This is a report covering and outlining the
work of the Peace and Reconciliation Group from April 2000 until March 2002.
The year
2000 was one of hope for new beginnings in a new millennium. In many ways
the work of this organisation has reflected this energy and many of the programmes
and projects outlined in this report are new. However, the people in this
organisation in the form of committee members and staff are all experienced
individually and collectively and whilst they continue striving to create
new and innovative programmes, they are mindful of the lessons that experience
has taught. That experience spans twenty five years of
service to this city, when for many years the Peace and Reconciliation Group
was the only organisation in the city providing a community relations service.
The work continued to develop with the Peace and Reconciliation Group working in partnership with various organisations. We set up a partnership with the Women into Politics organisation in Belfast to bring the 'Lets Talk Polities' training programme to the Northwest. This partnership approach has proved to be an exciting development for the organisation and informs our thinking and practice in the field. Closer to home we worked in partnership with Holywell Trust in developing an exciting programme celebrating community relations work during Community Relations Week in Northern Ireland. We also worked alongside St Columb's Park House in developing the Northwest Human Rights Consortium, which aimed to encourage dialogue and debate within the community on a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. It is our experience that by working collectively we can utilise the power of many and can avoid duplication.
The work outlined in this report would not have been possible without the skill, experience and dedication of the staff and committee. I would like to particularly express thanks to the international volunteers who give up two years of their lives to work with the Peace and Reconciliation Group, Holly White left the organisation in October 2000 and her commitment, drive and sense of humour is missed. However, with one door closing another opens and we were able to welcome in her place, Sarah Mc Laughlin. Sarah is from Washington State, USA and she began work for the organisation in October- 2300. I would like to thank the Brethren Volunteer Service for continuing to suppy us with such expert volunteers and also to the churches Volunteer Bureau who continue to assist us with a financial contribution towards the volunteer expenses.
It goes without saying that without
the funders, much of our programmes and projects would not happen so I would
like to thank the Northern Ireland Community Relations Council (CRC), the
International Fund for Ireland Community Bridges Programme and the Derry City
Council for their continued support for the Peace and Reconciliation Group.
As you will see
in the pages of this report, PRG had a busy but productive two years. As Co-ordinator
it has been my pleasure to work alongside such dedicated and skilled staff,
volunteers and committee.
The organisation
developed many links since April 2000 ensuring cooperation and collaboration
in our programmes of work. Staff have
been represented in many networks such as the Community Relations Training
Learning Consortium (CRTLC), a membership organisation that I was happy to
Chair for 18 months. We were also represented on the Northwest Human Rights
Consortium, an ad hoc group set up to encourage dialogue and debate within
the community on the Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland. I also sat on the
steering committee of an INCORE project called the Local International Learning
Project (LILP). This was a regional project aimed at developing a series of
seminars and learning opportunities where practitioners from Northern Ireland
could pass on their accumulated knowledge in the field of conflict resolution
to other international peace builders. It was also a place where practitioners
could learn new experiences from around the world. During these two years
I also continued my term as a Director with the Community Relations Council.
Catherine
Cooke represented the organisation on a new network called PUL, which was
created to look into the role and extent of involvement in community relations
work from the Protestant, Unionist, Loyalist Community. As a member of the
steering committee of this group, Catherine was instrumental in organising
a major conference for this sector in December 2001, which took place in the
Waterside of the city. Catherine also sits on the Derry City Council's, Community
Dialogue group, which aims to encourage dialogue across a broad spectrum of
activists within the city.
As Co-ordinator,
I feel it is important that all the staff continue to receive training that
equips and enables them to provide an effective service for the community.
Throughout this period staff have availed of several training programmes in
facilitation, child protection, community relations and community development.
Finally,
the work of our organisation could not continue without the valuable support
of the Community Relations Council (CRC). The CRC conducted an external evaluation
of the work of the Peace and Reconciliation Group over the last three years.
That report provided very positive feedback on the organisation's work which
enabled us to apply to CRC for further core funding. In February 2001 we were
informed that the Peace and Reconciliation Group were successful in receiving
a three year core fund
award, that would run from 2001-2004. This news means that the organisation
can continue to provide an efficient and effective service for the community
safe in the knowledge that we can plan ahead.
