Ending the Troubles: Religion, Nationalism, and the Search for Peace and Democracy in Northern Ireland, 1997-1998

In June 1996, the British government convened multiparty talks trying to establish peace within Northern Ireland, after thirty years of bloody civil war based on religious, cultural, political, and economic tensions, known as “The Troubles.” The talks included political parties from the two factions central to the conflict: Unionists, largely Protestants committed to retaining Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom, and Nationalists, largely Catholics committed to the reunification of N...