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To seek a greater understanding of peacebuilding there is a need for a multifaceted approach. This in part entails exploring the contextual economic conditions of conflicts, and the possibilities of removing these conditions and utilizing economic gains to act as incentives to create stakeholders in peace processes. In Northern Ireland there was a perceived link between the weak economic situation and violent conflict. Economic inequality was stoking animosity and unemployment was generating disillusionment. As peace was reached in 1998 and successfully sustained, there is an intrinsic value in exploring the peacebuilding processes. Through a mixed-method approach incorporating a content analysis of The Irish Times articles from 1994-1998 and a sequential analysis of descriptive statistics from 1998-2019 the concept of peace dividends has been explored. The results show how a coherent and consistent construction of peace dividends was made by political and economic elites and disseminated to the public, building expectations from peace. A peace dividend was constructed based on increased trade and improved economic co-operation with Ireland, inclusive/equitable distribution of prosperity and opportunities, job creation, and increased FDI and jobs generated through FDI. Following an analysis of the development of these aspects of peace dividends, the results indicate improvements regarding increased trade and economic co-operation with Ireland, increased ability to attract FDI projects, and a consistent yearly improvement of disposable household income. Where the most significant development can be observed and, hence, the part of the peace dividend that has been most successful, is within the labour market. Unemployment has decreased and a convergence in opportunities to participate between Protestant and Catholic communities has been facilitated. Generating a more inclusive labour market and diminishing the disillusionment of unemployment from the past.

Thesis advisor: Robert J. Savage / This dissertation compares that state-sponsored tactic of criminalization implemented against both the Black community of Brixton and the republican community of Belfast throughout the 1970s, arguing that both minority groups were criminalized in an attempt to end the ‘crisis of hegemony’ faced by the British government during the post-war decline of empire. While this process of criminalization was implemented via different legislative methods and with different ideologies, racial in Brixton and ethno-sectarian in Belfast, the government used these negative ideologies to create a specific narrative that supported the implementation of discriminatory policing policies against these marginalized groups. Both the Black and republican communities fought against this narrative of criminalization, instead highlighting parallel counter-narratives which contended that discriminatory governing and over-policing were negative symptoms of Britain’s enduring colonial legacy and a detriment to the minority populations of the United Kingdom. Tensions between the state-sponsored police and these marginalized communities exploded in 1981 with the uprising in Brixton and the hunger strike in Belfast. Members of both minority communities viewed these events as attempts to combat state discriminatory policies, but the British government viewed these violent events as proof of the criminality of these minority groups. Examining the creation and use of community murals in both Brixton and Belfast after 1981, this dissertation argues that murals became a less violent, but no less visible tool to combat the narrative of criminalization. As a type of artwork specifically designed for marginalized communities to challenge spatial and visual hegemony, community murals in these locations created large public canvases with which disenfranchised citizens could display their own visual representation – a representation to offset the negative imagery being portrayed by the British government and mainstream media. Minority groups in both Great Britain and Northern Ireland used these community artworks as subversive tools to positively display their marginalized cultures and their counter-narrative of discriminatory policies throughout the 1980s. While created via different artistic and collaborative methods, community murals in Brixton and Belfast became a tool used by both minority groups to combat the negative impacts of the shared criminalization that stemmed from a mutual colonial history. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: History.

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This thesis examines the development of Sinn Féin's communication strategies and considers how news coverage of the party has evolved in recent years, and in particular with the advent of the Irish peace process from the mid-1990s onwards. The aim of the research presented here is to establish the relationship between the development of the party's professional communication apparatus and the evolution of its news coverage and to determine the extent to which the emergence of a sophisticated approach to communication has impacted upon media coverage. The thesis argues that the development and implementation of the party's professional communication apparatus has been the result of a much wider process of republican reappraisal that took place during the 1980s. This culminated in the 1990s with the transformation of the republican movement into a more constitutional and negotiation-oriented party, while progressively moving away from the armed struggle as a means to achieve Irish re-unification. Moreover, in emphasising that there has been a considerable improvement in the reporting of Sinn Féin; namely that the news media have become progressively more interested in republican predicaments, less biased and more critical of unionism, it also suggests that the improved media coverage must be seen as a result of the political re-alignment of the movement itself. Ultimately, the main argument of this thesis is that we are now witnessing a new phase of the republican movement and, by proxy, of Northern Irish politics and its coverage in the media. This has meant that Sinn Féin has become more wiling to reach a political compromise and to find a peaceful solution to the conflct, and has attempted to affirm itself as a party with political and social interests, other than Irish re-unification. This has also forced the British government to reappraise its own view of the conflict and of Sinn Féin, recognising above all that the party and Northern Irish politics have evolved from a situation of war to one where it is dominated by careful and sensitive diplomacy. The result is that most of the common assumptions held about Sinn Féin including those of some academics, its political communication and its news coverage, must now be reconsidered in light of the radical transformations that have taken place.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 178-191).

