Partition to Partnership to Brexit

Dublin Castle stands as a signifier of both conflict and conciliation between Ireland and Britain over recent centuries. On 16 January 2022, all of Ireland’s mainstream political parties gathered there on the centenary of the castle’s handover by the last lord lieutenant of Ireland, Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent, to the provisional government of Ireland led by Michael Collins, which took place after the Dáil endorsed the 1921 Treaty. Jarlath Kearney, Peter Shirlow and Etain Tannam show that a century after that treaty and the partition of the island, the facts and themes flowing from that period – particularly ongoing identity and culture contests over Northern Ireland’s constitutional status – remain live. It is essential in managing future challenges that British-Irish intergovernmental cooperation thrives and that the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement is implemented robustly. This is not simply because of Northern Ireland, but because of the host of geopolitical and international security challenges ahead.◼