Nurturing Hope: The Learning Journey

For the past 2 weeks, I have been learning about peace, hope, and reconciliation in Ireland and Northern Ireland in the context of The Troubles. The Troubles were a civil war in Northern Ireland that began in 1968 and ended with the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. The Troubles were fought between Protestant Unionists who believed that Northern Ireland should remain part of the United Kingdom - as it is today - and Catholics Nationalists who wanted a united Ireland. Over the course of The Troubles, over 3,500 people died. To put things into perspective, if America suffered the same conflict, 600,000 Americans would have died.

--

As part of the journey, we visited various peace centers, with Glencree being the first peace center we visited.

Glencree was first established as barracks for British soldiers, which is evidenced by the poem below. Then, it was made into the St. Kevin's Reformatory School just after the potato famine. Many boys were left as orphans, and, therefore, were sent to this reformatory school. In 1946, after WWII, Operation Shamrock was conducted at this location. Operation Shamrock allowed 400 - 500 German children to escape the devastation of post-war Germany by allowing these children to be fostered by Irish families for 3 years. Now, it is the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, and helps bring peace to various communities. It was originally made in the response to The Troubles and facilitated dialogue between leaders on both sides of the conflict, but has since expanded and hosts leaders from around the world.

At Glencree, we were given a lecture about peace work and The Troubles. We learned about ethnic identities and how spatial segregation results in a lack of understanding between these groups, which is why peace centers are so important, as they bring these groups together.

The drive to and from Glencree was absolutely stunning.

--

For roughly 5 days, we stayed at Corrymeela, another peace center made in response to The Troubles, and engaged in The Learning Journey. At this center, we explored peace building through relationships and storytelling, as well as heard from individuals that experienced, or are experiencing conflicts from around the world, such as The Troubles, the war in Ukraine, post-apartheid South Africa, and the border conflict in South and North Korea.

Most of our sessions took place in the building above, known as the Croí, which is in the shape of a heart. I will do my best to list - in no particular order - what was discussed and what we did.

We talked about how we have to engage in relationship building to change mental models which will, in turn, change the underlying structures that cause patterns that change events. The main point of this framework is that we must change what we can't see (i.e., mental models, structures, and patterns) to change what we can see (i.e., events) by building relationships with people that carry different mental models and beliefs than us.

Additionally, we were in small groups, where we made life maps and identified patterns within our own lives, as well as the lives of others. This demonstrates how storytelling is a gateway to relationship building.

We also learned about mimetic theory, which posits that desire comes from relationships. In other words, people mimic the desires of the people they are in relation with. This explains why conflicts, such as The Troubles, can last so long, as everyone can get lost in trying to achieve the same goals, and, in this process, the goals can be lost entirely. Instead of striving to resolve to the conflict, violence becomes the goal because everyone is engaging in it senselessly. This is directly tied to scapegoating, the process of "othering" individuals that are different or that do not want the same goals. 

The food was delicious and mealtimes were my favorite because you could engage with people from all over the world.

While we did a whole plethora of things I did not mention at Corrymeela, this was a very transformative experience. We spent our last night at a campfire making smores and dancing (not pictured, haha). This was my favorite part of Corrymeela, as it was basically a multicultural dance party. Individuals from South Korea, Sudan, Ukraine, South Africa, Scotland, America, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, and Northern Ireland were all dancing together. It was amazing to be in the same place with people from all around the world because you never knew who you were going to talk with at meals or freetime, what perspectives you might gain, and what relationships you would surely build.

--

After Corrymeela, we went to the Twelfth parade, which celebrates King William's III's victory over King James II in July 1960. This celebration is heavily attended by Protestants and Catholics tend to leave the country at this time.

--

The next day, we had a lecture at Queens University by Dr. Katy Hayward, a political sociologist. 

This lecture was very interesting, and we learned about the political state of Northern Ireland in the wake of the Good Friday Agreement. Essentially, the British and Irish governments are supposed to work together for Northern Ireland, but they can not get along. Similarly, Northern Ireland's internal governments can't get along either, so there has been 700+ day government shutdowns. Currently, there seems to be an overall shift happening in Northern Ireland where more individuals may want Irish unification, but this is tricky because Northern Ireland already has an infrastructure of violence, and this act would surely anger some. Overall, this was a very interesting lecture.

-- 

Then, we went to Derry/Londonderry, which is where Bloody Sunday happened on January 30th, 1972. 

Though there was conflict way before this date, this is where the start of The Troubles took place.

This spot specifically is where Bloody Sunday occurred. Basically, Catholics were peacefully protesting against the unfair treatment they were enduring, and were met with armed resistance from British armies, shooting 26 peaceful protesters and killing 14. This sparked a violent turn in the conflict and increased the violence of paramilitaries.

In Derry, we visited a museum and saw the clothes worn by Mickey Devine, a hunger striker, before being sentenced to the H-Blocks of Long Kesh, a prison where many individuals involved in the conflict spent their time.

This is a memorial for the hunger strikers who died in the prison. Derry was a very heavy day.

--

The next day, we visited historical sites related to The Troubles in Belfast.

Firstly, we visited the Clonard Monastery.

Discussions regarding the cease fires were held in these buildings of the monastery.

We also visited areas where Catholic homes were burned down. I couldn't help but tear up here, as you could feel the hatred in the air.

Unfortunately, there are still "peace walls" up to separate Catholic neighborhoods from Protestant neighborhoods to ensure that violence does not break out. There are even gates that open and close at certain times.

This mural, also in the Catholic neighborhood, is of Bobby Sands, a major unionist figure in the movement. 

On this walk, we passed by Sinn Fein headquarters, which is the political wing of the Republicans, who tend to be Catholic.

The Protestant neighborhoods, in contrast, had UK flags everywhere.

The "peace walls" were also on the Protestant side.

These were some quotes on the walls that I liked. 

There were also murals threaded throughout the Protestant neighborhoods.

--

On this day, we visited nonprofit organizations that aim to bring these divided communities together. 

Black Mountain Shared Space does amazing work at uniting members of both sides of these communities through events, games, and other festivities. Moreover, they have played an active part in removing "peace walls" around Belfast. At our visit, we heard from a political prisoner, which was very interesting.

The next place we visited was the Shankill Shared Women's Centre, which provides services to women in need regardless of political or religious affiliation.

--

We ended our learning journey by having a lecture from Dr. Duncan Morrow at Ulster University where he tied everything together and discussed just how complex the conflict still is. 

This entire experience allowed me to learn what you can't learn from a textbook, which is how conflicts  in society are generational and complex, but also how it is possible to bring societies together, which, in my opinion, is very needed in America. I am very grateful that I was able to learn abroad and gain an international perspective on peace reconciliation.