Building communities in a post-conflict society: churches and peace-building initiatives in northern ireland since 1994

Abstract

In 1994 the IRA and Loyalist paramilitary groups declared ceasefires, leading to a more relaxed attitude and cross-community contacts in Northern Ireland. The result was the establishment of a new type of church-based reconciliation group, the Church Fora, intended to improve community relations and promote peace and reconciliation within local areas. This article focuses on the ways in which Church Fora have expanded the methods of such work since 1994. It will assess their effectiveness in promoting peace and reconciliation and developing community relations in Northern Ireland by placing them within the broader framework of church-based reconciliation work. Finally, by assessing how successful Church Fora have been in achieving their aims and objectives, I examine the lessons that could be learned for church-based reconciliation work being carried out within Northern Ireland.

Notes

 for the purposes of this research, the Protestant Churches referred to are the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Church of Ireland and the Methodist Church.

 John Hickey, Religion and the Northern Ireland Problem (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1984).

 John Fulton, The Tragedy of Belief Division, Politics and Religion in Ireland (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991).

 4 Anthony Seldon, “Interviews,” in Contemporary History Practice and Method, ed. Anthony Seldon (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 3.

 There are 26 CROs in Northern Ireland working for the Borough Councils (excluding Belfast). “The Community Relations Officers in each Borough Council facilitates groups in the development of programmes that will increase cross-community contact and cooperation, improve mutual understanding and the fostering of relationships.” Community Relations Council, Community Relations and the Churches, Conference Report, Newtownabbey, 20 May 1998, 28.

 Author's interview with an anonymous Inter-Church Project Worker, February 2002.

 Both the Republican and Loyalist Paramilitaries broke these ceasefires, with events such as the Canary Wharf bombing by the IRA in February 1996 in London as well as the problems between the Orange Order and the Catholic Community in Drumcree, threatening to derail the Peace Process.

 The first were the Armagh and Omagh Church Fora established in 1996 which were followed by the Lisburn Inter-Church Project, Larne Millennium Initiative and Cookstown and District Clergy Forum in 1997, the Strabane and District Church Forum and Colraine Borough Churches Forum in 1998 and the Limavady Church Forum in 1999. These were joined by Churches in Cooperation which had been founded in 1994 in Derry as an inter-church initiative but evolved quickly into a Church Forum.

 Community Relations Council News (February 2002).

 Johnston McMaster and Cathy Higgins, Churches Working Together—A Practical Resource (Belfast: Churches Advisory Group, Community Relations Council, February 2001), 5–17.

 The Church Fora are run by the Churches in conjunction with the local council's Community Relations Officer. They all receive funding from the Community Relations Council and are therefore subject to certain constraints and monitoring in a way in which many pre-1994 inter-church projects were not.

 Churches Advisory Group, A Directory of Cross-Community Church Groups and Projects in Northern Ireland 1999 (Belfast: Community Relations Council, 1999), 35.

 Author's interview with Reverend Doug Baker, Mediation Network, Belfast, October 2000.

 Duncan Morrow, “It's Not Everyone You Could Tell That To.” A Report on the Churches and Inter-Community Relations to the Armagh Church Forum (Belfast: Community Relations Council, 1997), 51.

 Set up “to support and advise the work of the council … it consists of representatives from Clergy, laity and interested individuals.” Author's interview with Michaela Mackin, Churches Officer, Community Relations Council, Belfast, October 2000.

 Ibid.

 Ibid.

 Community Relations Council News (February 2000).

 Author's interview with Fr Padraig Murphy, Director of Ecumenism, Archdiocese of Armagh, Armagh, February 2000.

 Although, the Church Fora, even when asked during the interviews, have never stated whom they believe their target group to be.

 A Directory of Cross-Community Church Groups and Projects in Northern Ireland 1999, 38.

 Ibid., 39.

 Lisburn Inter-Church Project, Strategy 2002–2005, 1.

 The Clergy and Lay Inter-Church Fellowships generally consisted of a small number of members who worked in an unstructured manner with very little funding or support from outside agencies.

 A Directory of Cross-Community Church Groups and Projects in Northern Ireland 1999, 38.

 Ibid., 37.

 Ibid., 40.

 Lisburn Inter-Church Project, Strategy 2002–2005, 2.

 Author's interview with Michaela Mackin, October 2000.

 Colraine Borough Council of Churches Forum, Draft Summary of Origins, Aims and Progress of Colraine Borough Council of Churches Forum (n.d.).

 Author's interview with Mr Kerry Nicholson, Project Worker, Lisburn Inter-Church Project, Belfast, February 2002.

 Colraine Borough Council of Churches Forum, Draft Summary of Origins, Aims and Progress of Colraine Borough Council of Churches Forum (n.d.).

 Author's interview with Padraig Murphy, 2000.

 Author's interview with Reverend Robert Herron, Convenor of the Inter-Church Relations Board, Presbyterian Church, Omagh, January 2000.

 It should be noted that the Church Fora do not aim to provide physical resources to combat these problems such as the unemployment advice centres run by the Social Action Projects or the Addiction Centres run by the Ecumenical Communities. Instead they aim to increase understanding of these problems in the area and provide coping mechanisms.

 McMaster and Higgins, Churches Working Together, 11.

 These would be groups such as the Garvaghy Road Residents Association who campaign against Orange Marches through Catholic areas.

 Author's interview with Kerry Nicholson, 2002.

 These facilitators were specially trained to lead group discussions on sensitive issues such as religion and politics.

 Author's interview with Kerry Nicholson, 2002. He went on to state that this is a crucial part of the Forum's work because “most churches today are only involved in community work because they want to evangelise and get people back into the churches and it is trying to change that and get them to do it [together] because they are Christians.” Ibid.