Rambling in the Field of Modern Identity: Some Speculations on Irish Traditional Music

This article argues that Irish “traditional” music is modern in its form and history, and explores the ramifications of this thesis for understanding of the peculiarities of Irish modernity and identity. The article exhaustively surveys the historiography of Irish traditional music and uniquely interprets this literature in relation to competing conceptions of identity and modernity articulated by Taylor, Appiah and Žižek. It also interprets Irish traditional music in relation to conceptions of Irish modernity articulated in a wide range of disciplines within Irish studies. Reflecting on the author’s lifelong engagement with traditional music performance, the article argues that the resilience of traditional music within the broader culture is connected to the peculiar character of Irish modernity, and that it suffers from problems of aesthetic exhaustion shared by much modern art in the contemporary conjuncture.

From Empire to Iraq and the "War on Terror": The Transplanation and Commodification of the (Northern) Irish Policing Experience

Charting the enduring export appeal of policing models from (Northern) Ireland, this article sheds some light on the processes by which policing models are communicated and actively promoted to the global policing environment. The authors demonstrate how the transplantation of the Irish colonial model (ICM) represents an early example of the globalization of policing. The legacy of counterinsurgency expertise embedded within the ICM remains a historical constant and is a key factor in relation to the increasing commodification of the contemporary Northern Irish policing model, a model that successfully blends counterterrorism experience with a template for democratic policing reform. By juxtaposing these models, the authors provide a conceptual framework through which to assess the contemporary substance of policing transfer. The authors conclude by suggesting that the seductiveness of these policing models is largely attributable to lessons in counterinsurgency and notions of "Ireland as the solution" to a host of complex security scenarios.

‘The “English Disease” is to Look for a “Solution of the Irish Problem”’: British Constitutional Policy in Northern Ireland after Sunningdale 1974–1976

This article reconstructs British constitutional policy in Northern Ireland after power-sharing collapsed in May 1974. Over the following two years, the British government publicly emphasised that Northern Ireland would decide its own future, but ministers secretly considered a range of options including withdrawal, integration and Dominion status. These discussions have been fundamentally misunderstood by previous authors, and this article shows that Harold Wilson did not seriously advocate withdrawal nor was policy as inconsistent as argued elsewhere. An historical approach, drawing from recently released archival material, shows that consociationalists such as Brendan O'Leary and Michael Kerr have neglected the proper context of government policy because of their commitment to a particular form of government, failing to recognise the constraints under which ministers operated. The British government remained committed to an internal devolved settlement including both communities but was unable to impose one.

A Review of Meditation in the Irish Construction Industry: Critical Success Factors in Competencies and Processes

The construction industry notoriously excels at dispute creation – both in Ireland and world wide. This paper exams mediation in the Irish construction industry based around critical success factors in the competencies and processes required by mediators operating in the construction industry. Through conducting the relevant analysis, it was possible to extract and outline the resulting critical success factors in process and competencies of mediators in the Irish construction industry. This was achieved through a review of the literature, followed by detailed interviews from industry experts to elicit and highlight the core competencies required. To aid in the study, qualitative analysis using mind mapping software was adopted, thus assisting the identification of the key factors. Following analysis, facilitative mediation was identified as best suited for the industry in question; recommendations and experience were key for mediator selection and five and six factors were identified for mediator skills and mediation critical success factors respectively. The results returned are similar to those determined by authors in other countries and provide a good reference point for the development the industry. By following the findings of this report mediators and parties in dispute can improve processes and be more successful in outcomes. In this study the author shows that mediation is an effective and appropriate method of resolving disputes within the Irish construction industry.

The Impact of Wind Farm Power Oscillations on the Irish Power System

The impact of power fluctuations arising from fixed-speed wind turbines on the magnitude and frequency of inter-area oscillations has been investigated. The authors introduced data acquisition equipment to record the power flow on the interconnector between the Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland systems. Through monitoring the interconnector oscillation using a fast Fourier transform, it was possible to determine the magnitude and frequency of the inter-area oscillation between the two systems. The impact of tower shadow on the output power from a wind farm was analysed using data recorded on site. A case study investigates the effect on the system of the removal of a large fixed-speed wind farm. Conclusions are drawn on the impact that conventional generation and the output from fixed-speed wind farms have on the stability of the Irish power system.

Resemblance of psychotic symptoms and syndromes in affected sibling pairs from the Irish Study of High-Density Schizophrenia Families:evidence for possible etiologic heterogeneity

The authors sought to determine whether the clinical manifestations of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders are correlated in affected sibling pairs.

Clinical features of schizophrenia and linkage to chromosomes 5q, 6p, 8p, and 10p in the Irish Study of High-Density Schizophrenia Families

Schizophrenia is clinically heterogeneous. Recent linkage studies suggest that multiple genes are important in the etiology of schizophrenia. The authors examined the hypothesis of whether the clinical variability in schizophrenia is due to genetic heterogeneity.