Justice in Post-Peace Ireland
December 4, 2012 Originally from Belfast, Knoxville author James B. Johnston left Ireland in 1974, during “the Troubles,” but no Irish native can ever escape the effects of that period. Everyone in Ireland knows somebody—probably many people—who were killed or injured during that time. The Belfast Peace Agreement of 1998 stopped most of the violence, finally, but didn’t entirely settle issues of justice, retribution, and punishment. Johnston’s new novel, The Price of Peace, sets up a fictional case involving a bombing and retribution designed to explore those issues. Is real justice possible after the Peace accord?