Abstract
In the two decades since signing, the GFA continues to generate acrimonious debate over whether it has brought about sustainable peace or fomented weak and sectarian governance institutions. In this article, I review the formation and outworking of the GFA. In so doing, I go beyond either/or analyses of the GFA to identify the complex forms of political agency it has generated not necessarily envisioned by the Agreement’s architects. I draw particular attention to the ways in which the central support beams of the Agreement – consociationalism and Europeanisation – have gradually become weakened to threaten the sustainability of power–sharing institutions.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 395-416 |
Number of pages | 22 |
Journal | Parliamentary Affairs |
Volume | 71 |
Issue number | 2 |
Early online date | 3 Sept 2017 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Apr 2018 |
Bibliographical note
The author would like to thank the generous scholarship (Ref: 2017-616) provided by the Leverhulme Trust which has supported this work.Keywords
- Good Friday Agreement
- Northern Ireland
- Consociationalism
- Brexit
- Devolution