Peacebuilding a shared Northern Irish society
Acknowledging deep hurt and pain: Day of Reflection at Belfast City Hall by Allan LEONARD 21 June 2023 Belfast City Council hosted an annual Day of Reflection event for a second year, providing an opportunity for people and communities across the city to acknowledge the deep hurt and pain caused by the conflict in and... Continue Reading →
Transmitting photographic energy of colour and love: Hannah Starkey’s Northern Ireland peace women by Allan LEONARD 4 June 2023 As part of the Belfast Photo Festival and in partnership with the Ulster Museum, artist Hannah Starkey gave a talk about her previous work and current exhibition on display, Principled and Revolutionary: Northern Ireland’s Peace Women.... Continue Reading →
‘We have institutions to build a better future’: Bríd Rodgers by Allan LEONARD 14 April 2023 As part of its Origins & Legacies: The Belfast/Good Friday Agreement project at the Linen Hall Library, some of the protagonists of the negotiations from across the political spectrum shared their insights at The Origins of the Agreement event.... Continue Reading →
Art can transcend GFA ‘institutional sclerosis’: Paul Arthur by Allan LEONARD 13 April 2023 Professor Paul Arthur (Ulster University) suggested that the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement could be interpreted as “the end of the beginning”, when we moved from a political life of zero-sum (if you’re winning, I must be losing), to one of agreeing to... Continue Reading →
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 →