ABSTRACT
A more ‘reconciled’ relationship between Northern Ireland's Protestant/Unionist and Catholic/Nationalist ‘communities' would appear to belong to that realm of things to which no reasonable person could be opposed. That reconciliation in the desired end-state of peacebuilding in violently divided societies like Northern Ireland is largely uncontroversial.1 Its primacy as an objective in Northern Irish public policy has been cultivated through millions of pounds, dollars and Euros worth of investment over several decades. And it is difficult, and would be grossly unfair, to disparage those who, driven by the vision of ‘a peaceful and shared society based on reconciliation and mutual trust’,2 have worked hard to bring an end to violence and transform conflict in Northern Ireland. Indeed, many of those involved in this work have a critical (self-) awareness and knowledge as to its strengths and limitations which surpass that which I claim in this chapter.3 Nonetheless, as Stef Jansen has suggested – and particularly in a context marked by renewed political division – it is worth asking, ‘if reconciliation is the answer, are we asking the right questions?’4
