Identity, Segregation and Peace-building in Northern Ireland

A Social Psychological Perspective

S. McKeown

• Publisher: Palgrave Pivot
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9781137323170
• eBook ISBN: 9781137323187
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: European Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

When conflict, competing identities, and segregation collide; Identity, Segregation and Peace-building in Northern Ireland explores the implications for peace-building in Northern Ireland, and across the globe.

1

History of the Conflict

Abstract: Northern Ireland is a historically divided society where the recent conflict, known as the troubles, began in 1968. Although often mistakenly viewed as a war centring on religion, the conflict is in fact based on competing political, religious and national ideologies regarding the constitutional state of Northern Ireland, between Protestant/British/Unionists and Irish Catholic/Nationalists. During the period of the conflict, it is estimated that approximately 3,600 people have been killed, and a further 30,000 plus injured. In 1998, the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement was signed, which led to serious political and social reform in Northern Ireland. Chapter 1 outlines the history of the conflict, reflecting on social identity theory as a means to explain its emergence. It ends with a focus on the road to peace.

McKeown, Shelley. Identity, Segregation and Peace-Building in Northern Ireland: A Social Psychological Perspective. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013. DOI: 10.1057/9781137323187.

Introduction

The expression ‘there are two sides to everything’ is commonplace and Northern Ireland is a true reflection of this, where there really are two (or sometimes more) sides to everything. These divisions are not only evident through different understandings of the conflict, and its causes, but go much deeper. If you visit Belfast for example, the extent of this tale of two sides is explicit; with peace lines, wall murals and flags designating group membership and separating communities, both physically and psychologically. At a more subtle level the tale goes beyond these group markers with everyday facilities such as the education system, neighbourhoods, sports centres, and even shopping centres catering specifically for one community or the other.

In the simplest sense the conflict occurred, and is maintained, due to competing religious, political and national ideologies, represented by the Protestant and Catholic communities. Despite signing a promising Agreement in 1998, Northern Ireland continues to be a highly segregated society where negative group attitudes persist. Due to the complexity of the conflict and the ongoing instances of political violence, it remains a context of interest for people throughout the world. Policymakers and practitioners wish to solve the problem, academics and researchers wish to understand what is happening and why in order to improve the situation, and scholars and practitioners from across the world wish to learn from other societies to improve inter-group relations in their own, and others.

One of the key aims of this book is to provide an overview of some of the pertinent issues relating to the conflict and its maintenance, in particular: identity, segregation and peace-building attempts. I have tried to write it in a way which should be accessible to a wide audience, but importantly it is written from a socio- psychological perspective, and therefore grounded in theory, and research. This is particularly important when social psychological theories and research have real world applications which are often missed by those ‘on the ground’ due to being published in academic journals. There are many books, journal articles and other sources examining the Northern Ireland ‘problem’ in detail beyond the scope of this book. For your convenience I have, therefore, provided a list of recommended reading and useful websites and documents. The layout of this book is traditional in that it starts with a history of the conflict and ends with hopes for the future. In between the chapters address the key issues pertaining to identity, segregation and peace-building.

Background to the conflict

The history of the conflict in Northern Ireland, like in most societies, is a complex one and dates back centuries, although there wasn’t continuous violence during this time (Cairns, 1987). There are many resources which outline the early period of unrest in Ireland in substantial detail (see Conflict Archive on the Internet www.cain.ulst.ac.uk). To summarise, the conflict is said to have begun around 1170 following an English invasion in an area of Dublin called the Pale whichled to the establishment of an English monarchy. During this time, English rule in Ireland was rather limited; it wasn’t until the 16th Century when further control was obtained. Throughout the 17th century there was an influx of Protestants from across the United Kingdom into Ireland with the main purpose to gain more control for the English government. This became known as the Ulster plantation. During this period, land was highly contested with Protestants gaining the majority of and better land than Catholics. As a result, the 17th century marked the development of serious conflicts between Protestants and Catholics living on the island of Ireland. Some of the events which occurred during this time are still being celebrated today. In particular the Protestant victory of King William III over Catholic King James II at the Battle of the Boyne is remembered every 12 July by the Protestant community.

Despite an increasing Protestant population on the island it wasn’t until 1801, that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was declared. From this time, Irish Nationalists protested and through a series of armed struggles attempted to remove Ireland from the clutches of the English monarchy. During this period Sein Fein and the Irish Republican Army (IRA) were formed. The most notorious armed struggle during this early period was the 1916 Easter Rising, where Irish Nationalists joined forces to occupy a series of buildings in Dublin. The volunteers were met with resistance from the British Army and it is estimated that approximately 450 were killed and a further 2614 injured during this struggle. The Easter Rising was soon followed by the war of independence, 1919–1921, which ultimately resulted in the island of Ireland being divided into two different sovereignties. The Government of Ireland Act (1921) stipulated that the 6 counties which were predominately Protestant would become Northern Ireland under British rule, and the remaining 26 counties would become the Irish Free State and part of the British Commonwealth. The fighting continued as Irish Nationalists sought to obtain independence from Britain, this was achieved in 1949 when the Republic of Ireland was born. Despite partition, the conflict between the Catholic and Protestant communities on the island continued. Bull (2006) argues that partition resulted ‘in a siege mentality, in which both communities felt beleaguered, and deeply threatened by the other’ (p.42).

