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This thesis examines the peace process in terms of building and sustaining trust in post-conflict Northern Ireland local District Councils, alongside the structural reforms arising from the Belfast Agreement. It asks if local government has implemented the statutory duty to promote good relations, as well as equality, under Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act (1998), and whether this amounts to mainstreaming. It is a qualitative case study of three local Councils, focusing on fonnal politics. Promoting good relations rests on politicians' ideological alignment however committed senior .officials are to mainstreaming equality and good relations. The thesis shows evidence that it suited Nationalists to mainstream equality and good relations - in the political development of the peace process - whereas it suited Unionists to resist this process before the St Andrews Agreement and the restoration of a devolved power sharing Northern Ireland government. It also refutes alleged 'conflict' between the Section 75 duties. It critiques the dominant Equity, Diversity and Interdependence (EDI) model of good relations. Since dialogic mechanisms are central to democratic renewal and peace-building, theorising promoting good relations adopts a 'conversational canvas'. This proposes a 'conversational' model which incorporates the principles of EDI and a robust notion of mainstreaming, where the driver is social justice rather than the business case. Finally it proposes that current government policy is reviewed with intent to ground 'A Shared Future' in equality and human rights discourses. It is necessary to embed the core principles of the peace agreement in policy and practice if Northern Ireland is to sustain and strengthen the existing peace.

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