The Changing
Relations project was a year long single identity programme that began in
September 2000 and finished in September 2001. The project involved thirteen
adults from Loyalist communities in the Waterside and was aimed at increasing
participant capacity and knowledge of history, politics and identity. The
five aims of the programme were as follows:
• To run a one-year education programme based
upon and yet challenges the group's interests and issues.
• To develop a critical understanding of
how we are shaped through our relationships in the family, school and community
and the messages we are given about the 'other'.
• To connect to wider networks and different
voices both in the city and wider a field.
• To explore the difficulties for people
in challenging sectarianism, their own and others, and encourage the group
to identify realistic possibilities whether at an individual level or with
family, community or workplace.
• To establish a participative evaluation
process which are about participants measuring whether they have met their
goals.
At
the outset of the programme, the facilitators brainstormed with the participants
the issues they most wanted to learn about. These included topics around the
history of unionism, the formation and rationale of paramilitary organisations,
equality and human rights, and key documents such as the Anglo-lrish Agreement
and the Good Friday Agreement. Throughout the programme, Paul Donnelly from the Ulster
Peoples College taught a number of sessions in political education. Furthermore
the participants engaged in dialogue and discussion with community activists
and politicians, including
Billy Mitchell, William Temple, David Ervine, Mitchell Mc Laughlin, Colm Barton,
and Tony Doherty.
The programme
also consisted of a number of visits to historical sites, museums, community
groups and organisations in Northern Ireland and Ireland. In Derry the group
visited the Tower Museum, the murals in the Bogside, the Bloody Sunday Centre
and the Gasyard Centre. While on a visit to Belfast the group visited the
Glencairn Museum, Shankhill Alternatives and murals in West Belfast. In May
the participants went to Dublin and met with various TD's in the Dail, a visit
sponsored by Cecilia Keaveney. While in Dublin the group also visited Kilmainham
Jail, Croke Park and other historical sites.
This programme
was evaluated by an external consultant who set in place a baseline, midway
and final evaluation methodology. In reading the report it was clear to the
facilitators that the expected results were achieved to a lesser or greater
extent for each aim. One of the group's facilitators, Tanya Gallagher, concluded,
'As a facilitator it is our job to create
a safe process that will encourage participants to take in information, process
that information, and use it to make informed choices and decisions. We cannot
make people learn, but we can provide the environment and information, after
that individuals will choose to do with it what they want.'
Overall
this was a successful programme that PRG is now able to adapt for other single
identity groups. We are interested in hearing from anyone who maybe interested
in running such a programme in the near future.
This project
was funded by the European Programme for peace and Reconciliation through
the learning fund of the community relations council and International Fund
For Ireland Community Bridge Programme.
The Peace
and Reconciliation Group were asked to design and deliver a training programme
for women in the village of Rasharkin. We were invited by Kilcranny House
in Coleraine to work alongside them in developing a programme aimed at local
women who had an interest in community relations issues within the Rasharkin
area.
Following
a number of meetings with the women we designed a programme aimed at improving
and generating awareness of Protestantism, unionism and loyalism. The programme
ran over a nine week period aimed:
• To develop a basic understanding of Protestant
politics, religion, culture and identity.
• To challenge stereotypes and perceptions
of the 'other' side.
• To make links with local Protestant institutions
and politicians.
• To raise awareness of the nuances of Protestantism
so as to provide an inclusive service for all the community.
The sessions
were broken down into interactive workshops, site visits and speakers such
as Jeannette Warke, Dr Johnston Mc Masters and Stephen Hall. This was the
first programme of its kind that the women from Rasharkin had been involved
in. They also got an opportunity to meet with local politicians from the Ballymoney
area. The Community Relations Officer of the Ballymoney area remarked that
this was the first time that local politicians from Ballymoney had sat together
with local women to dialogue on issues of community relations within the Borough.
Following this
successful programme, we were asked by Kilcranny House staff to run a Women
Talking Politics course in the area of Coleraine aimed at women activists
and community development workers.
We hope
to continue to develop this partnership with Kilcranny House and will aim
to offer further programmes in the next year.
This programme
was funded by, the Community Relations Officer of the Ballymoney Borough Council.
Women
Taking Part is a community empowerment project actively encouraging the participation
of women from diverse backgrounds. It operates on a single identity and cross
community basis and is independent of all political parties.
The
project developed out of a similar project in Belfast called 'Women Into Polities'
(WIP). WIP was conceived at Downtown Women's Centre in 1993 when they developed
a model of dialogue and discussion, which they wanted to share with others.
The Peace and Reconciliation Group worked in partnership with WIP in Belfast
to bring this model of dialogue and discussion to the Northwest. Out of this
partnership we developed the Northwest Women Taking Part: Talking Politics
model and began raising awareness
about the programme throughout the area.
In the
last two years we have been successful in engaging with a variety of womens
groups and organisations and we have run three 'Lets Talk Polities' courses;
one in the Foyle Newpin Centre in Gobnascale, one in the Clooney Hall for
women from the Waterside and one in Kilcranny House for women activists from
the Coleraine area. The feedback from each of these programmes has been positive
and demand for this course has soared. Marlene Jefferson was a participant
on one of these programmes and despite having been active herself on the local
political scene for many years she said, “I have not enjoyed a course like
it and that it was well put together, well researched and prepared and extremely
well facilitated'. We will now be looking to run a Facilitators Training
programme in 2002/2003 to empower and skill women to run these programmes
in their own communities.
The Women
Taking Part initiative aims to support and develop women to talk about issues
of political concern by creating the necessary space to explore honestly our
political differences and similarities.
This
training programme is funded by, the International Fund for Ireland, Community
Bridges Programme.
Due to
a grant from the Northern Ireland Voluntary Trust (NIVT), the Peace and Reconciliation
Group was given the opportunity to create a short-term project aimed at bringing
together all the young people who have previously taken part in PRG projects
in the past three years. In order to do this, we invited all the participants
from five previous projects to a 'recall night' held in January 2001. Nearly
half of those invited came, 33 in total. At the event all the young people
were given the opportunity to fill out an application for an upcoming residential
centred around the theme of 'active citizenship'. Twenty five applications
were filled out and 18 young people were then chosen to attend the weekend
residential, these included eight Catholics and ten Protestants ranging in
age from 15-24.
The residential
was held in February 2001 at Lusty Beg island in County Fermanagh. The purpose
of this residential was to discuss volunteering and further training opportunities
but most importantly it gave PRG the opportunity to have the young people
evaluate their past projects. Specifically, we wanted to evaluate if and how
their experience of our projects has impacted their perceptions of their own
community and the other community and what they thought were the most beneficial
parts of their programmes.
For
most of the young people, PRG was their first community relations project.
The four previous community relations projects that were mentioned included
a detatched youth project, a school project, a cross community youth club
project and a holiday scheme project
called Ulster Project. Therefore more than three quarters of the group had
never been involved with projects involving either their own community or
the other.
The participants
were also asked how their project specifically challenged either their
perception of the other side and/or their own prejudices, and if it taught
them anything about their own culture and/or the other culture. All of the
participants said that it did challenge their own perceptions. For example,
one participant stated, “I didn’t even mix with anyone from the other side
so getting to know them was good as I learned that the only difference is
our religion” One participant mentioned how he/she had never spoken with a
person from the other side until their involvement with a PRG project. All
but three of the participants said that the project challenged their own prejudes
'Catholics are just like us-human beings”, stated one participant. Another
said, “I used to think Protestants were different, but they are normal'. In
regards to teaching the participants anything new about either their own community
or the other community, the majority agreed they learned new things about
both communities, specifically history and culture. For example, 'Before I
wasn't aware of everything that is included in our culture and how Catholics
felt about us'. Also, 'It taught me that culture was the only thing different
between the two sides and I learned to take different views'. Most importantly,
they expressed how similar both communities are to one another. 'It taught
me that both religions are so alike in many ways. It all depends on what side
of the fence you were born into'.
The participants
were asked if they gained any new skills during their project, such as communication,
listening, confidence and leadership. Listening was the most checked skill
with all participants agreeing. All but one marked 'communication', 16 marked
'confidence' and the lowest skill marked was 'leadership' with two-thirds
marking it. In a similar question, the participants were asked to mark the
most beneficial sessions/ methods of learning during their project. Group
discussions and residentials were the most agreed sessions/methods with all
but one of the participants checking them. Two- thirds of the group agreed
that both workshops and outside speakers were beneficial parts of their projects
while five participants only marked sit visits. Role plays and creative arts
were the least picked sessions/methods with only one participant voting for
either. When asked if there was anything about their project they either would
change or like to have earned out differently, eight participants said "no".
Those who did write something suggested more mixing of the group, meeting
less, meeting more often/project lasting longer (3), more group discussion
(2), more outside speakers, more residentials. and include follow-up meetings.
The participants
were also asked if there were any issues they thought their project didn’t
address and 10 participants thought all the issues were addressed. The eight
who disagreed mentioned such issues as cross- community work with other groups
(2), religion (3), different cultures or religions, controversial issues,
and marching. Yet, one must take into account when assessing this question
that some of the participants were from a single-identity group and therefore
did not engage in cross-community work as part of their project.
In regards
to rating the facilitators/leaders of the project, the highest rated category
was their knowledge of community relations issues with 14 participants rating
it "excellent". Other categories with high 'excellent' rating included
gave individual time, related to the group and gave you support/encouragement.
One participant further stated, "I thought the leaders were very encouraging
through our project and respected our views."
The
participants were also asked if they would be interesting in doing more community
relations work. All but two marked 'yes' with the others marking 'don't know'.
Some comments included. "Yes, to learn more about both cultures and possibly
become more involved in my community." Another stated, "Yes I would
like to pass on my experiences with other young people who are maybe nervous
about mixing with the opposite side." Furthermore, 13 participants would
like to become members of PRG. They were then asked if they would like to
take n a peer leadership role to mark what they would need from PRG. Training
was the highest rated category with all 13 marking it while the other two
categories, support and information, were marked by 12 or the 13.
Finally,
the participants were asked to give any additional comments regarding their
project. Some included, "I would like to thank you for all your help
and support." "Overall the group was good and more we met and got
together, the better we treated each other and in the end we all became very
good friends." Brilliant experience. Changed me." I would like to
thank the PRG group for everything over the last couple of years. I have had
lots of fun and have learned a lot of different things." "It was
a brilliant and I had excellent discussion. When I was upset you helped me
through it." "I think a lot more young people should be involved."
A meeting
took place the week following the residential among the group leaders. Each
leader was given the opportunity to look through all the evaluation forms
and discuss ideas for a follow-up meeting with the participants. It was agreed
that those who expressed interest in becoming members of PRO would be sent
membership forms and a future meeting would be set up for all new members.
At the meeting, PRG will discuss the opportunity for training as peer leaders
for future PRG projects.
This project
was supported by, the European Union Peace and Reconciliation Programme through
funding from the Northern Ireland Voluntary Trust.
The Peace
and Reconciliation Group conducted its' second cultural exchange with Germany
from May to November 2000. The six-month project was organised and led by
Holly White, former BVS volunteer, Catherine Cooke, and Sarah McLaughlin.
The exchange involved 12 young people between the ages of 15-17 yrs. from
various areas of L'Derry, including Ballymagroarty, Tullyally, Currynieren,
Shantallow, Fountain, and Nelson Drive, and 10 young people from northern
Germany.
The theme
of the cultural exchange was exploring individual inclusion in the face of
group recognition in a globalising society. The aims of the project were to:
To build
cross-community, cross- cultural relationships
To
foster a sense of belonging to the wider European community
To deconstruct established and emergent
stereotypes
To provide a safe context for young
people to explore sensitive issues of
culture and identity
in both Northern Ireland and Germany
To create an opportunity for young
people to develop confidence and
independence through
international travel involving another language and
staying in family homes
In
order to prepare for the exchange, the participants from L'Derry took part
in a number of facilitated workshops around prejudice awareness and group-building.
Furthermore, each participant was responsible in preparing a presentation
on life in L'Derry through his/her eyes using photographs, cultural symbols
and historical facts.
The Northern
Ireland group first travelled to Germany for 10 days in July. The trip included
visits to the city of Hamburg, the Neaungamme concentration camp. a boat ride
and tour of Ribe, Denmark; meeting with local government representatives,
and homestays on the island of Sylt. Also the participants gave presentations
at a local community centre on life in the city and Northern Ireland.
The second part of the exchange took place in October and November with the
German group travelling to Northern Ireland for 10 days. Their visit included
a day trip to Belfast and Stormont to meet a panel of politicians, a tour
of the Antrim Coast, a weekend residential with both groups at Kilcranny House,
workshops on identity and conflict, and homestays in the city. During their
homestays, the partner group visited the Tower Museum, St. Columb's Cathedral,
Longtower Church, Guildhall, and took a guided tour of the city wall, Bogside, and Waterside.
Furthermore, the partner group gave presentations to youth clubs in Shantallow
and the Fountain on life in Sylt and Germany. While
there were many differences between the two groups, they did find commonalities: in music, in hanging out, in popular culture, and in
wanting to be liked by their peers and their opinions to be heard. The Northern
Irish young people noticed the differences most in national identity, food,
language, and expected behaviour. Through these differences, though, the young
people from both countries learned the most about their own cultures and identity.
The exchange was funded by the Youth
Exchange Centre, the Western Education Library Board, the Honourable Irish
Society, and private donation.
In April
2001, PRG began a single-identity project with a group of 10 girls between
the ages of 11-14 yrs. as part of an already formed "Girl Power"
group in Tullyally. The group met once a week for four months at the Tullyally
Drop-In Centre. The programme's aim was to explore identity, specifically
looking at personal and community identity, posing the question, “What does
it mean to you to be a Protestant living in L'Derry, Northern Ireland?"
Other cbjectives included:
>To explore the historical and cultural
background of Protestant identity
>To look at and challenge stereotypes of other
ethnic communities, i.e.
Catholic, Travellers, Chinese, Indian, Black, etc. (prejudice awareness)
>To improve confidence and self- esteem
>To
develop leadership and team- building skills
The participants
used art, drama, and games to explore various issues. For example, the girls
created both life maps and community maps as a way to examine their personal
and community identity. Furthermore, each session included interactive group
discussions and dance lessons!
The project
culminated in a weekend residential with a "Girl Power" group from
Currynieren, a neighbouring Catholic estate, at Lakeland Canoe Centre in Co.Fermanagh.
Previous to the weekend, the majority of the girls had not met one another
despite living next to one another. The residential included outdoor pursuits
such as canoeing, banana boating, and team-building games, workshops around
relationships and community identity, and, most importantly, an opportunity
for the girls to get to know one another in a safe and neutral environment.
Furthermore, it was the first time both groups spoke honestly about living
next to one another and the problems that arise during the marching season.
The project
was co-ordinated by Sarah McLaughlin, Assistant Projects Officer, in co- operation
with youth workers Victoria Neely and Alan Curry in Tullyally.
Peer
Leadership
In October
2001, the Peace and Reconciliation Group began a Peer Leadership project consisting
of seven young people between the ages of 15-17 yrs. representing both Protestant
and Catholic communities in L'Derry. The purpose of the project was to train
the participants, all of whom had either previously participated in a PRG
project and/or who were active in their youth clubs or local communities,
in facilitation skills. The course was accredited from the Open College Network
(Level 2).
The training was
delivered by James Wray in association with the Nucleus and co- facilitated
by Sarah McLaughlin, Assistant Projects Officer.
The short and
long term benefits included:
>Giving young people something productive
to do with their free time
>Providing young people with new and valuable skills which would help them
in gaining employment and/or future educational opportunities
>Increasing self-esteem
>Improving community relations in L'Derry, specifically between
young people
>Looking at issues affecting young people
The group
met once a week for five months at the PRG office in order to fulfil the course
requirement of 60 hours. Throughout the course, the participants studied such
topics as types of groups, roles in a group, group dynamics, leadership, and
listening skills through group discussions, small group work, and role-playing.
All the participants were expected to keep a journal and complete weekly assignments
in order to receive their certificate.
The project
was significant because it empowered young people by providing them with the
skills needed to facilitate groups. Most projects focused around identity
and community relations that involve young people are facilitated by adults.
Yet, PRG feel young people would be more amenable to such projects if they
were led by young people who are not only trained in facilitation skills but
also who have been participants. During the course, the participants were
given the opportunity to discuss various issues affecting young people such
as living in a divided society and their perceptions of the "other"
and various ethnic groups living in Northern Ireland. These discussions led
to possible ideas for future projects of their own.
