A Troubled Constitutional Future

Northern Ireland after Brexit

By (author) Dr. Mary C. Murphy, Dr. Jonathan Evershed

Publication date:

17 March 2022

Publisher

Agenda Publishing

Dimensions:

216x138mm
5x9"

ISBN-13: 9781788214117

*** WINNER OF THE 2023 UACES BEST BOOK PRIZE ***

The UK's decision to leave the EU has opened up huge existential questions for Northern Ireland as it marks its centenary. Constitutional conflict in Northern Ireland had been regarded as largely resolved and settled, but Brexit has altered the wider constitutional framework within which the 1998 Good Friday Agreement is situated. With the question of Irish unity gaining renewed and sustained traction, and with trade, relationships and politics across "these islands" in a state of flux, Northern Ireland approaches a constitutional moment.

Murphy and Evershed examine the factors, actors and dynamics that are most likely to be influential, and potentially transformative, in determining Northern Ireland’s constitutional future. This book offers an assessment of how Brexit and its fallout may lead to constitutional upheaval, and a cautionary warning about the need to prepare for it.

1. Introduction

2. Northern Ireland and the great Brexit disruption

3. Irish Nationalism

4. Ulster Unionism

5. The "middle ground"

6. The British and Irish governments

7. What prospects for the constitutional future(s) of Northern Ireland, and of "these islands"?

This is not simply another book on Brexit... This is an informative, well researched book on the complexities of the UK-Irish relationship, the impact of Brexit on Northern Ireland and its potential constitutional consequences... it weaves together insights from the different communities in and around Northern Ireland and highlights the challenges to be addressed... A fine piece of writing that provides strong insights to a highly salient political question.