Protestant Identity and Peace in Northern Ireland (PDF)

GRAHAM SPENCER is Reader in Politics, Conflict and the Media at the University of Portsmouth, UK, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He has researched and written extensively on Northern Ireland and has a particular interest in reconciliation, peace and the role of identity in conflict. Previous publications include Ulster Loyalism after the Good Friday Agreement (co-edited with James W. McAuley), The State of Loyalism in Northern Ireland, The Media and Peace, Omagh: Voice of Loss and Forgiving and Remembering in Northern Ireland.

'Graham Spencer has brought us an important and thoughtful contribution with regard to 'Protestant Identity and Peace in Northern Ireland'. It is a challenging read and, I believe, will encourage the reader to critically review how they relate propositional truth in the process of loving our neighbour and living peacefully in our shared space.' - Rt Rev Dr Ivan Patterson, Moderator, Presbyterian Church in Ireland, UK

'Graham Spencer's work to date has made a vital contribution to understanding the complexities and struggles that pervade the transition from conflict to post-conflict society in Northern Ireland. Here, Graham makes the case for a greater involvement by the churches in dialogue, reinforcing progress made in the political realm. The testimony he elicits from Protestant clergy reveals a multi-layered picture of identity, but the argument he puts forward for transforming exclusive narratives into inclusive ones is a compelling and profound one. This is a necessary work for understanding the role of the churches in Northern Ireland today.' - Duncan Morrow, Chief Executive Officer of the Northern Ireland Community Relations Council, UK

'As a well-informed objective observer, Graham Spencer provides a 'not-before-time' challenge to the churches to a process of critical self-reflection and a re-discovery of the significant but distinctive contribution of the Christian story to the complex and difficult issues of forgiveness and reconciliation in a post-conflict situation. Of particular importance is Graham's emphasis on how the distinctive characteristics of 'fundamentalism' and 'liberalism' impact either negatively or positively upon the socio-political and psychological life of a community, the causes of conflict and the search for a just and lasting peace. Here are lessons for any society in which religion has had a significant influence for good or ill, as it has in Northern Ireland.' - Rev Dr Harold Good, Former President of the