Sustainable Peace in Northern Ireland

The book explores the relationship between leadership, language and sustainable peace through a case study of the Northern Ireland peace process. The author challenges traditional approaches to conflict resolution and argues that a new political paradigm is crucial to creating the conditions for sustainable peace.

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«Sally Watson has produced an important volume illuminating the crucial role of leadership within the Northern Ireland peace process. The book covers the different dimensions of delivery needed to deliver a successful process. These include the steering of political parties in sometimes difficult directions and away from contentious pasts; the need for inclusion, a feature eventually recognised by the British and Irish governments; and the requirement for healing leadership to help reconcile a divided society. The author highlights how, in terms of reconciliation, there remains much work to be done. This is a fine addition to the work on Northern Ireland which ought to be read by any student of peace processes.»


(Professor Jon Tonge, University of Liverpool)





«This is a gem of a book, which sheds light on how diverse leadership approaches have shaped the Northern Ireland peace process. It offers a narrative account of the peace process looking through leadership eyes, offering very rich insights. Its major contribution is that it brings to the fore the vital importance of language and discourse in the work of leadership. This book is a great study of leadership and I recommend it to leaders in all walks of life.»


(Dr Simon Western Founder and CEO The Eco-Leadership Institute, Author of Leadership a critical text (Sage 3rd ed))





Peace treaties are no guarantee of a sustainable peace and the current scale and longevity of global conflicts are an unpleasant testimony of the fragility of peace processes. The purpose of the book is to explore the forms of leadership needed to transition a violent conflict into positive peace, and to create the social and political conditions that will sustain that peace. The study is based on the Northern Ireland peace process and explores how the quality of political leadership impacts both conflict resolution and the sustainability of a peace agreement. A phenomenon named «Acts of Leadership» will be used to demonstrate that peacemakers are not necessarily people in positions of power or authority but they bring valuable lessons for political and military leaders. The lessons learned from «The Troubles» and the subsequent Belfast/Good Friday Agreement will be used to illustrate how new forms of political leadership are needed to transform and heal a society exposed to indirect and direct violence. The contemporary issues facing political leaders in Northern Ireland will be discussed and specifically the impact of transgenerational trauma on younger generations with no lived experience of «The Troubles».