The Longlist

'Sense of identity is one of those ideas that people think they'll be embarrassed to talk about with a stranger, until they start...'

How do Catholics in Northern Ireland see themselves? Do they still believe they are trapped in an 'alien state'? While northern nationalists were once regarded as 'politically helpless, hopeless and cynical', many Catholics are now part of the political and economic mainstream - what are the consequences in terms of personal confusion and painful family and class divisions? The polls suggest that one in three Catholic voters support Sinn Féin and the IRA, two in three oppose their methods. But behind these stark figures lies a world of complexity and subtle difference.

In Search of a State is a challenging examination of the intricate reality concealed by tags like 'northern nationalist' and 'northern Catholic'. In an intensive series of interviews with Catholics from every walk of life, leading political journalist Fionnuala O'Connor explores their feelings and attitudes to their own community, to northern Protestants, to Britain, the Republic of Ireland, the Catholic Church, and the IRA's campaign. Through their voices, she conveys dramatically different experiences and reads the pulse of a dynamic community living through a time of overwhelming social change.