What a Bloody Awful Country

"Highly readable" - Irish News

"A gripping appraisal of Northern Ireland's turbulent first century. Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how we have got to where we are today." - Suzanne Breen, Belfast Telegraph

"A timely and lucid analysis of the Troubles that asks hard questions of successive British governments. The good news for the current government is that it also offers some answers." - Rory Carroll, The Guardian

"For God's sake, bring me a large Scotch. What a bloody awful country!" Home Secretary Reginald Maudling, returning from his first visit to Northern Ireland in 1970

As a long and bloody guerrilla war staggered to a close on the island of Ireland, Britain beat a retreat from all but a small portion of the country - and thus, in 1921, Northern Ireland was born.

That partition, says Kevin Meagher, has been an unmitigated disaster for Nationalists and Unionists alike. Following the fraught history of British rule in Ireland, a better future was there for the taking but was lost amid political paralysis, while the resulting fifty years of devolution succeeded only in creating a brooding sectarian stalemate that exploded into the Troubles.

In a stark but reasoned critique, Meagher traces the landmark events in Northern Ireland's century of existence, exploring the missed signals, the turning points, the principled decisions that should have been taken, as well as the raw realpolitik of how Northern Ireland has been governed over the past 100 years.

Thoughtful and sometimes provocative, What a Bloody Awful Country reflects on how both Loyalists and Republicans might have played their cards differently and, ultimately, how the actions of successive British governments have amounted to a masterclass in failed statecraft.

Auteur

Kevin Meagher is associate editor of the political blog Labour Uncut and a former special advisor to Shaun Woodward, Northern Ireland Secretary from 2007 to 2010. He works as a political and communications consultant and regularly writes for a range of publications including the New Statesman and The Independent.

Texte du rabat

In the early years of the twentieth century, simmering discontent began to boil over on the island of Ireland as the nascent IRA took its guerrilla campaign against British rule to the streets. By 1921, Britain had beaten a retreat from all but a small portion of the country - and thus Northern Ireland was born.

Kevin Meagher argues that partition has been an unmitigated disaster for Nationalists and Unionists alike. As the long and fraught history of British rule in Ireland staggered to a close, a better future was there for the taking but was lost amid political paralysis, while the resulting fifty years of devolution succeeded only in creating a brooding sectarian stalemate that exploded into the Troubles.

In a stark but reasoned critique, Meagher traces the landmark events in Northern Ireland's century of existence, exploring the missed signals, the turning points, the principled decisions that at various stages should have been taken, as well as the raw realpolitik of how Northern Ireland has been governed over the past 100 years.

Thoughtful and sometimes provocative, What a Bloody Awful Country reflects on how both Loyalists and Republicans might have played their cards differently and, ultimately, how the actions of successive British governments have amounted to a masterclass in failed statecraft.