Peacebuilding a shared Northern Irish society
Developing respect in our politics: Leaders' debate by Allan LEONARD 8 August 2018 The high level of respect displayed by the audience and speakers at St Mary’s University College for a leaders’ debate organised by Féile Belfast belied that of the current political situation in Northern Ireland. Representing seven parties on the island of Ireland... Continue Reading →
“To change the riverflow of history”: Constitutional pasts and futures by Allan LEONARD 8 May 2018 Political and legal scholars, peacemakers and peacebuilders convened at the Royal Irish Academy to review and discuss potential constitutional relationships between Ireland and the United Kingdom, especially vis-a-vis Northern Ireland and the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and the import of... Continue Reading →
Do wars really end? A Mother Brings Her Son to be Shot (Sinead O’Shea) by Allan LEONARD 19 April 2018 A Mother Brings Her Son to be Shot, a film directed by Sinead O’Shea and screened at the Belfast Film Festival at the Queen’s Film Theatre, is a story about Philip O’Donnell Jr and his... Continue Reading →
Reflected Lives: broadening the canvas of the past An oral history project at a Belfast interface by Allan LEONARD 10 April 2018 Joe O’Donnell (Strategic Director, Belfast Interface Project) told the audience that the auspicious date for today’s exhibition launch was no accident. With reference to the much-publicised conference at Queen’s University Belfast, featuring key... Continue Reading →
Using our past better: Launch of Divided Society by Allan LEONARD 22 January 2018 Twenty and two years in the making, the Linen Hall Library launched its website, Divided Society, which features documentary material in its Northern Ireland Political Collection, of the peace process during the 1990s, with over 500 journal titles available. It is... Continue Reading →
Rewrite our future! Washington Ireland Program Thanksgiving Ball 2017 by Allan LEONARD 25 November 2017 The Thanksgiving Ball has become an annual tradition of the Washington Ireland Program, held at this time of year in recognition of the generosity of families in America who host visiting participants. Tonight’s event, with several hundred attending at the... Continue Reading →
Peace by piece: Launch of interface exhibition @DoJ_Interfaces by Allan LEONARD for Shared Future News 20 November 2017 Ulster University’s York Street campus, home to the schools of art and architecture, served as a fitting venue for the launch of an interface exhibition sponsored by the Department of Justice and featured ongoing community-based projects as... Continue Reading →
Exhibition launch: “We Lived It: The Social Impact of the Troubles” @TheLinenHall by Allan LEONARD for Shared Future News 2 August 2017 The Linen Hall Library has presented the first of two exhibitions of its Divided Society digitisation and outreach project. “We Lived It: The Social Impact of the Troubles” contains artwork, imagery, ephemera, and... Continue Reading →
“Art can tread where words and politics often can’t”: The Art of Conflict Transformation @The_JHS by Allan LEONARD for Shared Future News 25 July 2017 As part of the 30th anniversary of the John Hewitt Society international summer school, the Institute for Conflict Research (ICR) sponsored a panel discussion, “The Art of Conflict Transformation”, which... Continue Reading →
An acorn matures: Book launch of Little House on a Peace Line (Tony Macaulay) by Allan LEONARD 27 June 2017 The Duncairn Centre for Culture and Arts was the venue for the launch of Tony Macaulay’s latest edition of growing up in the contested space of Northern Ireland: Little House on a Peace Line. Bill... Continue Reading →
Art, peace and reconciliation: In conversation with Rita Duffy by Allan LEONARD 11 May 2017 At the last lecture in the spring series of events hosted by the Mitchell Institute of Peace at Queen’s University Belfast, artist Rita Duffy conversed with Professor Fiona Magowan, on how she has applied her creativity to help better understand... Continue Reading →
Using art to fill in gaps of our reconciliation: DFAT Reconciliation Networking Forum by Allan LEONARD 14 December 2016 At the eleventh annual convening of a reconciliation network organised by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Ireland), an afternoon panel discussion explored the role of the arts in Northern Ireland’s reconciliation process. Entitled “Culture,... Continue Reading →