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Centre for the Study of Conflict School of History, Philosophy and Politics, Faculty of Humanities, University of Ulster
"Understanding Conflict ... And Finding Ways Out Of It"
by Derick Wilson
Copies are available in bookshops or, by post, from:Centre for the Study of Conflict University of Ulster COLERAINE Northern Ireland BT52 1SA
T: (01265) 324666 or 324165
"Understanding Conflict ... And Finding Ways Out Of It" by Derick Wilson
Centre for the Study of Conflict
"Understanding Conflict .... and finding ways out of it" is a project
that seeks to make training, study materials and research available to
people and groups interested in community reconciliation.
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In Northern Ireland people do not talk about politics, religion and
history unless they know who they are talking to. The fact that we all
belong together is denied time and again.
The Northern Ireland conflict has many dimensions. It embraces, among
others, selective histories and memories; divergent cultures; the
geography of Ireland and Great Britain; politics; class; business and
trade unions; prejudice and bigotry; religion and the churches;
unemployment and emigration.
"Understanding Conflict ... and finding ways out of it" has been
initiated by four people who over the years have worked in Northern
Ireland on programmes and projects of the Corrymeela Community, a
reconciliation group.
Working with many groups (See appendix 1) we have found that we need ways
of exploring and recognising our differences and the difficulties between
us before we can try to find ways forward together.
Through these meetings we have deepened our insights into life in
Northern Ireland and beyond. Living here, the task is to make it
possible to meet and establish relationships which transcend the walls of
silence and of violence, that often divide us. In this manner we hope to
find new ways forward together.
Even in the event of a political breakthrough, it will be a long journey
to better relationships together. The perceptions inherited from and
generated by continuing mutual suspicion and distrust are very strong.
They have led us into two decades of civil conflict and the violence
itself often reinforces them.
Where there are different experiences of violence there is always the
danger that we make the other side's violence worse than ours. Opposed
perspectives on this question can again generate very bitter arguments
and deepen division.
In this society we avoid talking about these things at all in order to
preserve any good relationship we think we have. In this way even good
motives preserve the division.
Visitors to Northern Ireland frequently are surprised by the extent to
which 'normal' life goes on for the vast majority. They are impressed by
the physical beauty of much of the countryside and the kindness and
hospitality of its people. This kindness and hospitality make the
problem still more complex for, paradoxically, this kind and hospitable
people are the same people able to do and live amidst so much violence.
Our experience convinces us that those who try to do this work need
relationships that give sustained personal support. The Northern Irish
situation and the feelings evoked by it are so strong that anybody who
tries to understand it often becomes the victim of strong emotions, both
his/her own and those of others. To sustain those in this work, and to
understand the feelings and to think clearly about ways forward, trust
and teamwork are needed.
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Real possibilities to live together in Northern Ireland only grow as we
meet, trust and eventually work with one another. In our work we ask
people to speak about their experiences and in this way we learn together
about the sense of antagonism without becoming absorbed by it. We learn
how the 'others are not a monolithic bloc full of self-justified enmity
toward us but made up of people like ourselves, full of doubts, anxieties
and fears.
We build bridges through our understanding of each others' experiences
which often free us from the circle of angry self justification. We
become part of new relationships which free us of fear and often of the
sense of being alone. In Appendix 5 we give an example of our work with
a group.
Important steps have already been taken. Through our lives and work we
have known many people who were in violence, who have suffered under
violence and who have found peaceful ways forward.
We have, within our group, specialist knowledge of history, politics,
philosophy, psychotherapy, education and theology. We have worked in
community development, Christian education and psychotherapy. We have
experiences of working within formal and informal education, church and
ecumenical organisations, voluntary and statutory bodies.
We will seek to work together with people within schools and colleges,
universities, community youth programmes, the churches, voluntary
organisations, community and reconciliation groups. We hope to work with
those in business, trade-union and political life who express interest.
The three complementary strands of the project are:
In each area we outline the groups and programmes of work we wish to do.
(A) DIRECT WORK WITH PEOPLE
(a) Responding to requests to assist projects working on understanding
community conflict
We have already responded to many requests by groups (see Appendix 1).
