The “English Disease” is to Look for a “Solution of the Irish Problem”’
British Constitutional Policy in Northern Ireland after Sunningdale 1974–1976
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12585808 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Stuart Aveyard (0000-0002-8000-3759, Russian State Agrarian Correspondence University, corresponding author), Stuart C Aveyard |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 529-549 |
| Publication date | 2012-04-18 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Contemporary British History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1361-9462 • E-ISSN: 1743-7997 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13619462.2012.676907 |
| OpenAlex | W2073461354 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 7 |
This article reconstructs British constitutional policy in Northern Ireland after power-sharing collapsed in May 1974. Over the following two years, the British government publicly emphasised that Northern Ireland would decide its own future, but ministers secretly considered a range of options including withdrawal, integration and Dominion status. These discussions have been fundamentally misunderstood by previous authors, and this article shows that Harold Wilson did not seriously advocate withdrawal nor was policy as inconsistent as argued elsewhere. An historical approach, drawing from recently released archival material, shows that consociationalists such as Brendan O'Leary and Michael Kerr have neglected the proper context of government policy because of their commitment to a particular form of government, failing to recognise the constraints under which ministers operated. The British government remained committed to an internal devolved settlement including both communities but was unable to impose one
Context (archaeology · Dominion · Economics · Ethnology · Government (linguistics · Irish · Northern ireland · Political economy · Political science · Settlement (finance · Sociology · History · Irish and British Studies · Law · Political and Economic history of UK and US · Political Systems and Governance · Public Administration
A Whipping Boy If Ever There was One’? The British Army and the Politics of Civil–Military Relations in Northern Ireland, 1969–79
Somewhere bigger and brighter? Ambivalence and desire in memories of leaving the north of Ireland during the Troubles
Left to Fend for Themselves
Pragmatists versus dogmatists
The Conservative Party and Ulster Unionism
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,42 |
| Citation span | 2014 - 2022 (9) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |