ABSTRACT
On 8 April 1998, the Good Friday Agreement was signed, ending 30 years of a conflict which had riven Northern Ireland society. The agreement has been transformational, particularly through its recognition of Northern Ireland being a divided society with conflicting claims to identity. For the first time, citizens could choose between identifying as British, Irish, or even both. This chapter sets out to consider some points through the prism of heritage and memory with a particular interest in how thinking about the past has evolved at a community level. It considers how perspectives on heritage have changed since the Good Friday Agreement, as communities have explored the past as a resource and tool to understand themselves and remember better. The chapter then examines how the understanding of heritage has progressed from notions of neutrality or separateness into a recognition that through engaging fully with contested heritage a greater sense of inclusive heritage can emerge.
