Mary C. Murphy

University College Cork | UCC · Department of Government & Politics

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Following the UK decision to leave the EU (European Union), Ireland was confronted with profound political and economic challenges linked to its relationship with both the EU and the UK. With a view to protecting Irish interests, the Irish government pursued determined efforts to ‘seek shelter’ from the EU and to develop a ‘hedging’ strategy. In co...

Among the many consequences of Brexit for Northern Ireland has been how it has contributed to and coincided with some alteration of the electoral landscape. This includes the rise of the centre ground and, in particular, the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI). This article focusses specifically on how the Alliance Party, as the largest of No...

This article considers the implications of Brexit for UK–Irish relations. It examines how Brexit has altered the terms of the British–Irish relationship by considering the impact on bilateral and cross-border economic and trade patterns. The article focuses on two primary economic effects. First, the short-term impact of Brexit and the Ireland/Nort...

Ireland has enjoyed continuous democratic government for almost a century, an unusual experience among countries that gained their independence in the twentieth century. But the way this works has changed dramatically over time. Ireland’s colonial past has had an enduring influence over political life, enabling stable institutions of democratic acc...

In this article we critically examine how Sinn Féin responded to Brexit, why, and with what consequences. By destabilising the UK’s territorial constitution and intensifying debate about Ireland’s constitutional future, Brexit has represented a moment of unprecedented opportunity for Irish republicanism. However, this has been offset by the very re...

From the moment the result of the UK’s Brexit referendum of 23 June 2016 was announced, Brexit became the top item on the Irish government’s agenda as there were widespread concerns that a hard Brexit would seriously damage the Irish economy. Ensuring that the terms of Brexit did not threaten the open border with Northern Ireland was also a priorit...

Supported by UK and Irish membership of the European Union (EU), the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement’s post-sovereignist compromise helped to diminish the contested politics of the border in Ireland. However, by altering the status of the border, Brexit aroused and fomented politically charged divisions in Northern Ireland. We explore the conflu...

This article examines the effects of Brexit on the internal boundaries and territorial future of the United Kingdom (UK). Divergent Brexit preferences, coupled with the process of negotiating and preparing for Brexit, have raised new questions about the ability of the UK to remain united. Focusing upon Scotland and Northern Ireland, where territori...

In this chapter the influence of the European Union (EU) on the policy making process and policy analysis in Ireland is examined. The country’s EU membership has been marked by periods of volatility, with support for the institution wavering at times. Membership has aided Ireland’s global positioning and ability to cope with international competiti...

Introduction Ireland's decision to join the European Union (EU) on 1 January 1973 constitutes the most important foreign policy decision by the Irish state since its foundation in 1921. Ireland's membership of the EU over a period of near five decades has been punctuated by periods of both volatility and stability: Irish economic fortunes have been...

This volume constitutes the Irish element in the ever-expanding International Library of Policy Analysis series, edited by Michael Howlett and Iris Geva-May and published by Policy Press. It provides unique insights into the state of policy analysis in Ireland. It draws together contributions from some of the leading policy analysis experts, both a...

Having been issues which stimulated little discussion beyond Northern Ireland before the Brexit referendum, the ‘Irish issue’ dominated and complicated the subsequent EU–UK withdrawal negotiations. The ‘taking back control’ narrative bears the hallmarks of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s notion of a ‘recaptured sovereignty’. This conception of sover...

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) gained an unexpected foothold at the heart of the British political system following the 2017 UK general election. Political arithmetic compelled the then Prime Minister Theresa May to enter a Confidence and Supply Agreement with Northern Ireland’s ten DUP MPs in order to shore up her minority government. The tim...

The UK’s decision to leave the European Union (EU) has revealed the ways in which the logic of European unity conflicts fundamentally with the very particular understandings of the UK Union at the heart of the political identity of Northern Ireland’s largest political party, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). This article maps the changes in the...

Ireland’s relationship with the European Union (EU) has, since 2008, been tested by an enduring and complex series of economic and political crises. The contributions to this special issue examine these EU-linked crises through a variety of Irish perspectives, including the impact on public opinion, environmental policy, migration policy, foreign p...

Brexit is not solely a UK crisis. Ireland, more than any other member state, stands to be deeply and profoundly impacted by the UK’s departure from the EU. The crisis which Ireland faces is multi-dimensional: economic and political, constitutional and existential in nature. The nature and impact of Brexit changes Ireland’s relationship with the EU,...

The UK’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU) has enormous implications for Northern Ireland. All sides to the Brexit negotiations quickly agreed that it was vitally important to protect the peace process and to uphold the 1998 Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement. However, the question of how this was to be done soon became a point over which there...

Chapter eight analyses the relevance of the theory of multi-level governance (MLG) to explain the role of the European Union (EU) in Northern Ireland and contends that the EU successfully engages Northern Ireland as a region of a member state without threatening that state’s sovereignty or power. The EU has increasingly become successful because of...

