Abstract
This chapter charts the genesis of the first EU/Northern Ireland network of public actors lobbying the European Community (EC) during the Northern Ireland conflict. Firstly, the chapter will investigate how this newly formed public network attempted to establish the first vertical relationship between the region and the EC. Subsequently, it will investigate how this network formed its first horizontal relationship between Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to collectively steer the development and implementation of specific policies, which would potentially have a positive impact on the conflict. The chapter argues that the ‘Martin Report on Community regional policy and Northern Ireland’ was the first outcome resulting from the lobbying of the EU/Northern Ireland policy network to the EC. In addition, it constituted the first attempt of the network to expand the Northern Ireland public sphere outside the island of Ireland. The chapter analyses the report and the parliamentary debate that followed its publication. It will show how public actors from Northern Ireland cultivated both inclusive policymaking and inclusive management of Northern Ireland public issues within the Community. This was accomplished mainly by the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) representative, Mr. John Hume.
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Lagana, G. (2021). The Genesis of the First European Union/Northern Ireland Peacebuilding Network. In: The European Union and the Northern Ireland Peace Process. Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59117-5_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59117-5_3
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