The troubles

It was only with the emergence of the recent conflict in 1968, known as the troubles, that researchers properly developed an interest in inter-group relations in Northern Ireland. Cairns (1987) suggests that the reluctance of researchers to be involved is partly reflective of religion being a socially taboo topic in this society. In particular, researchers face the difficulty of having to try to represent both sides of the divide.

The conflict is underpinned by historical, religious, political, economic and psychological elements and arose from a struggle between those who wish to see Northern Ireland remain part of the United Kingdom (Protestants/Unionists/Loyalists) and those who wish to see the re-unification of the island of Ireland (Catholics/Nationalists/Republicans), (Cairns & Darby, 1998). The conflict is often mistakenly seen as a war centring on religion; however, expert commentators generally agree that the conflict is rooted in issues of nationality and the constitutional state of Northern Ireland (Cairns & Darby, 1998); religion is ‘best seen as a badge of difference – the visible symbol of deeper and less tangible attachments to national “roots”’ (Moxon-Browne, 1991, p.23). In the simplest sense, the conflict is said to be the ‘result of several years of escalating incidents between Catholics and Protestants’ (Hancock, 1998). Indeed, there is no single cause for the sudden outbreak in violence, rather a consequence of a series of events following the partition of Ireland and the formation of Northern Ireland in 1921. In particular, the rise of a Catholic middle class in the 1950s (a result of a new industry and education system) led to Catholic civil-rights marches in the 1960s leading to crowd riots and the introduction of British troops into Northern Ireland (Darby, 1995) and therefore, the beginning of the conflict.

As with any conflict, interpretations of why it occurred differ by group, and even town or family. Historical narratives passed down through generations often simplify the conflict with statements such as ‘it’s because they love Britain’ or ‘it’s because Nationalists want to unify Ireland’. Whilst I do not wish to delve deep into the differences in group narrative, I will summarise some key differences based on John Whyte’s book Interpreting Northern Ireland, which provides an excellent outline of the Nationalist and Unionist interpretations, as well as others.

According to Whyte (1991), the traditional Nationalist interpretation focuses on two key concepts 1) the people of Ireland form one nation and 2) the fault for keeping Ireland divided lies with Britain. Similarly, the traditional Unionist interpretation can be defined in terms of two concepts which differ from the traditional Nationalist interpretation. That is 1) there are two distinct peoples in Ireland Unionist and National (or Protestant and Catholic) and 2) the core of the problem is the refusal of Nationalists to recognise this fact, and to allow Unionists the same right of self-determination as they claim for themselves. Whyte further explains the conflict from different perspectives which are not in the remit of this book but are worth reading about. Whilst there are varying opinions on the conflict and its causes depending on historical narrative and which side of the divide you ‘belong’ to, there are a number of social psychological theories which can be applied to explain the emergence of conflict more generally, and that in Northern Ireland specifically.

Social identity theory

Theories to explain inter-group conflict could be argued to align along a continuum, with some focusing more on personality and individual attributes, some considering the effects of group membership, and others a mixture of both aspects. There are a variety of sources which outline these theories in more detail (for example; Relative deprivation theory, Davis, 1959; Authoritarian personality, Duckitt, 1989; Social dominance theory, Sidanius & Pratto, 1999; see McKeown, 2013 for a brief overview). Whilst each theory could be used to explain the conflict in Northern Ireland there tends to be a focus on social identity theory which, unlike earlier theories, considers the complex interaction and differences between social and individual processes.

Social identity theory (Tajfel, 1978; Tajfel & Turner, 1979) suggests that there is a fundamental difference between individual and group processes, such that group processes cannot be explained by individual processes alone. It is acclaimed as one of the key social psychological theories used to explain group membership, resulting negative attitudes and the emergence of conflict. In sum social identity theory suggests that we tend to divide our world into social categories, and define ourselves in terms of the groups we feel we belong to. These social categories can be based upon things such as nationality, race, gender, social class, and occupation (Terry, Hogg & White, 1999). By categorising ourselves as belonging in particular groups, we automatically compare ourselves with other groups, and doing this allows us to boost our self-esteem. For example, we may argue that the soccer team we support (e.g. Manchester United) is much better than a competing team (e.g. Liverpool Football Club). In the case that the competing team wins a soccer match you may change the comparison dimension in order to increase your self-esteem. For instance, blaming your team’s performance on the quality of the opponent’s soccer field rather than the quality of the team players. Such comparisons with other groups can lead to negative outgroup attitudes. Research has shown that these categorisation processes, resulting in negative attitudes, can occur in children as young as 4–5 years old (Nesdale & Flesser, 2001).

