Multi-Culturalism: The View from theTwo Irelands

Two of Ireland's most outspoken critics and cultural commentators, Edna Longley from the North and Declan Kiberd from the South, put forward views on the contrasting directions in which the two societies on the island are moving. Professor Longley asks whether Northerners will increasingly identify with Northern Ireland as a shared point of reference. Will they develop a more flexible sense of their relations with the Republic and a post-devolution Britain? Professor Kiberd asks whether a newly prosperous and confident Republic is genuinely embracing multiculturalism. Is it moving towards a post-nationalist society which commits its citizens to a truly pluralist vision? What does it mean to be Irish at the turn of the 21st century?

Andy Pollak is a founder of the Centre for Cross Border Studies, Armagh.