Usually they are made up of people from different backgrounds on a
cross-community basis. With them, we have explored the questions they
have about their lives, their projects and the predicaments they face.
These have included experiences of violence and hurt, the nature of
conflict and how to live in the midst of it and the possibility of
finding ways of peace together with other people.
After these initial meetings groups often seek ways to continue to work
together further e.g. Youth and Community Workers planning joint
programmes; Senior School Pupils developing new forms of inter-school
links; cross-community meetings that were followed up by school staff
meeting to develop resources for teaching.
(b) Establishing regular meetings of small study/training groups
that meet for a period of time
Out of our work to date and linking with the work of the Corrymeela
Community and other groups we are in contact with through the Centre for
the Study for Conflict there is considerable evidence that many people
wish to meet on a regular basis. The purpose of such meetings is to
support one another in difficult situations, to deepen our understanding
of one another and to seek new ways forward together. We will support
such groups. We will meet on evenings, and/or days and/or on a
residential basis to suit the wishes of participants.
These groups will be formed out of the existing networks we belong to and
the members and activity will lead us to others. Groups will be formed
with the intention of having a life-time of up to three years. We have
been involved in a preliminary scheme of this nature which has worked for
three years and much has developed out of it. Members come from
community work, social work, teaching, youth work, medical care, church,
trade union and business backgrounds.
(c) Development of future leadership, especially among young
people
The development of community leadership is especially important for
future reconciliation work in Northern Ireland. We have learned this
within the Corrymeela programme. This is especially true for young
people within the so-called 'seed groups'. Young people join a one-year
programme of six residential weekends and have follow-up meetings. Many
of these young people now work in community reconciliation projects while
others maintain deep and continuing friendships that cross traditional
barriers and have lasted for many years.
There are now many adults and young people coming forward into different
expressions of community reconciliation work. We will invite groups of
people to participate in such groups, using community and residential
settings.
(d) Offering courses, seminars and conferences of an occasional
nature
The project will offer opportunities for those who wish to begin to
understand conflict and who are seeking new ways in Northern Ireland.
This will be done through seminars and occasional conferences.
We hope to use the short course programmes of both Northern Ireland
Universities with regular courses and seminars. In addition we will
build on the work of the Corrymeela Community in Ballycastle and Belfast
by offering day, evening and residential courses.
We have already taken occasional courses and conferences (e.g.
Anglo-Irish Encounter; Ecumenical Youth Council of Europe). We have
found them to be important starting points for many people. We see
considerable additional opportunities for courses arising out of recent
government policy changes in respect of community relations.
The intention of these approaches is to increase the number of people
confident and competent in cross-community work and assist them to take
their experiences into public institutions and community life generally.
(B) AIDS FOR STUDY AND TEACHING
The most important work is the direct work with people and groups.
However it is necessary that the work be supported and supplemented by
carefully developed study and teaching materials. The work will
complement what is happening in formal education. We will therefore
develop and contribute materials which are from our viewpoint relevant to
politics, history, mutual understanding, cultural heritage and religious
education.
Youth Service policy and Community Relations policy are also changing and
our work with local groups will assist community understanding
programmes. Out of this common work we hope that relevant community
education materials would evolve.
A leading publisher of adult education material has invited us to prepare
material on community conflict for consideration with a view to publication.
Teaching materials we wish to prepare will cover a wide range of topics
and subjects of which the following are examples only:
(C) RESEARCH
The distinguishing feature of this project is that we are not only
involved in University work but that we are part of the life of
Corrymeela. Because of our experience of life in Northern Ireland and
some of the reconciling work of Corrymeela we no longer regard
instability as something extraordinary. From where we stand it is peace
and stability that need to be understood.
In our understanding of politics, fears and anxieties are now the
foundation. Political breakdown in Northern Ireland has shown us that
once relationships break down normal politics and normal assumptions
about a stable society do not any longer work here.
We wish to continue and develop these insights through a series of
connected research themes. As a first step we intend to pursue work in
the following areas.
Frank Wright:
Duncan Morrow:
Theme: The ways in which violent conflict manages us
Derick Wilson:
People living in the midst of violence and conflict
Roel Kaptein:
Background Reflection
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The project team consists of three members who live in Northern Ireland
and one consultant. One member will work full-time, a second part-time
and the third will work regularly in an associate capacity. All four
have considerable experience of reconciliation work.
