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This paper traces the development of binary system of communal categories during the peace process in Northern Ireland, focusing on the idea that 'autochthones' must belong to one or other of the two communities specified in the peace agreement reached on Good Friday 1998. The rationale underpinning this 'normative ethnicity' is explored in three interlinked government programmes: the 1991 census, equality legislation and successive consultations regarding the possibility of a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. The data are discussed in relation to broader debates about conflict management, the state and governmentality.