John McGarry,OC (born 1957) is a political scientist fromNorthern Ireland. He was born inBelfast and grew up inBallymena,County Antrim. He is currently the Stephen Gyimah Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Political Studies atQueen's University inKingston, Ontario, Canada.[1]
John McGarry is the author of numerous books aboutethnic conflict and particularlyThe Troubles. Many of the books were co-authored withBrendan O'Leary, whom McGarry met when they both attendedSaint MacNissi's College.[2]
McGarry and O'Leary'Explaining Northern Ireland: Broken Images (Blackwells, 1995) is widely regarded as the most authoritative (and most cited) book on the Northern Ireland conflict.[3] TheirPolicing Northern Ireland: Proposals for a New Start (Blackstaff Press, 1999) influenced the work of theIndependent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland.[4] The commission's work on reforming Northern Ireland's police dealt with one of the most intractable issues in the negotiations around theGood Friday Agreement.
In 2008–2009, McGarry served as the 'Senior Advisor onpower-sharing' to the United Nations (Mediation Support Unit,Department of Political Affairs).[5] Since that time, he has worked as a senior advisor to the UN-mediated negotiations onCyprus and participated in the negotiations on Cyprus atCrans-Montana,Switzerland in June–July, 2017. Apart from Northern Ireland and Cyprus, McGarry has advised on a range of conflicts, including in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iraq, Kosovo, and Ukraine.
His academic and applied contribution were recognised in 2010, when he was invested into theRoyal Society of Canada.[6] He won aTrudeau Fellowship Prize in 2011.[7] In 2013, he was awarded theQueen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal,[8] and theKillam Prize. The latter is Canada's most prestigious research prize.[9] In 2014, McGarry won theInnis-Gérin Medal from the Royal Society of Canada.[10] In 2015, his research on conflict resolution was recognised by theCouncil of Ontario Universities (COU) as one of the top 50 examples of "game-changing" research conducted in Ontario during the past 100 years.[11]
On 30 June 2016, McGarry was made anOfficer of the Order of Canada byGovernor GeneralDavid Johnston for "his scholarly contributions to the study of ethnic conflict and for designingGovernance Frameworks that promote peace."[12] He won Canada'sMolson Prize in the Social Sciences and Humanities in the same year.[13] In 2022 he was awarded thePearson Peace Medal, previous recipients of which includeRomeo Dallaire,Louise Arbour, andBeverly McLachlin.
McGarry and O'Leary have long backedconsociationalism (power-sharing) as a method ofconflict management.Arend Lijphart has been a significant influence on their work.[14] In 2009, a book entitledConsociational Theory: McGarry and O'Leary and the Northern Ireland Conflict was published, edited byRupert Taylor.[15]
