Frontpage  About  admin@impgroup.org
Paper info: The Role of a Government Intermediary (Diplomatic Broker) in Developing a Network of Relationships Between Ireland and Newfoundland, Canada

Title


The Role of a Government Intermediary (Diplomatic Broker) in Developing a Network of Relationships Between Ireland and Newfoundland, Canada

Authors


Leanne Bowe and Thomas O'Toole

Place of Publication


The paper was published at the 27th IMP-conference in Glasgow, Scotland in 2011.

Download


Download paper
(170.4 kb)

Abstract


This paper reports on the network brokering role of the Ireland Newfoundland Partnership (INP).
The INP was set-up to develop relationships between Ireland and the province of Newfoundland
and Labrador in Canada. The INP represents a new type of broker and we set out to examine the
function and role of such a broker. The broker role is labelled as a diplomatic one as the INP is
limited to a social intermediary role with persuasive power only with the added weight of its
location in government which gives it additional authenticity. The findings combine data from
73 respondents of an email survey and 9 in-depth interviews of key actors in the Ireland-
Newfoundland relationship. The findings confirm the impact and benefits/outcomes of such an
intermediary. Using a range of qualitative and quantitative measures the INP was perceived to
be central in the relationships brokered and was found to have added to the depth and density of
ties between the two regions. Its benefit as an intermediary and the benefits of the projects ,
combined with the outcomes of the interaction, also confirmed the function and role of this type
of intermediary. Although the study reports on relationships brokered during a 10 year period,
many are still at an early stage. The question remains as to whether the INP can translate its
ability to broker initial contact into systemic self-sustaining inter-regional networks in the future.