Tolerance and Diversity in Ireland, North and South

This book examines the treatment of cultural and religious diversity - indigenous and immigrant - on both sides of the Irish border in order to analyse the current state of tolerance and the kinds of policies that may support integration, while respecting diversity. While it is sometimes argued that in contemporary societies we need to go 'beyond tolerance' to more positive recognition, new and continuing tensions and conflicts among groups suggest that there may still be a role for tolerance. The first set of chapters in the book focus on the spheres of education, civic life and politics, including chapters on specific groups (e.g. travellers, immigrants), as well as the communal divisions in Northern Ireland. Later chapters reflect on the Irish experience of diversity, and assess the extent to which the conceptual approaches and discourses employed to deal with it are comparable between the jurisdictions of the Republic and Northern Ireland. Finally the book considers the implications for what constitutes the most appropriate approach to diversity - whether this should ideally be in terms of tolerance and mutual accommodation, of recognition, or transformative reconciliation.

This is the first book to address the issue of tolerance across the broad sweep of different kinds of religious and cultural diversity in Northern Ireland and the Republic.

It will appeal to academics and students in sociology, politics, education, social psychology and Irish studies; it will also be of interest to general readers interested in society, education and politics in Ireland, north and south.

Iseult Honohan is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Politics and International Relations at University College Dublin

Nathalie Rougier is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the School of Politics and International Relations at University College Dublin