The transformation of the Irish border

This article introduces a special issue dealing with partition and the reconfiguration of the Irish border. Notwithstanding southern nationalist refusal to accept the partition of Ireland in 1921, the border gradually consolidated its position. The article describes the transformation in relations across the Irish border which first found a place on the political agenda in the early 1970s, but which was given full institutional expression only following the Good Friday agreement of 1998. This new configuration has two aspects, which seem at first sight to be in conflict with each other: it marks a new, unreserved acceptance of the legitimacy of the border by Irish nationalists (though moderated by British agreement to end partition if the two parts of Ireland so wish), and it is characterised by a significant growth in public sector bodies which span the border.