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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
September 30, 2007
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| July 30, 2007 |
Division and identity in Northern Ireland: Seán O’Boyle takes a deeper look at the Troubles |
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Mr. O’Boyle challenged participants to give their understanding of the conflict |
“What comes to mind when you think about Northern Ireland?”. This is what Seán O’Boyle asked his audience on the Peace Boat as he joined the ship to give us a greater insight into the conflict there. “The IRA” offered one. “Loyalist fighters” shouted another. But for many, the picture of a war between Catholics and Protestants was the first thought. Mr. O’Boyle had come from the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation to look beyond that surface image, to explore the causes of this fighting and understand how to overcome it. As Seán began, “this is not purely a religious clash – it is a fundamental conflict between identities”. |
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Seán remembers the growing division between the two identities in Northern Ireland |
In the partition of Ireland in 1920, Seán explained, two-thirds of Northern Ireland was made up of an industrial, pro-British, Protestant community – anxious to protect their way of life in the face of Irish nationalism that looked to unite all of Ireland and separate totally from the UK. The other third was largely agricultural, pro-Irish and Catholic – suddenly a minority in the new country and feeling persecuted with a lack of power in government.
The division led to distrust, continuing to grow until in 1968, it came violently to the surface. Peaceful civil rights marches calling for an end to the discrimination felt by Catholics were fiercely put down by the police. In the tense atmosphere, street violence between the two communities escalated. Both sides increasingly sought security in the armed groups that fed on the state of fear. More and more pro-Irish, Catholics identified with terrorist group IRA (Irish Republican Army), fighting for a united Ireland and against what was seen as British, Protestant oppression. At the same time, many Protestants and those loyal to the UK looked for protection from the UDA (Ulster Defence Association) and UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force) as a means to strike back. |
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| Participants tussle as they rush to grab chairs during Seán’s workshop on the beginning of conflict |
By the early 1970s in the peak of the violence, huge waves of bombings in Belfast targeted Loyalist, Protestant areas. Dublin suffered the same fate as the conflict stretched south of the border, in a backlash against Irish nationalism. The violence became so deep rooted that it was not until 1994 that both the IRA and Loyalist fighters called ceasefires, allowing the peace process to move forward. Spanning three decades, the conflict had dragged thousands into the cycle of hate and bloodshed. “Everyone knows someone who had died or got involved” Seán reflects.
As outsiders of the conflict, it was difficult for many of the Japanese participants to understand the killing. But as Mr.O’Boyle reminded all, “You could have been born into this situation. You could have been part of the violence”. Using just a few chairs, he showed how quickly and easily anyone can become caught up in conflict as he instructed three groups of participants to carry out separate tasks: one to create a line of chairs, another had to form a circle and the rest tried to remove all the chairs from the room. “C,mon, c’mon!” he screamed, rushing everyone to complete their objective in just a few minutes. Under pressure, participants began to wrestle chairs from each other as they competed to finish their task. |
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| Mr. O’Boyle charted the development of conflict and the path to reconciliation |
“None of the groups talked between themselves!” noted the onlookers after the good-natured struggle ended. The lack of communication meant each party had simply followed their own task, failing to see they could work together to meet everyone’s goals. Looking further at how conflict develops, Seán explored this breakdown of interaction, where two sides begin to suppress their problems instead of taking the opportunity to address them. As cooperation between the groups is lost, people begin to look inwardly to their own communities, forcing them to take sides and drawing the battle lines.
After recognising the development of conflict, Seán then mapped out the ‘road to reconciliation’. “Positive communication is the key!” he stressed to the participants. That firstly means that both sides in conflict need to identify their problems together before they can overcome them. Slowly building up the dialogue, both sides can then begin to find ways around their differences and ultimately look to apologise and make amends. Northern Ireland is still on this path, having found a way past the violence and trying a new power-sharing solution, but there is still a lot to do before all communities reach full reconciliation. Yet sometimes the hardest step is the first, turning from the security of your own side and reaching out to your foes. Remembering Nelson Mandela’s famous words to the politicians of Northern Ireland, Seán pointed out: “You don’t make peace by talking to your friends. You have to make peace with your enemies”. |
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