“No. Please Understand”

Abstract

The return of direct rule to Northern Ireland in 1972 and its mechanisms and conduct are outlined in this chapter. Their impact upon the local political party system is treated at length, as are the first consociational initiatives pursued under Conservative and Labour governments in the UK. The failure of the first peace process is considered, as well as Britain’s counterinsurgency policies and their limits. Criminalization, Ulsterization, and Normalization were the policies begun under Callaghan’s government and continued by the Conservatives until they were broken by the republican hunger strikes. The new consociational initiatives after the hunger strikes are examined.