Cette étude porte sur l'impact du processus de paix en Irlande du Nord sur les partis politiques de la Province jusqu'à présent considérés comme radicaux : le D.U.P. et le Sinn Féin. Il s'agit d'identifier et d'analyser les changements stratégiques et politiques survenus au sein du D.U.P. et du Sinn Féin pendant le processus de paix afin d'aboutir à une entente politique en mai 2007, date de formation de l'Assemblée nord-irlandaise. Ainsi, nous tentons, d'une part, de démontrer comment le D.U.P. est passé du radicalisme politique et religieux à la modération, et, d'autre part, comment le Sinn Féin s'est distancé de la lutte armée de l'I.R.A. pour s'engager dans un combat exclusivement politique. Cette étude propose, dans un premier temps, d'identifier le statut du D.U.P. et du Sinn Féin sur la scène politique nord-irlandaise avant le processus de paix pour ensuite mettre en exergue les difficultés liées à la mise en place des accords de paix dans la province, compte tenu des divergences idéologiques de ces deux partis. Le rôle, les stratégies et le discours politique de ces deux partis pendant le processus de paix sont analysés afin de mieux comprendre leur perception des accords de paix mais également leur succès auprès des électeurs nord-irlandais. En effet, il est démontré que la stratégie politique du D.U.P. et du Sinn Féin pendant le processus de paix s'est avérée être efficace sur le plan électoral et a donc été synonyme de nouveaux enjeux politiques. En devenant les acteurs principaux des négociations sur l'avenir politique de l'Irlande du Nord, le D.U.P. et le Sinn Féin ont ainsi été contraints de participer, ensemble et de manière constructive, à la vie politique nord-irlandaise. Cette étude entend donc démontrer quels mécanismes diplomatiques et politiques ont contribué à transformer ces deux partis pour finalement les amener à partager le pouvoir politique en Irlande du Nord. / The present work is an attempt to examine the impact of the northern irish peace process on the DUP and Sinn Féin, since these two parties used to be considered as being radical ones. The author consequently analyses the political and strategic transformation of these two parties during the peace process which eventually permitted the formation of a mandatory coalition in May 2007 as well as the restoration of devolution in the Province. The aim of this study is therefore to demonstrate how the DUP shifted from political and religious radicalism to moderation and how the Republican Party dissociated itself from the IRA's armed struggle to embark on exclusively political activities. Three questions underlie our analysis: Considering their radical political beliefs, which role did these two parties play in northern irish politics before the peace process? What was their interpretation of the different peace treaties and what enabled them to appeal to the northern irish electorate? Finally, following their political success, how did they manage to deal with their new political responsibilities, namely sharing power in Northern Ireland? This study thus intends to reveal the diplomatic and strategic mechanisms that contributed to the transformation of these two parties over the last decades and how they succeded in sharing political power.

This thesis' topic is The Irish party system and its changes in the last 25 years with a focus on the role of Sinn Féin. While Sinn Féin was the largest party in the first Irish parliament at the beginning of the 20th century, the rest of the century the party remained minor. Its strong ties to the Irish Republican Army kept the party from gaining official recognition both from the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom, since the party contests in both parts of the island of Ireland. The connection to IRA together with the policy of abstentionism, which the party practiced until 1986 in the Republic and until 1998 to the Northern Ireland Assembly, put the party on the edge of the interest of both scholars and voters. However, after the peace process in Northern Ireland, the situation changed rapidly, at least in the case of voters. Today, only twenty years after the process ended, Sinn Féin is the second largest (and the largest nationalist) party in the Northern Ireland assembly and the third biggest in the Dáil (the lower house of the Irish parliament), succeeding the Labour party at this position. And while the voters support for the party grows, most of the scholars still consider to be only a political wing of the IRA or a minor party. The descriptive part of this thesis narrates the...

