1987/01/01 by J. P. O'Carroll, John O’Carroll
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Interdisciplinary Cultural and Social Studies #Irish and British Studies #Theatre and Performance Studies
paper · doi:10.1080/07907188708406438
openalex publication_date 1987/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Viewing community as an orally‐constructed portrait of shared experience, this paper explores the notion of community in Ireland as a set of locally‐shared attitudes to place, territory, property, time and language. It considers the contrast between society and community and argues that local culture in Ireland portrays community as good and society as bad. The ways in which communal attitudes condition both political competition and attempts to use the policy process to further economic and social development are discussed, with the conclusion that Irish politics is more an exercise in expressiveness than an exercise of choice.