Legacy’s legacy: lessons for the Stormont House Agreement’s Oral History Archive

Abstract

In this paper, I examine the BBC radio programme, Legacy. Broadcast each day during 1999, its explicit intention was to persuade Northern Ireland’s publics of the necessity of reconciliation. The programme, aired during the nascent post peace accord period, raised questions about the necessity of the region’s legacy of conflict. Based on an examination of audio and print transcripts of broadcasts, I demonstrate how Legacy’s ability to enact change was constrained by the programme’s format and its political climate. I identify and examine programmatic limitations, including a constrained model of public participation, wide-reaching expectations for storytelling as a model of community engagement and transitional justice, and parallel alignment that permitted the two communities to work alongside each other, rather than with each other. I argue that this cautious approach facilitated public discussions about the long-term effects of the conflict but did not facilitate wide-reaching, societal reconciliation efforts.

Keywords:

• Legacy
• reconciliation
• conflict
• radio
• storytelling

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Brad Gibb for his careful reading and comments, and to three anonymous reviewers at Irish Studies Review for their valuable insights and guidance.

Notes

1. BBC, “Chronicle,” 18.

2. Jude Whyte disclosed his participation in Legacy in an article in The Guardian newspaper.

3. Reilly, “Legacy,” 163.

4. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) began broadcasting in Northern Ireland on September 15, 1924. See Cathcart, The Most Contrary Region, 1.

5. BBC Northern Ireland, Legacy, 8.

6. Ibid. By the year’s end, a power-sharing Executive was established for the first time in 25 years. However, political processes faced setbacks and public confidence was eroded; see Melaugh, “The Irish Peace Process.” A post-Good Friday/Belfast Agreement bombing in 1999, in Omagh, County Tyrone, that killed 29 civilians.

7. Unionists and loyalists refer to the Belfast Agreement, highlighting the location of the negotiations; Nationalists and republicans refer to it as the Good Friday Agreement, highlighting the date and its association with Easter. See Gallaher, After the Peace, xi.

8. In Northern Ireland, the “long war” between Protestant/unionists, intent on maintaining the constitutional union with Great Britain, and Catholic/nationalists, equally intent on the formation a 32 county, all-Ireland sovereign state, continues until the present. Stretching back to the partition of Northern Ireland, communities have articulated their national aspirations through political organising, civil society action, and armed violence. Disagreement peaked during the period immediately following partition and then again, for over three decades, beginning in the late 1960s. The Sutton Index of Deaths records a total of 3542 deaths between July 1969 and December 2001 related to the civil conflict (2002).

9. See Francis, Broadcasting to a Community in Conflict; and Ramsey, “BBC Radio Ulster,” 146. As an example of such claims, see the BBC’s television programme, Facing the Truth (2006) that claimed to confront the pain in Northern Ireland by bringing together perpetrators and victims and relatives, in a series of face-to-face meetings hosted by South African Archbishop, Desmond Tutu.

10. See Reilly, “Legacy”; and Moore, “Legacy: Fourth Phase.” This programme is distinct from the Legacy Project, Warrington, England, which is operated by the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace, and commemorates those injured and/or killed in IRA attacks on February 26, 1993 and March 20, 1993.

11. Legacy is published by Elucidate, Belfast, BBC 2008, with assistance from the Victims’ Unit, Office of the First Minister, Deputy First Minister, Northern Ireland. The print version merits closer examination for its edited narratives, definitive organisational structure, and use of uncredited photographs. The publishers declined a request for an author interview.

12. See Warner, Publics and Counterpublics, 75. He argue publics, as “social imaginaries,” can be open-ended, self-organised groups that act independent of the state, law and legal frameworks and are mediated through the dynamics of history, culture, and politics. They are constituted through attention, in this case through attention accorded to potential participants, participants, and audiences.

