Peacebuilding a shared Northern Irish society
The future of public service media in Northern Ireland and beyondby Allan LEONARD9 May 2025 Ulster University (UU) held an important discussion on the role and future of public service media. Key speakers included Phil Ramsey (lecturer in media studies (UU), Siobhan Walsh (director of content policy (Ofcom)), and Catherine Johnson (professor of media and... Continue Reading →
Shared histories: diverse images and stories of the borderlandsby Allan LEONARD21 March 2025 Images from family photo albums adorned the walls and hanging banners in an immersive pop-up exhibition that celebrated the culmination of a cultural initiative aimed at engaging communities on both sides of the IrelandโNorthern Ireland border. Shared Histories: Diverse Views is a... Continue Reading →
โA feasible bite out of a big appleโ: outcomes from ARINS/Irish Times NorthโSouth surveys 2024by Allan LEONARD13 March 2025 The ARINS (Analysing and Researching Ireland, North and South) project recently held its first event in Belfast, focusing on constitutional futures and the socio-political landscape of a potential United Ireland. After a keynote presentation by Professor... Continue Reading →
โItโs not about quotasโ: integrated education adapting to new social contextsby Allan LEONARD4 March 2025 The 2025 Dunleath Lecture, hosted by the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE), delved deeply into the ongoing challenges and evolving perspectives surrounding integrated education in Northern Ireland. Held at Ulster Universityโs Belfast campus, the event featured key speeches from notable figures... Continue Reading →
Monitoring peace progress in Northern Ireland: a wellbeing frameworkby Allan LEONARD4 March 2025 While much of the media coverage of the launch of the Northern Ireland Executiveโs latest Programme for Government (PfG) rightly focused on the specific, quantifiable targets (or lack thereof), a complementary โwellbeing frameworkโ, with dozens of regularly updated metrics, has received little comment. The... Continue Reading →
Belfast Stores: a vision for inclusivity and growthby Allan LEONARD13 February 2025 Organised by NICVA, about 20 members of the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector toured the landmark art-deco former Bank of Ireland building at the top of Royal Avenue, to learn more about Belfast City Councilโs Belfast Stories, a project that will be a public... Continue Reading →
Peacemakersโ ball: woven Belfast storiesby Allan LEONARD8 February 2025 In coloured chalk on a black board, a sign outside Belfastโs city centre communal space at 2 Royal Avenue invited passersby to come in and participate in Peacemakers, a craft exercise to make stitches with alternating colours of yarn on an oversized French loom, then return to... Continue Reading →
Peace process as โa long, slow murmurationโ: the Mark Durkan interviewsby Allan LEONARD27 January 2025 The John and Pat Hume Foundation organised three events to launch a book by Graham Spencer โ The SDLP, Politics and Peace: The Mark Durkan Interviews. Dawn Purvis chaired the event held at Ulster University, interviewing both author and subject, revealing insights from... Continue Reading →
The afterlife of Troublesโ memoriesby Allan LEONARD10 December 2024 Why do survivors of the Troubles conflict in Northern Ireland recall what they do when providing their oral histories to interviewers? What is the collective effect? In a seminar, โThe Afterlife of Feelings in Oral Histories of the Troublesโ, Ulster University INCORE visiting professor Graham Dawson... Continue Reading →
Policing divided societies: Kosovo and Northern Irelandby Mihane HOXHA and Allan LEONARD29 November 2024 Would further exchanges between the police services of Kosovo and Northern Ireland be beneficial, or have recent challenges proved too great? Olga Stefanoviฤ is from the Serbian community, from the village of Leลกak in the Leposaviฤ municipality (in northern Kosovo). She... Continue Reading →
โNothing for the likes of us to be afraid ofโ: Me Oul Segocia reviewby Allan LEONARD13 November 2024 โWeโre quiet, decent folk. Thereโs nothing for the likes of us to be afraid of,โ says Danny, who wants to assure his fiancรฉe Eileen that the increasingly deteriorating security situation in their neighbourhood wonโt seriously affect them... Continue Reading →
Kosovo revisited: crucial role of civic conversations remainsby Allan LEONARD5 September 2024 On the desk of my hotel room in Pristina was a postcard inscribed, โDear Allan, Welcome back to Kosovo! As a returning visitor weโre sure youโll enjoy your time here!โ It was signed โAJK Teamโ, from the Association of Journalists of Kosovo, the... Continue Reading →