Abstract
The phenomenon of political leadership in Northern Ireland during the peace process presents something of a problem in terms of academic research. It would be untrue to suggest that political leaders have been ignored, and have been reduced to mere footnotes in history. The plethora of authorized and unauthorized biographies and autobiographies serve as illustration of the point. However, it would be equally untrue to suggest that such material seeks or serves to define or explain the nature of that leadership during the peace process. Taking an overtly personalized approach to understanding these political leaders has often been the norm. Problematically, the personalized approach tends to present these political leaders as idiosyncratic, rife with anecdotal tales of personal transitions as part of the peace process, and with ‘road to Damascus’ conversions along the way. The phraseology is loose and often devoid of any real meaning. Indeed, many of the leaders are simply described as being ‘charismatic’, as a catch-all phrase, for their various qualities and attributes, and the reality, that charisma in one community has often meant loathing in another is ignored. As a result, we seem no closer to really understanding the nature of political leadership during the peace process. Therefore, this chapter introduces a number of different ways to define, explain and understand political leadership during the peace process.
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Notes
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Fionnuala O’Connor, Breaking the Bonds: Making Peace in Northern Ireland (Edinburgh: Mainstream, 2002) p. 31.
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© 2007 Cathy Gormley-Heenan
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Gormley-Heenan, C. (2007). Explaining Political Leadership in Northern Ireland. In: Political Leadership and the Northern Ireland Peace Process. St Antony’s Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230596085_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230596085_3
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