13. Stormont House Agreement, “The Past,” s. 22–25; The Fresh Start Agreement was reached through an 11-week negotiation period, necessitated by intractability around the Stormont House Agreement and the possibility of collapsed devolution (2015, 7). Except to affirm cross-party and the government’s commitment to the implementation of the Stormont House Agreement (2014), and a commitment to a “forward trajectory of a peaceful society” (s. 1.2), the Fresh Start Agreement makes no direct reference to the establishment of an Oral History Archive.

14. NIO, “Stormont House Agreement,” 4.

15. Jarman, Material Conflicts, 14.

16. Ruane and Todd, “The Politics of Transition?” 923. Projects predating Legacy and documented by Kelly, include: Ár Scéal (Our Story), in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, Republic of Ireland; An Crann/The Tree; Ardonyne Commemoration Project; “Brits Speak Out”; Cuimhneamh (Memories); Dúchas (Heritage) Living History Project; Epilogues; Farset Community Think Tank; “We Too Have Suffered”; and The Bloody Sunday Inquiry: The Families Speak Out.

17. Ramsey, “BBC Radio Ulster,” 147.

18. Soffer, “‘The Noble Pirate,’” 159.

19. Paluck, “Reducing Intergroup Prejudice,” 577, 582.

20. Broadcasts were funded by NORAD (Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation). Department of Justice, TRC and South African Political Resources.

21. Collin, This is Serbia Calling; and Soffer, “‘The Noble Pirate,’” 159, 163.

22. Little, “Disjunctured Narratives,” 82; and Kelly and Hamber, “Coherent, Contested or Confused?”.

23. Martin McLoone’s unflattering portrayal of BBC radio in Northern Ireland referred to it as “the mouthpiece of the Unionist government,” “Inventions and Reimaginings,” 19.

24. Gallaher, After the Peace.

25. Kelly and Hamber, “Coherent, Contested or Confused?” 5.

26. Little, “Disjunctured Narratives,” 82.

27. Bell, “Dealing with the Past,” 1107.

28. Moore, “Legacy: Fourth Phase,” 94. Legacy production team members included journalists and researchers: Paul Clements, Aislinn Duffield, Mandy McAuley, Ciara Murphy-Riddell, and Siobhan Savage; and, Series Producers, John O’Neill, and Elizabeth Kelly, and Publication Development, Laura Spense. They were overseen by Executive Editor, Kieran Hegarty and Comptroller, Anna Carragher.

29. Moore, “Legacy: Fourth Phase,” 94. Northern Ireland’s Victims’ Commissioner (1997–1998), Bloomfield published, We Will Remember Them, 1998. Bloomfield’s report and his later appointment as Victim’s Commissioner was opposed by some Nationalists; see Hackett and Rolston, “The Burden of Memory.” Anna Carragher was Head of Broadcasting (1995–2000), and Controller, BBC Northern Ireland (2000–2006).

30. Bell, “Dealing with the Past,” 325.

31. Ramsey, “BBC Radio Ulster,” 144; Moore, “Legacy: Fourth Phase,” 97; and BBC, Legacy, 8. There is no breakdown of participants by recruitment method.

32. It is beyond the scope of this analysis to debate the efficacy of storytelling as a means of truth telling. For debates in the scholarly literature see, Lundy and McGovern, “‘You Understand Again’”; Senehi, “Constructive Storytelling”; Curling, “Using Testimonies”; and, McLaughlin, We Never Give Up, and We Never Give Up II.

33. Carragher, “Foreword,” 8.

34. Ibid.

35. The quotidian is excluded from some formal truth and reconciliation processes. For example, in South Africa, the Commission heard only from those who experienced “gross violations,” and excluded “petty violations.” Brown, “‘What it was Like to Live through a Day’.” Associations between everyday life and conflict are evident in the work of Northern Irish poets Michael Longley and Seamus Heaney; for examples, see Michael Longley’s poem “Wreaths” and Seamus Heaney’s poem “Casualty.” Russell, “Inscribing Cultural Corridors,” 221 notes that Longley condemns poetry that is regarded “as a mere response to sectarian violence”.

