The Anglo-Irish Agreement: 25 Years On

This article examines the surprisingly muted commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Anglo-Irish Agreement. It was surprising because not only was the Agreement a major innovation in relations between the two states but it was also the defining political issue in Northern Ireland for almost a decade. It is argued that the significance of the Agreement has been diminished because of retrospective narratives which serve the political convenience of the key parties to the Northern Ireland conflict. The article adapts Oakeshott's notion of the 'dry wall' to re-assess and to re-state the Agreement's place in recent history. © The Authors 2011. The Political Quarterly © The Political Quarterly Publishing Co. Ltd. 2011.