Continuity and change in a partitioned civil society : Whyte revisited

This paper revisits John Whyte’s seminal 1983 article “The permeability of the United Kingdom-Irish border: a preliminary reconnaissance” (Whyte, 1983). The objective is to explore hypotheses Whyte put forward as to why some private organisations are all-Ireland while others follow the international boundary. He suggested that two variables are crucial in explaining this: the nature of the organisation’s activities and the date of its foundation. He also identified a lack of readily available information on foundation dates. To overcome this lacuna we carried out a survey of private organisations to ascertain their foundation date, area of activity and what if any territorial reconfiguring they have undergone. Using the same functional categories as Whyte our research is generally supportive of his initial findings. Civil society can act as a counter-force to the boundary reinforcing dynamics of separate state developments.