Northern Ireland Community Relations Council - About Us - Press Releases

05 October 2009

‘As we reach the fifteenth year of peace processing in Northern Ireland since the IRA and loyalist ceasefires of 1994 peace has proved to be a more complex and difficult process than can be imagined by pictures of former enemies united as leaders of a new dispensation.’

Duncan Morrow, Chief Executive of the Community Relations Council, comments on the nature of the task of increasing the peace in his concluding chapter to a new CRC publication. The Challenges of Peace- research as a contribution towards peace-building in Northern Ireland, now available from CRC’s website www.nicrc.org.uk, contains summaries from 11 research projects completed under the European Union Special Support Programme for Peace and Reconciliation (Peace II).

‘Peace-building and reconciliation are not just short term activities but part of a longer term process’ according to the book’s editor Naomi Doak. ‘Essential to the development of peace and reconciliation is an understanding of where we are now in order to move forward. Research and the development of new and innovative strategies which look to the future and consider the changing demography in our society can help us progress towards a sustainable peace.’

This was part of the premise behind the Community Relations Council’s ‘Promoting Peace’ research project. The 11 research projects were commissioned while devolution was being negotiated in 2006 and concluded during 2008 more than a year after the successful transfer of power to new institutions. ‘What they illustrate’, according to Duncan Morrow, ‘is that progress in politics has not put the underlying issues of division and antagonism to bed and that change on this axis will require deliberate and systemic intervention if it is to happen.’

The 11 research chapters examine a range of themes:

Neil Jarman, John Bell and Ulf Hansson highlight the realities of ongoing division in their study of ‘Sectarianism and Segregation: routines of Everyday Life in Northern Ireland’.

Owen Hargie and his colleagues, in ‘Dealing with difference in the workplace’, paint a mixed picture of progress in one of the most heralded successes of social change in NI.

Frank Gaffikin and colleagues explore in depth the whole concept of shared space in Belfast in their article ‘Planning Shared Space for a Shared Future’.

Mike McQueen and colleagues take up a similar theme to explore new participative approaches to planning and design in ‘Engagement, Participation and Urban Renewal at the Fountain/Brandywell Interface: A Co-Influence Approach to Shared Future Urban Environments’.

The complexities of moving towards a shared and better future are drawn out by Philip O’Sullivan and David Russell in ‘Education and a Shared Future: Options for Sharing and Collaboration in Northern Ireland Schools’.

Peter Osborne and Brian Dougherty look at the good relations challenges for local government in ‘Leading from the Grassroots – Recommendations for Growing Strong,

Vibrant and Inclusive Local Government in Northern Ireland’.

Dirk Schubotz and Claire McCartan, drawing on the Young Life and Times Survey, look at the benefits of inter-community and cross-community youth work.

Rosellen Roche underlines the ongoing nature of the sectarian divide among young people in ‘Facts, Fears and Feelings: Investigating Sectarianism and Segregation Post-Conflict’.

The changing face of Northern Ireland is explored in three final chapters.

Paul Hainsworth, Aidan McGarry and Chris Gilligan look at the attitudes of elected representatives to minority ethnic communities.

Fran Porter in ‘Faith in a Plural Society’ explores the challenge to the Christian churches of an increasingly multi-ethnic society.

‘Giving Voice to Africans: West of the Bann’ by Máiréad Nic Craith, Elly Odhiambo and Khanyisela Moyo looks at the experience of exclusion by Africans living in Northern Ireland.

Duncan Morrow concludes:

‘One the one hand society has become more diverse in terms of race and religion. On the other hand the old issues have not been resolved. Above all, the issue of legitimizing violence to attack enemies has not been finally removed, especially for young people and ethnic minorities. It is our hope that this research and other research like it can shape an evidence-based and dynamic new society based on the evident and universally accepted value of every human person and a determination to ensure that the future is shared and better for all.’

For further information contact

Ray Mullan

90-227500 email rmullan@nicrc.org.uk