ABSTRACT
This chapter had originally as its subtitle ‘a Case of the Horse behind the Cart?’, a metaphor for my thesis that on the ground police cooperation (the cart) was well ahead of the legitimizing political horse (government). The Treaty of Amsterdam and the Agreement for Northern Ireland, if they are rati¿ ed, will reinvigorate both the level and nature of policing in Ireland and Europe. The effect this will have for encapsulating ‘who we are’ as Europeans is profound. Citizenship has traditionally been tied to two precepts, one based on genealogy and the other territoriality, factors that successfully de¿ ne peaceful and ethnically homogenous societies. Northern Ireland provides an excellent example of the limitations of these factors and the Agreement makes the bold move of removing either as a prerequisite for British or Irish citizenship. Concurrent moves within the Union to maximize our sense of ‘Europeanness’ will further enhance the ‘totality of relationships’ between the peoples of these islands and possibly serve as a model for other conÀ ict areas. The horse it would seem, has nearly caught up with the cart.
