“Futures”

Despite numerous government initiatives, the current phase of the Northern Ireland conflict has stretched to almost thirty years. The rival communities in Northern Ireland are of course often referred to by the convenient labels "Catholic" and "Protestant". "Protestants and unionists are resistant to multiple forms of constitutional change because it is they who have to do the changing; Catholics and nationalists are more amenable to change because for them most feasible changes would mark a net incremental improvement on the status quo". "Many northern nationalists insist that they want equality and autonomy rather than equality and integration" (McGarry and O'Leary 1995b: 856). The advantages for nationalists are obvious. Shared sovereignty and authority would be a significant improvement on the status quo. In the 1990s, unionists objected to the language of self-determination in the Joint Declaration for Peace, judging (correctly) that such language was a symbolic overture to nationalists.