it took shape. At the core of the course is a series of seminars led by key participants in the conflict and in the peace process. This is intended as an intellectually challenging and rewarding course with a firm academic foundation.
Attendance policy:
Because IES Abroad courses are designed to take advantage of the unique contribution of the instruction and the lecture/discussion format, regular class attendance is mandatory. Any missed class, without a legitimate reason will be reflected in the final grade. A legitimate reason would include a documented illness or family bereavement. Travel, (including travel delays) is not a legitimate reason.
Method of presentation:
Guest lecturers work to an integrated course structure guided by the instructor. Each session has three parts: a) advance discussion by instructor and students; b) seminar conducted by guest lecturer, incorporating participation by students; c) analysis of the seminar by instructor and students. Students are required to read relevant literature and prepare a short question- focused paper in preparation for each seminar and to write up an on-going dossier afterwards. At appropriate points in the course television documentaries covering important aspects of the Northern Ireland conflict will be used as visual support material.
Required work and form of assessment:
Preparation for lecture seminars (30%); final dossier (30%); final exam (30%); seminar attendance and participation (10%)
content:
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW: course content, books, guest speakers.
DR.BRIAN FEENEY(Author of ‘Sinn Fein’, co-author ‘Lost Lives’, political columnist, historian, former Belfast City Councillor with nationalist SDLP): Civil Rights and origins of the conflict, nationalist perspective
READING: History of NI pp126-178; Pocket History of the IRA pp77-90
SUSAN McKAY(Journalist, author of ‘Northern Protestants: An Unsettled People’ and ‘Bear In Mind These Dead’)
How Unionism responded to the unrest.
READING: Northern Protestants: An Unsettled People pp 1-12 & 187-199 NI Political Directory/CAIN Website(Craig, Paisley, Faulkner, O'Neill)
CLASS DEBATE ‘WAS THE IRA MOSTLY TO BLAME FOR THE VIOLENCE?’
READING: Recap of previous material/personal analysis
MARTIN FERRIS TD (member of the Irish Parliament, senior Sinn Fein negotiator, former senior IRA activist)
Why the IRA fought an armed campaign.
READING: Long War pp19-29/104-132; Pocket History of the IRA pp 91-118 History of NI pp250-264
DES DALTON (Vice-President Republican Sinn Fein, opposes Good Friday Agreement, linked to ‘dissident’ Continuity IRA)
Why the peace process was opposed
READING: ‘Saoirse’ material; The Long War pp286-324
LIZ O’DONNELL (Former Minister of State Foreign Affairs, Irish Government negotiator at Good Friday Agreement, former Deputy Leader Progressive Democrat Party).
The Good Friday Agreement: A victory for the British? READING: The Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement document
ROY GARLAND (Unionist, former loyalist/Protestant militant, biographer of Gusty Spence loyalist military leader)
Unionists: Winners or losers from the Agreement?
READING: Gusty Spence pp 301-311 Northern Protestants pp360-369; David Trimble material.
COL MIKE DEWAR (Military intelligence expert, former British Army officer in NI)
How the British view the outcome of the Peace Process
READING: Documentary material as directed.
GARETH PORTER/MARY METCALFE (H.U.R.T. Victims Group) Victims: The Forgotten People?
Documents/material as dispensed
Final guest speaker: to be decided
Who are the winners and how does the future look?
FINAL EXAM PAPER HANDED IN. Course assessment.
Concluding debate: The Irish Peace Process: A model to follow?
Required readings:
Dewar, Mike. The British Army in Northern Ireland. Weidenfeld Military 1996.
Flackes, WD and Sydney Elliott. Northern Ireland A Political Directory 1968-1999. Blackstaff Press, 1994. O’Brien, Brendan. The Long War: IRA and Sinn Fein. O’Brien Press, 1999.
---Pocket History of the IRA. O’Brien Press, 2003.
McKay, Susan. Northern Protestants: An unsettled people. Blackstaff Press, 2005. Murray, Gerrard and Jonathan Tonge. Sinn Fein and the SDLP. O’Brien Press, 2005.
Hennessey, Thomas. A History of Northern Ireland. Gill and Macmillan, 1997.
INTERNET SOURCE: CAIN website (Conflict & Politics in Northern Ireland)
A course designed to give the student a strong hands-on understanding of the dynamics within the Northern Ireland conflict, what sustained it for so long, why the Irish Peace Process emerged when it did and how it took shape. At the core of the course is a series of seminars led by key participants in the conflict and in the peace process. This is intended as an intellectually challenging and rewarding course with a firm academic foundation.
Because IES Abroad courses are designed to take advantage of the unique contribution of the instruction and the lecture/discussion format, regular class attendance is mandatory. Any missed class, without a legitimate reason will be reflected in the final grade. A legitimate reason would include a documented illness or family bereavement. Travel, (including travel delays) is not a legitimate reason.
Guest lecturers work to an integrated course structure guided by the instructor. Each session has three parts: a) advance discussion by instructor and students; b) seminar conducted by guest lecturer, incorporating participation by students; c) analysis of the seminar by instructor and students. Students are required to read relevant literature and prepare a short question- focused paper in preparation for each seminar and to write up an on-going dossier afterwards. At appropriate points in the course television documentaries covering important aspects of the Northern Ireland conflict will be used as visual support material.
Preparation for lecture seminars (30%); final dossier (30%); final exam (30%); seminar attendance and participation (10%)
READING: History of NI pp126-178; Pocket History of the IRA pp77-90
How Unionism responded to the unrest.
READING: Northern Protestants: An Unsettled People pp 1-12 & 187-199 NI Political Directory/CAIN Website(Craig, Paisley, Faulkner, O'Neill)
READING: Recap of previous material/personal analysis
Why the IRA fought an armed campaign.
READING: Long War pp19-29/104-132; Pocket History of the IRA pp 91-118 History of NI pp250-264
Why the peace process was opposed
READING: ‘Saoirse’ material; The Long War pp286-324
The Good Friday Agreement: A victory for the British? READING: The Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement document
Unionists: Winners or losers from the Agreement?
READING: Gusty Spence pp 301-311 Northern Protestants pp360-369; David Trimble material.
How the British view the outcome of the Peace Process
READING: Documentary material as directed.
Documents/material as dispensed
Who are the winners and how does the future look?
Concluding debate: The Irish Peace Process: A model to follow?