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Published in:
Prologue: “Of Course We Fucking Lied” Read chapter Read first chapter

2019 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

6. An ‘Inconvenient Truth’: The Deception at the Heart of the Peace Process

Author : Paul Dixon

Published in: Performing the Northern Ireland Peace Process

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

The former Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Chief of Staff and key negotiator on the Province, Jonathan Powell, have admitted that they used deception to advance the peace process in Northern Ireland. This chapter argues that the Labour government deceived the people of Northern Ireland about the implications of the Belfast Agreement (BFA) to secure a ‘Yes’ vote in the referendum on the deal in May 1998. The British Prime Minister was prominent among those arguing that there would be decommissioning before either paramilitary prisoners were released or Sinn Féin sat in government. This misrepresented the Agreement but succeeded in achieving sufficient support among unionists for the deal. The next chapter defends the morality of this deception.

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previous chapter Scripting the Peace Process: Choreography and Theatrical Skills
next chapter Defending the Political Morality of the Peace Process
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Metadata
Title
An ‘Inconvenient Truth’: The Deception at the Heart of the Peace Process
Author
Paul Dixon
Copyright Year
2019
Book
Performing the Northern Ireland Peace Process

Print ISBN: 978-3-319-91342-1

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-91343-8

Copyright Year: 2019

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91343-8_6