36. BBC NI, Legacy, 329 (October 8, 1999).

37. BBC NI, Legacy, 196 (June 11, 1999).

38. BBC NI, Legacy, 101 (March 18, 1999).

39. Moore, “Legacy: Fourth Phase,” 97.

40. Edge, “Why did They Kill Barney?”.

41. Carragher, “Foreword,” 12.

42. BBC NI, Legacy, 424 (December 31, 1999).

43. It was the incident responsible for the largest loss of life, and is notable for its occurrence during the post-Good Friday/Belfast Agreement period. See Dingley, “The Bombing of Omagh”.

44. Coleman, “BBC Radio Ulster’s Talkback,” 12. Coleman, in “BBC Radio Ulster’s Talkback, 14” suggests it was “the first occasion in history that a radio phone-in programme provided a forum within which a civil conflict/war could be concluded with direct reference to the mood of the people, rather than simply the detached negotiations of their leaders.”.

45. There are a number of additional programmes broadcast on BBC radio and television that are intended to provide deeper political analyses. Among them: Spotlight and Inside Politics, both weekly current affairs programmes on BBC Ulster and BBC Radio Foyle; Sunday Politics; and, Stormont Today, a half-hour programme focussed on the Northern Ireland Assembly.

46. Bell, Campbell, and Ní Aolaín, “Justice Discourses,” 316.

47. Ibid., 314.

48. Ibid., 316.

49. Butler in Coleman, “BBC Radio’s Talkback Phone-in,” 13.

50. BBC NI, Legacy, 181 (May 30, 1999).

51. BBC NI, Legacy, 84 (March 1, 1999).

52. BBC NI, Legacy, 268 (August 15, 1999).

53. BBC NI, Legacy, 271 (August 18, 1999). In a newspaper story titled “Gripping radio” in The Guardian, Mullins notes that stories were typically taped for about six minutes and condensed by editorial staff, to two minute. However, an explanation of the interview process by journalists and researchers involved with Legacy, suggests programme editors spent considerably more time in the homes and in the company of participants.

54. Coleman, “BBC Radio’s Talkback Phone-in,” 11. In some ways, stories paralleled the symbolic territorialism already evident in Northern Ireland, including curb painting and flag flying, Side, “Reassessing Rural Conflicts,” 102.

55. This was especially the case for contested matters, including weapons decommissioning, prisoners and prisoner release, policing, victims, equality measures, and public decision-making through a consultative Civic Forum. Regarding the Civil Forum; see Bell, “Spectres of Peace”; and Side, Patching Peace.

56. Eleven years later, Mcquaid, 65 provides a figure that is more than double. Many projects received institutional support from the Special EU Programmes Body/PEACE III.

57. Mcquaid, “Passive Archives,” 63.

58. BBC NI, Legacy, 186 (June 1, 1999).

59. Trew, Leaving the North, 94.

60. BBC NI, Legacy, 289 (September 2, 1999).

61. BBC NI, Legacy, 234 (July 15, 1999).

62. Reilly, “Legacy”.

63. Bloody Friday occurred in Belfast on July 21, 1972; a story about this day was broadcast on February 21, 1999. The events known as “Bloody Sunday” occurred in Londonderry/Derry on January 30, 1972; a story about it was broadcast on December 14, 1999. The Greysteel Massacre in County Londonderry occurred on October 30, 1993; it was recollected aloud by a participant on December 8, 1999; and, the bombing at Omagh occurred on August 15, 1998; a story about its effects was the programme’s finale on December 31, 2000.

64. BBC NI, Legacy, 63 (February 12, 1999).

65. BBC NI, Legacy, 291 (September 4, 1999).

66. BBC NI, Legacy, 60 (February 9, 1999).

67. On the absence of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Northern Ireland, see Duffy. Independent bodies established by the Stormont House Agreement include an Historical Investigations Unit (sections 30–40), an Independent Commission on Information Retrieval (sections 41–50) and a three-person, independent body to address paramilitary organisations. The former is an independent body to investigate “outstanding Troubles-related deaths,” and the latter is a new body to facilitate private information retrieval about deaths to their next of kin. Mark Devenport, reported for BBC news online that, one year on, progress is still “patchy.”.