Full-time
Derick Wilson is a science graduate of Queens University, Belfast. He
took a postgraduate diploma in Youth and Community Work at University
College, Swansea, after which he worked for the N.I. Community Relations
Commission (70-73).
After establishing professional courses as Senior Lecturer in Youth and
Community Work at the Northern Ireland Polytechnic, (73-78) he was
Director of the Corrymeela Reconciliation Centre at Ballycastle, County
Antrim (78-85).
He was supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust and Foundation
Charles Veillon (85-89) to research reconciliation work and develop forms
of training appropriate to supporting people in this work. During this
time he spent a term as guest researcher at the Department of Peace and
Conflict Research, University of Uppsala, and the Life and Peace
Ecumenical Institute there. He was Chairperson of the Youth Committee
for Northern Ireland (87-89) and a member of the ad-hoc group seeking to
establish a new Community Relations Council (88-89).
Part-time
Dr. Frank Wright is a Political Science Lecturer at Queens University,
Belfast since 1973. In 1987 he became half-time in order to undertake
commitments in this kind of work. He took the University Prize in
Politics at Trinity College, Oxford, in 1969, and achieved First Class
Honours there in 1970 in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. He was a
Research Fellow at New College, Oxford, 1971-73. His publications
include "Northern Ireland: A Comparative Analysis", "Reconciling the
Histories of Protestant and Catholic in Northern Ireland",
"Reconciliation of Historical Traditions in Ulster", "The Agrarian
Opposition in Ulster Politics 1848-87", "The Ulster Spectrum",
"Protestant Ideology and Politics in Ulster".
Associate
Dr. Duncan Morrow is a graduate of Oxford and Edinburgh. Having studied
politics in Linz as an Austrian Foreign Student Scholar he is now a
Research Officer at the Centre for the study of Conflict at the
University of Ulster. He has just completed a study of the Churches and
Inter-community relationships and is currently undertaking a research
project on North and West Belfast on the impact of violence and community
relationships. Duncan has taught and lectured in politics and peace
studies at the Universities of Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Ulster, and worked
voluntarily for Quaker Peace and Service, Corrymeela, Save the Children
(Belfast) and Farset City Farm (Belfast).
Consultant
Roel Kaptein is a retired person living in Holland. He was a civil
servant and then studied law, theology, medicine, art and history in the
Netherlands and Switzerland. He has been secretary of the council of
pastoral care and of the council for church and family of the General
Synod of the Dutch Presbyterian Church for twenty five years. He has
worked for many years in the German Democratic Republic and in the German
Federal Republic and is a trained psychotherapist.
As a member of the Dutch-Northern Irish Committee he has worked for ten
years with many groups in Northern Ireland and with the Corrymeela
Community. Groups have included youth workers, community workers, social
workers, teachers, probation staff, clergy, politicians, community
groups, doctors, psychiatrists and others. He has written extensively in
journals in Dutch, German and English and has had several books published.
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Accountability
There will be an advisory group consisting of two academic staff of the
Management Committee of the Centre for the Study of Conflict (One to be
the Director), two members of the Corrymeela Community and others
nominated by funding bodies as required. This Advisory Committee will
meet on at least three formal occasions per year.
Foundations supporting the project will be invited to visit the project
frequently and will receive six monthly financial and narrative progress
reports. If any foundation wishes special information about the progress
of the work at any time, this will always be given.
Administration
Financial contributions to the project will be channelled through the
Corrymeela Community, a registered Charity (Number XN 48052A) or direct
to a named project account at the University of Ulster. All project
finance will be administered by the University Finance Department and
will be accounted for as per standard University procedures. All fees
payable by groups with means will supplement the resources available for
extending the project.
Locations
The project is based in the Centre for the Study of Conflict at the
University of Ulster. Members have access to library, seminar and
conference facilities, research back-up and office accommodation. Frank
Wright will work out of Queen's University.
We will make use of meeting rooms in Corrymeela House, Belfast and
residential facilities and meeting rooms at the Corrymeela Centre,
Ballycastle, Co. Antrim.
The project will draw on the expertise and contacts of other teaching,
programme and research staff.
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