Whilst our drive to maintain our self-esteem can be evident as we go about our everyday life, it is only under certain circumstances when this leads to inter-group conflict. Each social, political and geographical context differs, but in general social identity theory suggests that conflict usually occurs when direct confrontation is viewed as the only option to increase self-esteem. This is most likely to be the case when it is not possible to leave the group, where the situation is unstable and where the group situation is viewed as illegitimate. The theoretical framework of social identity can be used to explain the conflict in Northern Ireland, both in terms of group categorisation, and the emergence of violence between the two communities.

Social identity in Northern Ireland

Competing social identities is one of the key components underpinning the conflict in Northern Ireland (Cairns, 1982). These identities are based on inter-linking religious, national and political ideologies which are usually dichotomised into the labels Catholic and Protestant. A more detailed outline of the complexities associated with identity, recent developments and perceptions of their meanings are conveyed in Chapter 4.

Unlike many other conflict societies, group differences in Northern Ireland are not physiognomic and a result group membership is not explicit, at least not to the untrained eye. Therefore, a pertinent question growing up in this society is whether you are Catholic and Protestant. What is interesting, however, is that individuals in Northern Ireland have the ability to categorise others as being either Protestant or Catholic through a number of social cues. These cues are those such as Christian names (Cairns & Duriez, 1976), surnames, school attended, accent (Stringer & McLaughlin-Cook, 1985), and even faces (Stringer & Cairns, 1983). Further, in support of social identity theory, research shows that these categorisations can lead to unfavourable attitudes.

In an early study, Cairns and Duriez (1976) investigated the role of accent as a means to socially categorise groups. The sample involved 60 children attending primary schools in Northern Ireland. The authors examined whether hearing different accents (Northern Irish, Southern Irish and English) would affect children’s recall of information. The results showed that Catholic and Protestant children reacted to the Northern Irish, English and Southern Irish accent in different ways. Catholic children’s recall was worse when they listened to the English accent. This suggested that due to their Irish national identity and the history of antagonism they displayed negative attitudes towards the English accent. This may have led to them paying less attention when this accent was being played and so they retained less information. Importantly, these results demonstrate that in Northern Ireland, accent is an important cue. Similar findings are evidenced throughout the world where accent can relate to an individual’s national identity and status in society (Bourhis, Giles & Tajfel, 1973).

A more recent study (McKeown & O’Leary, unpublished) examined the social categorisation processes associated with names and accent, along with the role of identity strength. The authors found that Catholics were more favourable towards the Irish accent than Protestants, but that there was no difference in favourability towards the Northern Irish or English accents. It was also found that Protestants were more confident in categorising names, as being typically Protestant or Catholic, than Catholic participants. Further, the study reported that the more strongly an individual identified with their religious group, the more confident they were in their categorisations. These findings demonstrate that despite being post-Agreement, group membership and categorisation are still important in Northern Irish society. This can be further evidenced through the prevalence of indicators of group membership present in aspects of everyday life. For example, public housing areas often display flags and wall murals designating group membership. Further, even wearing particular sports clothing such as a Celtic or Rangers soccer jersey, suggests belonging to a particular religious community.

Importantly these social categorisations can lead to social comparisons between groups, which can result in negative group attitudes. In Northern Ireland these comparisons are usually focused on issues including debating who is responsible for the emergence of the conflict, who is discriminated against most, and who perpetrated the most violence. Ultimately these processes can be viewed as an attempt to attain group superiority; a salient feature in Northern Irish society where, whether an individual perceives their group as being in the minority or majority is still a contentious issue (Trew & Benson, 1996). Related to this, some researchers have argued that both communities constitute a minority (Catholics in Northern Ireland, Protestant in the island of Ireland) and as a result have negative social identities (Trew & Benson, 1996). Whereas others, such as Cairns (1982), suggest that both communities represent a majority (Protestants are a majority in Northern Ireland and Catholics a majority on the island of Ireland) as both generally view their identity favourably. Although these categorisation and comparison processes can led to negative group attitudes it is only under certain circumstances when this leads to inter-group conflict. These conditions as proposed by social identity theory; where it is not possible to leave the group, where the situation is unstable and where the group situation is viewed as illegitimate, can be applied to the conflict in Northern Ireland.

First, migration from the Catholic to Protestant community or vice-versa is difficult to achieve due to differences being embedded in society with evidence of group membership being visible through social cues. In his article on identity in Northern Ireland Bull (2006) relates this well:

The social structure has been such that the categories Protestant and Catholic are of overriding importance. Oth...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• 1  History of the Conflict
• 2  Current Situation
• 3  National Identity and Citizenship
• 4  Peace-building Education
• 5  Future of Northern Ireland
• References
• List of Recommended Further Reading
• Useful Websites
• Index