In the wake of the Good Friday Agreement, the redevelopment of the former Girdwood Army Barracks in North Belfast was hailed as a 'symbol of hope' for Northern Ireland. It was a major investment in a former conflict zone and an internationally significant peacebuilding project.

Instead of adhering to the tenets of the Agreement, sectarianism dominated the regeneration agenda. Throughout the process, politicians, community groups and paramilitaries wrangled over the site's future, and territorial contest won out over housing need. After eleven years of negotiation and GBP11.7 million, the EU-funded Girdwood Community Hub opened its doors to the public in 2016, but its impact has been underwhelming.

The Hub's redevelopment is a microcosm of the peace process itself, and the ways in which post-Agreement politics have failed to deliver a 'shared future' for the people of Northern Ireland, twenty-five years on. This ethnography provides a lively account of Girdwood's redevelopment and a wry critique of the fractious political context around it. Through flanerie and encounter, the author brings us across peace walls, into community meetings and behind the scenes of decision-making in Northern Ireland. Girdwood's story also sheds light on how power, politics and territory intersect in divided cities globally.

About the Author
Elizabeth DeYoung is a Research Scientist at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Guaranteed Income Research, where she uses qualitative and mixed methods to evaluate the effects of guaranteed income (GI) pilots in cities across the US. She holds a PhD from the Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool.

Reviews

'This is the author's first book. But she writes like a dream and with a courage and toughness which belie her years.' Marianne Elliott, The Irish Times

Book Information
ISBN 9781837644674
Author Elizabeth DeYoung
Format Hardback
Page Count 272
Imprint Liverpool University Press
Publisher Liverpool University Press