Sport, Politics and Catholics in Northern Ireland

That Northern Ireland has been transformed in the last 20 years from a site of near daily violence, waged between paramilitary organisations pursing polarised agendas and agents of the State, to an uneasy truce in which most forms of conflict has now ceased, is unquestionable and, of course, welcomed (Arthur, 1996; Nolan, 2011). Considerable efforts have supported the task of making peace and seeking real and meaningful reconciliation in the country over recent years (NicCraith, 2001). It represents a cruel irony therefore that through this very act of peace-making further divisions emerge, or at least residual and festering sores become more obvious (Jarman, 2007). It is as if the remaining points of division – albeit often concerning the most contentious issues – become futher amplified despite the considerable distance that has been travelled by erstwhile opponents.