Northern Ireland and beyond
Subtitle: social and geographical issues
By: by Emilio Biagini.
Series: GeoJournal library ;; v. 33
Publisher: Kluwer Academic Publishers
Published: 1996
Place of publication: Dordrecht, the Netherlands; Boston
Language: eng
Number of pages: 230
Subjects: Northern Ireland -- Historical geography; Northern Ireland -- History
Description: Northern Ireland's problems are rooted in physical and historical geography: small resource base, peripheral location, violent conquest, repression and ruthless emargination of the native population by the Protestant settlers. At the time of partition, many areas already had a Catholic majority, and the Catholic population is increasing faster, thereby undermining the Protestant position. Britain gains no advantage by keeping Northern Ireland. Nevertheless, this solution is not going to be cheap, not merely because of opposition by Protestant loyalists, but also because of the economic weakness of both Irelands. Unlike other books on the subject, this one goes to the heart of the matter: Britain would be serving her own interest by easing reunification of Ireland, albeit gradually and cautiously. In his perspective, the conclusion is that history is inexorably moving beyond Northern Ireland.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 195-230).