Informal is the new normal in North–South relations

Abstract North/South cooperation on the island of Ireland has grown significantly in the last twenty-six years. Still, it can be argued that the delivery of that growth has happened mainly outside the formal Strand Two structures of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement with the North South Ministerial Council and its implementation bodies presently not directly involved in some of the main flagship cross-border projects in the areas of health, infrastructure, higher and further education, research, arts and culture. Instead, the Shared Island Unit, established in September 2020 and based within the Department of the Taoiseach, has been driving the delivery of the majority of projects in these areas, in many cases without direct input from the Northern Ireland Executive. This paper reviews how informal governance has been used to enhance cooperation and solve issues due to the deliberately limiting nature of the formal Strand Two institutions.