Cross-border co-operation between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland : neo-functionalism revisited

This paper re-visits the theme of the reasons for economic co-operation between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and whether economic co-operation spills over to political co-operation. The article examines the impact of the Good Friday Agreement on cross-border administrative and economic co-operation and concludes that it has had a large impact on administrative co-operation, but that it has not provided large-scale incentives for business co-operation. Thus, different strategies for increasing co-operation are required for different sectors