Cathal McCall

Queen's University Belfast, School of Politics, International Studies & Philosophy, Faculty Member

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Senior Lecturer in European Studies

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Papers by Cathal McCall

Interpreting the Development of the Nation, Irish Nationalism and Ulster Unionism

Identity in Northern Ireland, 1999

As a concept, the ‘nation’ is beyond the realms of singular and comprehensive definition. It may ... more As a concept, the ‘nation’ is beyond the realms of singular and comprehensive definition. It may be understood as a community of people who share some sense of solidarity, a national consciousness and a common heritage through shared memories, distinguishing cultural features such as religion, customs, language, and an historic territory (Seton-Watson, 1977, p. 1). The nation could be described more simply as a politically self-aware ethnic community. The nation does not have to possess a ‘state’, that is a centralized politico-territorial unit (Connor, 1978, p. 379). However, in the modern context such a community will have achieved, or aspire to achieve, political centralization through a single government.

The Irish Border as a Cultural Landscape

Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2012

State borders are commonly understood to be lines that divide economic, political, social and cul... more State borders are commonly understood to be lines that divide economic, political, social and cultural landscapes. Those divisions are informed by distinctions made between ‘self’ and ‘other’, ‘us’ and ‘them’, ‘here’ and ‘there’, ‘inside’ and ‘outside’, and ‘include’ and ‘exclude’. Who decides on these divisions and distinctions rests on the power relations involved (Newman, 2006a, pp. 143–7; 2006b, p. 176). The power of the British state in Ireland was demonstrated by its partition of the island and the creation of the imperial Irish border in 1921. The binary distinctions between Catholic nationalist and Protestant unionist ethno-national communities, and between the unionist North and nationalist South were used to justify partition politically. Religious difference between these indigenous ethno-national communities served as a cultural bulwark to support partition and the creation of the Irish border as a ‘spiritual divide’ (Heslinga, 1979, p. 78) and ‘religious frontier’ (Heslinga, 1979, p. 204). Problematically, however, Northern Ireland corralled a substantial Irish Catholic nationalist population, one which has grown in the intervening decades. The 2001 census found 44 per cent of the population of Northern Ireland to be Catholic. For the Northern Protestant unionist community, therefore, the threat from Irish nationalism existed within Northern Ireland, as well as south of the border. Perfidious Albion added to a sense of unionist insecurity through perennial threat of ‘sell-out’ to Irish nationalism.

The Building and Erosion of the “Post-Conflict” Irish Borderscape

Europeanisation and Hibernicisation

Scholars across the humanities and social sciences are increasingly examining the importance of E... more Scholars across the humanities and social sciences are increasingly examining the importance of European integration and Europeanisation to changing notions of local, regional, national and supranational identity in Europe. As part of this interest, anthropologists, historians, sociologists, political scientists and others have paid particular attention to the roles which EU policies and initiatives have played in the construction of local, regional and national identity in Europe, and in the reframing of various forms of culture. This volume provides the first multidisciplinary look at the impact of European integration and Europeanisation on changing culture and identity in one member state of the EU, namely Ireland (including the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland), and the first such look at the ways in which the cultures and identities of a member state have had an impact on various versions of ‘Europe’, in and outside of the EU.

Creating border space in Ireland

Taylor & Francis eBooks, Feb 16, 2010

The Governance of Northern Ireland: From Modernity to Postmodernity?

The northern Irish Nationalist and Ulster Unionist imagined communities have witnessed profound c... more The northern Irish Nationalist and Ulster Unionist imagined communities have witnessed profound change since 1920 when the Government of Ireland Act proposed two Irish parliaments, one for the six counties in the north and one for the 26 counties in the south. The beginning of the modern state context for Ireland, which entailed the territorial separation of Ulster Unionists and northern Irish Nationalists from the rest of the Irish nation, was confirmed in the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921. Although the Treaty granted governing status to the whole island of Ireland, an article in the Treaty permitted the Northern Ireland parliament to opt out of the jurisdiction of the Irish Free State constitution and retain its status under the 1920 Act, which it promptly did. From 1921 until 1969, Ulster Unionists maintained hegemonic control in Northern Ireland (O’Leary and McGarry, 1993, pp. 133–4). Through hegemonic control, this dominant group successfully established its truth-claims as the basis of socio-political order in Northern Ireland. The culture-bound knowledge of northern Irish Nationalists was perceived to be the extension of the Catholic and Gaelic socio-political group that dominated in the South.

Bordering

Routledge eBooks, May 1, 2021

Intimations of Postmodernity in the Development of the European Union

While 1972 was a year of sudden and tumultuous change in the modern state context of Northern Ire... more While 1972 was a year of sudden and tumultuous change in the modern state context of Northern Ireland, the following year introduced a development with potentially profound structural consequences for the region. On 1 January 1973, Northern Ireland, in its capacity as a region of the UK state, acceded to the European Community (EC). Although the Northern Ireland Common Market poll in June 1975 resulted in a majority in favour of remaining in the EC (‘yes’ — 52.1 per cent, ‘no’ — 47.9 per cent), European integration did not seriously challenge the political agenda of Northern Ireland until the integrationist dynamic, culminating in the Single European Act, gathered momentum in the late 1980s. In the 1990s, anti-European integrationists in Northern Ireland (including the UUP, DUP and Sinn Fein) breathed a collective sigh of relief at the slow-down of European integration, caused primarily by problems with monetary union. However, the loss of momentum cannot disguise the fact that the European Union (EU), as it is now known, is representative of a major structural change in the European state system.

