Peace and Reconciliation Group

The Journeys Out Project recently held its second Round Table Policy Seminar, titled Community Contributions to Dealing with the Past: Moving Beyond Boundaries. Journeys Out is delivered by INCORE (International Conflict Research Institute), based at the University of Ulster, in partnership with the Peace and Reconciliation Group , Derry/Londonderry, Intercomm Ireland based in Belfast, and the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, Co. Wicklow. The Journeys Out Project is supported by the PEACE III Programme, managed for the Special EU Programmes Body by the Community Relations Council/Pobal Consortium.

The Journeys Out Project aims to engage a new generation of community leaders in the debate about ‘dealing with the past.’ It encourages these community leaders to explore these issues within their local communities and to learn more from international experiences.

For the Community Contributions to Dealing with the Past: Moving Beyond Boundaries Policy Seminar, participants identified gaps and outstanding challenges in their local communities' legacies of the past and developed actions to address these issues. Journeys Out will publicize the learning and recommendations from the participants' presentations to a wider audience in Northern Ireland and the Border Region.

Two groups of community leaders were selected to undertake a range of Journeys Out activities to support their engagement in issues related to dealing with the past in Northern Ireland and the Border Counties. Activities included a nine-month training programme which sensitised participants to the debates around dealing with the past in Northern Ireland and enabled them to draw comparisons and bring this knowledge home to make a difference in their own communities. A study visit to Cape Town in South Africa followed the training programme, and included meetings and discussions with the South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Pan Africanist Congress and Human Rights Media Centre, among many others.

The project began in April 2009 and will reach its completion in late September 2011 with an event to celebrate the work carried out during the life span of the project and acknowledge project contributions. This culmination will bring together project participants, partner organisations, mentors, advisory panel members and representatives from our funding bodies.