Unions, Break-Ups and Special Relationships

The focus of this volume is the triangular relationship between Germany, Ireland and the UK in the aftermath of Brexit. The collection offers an interdisciplinary approach to considering various cultural and political facets of relations between the three countries, covering different perspectives, issues and the opportunities which arise.
The book contains fifteen chapters, organised into two main sections. The first part of the volume is entitled ‘Academia and Languages: British-German Relations and British Studies in Germany/German Studies in the UK as well as Irish-German Relations and German Studies in Ireland and Irish Studies in Germany’. It maps the respective areas of German, Irish and British Studies in the different constituencies and increased focus on respective bilateral relations. The second part is entitled ‘Reflecting Europe and the European Union in Ireland North and South after Brexit, (Re-) Unification in the Past and in the Future and the Situation in Northern Ireland’. This section includes reflections regarding Europe and its relationship to Ireland, North and South, German unification as well as past and future relationships between Ireland and Northern Ireland, and within Northern Ireland itself.

Contributors include Matthias Barner, Paul Carmichael, John Coakley, Oran Doyle, Joachim Fischer, Paul Gillespie, Marius Guderjan, Katy Hayward, Gisela Holfter, Marieke Krajenbrink, James W. McAuley, Nicola McLelland, Edward Moxon-Browne, Pól Ó Dochartaigh, Jürgen Pelzer, Katharina Rennhak, Gesa Stedman


Contents

MATTHIAS BARNER
Foreword1

PAUL CARMICHAEL, GISELA HOLFTER
Introductory Notes on Unions, Break-ups and Special Relationships – Aspects of Irish-German-UK Relations3

SECTION ONE
ACADEMIA AND LANGUAGES: BRITISH-GERMAN RELATIONS AND BRITISH STUDIES IN GERMANY/GERMAN STUDIES IN THE UK AS WELL AS IRISH-GERMAN RELATIONS AND GERMAN STUDIES IN IRELAND AND IRISH STUDIES IN GERMANY

NICOLA MCLELLAND
German Teaching and German Studies in the UK: A Snapshot after Brexit and Mid-Pandemic13

MARIEKE KRAJENBRINK
German Studies in the Republic of Ireland29

PÓL Ó DOCHARTAIGH
German at the Northern Irish Universities39

GISELA HOLFTER
Reflections on Irish-German Studies in Theory and Practice45

KATHARINA RENNHAK
Irish Studies in Germany Today: A Report61

GESA STEDMAN
German-British Relations? The Centre for British Studies Revisited69

MARIUS GUDERJAN
German-British Relations Post Brexit75

PAUL GILLESPIE
British-Irish Studies: Change and Cooperation91

SECTION TWO
REFLECTING ON EUROPE AND THE EUROPEAN UNION IN IRELAND NORTH AND SOUTH AFTER BREXIT, (RE-)UNIFICATION IN THE PAST AND IN THE FUTURE AND THE SITUATION IN NORTHERN IRELAND

JOACHIM FISCHER
Where is Europe in Irish Education? A Plaidoyer for a Revival of European Studies in Irish Schools after Brexit113

JÜRGEN PELZER
When Hope and History (Might) Rhyme: Reflections of the “Wende” in East and West German Poetry between 1989 and 1992135

JOHN COAKLEY
The Partition of Ireland: Perspectives on the Future147

EDWARD MOXON-BROWNE
Brexit and Irish Unity: Festina Lente?161

KATY HAYWARD
Making and Breaking Unions: The Unintended Consequences of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland167

JAMES W. MCAULEY
Changing Cultures and Identity? Politics in Post-Brexit Northern Ireland175

ORAN DOYLE
Irish Unification: Constitutional Modalities and Adaptations189

Notes on Contributors199