‘Every Passer‐by a Culprit?’1.

The article focuses on the political history of Northern Ireland. The Downing Street Declaration of 1993 had held out the hope that the cultural complexities of Northern Ireland would figure in, and maybe even dictate, the shape of the future. But, by the time of the Good Friday Agreement, a different political imperative had taken hold. Culture had been reduced to the issues of minority languages and the need to curtail the display of sectarian symbols. In leaving aside the recurrent debate on whether Northern Irish culture was reflective of sectarian politics or could be an ameliorative force for liberal change, this switch in strategy gambled on consigning the past to the rubbish-bin of history.