THE HUMAN FACE OF CONFLICT (Delivery 4)

This delivery took place in Dunsilly Hotel, Antrim beginning the weekend of 11th March and concluding yesterday Sunday 22nd May 2022. A big thanks on behalf of one and all to the staff of the hotel who looked after us very well. 

Here’s a quick share of some of the feedback comments from participants:

• “That when democracy is working properly that there should not be any problems.“
• “We can legitimise anything if we believe in it enough.”
• “More understanding of the effect the conflict had on families and security forces.”
• “That both sides of the community suffered and went through the same.”

The first comment above may seem insignificant at first glance but it picks up on a key aspect of the learning that emerges from epilogues, namely that democracy is celebrated as the best form of governance for its potential to enable us to live and share spaces together and resolve tensions that inevitably arise between us peacefully without recourse to violence. That democracy when practiced is itself a tool of conflict transformation.

The residential is the initial aspect of epilogues: The Human Face of Conflict roll out. These participants will come together in a few months to explore what may have been the longer term impacts of their participation in the programme.  Thereafter in the new year the will be invited to a Gathering of graduates from three other deliveries to widen and deepen the connections already forged by their participation and to explore possible next steps for each participants as active citizens, be that on an individual or a collective basis going forward.

A big thanks also to Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust and the Irish government’s Department of Foreign Affairs Reconciliation Fund without whose support this delivery to women’s groups across Northern Ireland could not be possible.