Making Sense of a United Ireland

Brendan O'Leary is Lauder Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania and a Visiting Professor of Political Science at Queen's University, Belfast. He is an American citizen but both Irish (born in Cork) and Northern Irish in origin. He graduated from Keble College Oxford and the London School of Economics, where he earned his PhD. He has been deeply engaged in conflict resolution in Ireland for nearly four decades (including over a decade advising the British Labour Party in the run-up to the Good Friday Agreement; advising an influential group of Irish-Americans led by Congressman Bruce Morrison through the 1990s; and writing advisory memoranda for the Irish government). He has advised on national and ethnic conflicts in a number of African and Asian countries and worked for the UK's International Department of Development, the European Union and the UN. Brendan has written, co-authored and edited many books and Making Sense of a United Ireland will be his 30th book.

Will Ireland really reunite?

Throughout the century since partition the unification of the two parts of the island seemed impossible. Many still feel that it is, particularly because of the bloody legacy of past conflict.

However, by 2030, if not sooner, Ulster unionists' demographic and electoral advantages will be over. And in the light of Brexit, the rising popularity of Sinn Fein, political developments both sides of the border, and within Great Britain, Irish unification referendums will become increasingly likely. Yet even those who want these to happen are not prepared.

Making Sense of a United Ireland is a landmark exploration of this most contentious of issues. Distinguished political scientist Brendan O'Leary - a global expert on divided places, who has been profoundly engaged with the Irish question for nearly four decades - argues that the time to consider the future of the island of Ireland is now.