Whilst there are any number of books on the subject of Northern Ireland, few provide much guidance on how it has been handled by Westminster and Whitehall, or indeed the extent to which British governments and Parliament has tried to avoid having to handle the issue. This book provides a much needed historical context in which to assess contemporary approaches to the Northern Ireland problem and, in essays covering the period from the establishment of the Northern Ireland state to the present day, points to many often overlooked continuities in British policy.

List of Tables and Figures - A Note on Nomenclature - Acknowledgements - List of Abbreviations - Notes on the Contributors - Introduction: Northern Ireland in British Politics; P.Catterall & S.McDougall - Northern Ireland: The Origins of the State; D.G.Boyce - The Projection of Northern Ireland to Great Britain and Abroad, 1921-39; S.McDougall - The Impact of World War II on Northern Ireland and on Belfast-London Relations; B.Barton - Labour in Britain and the Northern Ireland Labour Party, 1900-70; T.Cradden - Labour, Northern Ireland and the Decision to Send in the Troops; P.Rose - The Price of Containment: Deaths and Debate on Northern Ireland in the House of Commons, 1968-94; B.O'Duffy - Conservative Politics and the Abolition of Stormont; P.Norton - From Whitewash to Mayhem: The State of the Secretary in Northern Ireland; D.Bloomfield & M.Lankford - The Interrelationship of the Press and Politicians during the 1981 Hunger Strike at the Maze Prison; M.von Tangen Page - BBC Current Affairs Coverage of the 1981 Hunger Strike; H.Smith - From Hillsborough to Downing Street - And After; W.H.Cox - The Northern Ireland Question and European Politics; J.Goodman - Index