부산대학교 도서관

Under the terms of the Belfast Agreement (1998), community relations policy and practice have progressed from tackling symptoms of the conflict towards adopting a more holistic approach that aims to also address its root causes. In an effort to gauge the impact of political and policy developments on relations between the Protestant and the Catholic communities, this paper examines longitudinal survey evidence of attitudes towards community relations issues amongst a representative sample of the Northern Ireland population. The data (collected in 1989, 1996 and 1999) reveal a growing disparity between Protestant and Catholic responses over time that reflect a Catholic community growing in confidence and a Protestant community feeling increasingly marginalised by wider political developments. In the final analysis we argue that the increasingly negative Protestant response reflects a perception that the current conflict resolution model promotes a Nationalist/Republican agenda that de-legitimises Unionist concerns and political aspirations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]