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 Foreword 1 PAUL CARMICHAEL, GISELA HOLFTER Introductory Notes on Unions, Break-ups and Special Relationships – Aspects of Irish-German-UK Relations 3 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-Pandemic 13 MARIEKE KRAJENBRINK German Studies in the Republic of Ireland 29 PÓL Ó DOCHARTAIGH German at the Northern Irish Universities 39 GISELA HOLFTER Reflections on Irish-German Studies in Theory and Practice 45 KATHARINA RENNHAK Irish Studies in Germany Today: A Report 61 GESA STEDMAN German-British Relations? The Centre for British Studies Revisited 69 MARIUS GUDERJAN German-British Relations Post Brexit 75 PAUL GILLESPIE British-Irish Studies: Change and Cooperation 91 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 Brexit 113 JÜRGEN PELZER When Hope and History (Might) Rhyme: Reflections of the “Wende” in East and West German Poetry between 1989 and 1992 135 JOHN COAKLEY The Partition of Ireland: Perspectives on the Future 147 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 Ireland 167 JAMES W. MCAULEY Changing Cultures and Identity? Politics in Post-Brexit Northern Ireland 175 ORAN DOYLE Irish Unification: Constitutional Modalities and Adaptations 189 Notes on Contributors 199