As part
of their training, the participants were required to help the leaders prepare
the funding applications for a residential after they complete their coursework
and training. Recently, the project secured this funding from the Northern
Ireland Voluntary Trust and will take place in June. The residential will
provide the participants with the opportunity to evaluate the project, Furthermore,
it will act as an award giving ceremony and enable the young people to look
at Phase II – using these skills they have developed in their own communities
or projects with PRG or other organisations.
The project
was supported by BBC Children in Need and the Northern Ireland Voluntary Trust.
Since
1997 the Peace and Reconciliation Group (PRG) has been co-ordinating and facilitating
an Interface Project in the Tullyally and Currynierin communities. This programme
entailed the facilitation of meetings within and between representatives in
each community that aimed to reduce tensions, rumours and acts of violence
in the area, particularly in the months between June and September.
In
interface areas, where Protestant/unionist and Catholic/nationalist territories
converge, violence can erupt almost spontaneously and spread quickly with
such violence leaving in it's wake distrust, anger, lustration and hurt. This
can further escalate existing tensions and can create serious repercussions
for community relations. The PRG Interface Project aimed to encourage and
assist community representatives to manage the existing conflict and tensions
as well as promote understanding and co-operation
across the interface.
Through
Tullyally and Currynierin's involvement in this project, a number of
specific actions were taken to manage the conflict and improve community relations:
> Regular meetings between the estates facilitated
by PRG, where issues of concern were identified and where relationships were
forged.
> The involvement of statutory agencies, e.g. Housing Executive,
Police and others, which assisted the development of relationships between
the communities and the statutory sector.
> A co-ordinated response to the media with regards to incidents
at the interface.
> Increased trust and co-operation between the communities.
> A Mobile Phone Network established as a medium for the exchange of information and rumour control, as well as a tool to enable de-escalation of potentially violent situations.
In 2001,
after four years of facilitating this Interface Project, the PRG decided to
review and evaluate its role in this process. The feedback from this review
raised a number of minor difficulties, but it also clearly showed that both
communities felt that the Project had a significant impact:
> Fear levels within each community had been
reduced.
> Disruption to normal life in
each area had minimised.
> Violence and property damage was prevented (evidenced through
Housing Executive statistics & police statistics).
> Improved
relationships with police leading to better communication in
communities.
> Improved inter-personal relationships across the interface.
> Isolated communities received moral and practical support from PRG,
particularly during tense times of the year.
> Rumours were quashed leading to a prevention
of violence and reduction of tension.
From the
review it was clear that each community benefited in differing ways from the
Interface Project. It was also evident that for the project to work successfully,
both communities needed to have good community development capacity and activists
who could commit to participating in the Project. Prior to this review, Currynierin
Community Association lost its Community Development Worker and Youth Worker
when current funding ended. This had a direct knock on effect on their ability
to sustain and develop the work which needed to be done in the Interface Project.
At present capacity levels within Currynierin remain low and community infrastructure
is particularly weak in comparison to their counterpart in Tullyally.
Following
this review, the Peace and Reconciliation Group has decided to
progress the Interface Project beyond only the two communities of Currynierin
and Tullyally. Our long-term vision will be to set up a city wide Interface
Monitoring Forum (IMF) in partnership with other communities and agencies,
in order to promote a more pro-active response to issues and concerns that
are prevalent in interface areas. This approach will build on the good practice
already established from the review of the Interface Project. We would be
interested in hearing from anyone within the city who has an interest in developing
this model. The Interface Project and subsequent developments are funded by,
the International Fund for Ireland's Community Bridges Programme.
There were numerous
groups and individuals who sought community development advice from the Peace
and Reconciliation Group. Assistance to these groups ranged from:
>- Initial
assessment of needs
>-
Sourcing of funding information and advice
>- Technical support
>- Project planning and implementation
>- Development
planning and workshops
>- Strategic
planning
>- Research assistance
>- Residential training
Throughout
the last two years PRO have been involved with at least 20 community organisations,
some for one off pieces of work and others for a longer period of time. One
key project that we worked alongside over a two-year period was Top of the
Hill's 2010 organisation. We assisted this group by contributing to their
strategic plan through carrying out research on community needs and assisting
with the development of an I.T. tourism project. This research was used to
assist the group to secure money from the
Department of Environment to carry out an economic appraisal examining the
viability of a multi-purpose community facility.
