Peacebuilding a shared Northern Irish society
The memorials in our heads: the Im/material Monument (Gail Ritchie) by Allan LEONARD 11 April 2023 As the information sheet for Gail Ritchie’s exhibition, The Im/material Monument, points out, 25 years after the signing of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement there is no memorial to commemorate the collective dead of the Troubles. Through a series of... Continue Reading →
‘Human peace wall’ marks Good Friday Agreement's 25th anniversary by Allan LEONARD 7 April 2023 A “human peace wall” event at a Belfast interface marked the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. About 100 people lined up from the Falls Road to the Shankill Road end on Northumberland Street, forming a line of solidarity... Continue Reading →
An enriching #NorthernIreland #peacebuilding conference. Lots of dynamism to keep up momentum. A colleague's summary w/ my photos: https://x.com/SharedFuture/status/1633000263987363842
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 →
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 →
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 →
‘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 →
Life on the borderlands: Exploring our ‘magical imaginations’by Allan LEONARD 15 March 2022 As part of its Borderlands exhibition, the Holywell Trust held a full-day event, attended by about a dozen participants, that combined site visits, exhibition display, and on-site discussions. The exhibition was described by Gerard Deane, the trust’s director, as “capturing the reflections... Continue Reading →
Center for Global Peace Journalism 10th anniversary symposium by Allan LEONARD 14 March 2022 The Center for Global Peace Journalism at Park University recently held an online symposium to mark its 10th anniversary. The agenda was to look back on the Center’s accomplishments and forward to the future of peace journalism. Leading experts from around... Continue Reading →
Assessing, reflecting, adapting — an evaluation of R-City’s Leadership Programme by Allan LEONARD 25 February 2022 R-City, a Belfast-based organisation for young people, hosted a launch of an evaluation report by Trinity College Dublin (TCD), of its R-City Leadership Programme. A couple dozen people attended the in-person event, in contrast to when the research was... Continue Reading →
In this episode of What Northern Ireland Means to Me, we meet Charmain Jones, who is a community relations professional, focussing on the development of rural communities. TRANSCRIPT I was born and reared in Portadown and I have lived in an interface community for 38 years. But in the next few months I am... Continue Reading →
In this episode of What Northern Ireland Means to Me, we meet Rob Fairmichael, who is a long-time peace activist and coordinator of INNATE, a non-violence network in Ireland. TRANSCRIPT I have a great grandfather buried in the (Belfast) City Cemetery, Leonard McCaughey. He was originally from Armoy and opened a vegetarian restaurant in... Continue Reading →