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When people have been through years of violence and political instability; when anger, suspicion and even rage flow just beneath the surface, how do you create safe spaces for healthy, productive dialogue? How do you develop trust?
The work of transitional justice does not happen in a vacuum. Opposing groups bring their personal pain and pent up emotions to the table. This makes the goal of finding solutions that might lead to peaceful co-existence that much more challenging, as demonstrated in this reading. |
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In October 2005, the Fitzroy Presbyterian Church in South Belfast held a meeting to discuss decommissioning by the Irish Republican Army. Decommissioning means the process a group takes to give up all of their weapons (click here for more information on the decommissioning process in Northern Ireland).
Two religious leaders were asked to witness the decommissioning process. One leader, Father Alec Reid, represented the Catholic community. The other leader, Reverend Harold Good, represented the Protestant community. The Fitzroy Church hosted an open meeting for the Northern Irish people to hear from these two leaders about what they saw, what they thought about what they saw, and what they believed it meant for the future.
The meeting at the Fitzroy Church was unique in many ways. It was an open meeting for all Northern Irish to publicly discuss the conflict. As Tony Gallagher, Dean of the School of Education at Queen’s University, says, one challenge in Northern Ireland is the “silence that surrounds these issues.” When there is a culture of silence, talking about the conflict in a public space with members of the other community present and participating is a real challenge.
The meeting began with the leaders sharing what they saw and their views on the decommissioning process. Both Rev Good and Father Reid argued that decommissioning by the IRA was a historic and positive event that showed promise for the peace process. During the question and answer period, community members took turns not only asking questions of the leaders, but sharing their views as well. Many people from the Protestant community expressed frustration and distrust in the decommissioning process.
Alan McBride, whose wife was murdered in a bombing by the IRA, was a committed Unionist, but now promotes reconciliation (see the reading, Challenging a Culture of Hate). At the meeting, McBride stood up and argued for a more positive view of the decommissioning process. He wanted everyone to see it as a step in the right direction. Alan’s views, though, were not the prevailing ones that evening.
In response to all of the questions and statements, Father Reid became so frustrated and angered that he compared the treatment of the Catholics by the Protestants with the treatment of the Jews by the Nazis. This comment angered many, but most people in the room immediately retreated into silence.
Although Father Reid tried to tone down his comments, and Reverend Good made a strong statement about the challenges of coming together and of listening to each other, the evening was essentially lost.
Several newspapers covered the event and used inflammatory language and images. They also did not publish the comments made by more moderate and reconciliatory voices like Alan McBride. Father Reid did apologize, saying he was angry and reacted too quickly and thoughtlessly. His apology, however, was interpreted as “too little, too late.” As one journalist wrote in a thoughtful editorial a few days later, “Words matter in Northern Ireland. They can cause terrible hurt.”
Connections for the Classroom...
- List what you consider to be some of the positive elements that took place in this story. Also list what you think went wrong. How would you go about addressing and repairing those challenges?
- How do you respond to a culture of silence? What tools can a society use to try help break the silence? What things that have happened in your own societies to build dialogue and trust? How do you create trust?
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