Consociationalism and the accommodation of ethno-national conflict in a united Ireland

Since the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, Northern Ireland has been a consociational democracy. However, there is mounting pressure to organise a referendum on the status of the region. What would that mean for consociationalism? This chapter seeks to contribute to the debate about Northern Ireland’s future. First, it examines the position of Brendan O’Leary and others who seek to replace accommodation with integration. Second, it looks at the process and the outcome of possible constitutional change. This chapter argues that only a continued consociation in a devolved Northern Ireland would do justice to the pluri-national character of the conflict. In other words, the future of consociationalism in Northern Ireland is consociationalism in Northern Ireland, whether as part of a united Ireland or as part of the United Kingdom.