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Acknowledgements

I would like to record my thanks to all those who assisted me with my original work on this issue for my Ph.D. thesis in Trinity College, Dublin, with the previous book and with the present one. I am particularly grateful to Dr Mary McAleese, Former President of Ireland, for her very kind Foreword. Her monumental commitment towards building relationships across the divide on the island of Ireland makes it a huge privilege to have had her encouragement in outlining the need for accommodation that is mandated by the Agreement. Rebecca Halpin was heroic enough to review successive drafts with her usual exceptional diligence; as always, without her help I would have been in severe difficulty. Conor Graham, Fiona Dunne, Myles McCionnaith and all of the team at Merrion Press have been wonderful publishers and have supplied just the right mixture of carrot and stick to get me moving on delivering the manuscript. Heidi Houlihan did wonderfully thorough copy-editing. Thanks also to Peter O’Connell Media, and to Fionbar Lyons for the index. I am very grateful to all those who looked at some or all of the draft, including the energetically multi-talented former Attorney General Paul Gallagher SC and the prolific Conleth Bradley SC. Seán Mac Cárthaigh also very kindly lent an observant eye and afforded some characteristically mordant observations. Thanks also to those who shared their thoughts on some of the issues, including Ruth Taillon, Director of the Centre for Cross-Border Studies. John Larkin QC, Attorney General of Northern Ireland, one of the island’s leading public intellectuals, drew my attention to some legal academic matters and I am very grateful to him for that. Gwen Allman of The Company of Books provided helpful practical feedback. Nicole Scannell-O’Leary, Carmel-Deirdre Humphreys and Eve Humphreys have provided valued encouragement and assistance throughout.