ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts of the concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book demonstrates that blaming the Belfast Agreement's consociational institutions for the rise and eventual triumph of Northern Ireland's political 'extremes' is problematic. Attempting to normatively blame, or to empirically explain the trajectory of post-Agreement politics via the consociational model alone is reductionist as it fails to acknowledge both the dynamic created by the peace and political processes' internationalisation and the Agreement's centripetal potential. The book also demonstrates Irish officials placed the SDLP under 'huge pressure' not to endorse the police until an inclusive deal that Sinn Fein could accept was available; similarly, British and Irish concerns the republican leadership's internal and external stability often thwarted Trimble's attempts to force IRA decommissioning.
