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8. Peacebuilding, Community Development, and Reconciliation in Northern Ireland: The Role of the Belfast Agreement and the Implications for External Economic Aid
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198 8 Peace build ing, Com mu nity De vel op ment, and Rec on cil i a tion in North ern Ire land The Role of the Bel fast Agree ment and the Im pli ca tions for Ex ter nal Eco nomic Aid O lga Skar lato, Eyob Fis suh, Sean Byrne, Peter Ka rari, and Kaw ser Ahmed Peace build ing” is a term that in cor po rates a num ber of var i ous in itia tives and ap proaches, in clud ing re duc ing vi o lence, con duct ing peace keep ing op er a tions, and pro mot ing ca pac ity build ing and rec on cil i a tion, con flict trans for ma tion, and hu man i tar ian and eco nomic as sis tance.1 Peace trea ties and peace agree ments play an im por tant role when a cease-fire or the end of hos til ities are de clared by intro duc ing meas ures (whether po lit i cal, in sti tu tional, legal, or other) that would fa cil i tate the tran si tion of a coun try or re gion from con flict to peace. Peace build ing, how ever, is a long-term pro cess; it may com mence dur ing the con flict or after the con flict has ended and a peace treaty is signed.2 The peace build ing pro cess in volves a last ing com mit ment from the var i ous ac tors in volved in con flict trans for ma tion and in build ing a peace ful fu ture for all cit i zens.3 199 Peacebuilding, Community Development, and Reconciliation In this chap ter we an a lyze the tracks of peace build ing that are both inter re lated and com ple men tary. First, we dis cuss the 1998 Good Fri day Agree ment, also known as the Bel fast Agree ment, which was signed by the Brit ish and Irish govern ments and endorsed by North ern Ireland’s po lit i cal par ties. This Agree ment intro duced a power-sharing govern ment in North ern Ire land and con trib uted to the de es ca la tion of vi o lence that af flicted North ern Irish so ci ety dur ing the Trou bles. Sec ond, we present the quan ti ta tive data anal y sis of this Agree ment in re la tion to peace build ing and rec on cil i a tion in North ern Ire land. Third, we dis cuss the im pli ca tions for inter na tional eco nomic aid to North ern Ire land pro vided by the Eu ro pean Union (EU) Pro gram for Peace and Rec on cil i a tion in North ern Ire land and the Bor der Counties of Ire land (Peace II) and the Inter na tional Fund for Ire land (IFI). The funds were set up to sup port eco nomic and so cial de vel op ment, ad dress the leg acy of vi o lent con flict, pro mote rec on cil i a tion between the na tion al ist and un ion ist com mu nities, and shore up the in sti tu tions created by the Agree ment.4 Our hypoth e sis is that strong and ef fec tive po lit i cal in sti tu tions in a post-accord so ci ety sup ple mented by inter na tional eco nomic as sis tance to peace build ing and rec on cil i a tion ef forts can as sist in pro vid ing a solid foun da tion to a peace pro cess. By ex am in ing the role of the Agree ment in North ern Ireland’s peace pro cess, along with iden tify ing the chief ben e fi ci ar ies of the peace pro cess and the ben e fi ci ar ies of vi o lence, we ex plore the con nec tions between the Agree ment and the peace pro cess. This anal y sis can as sist in gain ing a deeper under stand ing of peace build ing fac tors and ap proaches, which can po ten tially guide inter na tional eco nomic as sis tance pro grams in other post-accord so ci eties. We...