This thesis argues that Irish can and should be revitalized. Conducted as an observational study, this thesis focuses on interviews with 72 participants during the summer of 2013. All participants live in the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland. This thesis investigates what has caused the Irish language to lose power and prestige over the centuries, and which Irish language revitalization efforts have been successful. Findings show that although, all-Irish schools have had a substantial growth rate since 1972, when the schools were founded, the majority of Irish students still get their education through English-medium schools. This study concludes that Irish will survive and grow in the numbers of fluent Irish speakers; however, the government will need to further support the growth of the all-Irish schools. In conclusion, the Irish communities must take control of the promotion of the Irish language, and intergenerational transmission must take place between parents and their children.

This empirical study explores if, and how, religion and spirituality are relevant subjects for those experiencing mental distress in Northern Ireland (NI) and how, if at all, the subject is engaged with in mental health social work practice. Although there is some controversy in United Kingdom based research regarding the apparent benefit of religion and spirituality within mental health, service user research and literature suggests its importance within recovery. Literature on religion, spirituality and social work practice suggests the need to examine the social and political processes which persist around this subject in social work practice (Henery, 2003; Wong and Vinsky, 2009). This examination is appropriate given the role of religion within the political conflict in NI, the impact of the conflict upon social work practice (Campbell et al, 2013), the high incidence of mental ill health in NI and the apparent role of religion and spirituality within mental distress. This study considers how mental health social workers may engage with this subject within their practice not only as an aspect of service users’ identity but also within post conflict Northern Ireland. The study methodology and design drew upon narrative theory and grounded theory. I interviewed twelve mental health service users and twelve mental health social workers, and half of the participants from each group also took part in a follow-up telephone interview. All of the participants were invited to bring an object which expressed what religion and spirituality meant to them. Analysis explored the views and experiences of mental health service users and social workers about religion and spirituality, within specific aspects of the wider social field. Service user and social worker participants’ accounts suggested that whilst the role of religion and spirituality within mental distress was recognised, its inclusion in mental health social work practice was marked with questions of legitimacy. Some of these questions were explicitly framed within the conflict, whilst others were less so. The study found that although religion was associated with politics, sectarianism and violence, its role, and that of spirituality, as an aspect of identity and meaning-making, appeared to be underdeveloped. Two key findings are of particular note. 10 Firstly that service user participants had their own ‘hierarchy’ of religious and spiritual expression, which on occasion appeared to result in their being critical of other service users’ expressions. Secondly, some service users preferred to keep their spirituality to themselves as a strategy of empowerment. In addition the study also found that service users viewed the mental health professional relationship as focusing upon medical aspects of their care, for example physical health and medication management, with no scope to explore religion, spirituality and mental distress. Thus questions of legitimacy focused around the notion of privacy and whether talking about religion and spirituality within the mental health service user and social worker relationship was too sensitive, given its association with sectarianism. Furthermore, mental health service users were concerned about how a disclosure of religion and / or spirituality within mental distress would be viewed by the mental health professional: would it be viewed as indicative of deteriorating mental health? Overall the study identified a significant gap between how service users draw upon spirituality and / or religion within mental distress, and the space given to this within mental health social work practice. This gap is due to a myriad of factors ranging from the social worker’s biography, to wider issues around how religion and spirituality are conceptualised in contemporary society. This study also highlights the continuing impact of the Northern Ireland conflict on frontline social work provision. There is a need for policymaking to acknowledge the ambivalence that exists around spirituality and religion in mental health social work practice due to the conflict and other relevant factors. Finally, support is needed for practitioners and service users to acknowledge this aspect of mental well-being in a manner that gives service users choice about its inclusion in their mental health care.