Les débuts du mouvement Sinn Féin (avant 1916) ont été présentés par des générations d’historiens comme ceux d’un petit parti politique sans succès qui eut un impact disproportionné sur le paysage politique de l’époque. Cette vision, cependant, ne représente que la partie visible de l’iceberg. A l’aide des comptes rendus des réunions de la Sinn Féin Printing and Publishing Company, qui imprima la plus grande partie de la propagande du Sinn Féin, cette étude remet en question l’historiographie conventionnelle. En examinant la production matérielle de la SFPP, nous tentons de mettre à jour ce projet dynamique soutenu par des hommes d’affaires dublinois, des fonctionnaires et des employés de bureau, ainsi que par l’expertise de professionnels de l’imprimerie et de juristes pendant une période de changements profonds à la fois dans l’industrie de la presse mais aussi dans la société irlandaise. Le portrait du Sinn Féin qui en ressort n’est pas celui d’un parti marginal mais plutôt celui d’un réseau international de militants connectés entre eux uniquement par les journaux qu’ils lisaient et travaillant tous individuellement à l’indépendance de l’Irlande. / The early Sinn Féin movement (before 1916) has been represented by generations of historias as a small and unsuccessful political party which had a disproportionate impact on the political landscape of its time. This, however, is only the tip of the iceberg. Using the minutes of the meetings of the Sinn Féin Printing and Publishing Company,which printed the vast majority of Sinn Féin’s propaganda, this study challenges conventional historiography. Focusing on the material production of the SFPP it exposes a dynamic project supported by sympathetic Dublin tradesmen, public officials and clerical workers, and by the expertise of printing professionals and lawyers during a period of profound change both in the newspaper industry and in Irish society. The picture of Sinn Féin which emerges is not of a marginal party but rather of an international network of militant readers connected only by the newspapers they read and all working as individuals towards an independent Ireland.

<p> </p><p>The purpose of this essay is to study the republican and socialist Northern Ireland political party Sinn Féin and to examine its legitimacy in the eyes of the citizens of Northern Ireland. Is it possible to have a political agenda that includes violence and still maintain legitimacy? The Irish Republican Army’s (IRA) military struggle was for a long time a part of the party’s political agenda. This strategy has been described as to have a ballot paper in one hand and an Armalite in the other, and successfully made Sinn Féin one of the province’s largest political parties. I have examined the time period from 1989 to present time. My concept of legitimacy is based on a theory by the political scientist Mikael Axberg, who describes legitimacy to be a concept that contains three different parts: a legal, a democratic and a sociological perspective. Methodically this essay is both a qualitative and quantitative study. </p><p>The main question of the essay is:”Can Sinn Féin be considered to be a political party of a legitimate foundation in the eyes of the citizens?”. In order to examine this question I have used three sub questions:</p><p>1) Is Sinn Féin, from a legal understanding of legitimacy, a legitimate party?</p><p>2) Is Sinn Féin, from a democratic understanding of legitimacy, a legitimate party?</p><p>3) Is Sinn Féin, from a sociological understanding of legitimacy, a legitimate party?</p><p>Of course this is not the only way to understand legitimacy and approach this problem, but it is the way I find most useful in order to answer the question. The sub questions have a wide range and include three different perspectives, which provides a good foundation for answering the main question of the essay.</p><p>The essay comes to the conclusion that Sinn Féin is a legitimate party in the eyes of the citizens, if the polarisation of the society is considered. Catholic and protestant citizens have very different views on the legitimacy of Sinn Féin. The essay concludes that if a society is as polarised as Northern Ireland, that has to be taken into account when questions of legitimacy are examined.</p><p> </p>

