Peacebuilding a shared Northern Irish society
Citizens Wallpaper: a co-produced community visual story by Allan LEONARD 21 March 2023 Four “canvasses” of photographic images, covering the northern part of the island of Ireland, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Irish Sea, are part of an exhibition that was launched by Kellie Armstrong MLA in the Long Gallery at Parliament Buildings, Belfast.... Continue Reading →
Images of Incoming: exclusion and belonging in Northern Ireland by Allan LEONARD 8 March 2023 To coincide with International Women’s Day, the Linen Hall Library hosted an event showcasing a Photovoice project that involved over 70 women from Northern Ireland and Canada, expressing their sense of inclusion and exclusion in their new countries. Dr Federica... Continue Reading →
Book review — Refugees and Forced Displacement in Northern Ireland’s Troubles (Niall GILMARTIN and Brendan Ciarán BROWNE) by Allan LEONARD 17 February 2023 Among the imagery associated with the Troubles, occasionally you see one of a van or car overladen with house furniture and hastily assembled parcels of clothing and personal possessions. These people were... Continue Reading →
Offer of help with truth recovery process at Irish Council of Churches centenary service by Allan LEONARD 22 January 2023 The Irish Council of Churches (ICC) — an all-island body with membership from Protestant, Orthodox, Reformed, and independent church traditions — marked its centenary with a joint service of worship at St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast.... Continue Reading →
‘Ordinary People’: an exhibition of standing up to hatred by Allan LEONARD 21 January 2023 “It’s the farmer in the field, and the pilot that he finds, Hides him in his barn, till all his wounds have healed. Or the baker making extra bread, to give a starving man, Or people helping people, who they’ll... Continue Reading →
Good Friday Agreement ‘best thing that’s happened on this island in the last 100 years’: Coveney by Allan LEONARD 19 October 2022 Minister Simon Coveney TD, Ireland Minister for Foreign Affairs, resumed his speech that was interrupted by a bomb scare earlier this year in north Belfast. He was the keynote speaker guest as part... Continue Reading →
Media’s role in mediating our 'different psychic landscapes' by Allan LEONARD 18 October 2022 A set of current and former journalists shared their experiences and thoughts on the role of media and social debate across the island of Ireland. Hosted by the Irish Association, the event “Journalism without borders” attracted several dozen, including other journalists... Continue Reading →
Peace Heroines: Spotlight on Stormont by Allan LEONARD 21 September 2022 The Herstory project, established in 2016 to elevate the stories of women in national histories, launched an art exhibition at the Long Gallery in Parliament Buildings, Belfast. “Peace Heroines” features nine vibrant, largescale individual portrait paintings by artist FRIZ — women who have made an indelible mark... Continue Reading →
‘Just drawing support’ — Bill Rolston’s latest catch of mural hunting by Allan LEONARD 11 August 2022 Bill Rolston published the first volume of Drawing Support in 1992, which contained images of 100 murals from the previous decade. Thirty years later, the fifth volume has just been published, and at a Feile an Phobail event... Continue Reading →
‘A Long Night’s Journey into Day’ — distinguishing process and progress of reconciliation in South Africa by Allan LEONARD 4 August 2022 As part of the Feile programme of events, and supported by the Department of Foreign Affair’s Reconciliation Fund, the award-winning documentary film about South Africa’s truth and reconciliation process, A Long Night’s Journey... Continue Reading →
‘The South is not ready for unification’: Andy Pollak by Allan LEONARD 26 July 2022 The theme for the 35th John Hewitt International Summer School was “Finding the national: redefining home and country for a shared future”, which asked how much “home”, “country”, “identity”, and “nation” matter, or should matter in a shared future, and... Continue Reading →
Shared Future News launches book asking ‘What Northern Ireland means to me’ by Shared Future News 29 April 2022 Shared Future News, a media organisation that publishes stories of peacebuilding, reconciliation, and diversity, held an event to launch its new book, What Northern Ireland Means to Me, as a compendium of its podcast of the... Continue Reading →