In this timely new book Sir Kenneth Bloomfield, former Head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, explores a number of crucial questions in the immediate aftermath of PIRA decommissioning and attempts to re-activate the political process in Northern Ireland. Was it inevitable that Northern Ireland should undergo some three decades of costly violence? What, in truth, were those costs? Might the descent into catastrophe have been delayed or even averted if the main ‘actors’ (defined as the parliament and government of the United Kingdom, the political parties and institutions operating within Northern Ireland since 1920, and the parties and institutions of the Irish Free State and Republic) had done things they ought to have done, or left undone things they ought not to have done? Are the ‘political process’ and the ‘peace process’ the same thing, and indeed how is ‘peace’ to be defined? The book places particular emphasis throughout on the continuing overriding responsibility of the parliament and government of the United Kingdom for the ‘peace, order and good government’ of a part of that Kingdom even when exercising devolved powers of government. It also illustrates the unwisdom and ungenerosity of much ‘Stormont’ policy, and explores the failure of the Free State and its successor to present itself as friend and suitor rather than threat. The book concludes by pointing out that, although mainstream terrorism has been throttled back, part of the cost has been the movement of electoral support away from moderation and towards the more militant wings of unionism and republicanism.

‘To those who want to understand how and why events unfolded as they did, Kenneth Bloomfield’s book is a masterly and well-balanced resumé.’

Source: The House Magazine

‘This is one of the most exceptional books to have been written about the Troubles.’

Source: Familia: Ulster Geneological Review, Number 23

‘Sir Kenneth Bloomfield is a most distinguished former Northern Ireland Civil Servant, and certainly one of the cleverest. A man of wit and compassion, and a deep commitment to democratic values, he has been close to political affairs there for the past 50 years, either as participant or observer. ... his assessment is capable of throwing light into dark corners and providing an historical context for events as they unfold. He has been deeply impressed by his work with victims and the search for the disappeared, and a concern that those who have suffered should have their rights too runs through the book. ... it is an intriguing deconstruction of the story of Northern Ireland, indicating where things went wrong, where events might have taken a different turn.’

Source: Irish Independent