Linguistic identities and ideologies of Irish and Ulster-Scots speakers in Northern Ireland (NI) and the Republic of Ireland (ROI) are examined through a focus on rampant sectarianism during the violent 30 years known as “The Troubles”. Seven historical events are reviewed such as the 1798 Ulster Rebellion, the Great Irish Famine, the failed Easter Rising of 1916 and the political ideology of Orangeism in the geopolitical landscape of NI. John Hewitt’s The Rhyming Weavers (1974) and Feargal Mac Ionnrachtaigh’s work, Language, Resistance, and Revival: Republican Prisoners and the Irish Language in the North of Ireland (2013) represent the development of resistant and covert identities through Irish and Ulster-Scots language “code” and the creation of prison Gaeltachts with fáinnes as symbols of pride and connectivity. The Ulster Weaver Poets affirmed that “death would be welcome” opposed to a life on the weaving loom under British imperialistic rule while the Republican Irish prisoners “preferred to face death rather than be classed as criminals'' by the British hierarchy (Coogan 1980, 159; Mac Ionnrachtaigh 2013, 134). Brian Friel’s Translations (1980), Hugo Hamilton’s The Speckled People (2003), and Ciarán Collins’ The Gamal (2013) highlight unexpected and disheartening consequences of identity loss and entrapment for characters in ROI as Irish discourse usage is a barrier to fulfillment as well as viewed as violent and dangerous. Commonality in narrative expression is the preoccupation with self-sacrifice, martyrship, and death to reinforce the “authentic” citizen true to Ireland’s future. Newspaper articles, editorial comments, and personal opinion narratives from seven news publications from NI and the ROI are discussed. Whom the languages actually “belong” to— political parties such as Sinn Féin or community members is difficult because roles are intricately interwoven. The Troubles and Brexit have emphasized the hybridity of identities of Britishness and Irishness and subsequent linguistic choices and realities for all citizens of Ireland. All narratives firmly establish that understanding the languages as a form of linguistic resistance to a silencing of a traumatic past, regardless of political positioning or linguistic ideology, are foundational in solutions for the future survival and maintenance of these languages, not to mention social, cultural, and personal healing.

Ma thèse de doctorat s’intéresse aux représentations de la France dans l’Irlande nationaliste de 1879 à 1921. Mon analyse évolue autour du concept d’un « mythe français » construit en grande part dans les années 1840. Ce mythe imposa l’image d’une France ennemie de l’Angleterre et conséquemment alliée de l’Irlande et des nations opprimées. Cette approche introduit une nouvelle compréhension des relations du nationalisme irlandais avec la France et son mythe ; une relation qui influença la définition d’une idéologie nationaliste et la formation d’un ensemble de représentations où la France et ses images, utilisées au sein de la rhétorique nationaliste irlandaise au cours du 19e siècle, devint un modèle ainsi qu’une source d’inspiration et de fierté. Ceci permit aux nationalistes irlandais, en particulier séparatistes, de construire une version positive de leurs revendications qui ne serait plus seulement basée sur une lutte ancestrale contre l’Angleterre. C’est ce que cette thèse expose dans le cas d’Arthur Griffith, fondateur du Sinn Féin et inspiré par l’expérience franco-irlandaise de Maud Gonne, une virulente nationaliste irlandaise. Ce travail démontre également que le « mythe français » a eut une grande influence sur les politiques du nationalisme irlandais. Il se concentre tout particulièrement sur la « politique française » de Charles Stewart Parnell durant la « Land War » puis sur celle de John Redmond dans les années 1890, sur l’intense bataille rhétorique menée après la mort de Parnell entre parnelliens et anti-parnelliens, et sur les tensions entre pro et anti-alliés au cours de la Première Guerre mondiale. / >My doctoral thesis looked at the representations of France in nationalist Ireland from 1879 until 1921. My argument is centred on the concept of a “mythe français” developed in most part in the 1840s. This myth imposed the image of France as an enemy of England, and thus an ally of Ireland and of oppressed nationalities. This approach introduces a new understanding of Irish nationalist relations with France and her myth; a relationship that influenced the definition of a nationalist ideology and the set of representations that looked at France and her images, used in nationalist rhetoric through the nineteenth century, as a model as well as a source of inspiration and pride. This allowed Irish nationalists, in particular separatists, to build a positive image for their demands, one that would not solely rely on an ancestral struggle against England. I have shown that such was the case with Arthur Griffith, founder of the Sinn Féin movement and inspired by the Franco-Irish experience of Maud Gonne, a virulent Irish activist. I have also argued that the “mythe français” had a strong impact on Irish nationalist politics. I focused on Charles Stewart Parnell’s and John Redmond’s “French” policy during the Land War and the 1890s, on the intense rhetorical battle between parnellites and anti-parnellites after the death of Parnell, and on pro- and anti-ally debates during the First World War.