Border Ireland

Routledge eBooks, May 4, 2021

Voluntary Action and European Union Partnership in Ireland, North and South

Arise Therefore Ulster Scot: The Ulster Unionist Identity in the Reconfigured Isles

Divided Nations and European Integration

Journal of Borderlands Studies, Jan 2, 2015

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The European Union and Peacebuilding : The Cross-Border Dimension

Introduction 1. Territory, Borders, Symbols, Emotions and Conflict 2. European Union Cross-Border... more Introduction 1. Territory, Borders, Symbols, Emotions and Conflict 2. European Union Cross-Border Cooperation and its Limits 3. Borderscape Conflict Amelioration in Theory and in Practice 4. The Irish Borderscape as a 'Site for Learning' 5. Stopped at the Gates? Conflict Amelioration Beyond the EU Pale Conclusion

Secondary foreign policy activities in Third sector cross-border cooperation as conflict transformation in the European Union: The cases of the Basque and Irish borderscapes

Routledge eBooks, Dec 7, 2018

Comparative research on violent conflict in the Basque Country and Ireland has yielded a sizable ... more Comparative research on violent conflict in the Basque Country and Ireland has yielded a sizable body of published academic work. Less well explored is the relationship between conflict transformation and cross-border cooperation in that comparative context. This paper provides a comparative examination of Third (non-public, non-profit) sector cross-border cooperation contributing to conflict transformation in the Basque (France/Spain) and Irish (UK/Ireland) borderscapes. The comparison is based on the premise that the European Union (EU) played a different role in both cases. In the Irish case, the EU contributed to the institutionalization of a peace process that included cross-border cooperation between Third sector organizations among its policy instruments contributing to conflict transformation. In the Basque case, the unilateral renunciation of violence by ETA (Euskadi eta Askatasuna) in 2010 did not generate the consistent involvement of the EU in an institutional peace process. However, some Third sector organizations became secondary foreign policy actors using EU instruments for cross-border economic, social and cultural cooperation between France and Spain in order to reinforce their cross-border networks, which indirectly impacted on conflict transformation.

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Hello Stranger':The Revival of Co-operation between Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland

Northern Ireland: 40 Years of EU Membership

Journal of Contemporary European Research

Jan 1973 Accession of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland to the European Communities ... more Jan 1973 Accession of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland to the European Communities May 1974 Collapse of the Sunningdale Power-Sharing Agreement after five months; return of direct rule from London Jun UK referendum on continued membership of the European Communities. In Northern Ireland the 'yes' vote is 52.1%. Turnout is 48.2%. Mar 1975 European Regional Development Fund created Jun First direct elections to European Parliament (EP): Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) tops the poll; John Hume, deputy leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) comes second; John Taylor of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) takes Northern Ireland's third seat. May 1980 First Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Summit led by Charles Haughey and Margaret Thatcher Oct Irish Republican prisoners start hunger strike; Sinn Fein's political rise begins Feb EP Political Affairs Committee commissions report on Northern Ireland Mar 1984 EP adopts Haagerup Report on the Situation in Northern Ireland Jun EP election: Paisley (DUP) again tops the poll; Hume (SDLP) again comes second; Taylor (UUP) takes Northern Ireland's third seat. Nov 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement and the establishment of the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference staffed by British and Irish government officials. Oct Paisley (DUP) is ejected from the EP's Strasbourg plenary meeting after a protesting against the visit of Pope John Paul II, shouting 'I renounce you as the anti-Christ'. Jan 1989 January Northern Ireland becomes an Objective 1 region under the EU's regional policy. EC Community Support Framework for Northern Ireland launched Jun EP election: Paisley (DUP) tops the poll; Hume (SDLP) comes second; Jim Nicholson (UUP) takes Northern Ireland's third seat.

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The division of Ireland and its foes: The centenary of resistance to partition

Nations and Nationalism, 2021

Critics of partition argue that it contributes to the perpetuation, rather than the amelioration,... more Critics of partition argue that it contributes to the perpetuation, rather than the amelioration, of territorial conflict. This paper engages with the theoretical debates on partition, focusing on the particular and illustrative case of Ireland. The island has been partitioned into two polities for a century. Opposition to the partition of Ireland has existed from the outset to the contemporary Brexit context. The argument is that while hostility to partition has experienced different forms, namely, political and violent and different degrees of intensity, there is a historical continuum of contestation against partition in Ireland. While the territorial issue was calmed by the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, Brexit has reanimated the border question, providing political momentum for those who aim to challenge the territorial status quo.

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Sustaining Co-operation? The Public, Private and Civil Society Sectors

Identity in Northern Ireland: communities, politics and change

Choice Reviews Online, 1999

Introduction PART ONE: INTIMATIONS OF POSTMODERNITY A Postmodernist Approach to Communal Identiti... more Introduction PART ONE: INTIMATIONS OF POSTMODERNITY A Postmodernist Approach to Communal Identities in Northern Ireland? Interpreting the Development of the Nation, Irish Nationalism and Ulster Unionism The Governance of Northern Ireland: From Modernity to Postmodernity? Intimations of Postmodernity in the Development of the European Union The European Union and the Resources of Communal Identities in Northern Ireland PART TWO: DIALOGUES Dialogue with the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) Dialogue with Sinn Fein Dialogue with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Dialogue with the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) Dialogue with the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland (APNI) Conclusion Bibliography Index