The peace process in Northern Ireland is associated with the signing of the Good Friday or Belfast Agreement, the arduous and lengthy implementation of this Agreement, and the continuing sectarianism in Northern Ireland. Despite the numerous and various studies about this case, no collection of scholarly analysis to date has attempted to assess a w...

The UK decision to leave the European Union (EU) following a referendum in June 2016 fundamentally alters the country’s relationship with the EU, with its European neighbours, with the rest of the world and potentially with its own constituent units. It is clear that different parts of the UK will be impacted differently by this decision and by the...

The Seanad election in 2011 could have been the last such contest given the promise of a referendum to abolish the institution but the failure of that proposition to pass meant a second chance for this second chamber. This chapter explores the unique provisions for electing this element of Ireland’s bicameral parliamentary system, detailing the sys...

A panel of five historians and political scientists, from the United States, Ireland, and Britain respond to questions regarding Brexit vote of the United Kingdom in June 2016 and historic and present-day attitudes toward the European Union (EU) in Britain and Ireland. The authors consider regional variations in attitudes toward the EU within both...

Ireland was one of the first EU member states to develop discrete European Studies programmes at higher education level. However, recent years have witnessed a decrease in the number of European Studies programmes, falling student numbers and an evident downgrading of the subject area. Broad economic constraints and political challenges to the etho...

This chapter identifies and discusses the peculiarities of the Northern Ireland economy and the broad economic challenges facing the region. It details the economic nature of the Northern Ireland-EU relationship with a focus on the single European market; EU structural funds; EU peace funding; the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP); and North-South e...

This chapter explores the different ways in which the EU has been associated with Northern Ireland politics in the broadest sense – i.e. how it has contributed to addressing the conflict and also its impact on political parties, interest groups and notions of identity. It notes that the EU’s impact on resolving the Northern Ireland conflict has bee...

The introduction of devolution fundamentally changed the nature of the policy-making and policy-implementing process in Northern Ireland. It also required that local political actors in Northern Ireland refocus their attentions away from the constitutional question and consider broader policy questions. This chapter details the growing pervasivenes...

This chapter traces the ways in which Northern Ireland’s devolved administration has adapted at the domestic level to new responsibilities vis-à-vis the EU. An overview of key administrative developments provides a basis for determining the ways in which the introduction of devolution has changed how Northern Ireland is governed. This includes an e...

Chapter two is heavily contextual and focused on the nature of issues around how Northern Ireland structured relations with the world beyond its borders. The chapter examines Northern Ireland’s historical experience of devolution from 1921-1972 and recounts the factors which brought this early experiment in devolved power to a halt. The direct rule...

The stability and peace which Northern Ireland now enjoys has transformed life there and it has transformed politics too. Differences and division persist, but they are now better managed and controlled. The process of agreeing policy is not without its flaws, and it may not always produce optimal outputs, but it does allow for the gradual achievem...

This unique book breaks new ground in engaging the study of Northern Ireland politics directly with broader debates about European integration and European governance. The text offers the most comprehensive coverage to date of the institutional development of Northern Ireland following the UK government’s devolution programme and Northern Ireland’s...

This paper examines the potential of international actors to contribute to conflict resolution by analysing the evolving role of the European Union (EU) in embedding Northern Ireland's peace process. Scrutiny of the EU's approach to conflict resolution in Northern Ireland offers useful insights into the scope and potential of soft power for facilit...

The creation of Northern Ireland's regional representation in Brussels (ONEIB) has changed the dynamics of the region's engagement with the EU. Devolution has formalised Northern Ireland's representation in Brussels and has created close links between it and UKRep. On balance, this new arrangement limits rather than enhances regional autonomy, and...

2008 marked the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Belfast Agreement and followed a momentous year in the recent political history of Northern Ireland. Despite the passage of over a decade, the full operation of the new governance arrangements remains elusive. In 2008 however, it appeared that Northern Ireland had embraced 'normal' politics as...

In the context of its waning political fortunes, the European Union (EU) represents the only electoral realm where the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) has maintained a stable presence. The party's traditionally negative approach to the EU has changed over time, shifting from opposition to pragmatism or realism, and has involved programmatic and organiz...

Like all sub-national units of the European Union (EU), Northern Ireland is subject to the ‘Europeanizing’ influences of the EU policy process. This influence became more profound and emphatic in the period after 1999 when powers were devolved to new sub-national political institutions. New institutional structures, evolving formal and informal lin...

Successive Irish governments have engaged with processes of parliamentary reform. The impact of the reform process has been to streamline the operation of Dáil Éireann. An emphasis on efficiency does not necessarily respond to many of the central criticisms of the institution and, in particular, largely fails to address the executive-parliament bal...

In the late 1990s when the United Kingdom embarked on a programme of constitutional reform and decentralization of power through its programme of devolution, ostensibly one of the major non-devolved areas was international affairs and relations with the European Union. There is a growing literature on relations between the UK and the European Union...