We also
carried out a number of Strategic Development training programmes for a variety
of community organisations in the city. We worked with Glenview Community
Association, EPIC Northwest (a Loyalist ex- prisoner support group) and Border
Horizons Past Participant Group. Each training programme was tailored to meet
the needs of the groups involved and were all followed up by a written report
and ongoing support throughout the year.
Technical
assistance was given to a number of organisations that ranged from advice
an Charitable Status, assistance with funding applications, project design
and costings as well as maintaining and supplying an up to date database of
information for groups to access. All of this enabled groups to build their
own capacities and confidence, thus skilling them to work in new areas and
development and face new challenges.
In
2001 we were asked by the Coleraine Housing Project to run a number of community
development courses for groups in the Coleraine district. We delivered several
successful programmes to Boveddy Community Association and Dhuvarren and Glenmanus
Residents Groups. Much of this training was around the development of committee
skills, project planning and technical advice and support.
Plans
for the community development programme of the Peace and Reconciliation Group,
include the development of research that will enable and equip communities
to deliver services in the ever changing context that is Northern Ireland
The community
development service has been funded and supported by the International Fund
for Ireland’s Community Bridges Programme.
The
Peace and Reconciliation Group continues to develop its international connections
by providing and maintaining a service for the international community, and
by organizing visits to the city that explains issues of conflict from various
perspectives and viewpoints across the city Groups to the organisation throughout
the last two years have included people from the Balkan, Sweden, England.America,
Israel, Columbia, South Africa and Sierra Leone. Our guests have been interested
in learning about conflict resolution practice, some of them have been academics,
others students studying peace and conflict whilst others have come from peace
ministries with religious and church backgrounds.
We received two important visitors on a long term basis.
The first was Susan Colin Marks, an experienced practitioner from South Africa
who now works as Executive Director with the international organisation, Search
for Common Ground. Susan kindly agreed to facilitate several workshops in
Derry and Belfast, focusing on Facilitation skills and Storytelling.We were
delighted to be able to bring Susan to the city as her experience, skills
and wise lessons from South Africa have been invaluable to the continuing
development of our work here.
The other guest was professor Diana Punzo from Earlham
University in Indiana. Diana worked with the Peace and Reconciliation Group,
using her psychology skills to help us design a quantitative and qualitative
evaluation process for our single identity project, Changing Relations. She
continued to work with the Group throughout the year of that
We also continue to provide space in our organization
for placement students, both locally and internationally. We had two volunteers
from America via the Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) and two placement students
who were studying with the University of Ulster at Magee Campus.
The Co-ordinator, Tanya Gallagher was involved in a partnership
project with INCORE called 'Local International Learning Project'[LILP]. The
aim of this programme was to provide an opportunity for reciprocal learning
between local communities and organisations in Northern Ireland and international
contexts. Tanya sat on the Steering Committee of this project advising on
content, process, and evaluation. The LILP project brought together people
to share practice and build capacity across sectors. It also offered opportunities
for local people to participate in study visits to view and adapt learning
to a new cultural context as well as producing resource materials to disseminate
the learning.
Catherine Cooke, Project/Training Officer of the PRG,
was successful in obtaining a grant as part of the LILP project to enable
her to visit Vukovar in Croatia. The purpose of Catherine's visit was to initiate
and build connections with practitioners in Vukovar and to exchange methodologies
for peace building. Ten years after the war in the Balkans, Vukovar is still
recovering both in terms of its infrastructure and its broken relationships.
Catherine was impressed by their efforts at coping with and healing the divisions
experienced by the people in Croatia. She visited schools, community organisations
and local government representatives and exchanged information, advice and
resources.
The Coordinator, Tanya Gallagher was invited by Earlham
University, Indiana, USA in February 2002 to deliver a number of presentations,
lectures and workshops for students and faculty staff. She delivered a number
of presentations including; The Role Of Gender in Conflict Resolution; The
Role Identity Plays in Sustaining or Reducing Sectarianism; The Role of Ethics
in the Practice of Reconciliation and Ten Tips for anyone considering work
in the Field of Conflict Resolution. Tanya received positive feedback from
both students and faculty staff at Earlham who would like to maintain the
links established. The Peace and Reconciliation Group are keen to establish
and maintain links with the international community in order to develop our
practice in the field of community relations work.