Nationalists

The nationalists are those political communities who promote a complete separation from Great Britain and the reunification of Ireland. There are two distinct traditions: the constitutional nationalists or the Social and Democratic Labour Party (SDLP), and the republicans (with Sinn Féin as their main representative). Nowadays, radical or republican extreme positions have lost some of their violence and sectarianism and political fanaticism has almost disappeared from the political scenario since the IRA announced the cease of fire in 1994 and declared in 2005 that the arm struggle was over.

Sources

Boyce, David George. The Irish question and British Politics. Basingstoke, Macmillian Education, 1988.

Hume, John. A New Ireland: Politics, Peace and Reconciliation (2nd edition) Dublin, Roberts Rinehard Publishers, 2000.

External sources

New York Times. 'CEASE-FIRE IN NORTHERN IRELAND: THE OVERVIEW' Ed. William M. Smith. September 1994. <http://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/01/world/cease-fire-northern-ireland-overview-ira-declares-cease-fire-seeing-new.html>

BBC News. 'The IRA statement in full' July 2005. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/4724599.stm>