Devolution and Identity in Northern Ireland: a Longitudinal Discursive Study, 2003-2004

<p>Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.</p>The purpose of the study was to explore the ways in which potential identity shifts in Northern Ireland might be tracked across time by focusing on interactional discourse as it relates to issues of devolution and peace. The approach is broadly influenced by discursive psychology. Transcriptions of focus group recordings from East Belfast and West Belfast were analysed both within a macro frame of the linguistic realisation of political identity in content and historical context and within a micro frame of the structural and interactional realisation of identity positions in talk. The discussions centred around a series of 'critical social incidents', i.e. major news events which impacted generally on the community and may have caused reflection on identity positions. Northern Ireland operates in a different context to other devolved regions of the United Kingdom, in that not only has it suffered from many years of conflict, but the very nature of the conflict relates to potential identities as they draw upon the concept of devolution for divergent purposes. This is one of the major dimensions of identity talk in the data; Protestants/Unionists and Catholics/Nationalists may see the process of devolution as having competing and mutually exclusive ends. This suggests that devolution, a process assumed by both British and Irish governments to be a positive step in achieving 'parity of esteem', may actually work to promote single-identity politics. Overall, the analysis of the research revealed a range of key discursive patterns that were utilised to maintain division, but at the same time, construct different patterns of interpretation within a socio-political context. Hence, it may be seen how discourse is a tool for dealing with different socio-political events and circumstances and also how it would be a useful resource for policy analysts, who tend to focus on the macro quantitative frame, thereby missing the subtle flexibility of talk and identity. Such analyses still assume dualities in Northern Ireland, whereas the research conducted for this project revealed that underneath such differences also lie a set of concerns and commonalities reflected at the micro level of talk.<br> <br> This data collection contains verbatim transcriptions of eight focus group discussions held with community members in East and West Belfast on the theme of political devolution and its impact on their lives, as discussed above.<br><B>Main Topics</B>:<br>Topics covered in the focus group discussions include various issues concerning identity and the Northern Irish community, including the Peace Process, the Good Friday Agreement, crime, the community and terrorism, political affairs and responses of politicians to community matters, sectarianism and religious issues, employment and career opportunities for Protestants and Catholics, and other questions of identity and life in Northern Ireland