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Originally published in 1913.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

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This book offers a fundamental critique of conventional views of sixteenth-century Irish history that have stressed the centrality of colonization and military confrontation.It argues that reform rather than conquest was the aim of Tudor policy-makers, but shows that the immensedifficulties faced by the reformers in pursuing their objectives forced them to make administrative innovations that ultimately contradicted and undermined their original policy. ... Read more

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Publisher: Bradford, T. Brear; London, Simpkin, Marshall ... Read more

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This book examines in close detail the way Northern Ireland has been governed in recent years. It deals with events both before and since 1972, when the province's semi-independent government was replaced by a system of direct rule from London. The authors of this study trace how Northern Ireland developed more and more as an autonomous state within the United Kingdom. With its own cabinet, parliament, civil service and security forces, it could pursue policies distinctly different from Britain's in politically controversial areas. The book explains why Britain eventually decided to intervene directly in the province's affairs, and analyses the effects of that decision on the whole of Northern Ireland's political life. ... Read more

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This title is targeted at the AS module "The Government and Politics of Northern Ireland", it can also be used for the A2 modules. It covers: political development; the current political structure; the role of the Irish Republic; and the responses of political parties to devolved government. ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Very informative, but not an easy read
Kenneth Bloomfield was directly involved in the government of Northern Ireland for decades, rising to be the highest-ranking career civil servant in the province.He wrote many of the speeches given by Northern Ireland ministers, and participated in many meetings involving British, Northern Irish, and Republic of Ireland officials.Though he did not have a high political profile, he was very much an insider with access to privileged information.He drew on that long experience in writing this book, which is rich both in facts and in the author's often blunt personal opinions about the way things were done.His book focuses on politics rather than on violence.

Bloomfield's principal target for criticism is the government of the United Kingdom.While he praises some British ministers and officials for doing their work well, he repeatedly points to examples of inconsistent and inattentive behavior by others, citing examples of poorly informed decisions.

Though English by parentage, Bloomfield shows considerable sympathy for many Unionists (those who wish strongly to keep the province in the United Kingdom).He gives particular praise to former provincial prime minister Brian Faulkner, who he believes did not receive the support from London that he needed to make the power-sharing executive work.He seems hurt that the British Government has not treated Northern Ireland's Unionists better."It is possible," he writes, "as a resident of Northern Ireland hitherto always glad and proud to be a citizen of the United Kingdom, to feel at times like a party to a marriage whose partner no longer feels or shows any real affection, but who maintains an increasingly cool relationship out of a sense of loyalty."

Bloomfield recognizes the ability of John Hume, long the leader of the Social Democratic and Labor Party that favored peaceful union with the Republic of Ireland.In his view, Hume was the most important driving force in the positions taken by the Irish republic in discussions about the future of the province.Yet Bloomfield clearly was uneasy about Hume's intentions.

Bloomfield is harsher in dealing with Sinn Fein leaders, particularly Gerry Adams.While recognizing their ability, he returns several times to the connections between Sinn Fein and Irish republican paramilitaries who committed gruesome acts.He condemns both the IRA and loyalist paramilitary groups for their violence and thuggery.

At the time this book was written, political polarization within Northern Ireland had worsened, as symbolized by the success of Sinn Fein on the republican side and Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist party on the unionist side.Faced with this polarization, Bloomfield concludes on a despairing note, foreseeing little hope for successful power-sharing.

The many insights Bloomfield has to offer could be valuable to serious students of Northern Ireland politics and government.Unfortunately, the author did not organize the book chronologically.As a result, he frequently backtracks with phrases like "as I said earlier."His organizational scheme results in many duplications that could have been avoided by strict adherence to a chronology.His last chapter, which might have drawn together these many threads, is marred by expressions of personal pique.This is unfortunate, as Bloomfield might have given us new ways of looking at this difficult problem, though one that might not appeal to strong supporters of a United Ireland. ... Read more

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Ireland Foreign Policy and Government Guide (World Foreign Policy and Government Library) ... Read more

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Despite the 1800 Act of Union, Ireland was not an integral part of the United Kingdom. Its viceregal government, the breadth and depth of its poverty, and the extent, persistence, and savagery of peasant violence marked it as distinct. This distinction was emphasized by Ireland's Protestant ascendancy in an overwhelmingly Catholic population. In this examination of British administration in Ireland from 1812 to 1830, Brian Jenkins focuses on the Catholic issue which dominated Britain's Irish agenda during this period. He argues that the British government attempted, within the context of the time, to govern Ireland in a civilized and enlightened way. The conduct of the central government was often reactive rather than deliberate. While its lack of a coherent policy was not remarkable, given the period under consideration, the government's failure to develop such a policy was disastrous in dealing with the fundamental issue of Catholic emancipation. The final surrender of Peel and Wellington was bitter and the 1829 Catholic relief act contained insults to Irish Catholics.The nature of the act, coupled with continued Protestant ascendancy and landlordism, and Catholic mass poverty and insecurity, meant that Catholic emancipation was not a prelude to Ireland's assimilation into the United Kingdom but instead, the beginning of the process of modern Irish nationalism. ... Read more