Policy and Government in Northern Ireland : Lessons of Devolution Book

This book examines in close detail the way Northern Ireland has been governed in recent years. It deals with events both before and since 1972, when the province's semi-independent government was replaced by a system of direct rule from London. The authors of this study trace how Northern Ireland developed more and more as an autonomous state within the United Kingdom. With its own cabinet, parliament, civil service and security forces, it could pursue policies distinctly different from Britain's in politically controversial areas. The book explains why Britain eventually decided to intervene directly in the province's affairs, and analyses the effects of that decision on the whole of Northern Ireland's political life.