In this timely and deeply informed book, former diplomat Noel Dorr reflects on the long history that shaped modern Ireland’s divisions and examines the challenges that may lie ahead if constitutional change is one day chosen by democratic consent.

Drawing on a distinguished career in Irish public service, including direct involvement in Anglo-Irish negotiations during the 1980s, Dorr explores the competing narratives of nationalism and unionism, the turbulent history of relations between Britain and Ireland, and the political achievement represented by the Good Friday Agreement. His principal concern is not with the past but with the future. 

The Agreement established a mechanism through which Irish unity could lawfully and peacefully come about. Yet little attention has been given to how such a momentous decision would actually be implemented. Dorr argues that, if it comes, Irish unity cannot be treated as a single event. It would have to be approached as a carefully managed process requiring patience, negotiation and sustained co-operation between the British and Irish governments and the communities most directly affected.

Measured, thoughtful and historically grounded, this work is a major contribution to one of the most important constitutional questions facing Ireland in the twenty-first century.

Author bio: 
Noel Dorr is a retired Irish diplomat. During his career in the Department of Foreign Affairs he served as permanent representative of Ireland to the UN (1980–3) and Irish representative on the Security Council (1981–2); Irish ambassador to the UK (1983–7); and secretary general of the Department of Foreign Affairs (1987–95). After his retirement, he was the Irish representative on the official-level working groups that drafted the EU treaties of Amsterdam (1996–7) and Nice (2001). 
 
He has written three previous books: Ireland at the United Nations: The Early Years (IPA, 2010); A Small State at the Top Table (IPA, 2011); and Sunningdale: The Search for Peace in Northern Ireland (Royal Irish Academy, 2017). He was educated in the National University of Galway (from which he holds an honorary doctorate) and Georgetown University, Washington DC. He is a member of the Royal Irish Academy. He grew up in Foxford, County Mayo, and he now lives in Dublin.