Partnerships and Policy in Northern Ireland

This paper evaluates the experiences of the Derry/Lon don derry Partnership Board established as part of the European Union's (EU) Peace and Reconciliation Programme in Northern Ireland and suggests that it has been able to establish a distinctive approach to community consultation, strategy formulation and programme delivery. It explores the method and content of its most recent Action Plan and argues that the fealty that has traditionally informed local government discourses has been challenged by an open, pluralist and respectful analysis of position s an d problems. The paper concludes by arguing that the real contribution of the Partnerships have been to create the space for civic democracy to be played out in an attempt to embed the peace process and a long-term political settlement.