The Crowned Harp: Policing Northern Ireland (Contemporary Irish Studies)

The Crowned Harp: Policing Northern Ireland (Contemporary Irish Studies)

The Crowned Harp provides a detailed analysis of policing in Northern Ireland. Tracing its history from 1922, Ellison and Smyth portray the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) as an organisation burdened by its past as a colonial police force. They analyse its perceived close relationship with unionism and why, for many nationalists, the RUC embodied the problem of the legitimacy of Northern Ireland, arguing that decisions made on the organisation, composition and ideology of policing in the early years of the state had consequences which went beyond the everyday practice of policing. The authors provide an extended discussion of policing after the outbreak of civil unrest in 1969, ask why policing was cast in a paramilitary mould, and look at the use of special constabularies and the way in which the police dealt with social unrest which threatened to break down sectarian divisions. Examining the reorganisations of the RUC in the 1970s and 1980s, Ellison and Smyth focus on the various structural, legal and ideological components, the professionalisation of the force and the development of a coherent, if contradictory, ideology. The analysis of the RUC during this period sheds light on the problematic nature of using the police as a counter insurgency force in a divided society. Perceptions of the police, and the opinions of rank and file members are examined and an assessment is made of the various alternative models of policing, such as community policing and local control. This book offers important lessons about the nature of policing in divided societies. .."an exceptionally well written and broad study of policing and public order, particularly from the "Troubles" in the late 1960's to the present... Readers will profit much from (this) fine book." -- CHOICE" (This book) shows a remarkable grasp of Northern Ireland's complex security situation and its history, Ellison and Smyth deftly place Northern Ireland policing within the larger imperial context. Furthermore, they convincingly explain why policing was a central cause of the "Troubles" and why police reform remains the most important piece of unfinished business left from the Good Friday Agreement." -- New Hibernia Review Graham Ellison is a lecturer in the Department of Criminology at Keele University. Jim Smyth is a lecturer in the School of Sociology and Social Policy at Queen’s University, Belfast. Used Book in Good Condition