The transitioning of armed actors into political parties following a peace accord is not a new phenomenon and the debate for how we can facilitate such a transition is well explored. A grey area of the debate, however, concerns transitioned actors’ long-term commitment to peace, as relapses are known to have occurred on many occasions. How are successful transitions sustained and what are the facilitating mechanisms? Through a case study of Sinn Féin in Northern Ireland, this thesis aims to contribute to the very limited debate on the facilitation of peace continuity of transitioned actors. Interviews were conducted in Belfast during the fall of 2018. The present-time contextual changes posed by the United Kingdom exiting the European union, which endangers the 1998 peace agreement that helped facilitate Sinn Féin’s transition, provides a good case for studying the institutional resilience to violent relapse of a transitioned actor. The findings show that Sinn Féin display strong levels of institutional resilience, which can help the institution to abstain from relapses into violence caused by contextual changes such as Brexit.

Ma thèse de doctorat s'intéresse aux représentations de la France dans l'Irlande nationaliste de 1879 à 1921. Mon analyse évolue autour du concept d'un " mythe français " construit en grande part dans les années 1840. Ce mythe imposa l'image d'une France ennemie de l'Angleterre et conséquemment alliée de l'Irlande et des nations opprimées. Cette approche introduit une nouvelle compréhension des relations du nationalisme irlandais avec la France et son mythe ; une relation qui influença la définition d'une idéologie nationaliste et la formation d'un ensemble de représentations où la France et ses images, utilisées au sein de la rhétorique nationaliste irlandaise au cours du 19e siècle, devint un modèle ainsi qu'une source d'inspiration et de fierté. Ceci permit aux nationalistes irlandais, en particulier séparatistes, de construire une version positive de leurs revendications qui ne serait plus seulement basée sur une lutte ancestrale contre l'Angleterre. C'est ce que cette thèse expose dans le cas d'Arthur Griffith, fondateur du Sinn Féin et inspiré par l'expérience franco-irlandaise de Maud Gonne, une virulente nationaliste irlandaise. Ce travail démontre également que le " mythe français " a eut une grande influence sur les politiques du nationalisme irlandais. Il se concentre tout particulièrement sur la " politique française " de Charles Stewart Parnell durant la " Land War " puis sur celle de John Redmond dans les années 1890, sur l'intense bataille rhétorique menée après la mort de Parnell entre parnelliens et anti-parnelliens, et sur les tensions entre pro et anti-alliés au cours de la Première Guerre mondiale

The purpose of this essay is to study the republican and socialist Northern Ireland political party Sinn Féin and to examine its legitimacy in the eyes of the citizens of Northern Ireland. Is it possible to have a political agenda that includes violence and still maintain legitimacy? The Irish Republican Army’s (IRA) military struggle was for a long time a part of the party’s political agenda. This strategy has been described as to have a ballot paper in one hand and an Armalite in the other, and successfully made Sinn Féin one of the province’s largest political parties. I have examined the time period from 1989 to present time. My concept of legitimacy is based on a theory by the political scientist Mikael Axberg, who describes legitimacy to be a concept that contains three different parts: a legal, a democratic and a sociological perspective. Methodically this essay is both a qualitative and quantitative study.  The main question of the essay is:”Can Sinn Féin be considered to be a political party of a legitimate foundation in the eyes of the citizens?”. In order to examine this question I have used three sub questions: 1) Is Sinn Féin, from a legal understanding of legitimacy, a legitimate party? 2) Is Sinn Féin, from a democratic understanding of legitimacy, a legitimate party? 3) Is Sinn Féin, from a sociological understanding of legitimacy, a legitimate party? Of course this is not the only way to understand legitimacy and approach this problem, but it is the way I find most useful in order to answer the question. The sub questions have a wide range and include three different perspectives, which provides a good foundation for answering the main question of the essay. The essay comes to the conclusion that Sinn Féin is a legitimate party in the eyes of the citizens, if the polarisation of the society is considered. Catholic and protestant citizens have very different views on the legitimacy of Sinn Féin. The essay concludes that if a society is as polarised as Northern Ireland, that has to be taken into account when questions of legitimacy are examined.