ABSTRACT
Simplistic notions of national identity, religious affiliation, and ethnic difference cannot, fully explain the history of the political conflict in Northern Ireland. The entrance of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland into the European Union has also led to many political and economic projects designed to solve aspects of the conflict. Attempts by the central state to establish a sense of “normal” social and political life have largely failed because the core concepts of nationhood and citizenship have been contested both within and outside Northern Ireland, and because of mismanagement and neglect by Westminster. Deaths caused by the Troubles have gradually declined, with the notable exceptions of years in which violence erupted because of the shifting political processes or events created by protagonists to the conflict. Death and the fear of death and injury, taken together with the social cleavages created by the Troubles, have inevitably affected communities in Northern Ireland.
