Political Skills or Lying and Manipulation? The Choreography of the Northern Ireland Peace Process

The ‘real war’ and ‘propaganda war’ fought over Northern Ireland for thirty years polarised party and public opinion. The key dilemma faced by politicians during the recent peace process has been how to wind down the ‘war’ and win sufficient party and public support for an accommodation between unionists and nationalists which falls so far short of previous expectations. Scripts telling contrasting stories have been prepared to convince rival republican and unionist audiences to support the peace process. In addition, the pro‐Agreement parties have attempted to shift opinion towards accommodation through a range of political skills and choreography. Key competing parties and governments have sometimes co‐operated back stage while front stage they have on occasion ‘play acted’ conflict between each other. The political skills, or lying and manipulation, by which the peace process has been driven forward have been uncovered creating public distrust in the political process. Realists see such political deception as an inevitable part of politics and permissible on the grounds that the ends justify the means. Absolutists attack the ‘spin, lying and manipulation’ of the peace process as an assault on democracy. A third democratic realist position argues that sometimes moral leadership requires doing wrong to do right but the gap between ‘truth’ and ‘spin’ should be narrowed. A more open and honest politics would not only be more accountable and democratic but also effective in advancing the peace process.