Promoting (religious and political) diversity through legislation in Northern Ireland

Abstract

ABSTRACT Northern Ireland is a society which has suffered communal strife for decades, a result of divergent political and religious identities. Since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, the violence associated with this tension has receded. This article looks at some of the different areas where there has been inter-communal conflict: political structures, elections, policing, language, employment and treatment of victims. It identifies the solutions and identifies the tools to implement those solutions. Legislation has been used as a tool of choice to regulate that diversity, to provide protection and to solve problems resulting from that diversity. Legislation is not the inevitable tool to use, softer forms of regulation are also available. There are two suggested reasons for the reliance upon legislation. Firstly, in the absence of trust between political parties, legislation offers an enforceable solution which is legally binding upon all parties. Secondly, legislation can be seen as a concrete and tangible achievement.