What does the outside world think of us?
Dr Katrin Dudgeon
Queen’s University Belfast
15/8/2013
I have lived in Northern Ireland now for the past 21 years and have of course, like everybody else living here, watched closely the transformation from a conflict ridden society to one that is working hard to become a peaceful society. Many steps forward have been made and sometimes some backwards. However, overall, the positive most certainly outweighs the negative by far.
When I visited my home town of Berlin again this summer I watched the disputes over parades and the resulting violence being broadcasted in the German News and many of my friends and relatives at home would ask me with great interest as to how and why this issue would still cause such high tensions. This was a difficult one to answer in a few minutes…
Of course, people were also interested in the actual causes of the Troubles, so they would be able to understand the tensions associated with parades in Northern Ireland. This one was even more difficult to answer than the first question.
Many foreigners think that the Troubles had to do with religion and find it difficult to realise that the conflict is manifold. I have found many of them even glorify this conflict often without the appreciation of its diverse nature. Not coming from Northern Ireland myself, I have probably committed the same mistakes in the past and may still do them today. When trying to answer the questions put to me, I realised, that although, having lived in the province now for over two decades I am even more confused about this conflict as I ever was.
However, I was surprised with what great interest people were following the developments in Northern Ireland and how much they wished for this society to overcome the troubled past and reach a status of a peaceful coexistence. During many of my previous visits to home, perceptions about Northern Ireland reflected its violent past. However, over recent years, I could sense public perception change developing almost into an admiration for the province as to how much progress was being made with the peace process and an appreciation as to how difficult this is.
This is something, that should make people in Northern Ireland very proud indeed, despite the recent outbreaks of violence. Northern Ireland’s new society will be able to deal with this in the future by continuing to communicate and by employing peaceful methods of conflict resolution. Don’t get me wrong, there is a long way to go yet, there are many pressing issues that this society will have to tackle if long lasting peace is to come. These issues involve not just parading but also how this society is going to look after the victims of the Troubles and issues of truth and justice, to name but a few.
This is also reflected in the discussions about the proposed peace centre that is/ was going to be located beside the former Maze prison. Quite rightly, Peter Robinson states, that for most people the past and Northern Irelands history is still a very emotionally laden issue and everybody has a different story to tell. Yes, those painful memories are still there and yes, it still hurts. But for me, it is not about the peace centre and its content. This is only one example, there are many more painful issues to be tackled in the future. It is about how these issues are being resolved. Are they going to be dealt with by brute force and violence or are they being discussed peacefully and publically? This is the big question ! Northern Ireland will be put to test again and again for many more years and on many more painful issues related to its past. Peter Robinson has voiced his opinion and that of his party, with regards to the peace centre, and to focus on the future is of course a very good approach. Nobody though should hinder other opinions to the same issue. This is where the work needs to be done, finding middle grounds, looking for compromises, again and again and again….
As Peter Robinson said, the world is looking to this province and how it masters these issues and I believe that this will be achieved peacefully.
This article first appeared on www.blogs.qub.ac.uk/compromiseafterconflict