Conflicts in the North of Ireland, 1900–2000

Flashpoints and fracture zones

Alan F. Parkinson & Éamon Phoenix editors

‘An interesting and valuable volume which covers a great deal of ground, much of it familiar but some of it less so … Phoenix brings his great knowledge of constitutional nationalist politics to bear in his excellent piece [on Ulster nationalist Cahir Healy] … Another fine piece is a survey, by Graham Walker and Aaron Edwards, of the Northern Ireland Labour Party … Two further essays which add to our understanding of important questions are Fionntán de Brún’s engaging study of the fortunes of the Irish language under the unionist devolved government [and] a further item by Parkinson, on the “Poppy Day Massacre” at Enniskillen in 1987 and its impact in Ireland, Britain and further afield', Philip Ollerenshaw, EHR (February 2013).

‘This is a wide-ranging book that addresses the turbulence that characterized the north of Ireland throughout the twentieth century … One of the most compelling themes addresses the class and religious tension within industrial Belfast and considers how intercommunal relations were bedevilled by fear, sectarianism, and violence … The troubled history of Belfast is addressed at length … The editors and many of the contributors to this volume succeed best in exploring how sectarianism exacerbated class and political divisions in the north of Ireland and helped promote fear, mistrust, and ultimately violence. This is the strength of the volume as it enhances our understanding of a community that remains deeply divided', Robert Savage, Journal of British Studies (January 2012).

' … these are essays of a genuinely high quality and in the context of their subject matter offer, even to a well-informed reader, a deeper insight into why certain things happened and continue to happen in the North of Ireland … there is true knowledge here', Joe Horgan, Books Ireland (April 2012).