Consortium Workshop on Sectarianism September 18th September

Monaghan

Storytelling to Promote Intergenerational Reconciliation And Learning:

lessons from Ireland

Carragher, L., Glendinning, W. and McKeown, L.

dc Diversity Challenges

• The background – the conflict– geographical context and legacy

• The Spiral Project

• Case studies

• Youth programme

• Findings

• Further work

Overview of presentation……

Background and context …

Northern Ireland conflict 1969-1998

Political and religious roots that are centuries old:– Protestant Unionist community: NI should remain part of the UK– Catholic Nationalist community: NI should leave UK and become part of the

Republic of Ireland

Good Friday Agreement, 10 April 1998− After 30 years of violence, 3,500 deaths, over 35,000 injuries, 34,000 shootings and

14,000 bombings, few families left untouched (Muldoon et al., 2005).

Geographical context and legacy…

Northern Ireland

County LouthEstimated that 22,000 people were displaced from Northern Ireland to the Republic (Ratheen, 2005)Over 3,000 deaths

Climate of fear and suspicionPeople became reluctant to mix socially Reluctance to express cultural identify

Implications for communitiesSocietal well-being is tied in significant ways to individuals’ sense of belonging

Key part of identity based belonging to family, community, nation, ethnic group etc.

The conflict created hurts which increased divisions (sectarian / national).

Aims and Methodology…

Storytelling to Promote Intergenerational Reconciliation and Learning (SPIRAL):

Aim - explore the use of intergenerational reflection as a means of facilitating community healing and

fostering sustainable peace in the Irish border region

Method The study was carried out in three phases:

Phase one: identification and selection of mid-life and older adults (n=20) willing to share their story.identification and selection of young people to participate is workshops

Phase two: data collection - 20 in-depth qualitative interviews and 9 video memoirs from mid-life and older adultsSurvey data from 36 young people

Phase three: interactive working sessions with different groups of young people drawn for local schools and community groups (n=36) aged 16- 25 years socio-economically disadvantaged areas

Phase four: discussion groups with young people and older people

collection end point survey data

getting the message of peace and reconciliation across to young people

Why intergenerational storytelling?

Stories are powerful tools to bring past experiences to life - to highlight reality of community conflict- human repercussions of conflict- guidance for vulnerable young people

Storytelling promotes listening, the use of imagination and critical thinking skills – endorsed by Consultative Group on the Past / Victims’ Commissioner

It can also be a process which - builds resentment- reinforces wrongs- maintains conflict

The biggest tragedy in my life –Bride, aged 90 years. A Loyalist

no-warning car bomb in Dundalk at 6.22 pm on Friday, 19 December 1975….that was the Friday before Christmas he died and he was buried on Christmas Eve.

It took a terrible lot out of the whole of us. My mother kept asking where was Jack she couldn’t get over that he hadn’t gone to see her for Christmas. She just went senile. It was such a terrible shock on the family, the whole lot of us.

We were never really told much about it.. The Guards never came to me and Maura was saying that nobody went to her either…. The government said they would pay for funeral expenses and anything that was incurred but they didn’t pay for anything. Like nobody even came near us, even nuns or priests.

• TraumaRipples extending far and wide (Bloomfield, 1998)

• Psychological and emotional impact

• Culture of silence / forgetfulness –prevailing denial culture does not encourage victims to access services

–family encouraged to move on cnd let the events be wiped from the community’s collective memory (Harvey, 2005)

Case study 1…

the past impacts on the present

it’s actually harder on the family–Marion, aged 50, wife of ex-prisoner. Karen grew up, she was eight and a half months old when he went in and she was eleven when he came out.

I think it’s actually harder on the family…they have their three meals a day, their heating and lighting and all provided, for us we don’t, we have to find the money to feed and cloth the family. This myth that when they went into jail you were looked after was wrong.

You were alienated…I remember people that I would actually know crossing the street so they wouldn’t have to speak to me or be seen to speak to me,

I think you never get away from the fact that I am the wife of an ex-prisoner...and they [the community] do not welcome you in. They tolerate me now…because of the work I do and I am a member of the District Policing Partnership, .

• The family–The primary group affected are the partners and children. Evidence of psychological and emotional consequences on the children of prisoners (Farset, 2000).

• Material hardship

• Stigmatization - Wives and children were often stigmatized for the husband’s or father’s politics (Harvey, 2005)

Case study 2…

the past impacts on the present

Youth programme...

Sessions:10 working sessions with between 5 - 14 young people in each session

Listening and communication skillsStories- Videos? Response to the videos

- If she were my granny, I would like to ask her? Communications skillsWho would I like to listen to in my family? What would I want to find out?

What’s my experience? My storyThe present- mapping out your average dayListening and sharing.Noticing the past in the presentThe everyday effects of the past in the presentIdentifying a core effect/event identifying a range of voices that have something to say.Identifying 3 voices I will listen to

Findings

•The past impacts on the present – recognition of this is the first step as William Faulkner said,

the past is never dead, it’s not even past

•Young participants were concerned about speaking out / potential implications for their family

•As they were supported to develop communication and interpersonal skills:

-Positive impact on relationships with peers across community barriers

-Crucially, it led to new conversations with older members of the family

“it was great getting to learn about other cultures and storytelling was an effective way of doing it. I

learnt that it is so important to listen to everyone because it is interesting and great to learn”

sharing | learning | communicating

• Generating and maintaining the enthusiasm and commitment of young people to be involved is challenging

• The temporary nature of young people’s priorities and circumstances made it difficult to find young people with the time and commitment to be actively involved

• Encouraging conversations between the generations

• Can we encourage the positive elements of group identity and avoid the negative?

Challenges

Further Work

AFTERMATH • Victims of the conflict and their families• People displaced by conflict• Supported by Co Louth Peace & Reconciliation Partnership

PEACE III.• Partners

– Diversity Challenges– Integration Centre– County Museum Dundalk– Rural Community Network

Acknowledgments:

Special Support Programme for Peace and Reconciliation

For further information, contact:

Lucia.Carragher@netwellcentre.org

w.o.m.glen@btinternet.com