Suchergebnisse

Although donor discourse on international development policy places less emphasis on civil society than formerly this paper present evidence from Tanzania, Ethiopia and Central America that aid for civil society has had a positive effect on the capacity of Southern civil society. As a result of international pressure, civil society in these developing states now face a more open environment for both advocacy and service provision, while financial support has allowed a much greater level of activity than would otherwise have been possible. This article is drawn from a larger study funded by the Advisory Board for Irish Aid, which examined the potential role of civil society in poverty reduction. It identifies the current threat to the continued development of civil society as coming from the narrowing of the potential role of civil society in the OECD aid harmonisation agenda and management and capacity constraints on the part of donors that curtails their engagement with this type of support.

This article argues that the recognition of sovereignty over Northern Ireland, internationally, and within Ireland, has shifted in the aftermath of the 2016 Brexit referendum. The framework that governs this relationship between Ireland, the UK and Northern Ireland was redefined with the signing of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) in 1998. In the altered political circumstances of the Brexit negotiations, this redefinition has produced unanticipated consequences. First, it underpinned the high level of support given to the Irish government and to the provisions of the GFA by the EU as an institution, and by EU member states, manifested in the refusal of the EU to negotiate a land border on the island of Ireland. For the UK this was an unforeseen outcome as its negotiation strategy was based on the EU prioritising the importance of accessing the UK economy over Irish claims under the GFA. Second, the undermining of the political stability and relative consensus created by the GFA has led to a new discourse on Irish unity across the island of Ireland, including on the potential shape of a new Ireland. This is visible in the mainstream media, on social media and in the findings of opinion polls. Whether or not these changes will lead to a united Ireland in the short term is uncertain, but the manner in which the sovereignty of the UK over Northern Ireland is recognised has already undergone a fundamental shift, internationally and within Ireland.

The question of the Irish land border was the most problematic aspect of the negotiations on the United Kingdom's (UK) withdrawal from the European Union (EU). The Irish border aspects of the Brexit negotiations have demonstrated that the border and the maintenance of the Good Friday Agreement is not just an issue for British-Irish relations, but one that now has a strong EU dimension. This article analyses the political impact of alternative proposals tabled during the Brexit negotiations on Northern Ireland and the question of the Irish Border. It places this discussion in the post-conflict context and in the highly politicised nature of the Brexit referendum debate in Northern Ireland. It examines how the issue was framed, following a tortuous negotiation process, in the draft Withdrawal Agreement of 2018 and the ultimate failure of the UK government to ratify that agreement in Parliament. It evaluates the political impacts of the crisis in British politics caused by Brexit and the way in which Brexit has undermined the political stability created by the Good Friday Agreement and at the same time changed the discourse on Irish unity. It argues that failure of the British Government to accurately assess the EU27 position is at the heart of their failure to negotiate a Withdrawal Agreement, for which they could build UK parliamentary support. It is this failure of political judgement that has led to the rejection of the negotiated Withdrawal Agreement and continued to block agreement on a way forward, in the period prior to the October 2019 deadline.