Remaining Divided? - A Sociological Examination of Consociationalism's Impact on Peace and Reconciliation in Contemporary Northern Ireland

There is a common understanding that peace was reached in Northern Ireland with the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) in 1998, which established a devolved consociational or power sharing system of government between the two opposing sides of the ‘Troubles’. However, despite ending the violent conflict, Northern Ireland remains divided, perhaps most evident from the rigid patterns of segregation and the ‘culture war’. This thesis seeks to give some answers as to why this is the case by examining consociationalism as an initiative for peace, asking does consociationalism succeed in achieving peace in Northern Ireland? Using theories from sociology and peace and conflict studies, the thesis argues for the importance of framing, that is, distinguishing between different understandings of and approaches to communal identities and peace is essential. All too often peace is understood in a structural sense, reduced to institutional reforms of governance structures. This understanding of peace neglects the societal aspects of the conflict which are pivotal for reconciliation. The thesis argues that the GFA’s consociationalism has been successful in terms of structurally managing the conflict and achieving absence of violence, however, consociationalism has been unsuccessful socially, not accomplishing and even impeding reconciliation or positive peace. Relating to this, the thesis discusses the primacy of structure or agency in shaping human behaviour and the tension that often occurs between a structural and social approach to peace. Furthermore, the thesis assesses whether the latest Northern Irish political agreement – the New Decade, New Approach deal, reflects a move away from consociationalism and accommodation towards integration or fixes the limitations of the existing consociational system. The overall argument of the thesis is that NDNA reflects a continuation of accommodation and a top-down, structural approach, confirming the argument that a social peace process is neglected and confirming the limitations of consociationalism