A War by Other Means? Commemorating Conflict in the New Northern Ireland

Abstract

On Good Friday in April 1998, a political agreement was signed that would bring almost three decades of sustained violence to an end and lay the foundations for a new form of political governance in Northern Ireland. Heralded as a decisive turning point in the region’s history, the promise of a peaceful future was greeted with relief by many. Yet the end of the armed conflict and the inception of a devolved government have not necessarily produced a peaceful and shared future; Northern Ireland remains a deeply divided society where violence continues to periodically resurface, albeit on a lesser scale. Since that watershed agreement, there has been a series of shootings and killings (Monaghan 2004; Tonge 2013) including the murder of 29 civilians in Omagh in 1998 by a disaffected Republican paramilitary organisation, the Real IRA; a bitter and bloody feud between Loyalist paramilitaries (Gallaher and Shirlow 2006); the targeting of Catholic police and prison officers in a renewed campaign by dissident Republicans (Horgan and Morrison 2011); and the continuation of politically motivated violence within communities, leaving the promise of peace just out of reach.