ABSTRACT
Persistence of parochialism and resistance to the influence of globalisation form striking features of the politics of Northern Ireland, so that the notion that the province is stuck in a time-warp remains one of the commonest observations made about its communal divisions. The involvement of countries outside the British Isles in the conflict needs to be divided into state-level interventions and transnational exchanges at a nongovernmental level. In the early years of the conflict, the most important Irish-American organisation involved in the conflict in Northern Ireland was Irish Northern Aid or, as it was better known, NORAID. Under the heading of the international affiliations of the parties can be placed the Republican movement’s attempts to establish links with nationalist movements that have been engaged in violent struggles and efforts of the Social Democratic and Labour Party to gain support for constitutional nationalism through its membership of Socialist International.
