Consociational Approach to Peacebuilding in Northern Ireland Sample Clauses

Consociational Approach to Peacebuilding in Northern Ireland. In the period 1920-1972, a majoritarian model, one party unitary government was superimposed on the political culture of Northern Ireland, politicizing the ethno- religious cleavage (Xxxxx, 2001, p. 333). After 1972, British governments tried to develop a power-sharing consociational settlement in Northern Ireland. The participation of the civil society, in other words, constructive conflict resolution requires intensive interaction between the elites and the grassroot in order to build a shared culture of peace (Lederach, 1999). After 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement (AIA), British and Irish governments tried to impose a consociational power-sharing model on Northern Ireland‟s political elites (Xxxxx, Spring 2000). This was defined as a „coercive consociational‟ power-sharing system (X'Xxxxx, 1989). At the same time, they also tried to encourage a civil society approach through which to transform the conflict and build trust between the communities in an attempt to de-escalate the conflict (Xxxxx, 1995). This requires strong links, cooperation and interaction between the grassroot participants with the political elites, and with maybe middle-tier elites in between as a conduit having access to both sides (Lederach, 1999). In the period leading to the GFA, British and Irish governments worked together to end the unionist veto, which was one of the reasons for previously failed attempts to establish a power-sharing model and include moderate nationalist elites and the paramilitaries in a negotiated solution with the final goal of devising a political framework to manage the conflict successfully. The involvement of all the stakeholders in the negotiation process with a strong mediator as former US Senator Xxxxxx Xxxxxxxx resulted in the GFA, which established a power-sharing executive in Northern Ireland. In the Northern Ireland case, consociation was vital for a final political settlement, however, it had to be complemented through binational institutions (North and South; East and West) that addressed the national dimension of the conflict between unionists and nationalists. In other words, “consociation was a necessary, but insufficient, requirement for a stable agreement” (XxXxxxx & X'Xxxxx, 2009). The components of the GFA which are not included in traditional consociational accords are: - „North-South Ministerial Council‟, so far, met 27 times in Plenary format8 (North-South Ministerial Council, 2024), - „British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference‟ which me...