No War, No Peace: Northern Ireland after the Agreement

In 1998 a historic agreement, commonly known as the Belfast or Good Friday Agreement, formed the basis of a negotiated settlement for the future of Northern Ireland. Since that time the level of violence in Northern Ireland has reduced but many problematic issues related to governance, sectarianism, and community relations remain on the political agenda and have destabilized the post-peace accord environment. Many of these issues can be viewed as either causes or consequences of the protracted conflict in Northern Ireland. This special issue examines some of these issues from a political psychology perspective. Economic, political, social, and psychological factors that have supported and hindered progress towards peace and stability are considered. While the paramilitary ceasefires have remained intact and certain aspects of life in Northern Ireland have been transformed, the road to peace has been hindered by both political and psychological intransigence. This paper offers an opportunity to reevaluate conceptualisations of conflict and its management in chronic situations, where divisions are deeply embedded within societal structures and relationships, and consider factors that may act as barriers to the development of a lasting peace.

Fairness in Ancillary Relief

This article stems from setting student projects. It describes in detail the outcome of a project designed to ascertain the views of the public in relation to ancillary relief and what they consider to be a 'fair' outcome. The rationale for undertaking student projects has been discussed at length in another article and is therefore only alluded to here. The discussion centres around the law, findings and outcome of the project. Students studying the Family Law course at Sheffield University were required to survey members of the public in order to gather their views on the division of assets on divorce and then to analyse the public's response in light of the seminal decision of the House of Lords in White v White [2001] 1 AC 596.