68. Mcquaid, “Passive Archives,” 65.

69. Bloomfield, “We Will Remember Them,” 3.12.

70. Mcquaid, “Passive Archives,” 64.

71. Ibid.

72. In his report, “We Will Remember Them,” Bloomfield imagined the archival process as “open to absolutely anyone who wants to records, in words, images, or any creative podium, what they have been feeling during this time in all of our lives,” 5.28.

73. According to Coleman and Moore, this mirrors Talkback as Northern Ireland’s most popular radio programme; Carragher, “Foreword,” 9.

74. Hackett and Rolston, “The Burden of Memory”; and McQuaid, “Passive Archive,” 65.

75. Coleman, “BBC Radio Ulster’s Talkback,” 8.

76. In this instance, the involvement of inter-state jurisdictional issues related to alleged criminal activities appears to have eroded public confidence in storytelling. See Palys and Loman, “Defending Research Confidentiality”; and George, “Archives beyond the Pale.”

77. Schubotz, Melaugh, and McLoughlin, “Archiving Qualitative Data.”

78. Ibid.

79. Ibid.

80. Communication with the BBC Archivist Northern Ireland indicates the BBC has no record of this correspondence. Even if records were maintained, they would be restricted temporally for 30 years to protect individual privacy.

81. Thomson, “Four Paradigm Transformations,” 49.

82. Legacy is available across 52 libraries in the Northern Ireland Public Library system. Ten audio stories from Legacy can be accessed at, http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/recent/troubles/legacy.shtml.

83. BBC NI, Legacy, 13.

84. The Historical Enquires Team (PSNI) had a remit for deaths between that occurred between 1968 and 1998.

85. The attempted shooting of First Minister (DUP), Arlene Foster’s father and the family’s displacement from their farm in County Fermanagh is often recounted.

86. Ruane and Todd, “The Politics of Transition?” 923.

87. Kelly’s Storytelling Audit includes specific examples, The Bloody Sunday Inquiry: The Families Speak Out; The Untold Truth; and, the RUC Red Cross Foundation oral history project.

88. There have been ongoing efforts to address cross-community relations. They include: “We Will Remember Them” (1998); Healing through Remembering (2002); A Shared Future (2005), a consultative report to address community relations, launched during Direct Rule and which received little support; Making Peace with the Past (2006); the Eames-Bradley report, also referred to as The Consultative Group on the Past (2009); and, a consultative document, Programme for Cohesion, Sharing and Integration (2010), which was similarly received; and, the Haass-Sullivan proposals (2013). Following on from the Hillsborough Agreement, the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland issued, For Everyone (2013), followed on by Together: Building a United Community (2015).

89. Sutton, Index of Deaths.

90. See McEvoy et al., Section 57, Appointment of Executive Board and Advisory Board, 152, 153. A group of historians has noted the limitations of assigning responsibilities to a single position that does not encompass obligations for public outreach and engagement; see, Bennett et al., “Historians and the Stormont House Agreement,” October, 2016, Appendix 3.

91. Stormont House Agreement, 22, 23.

92. McEvoy et al., “Stormont House Agreement,” 66 (1).

93. For a discussion of principles, see PRONI’s guest post by Bryson, “The Stormont Oral History Archive, PRONI, and the Meaning of Independence,” and “Oral History Archive and Reconciliation and Implementation Group”.

94. Northern Ireland Office, “Northern Ireland (Stormont House Agreement) Bill 2015, Summary of Measures,” 3.

95. Bryson, “Victims, Violence, and Voice,” 328.

96. NIO, “Stormont House Agreement”.

97. Bennett et al., “Historians and the Stormont House Agreement,” 3, 5.

98. Ibid., 6.

99. NOI, “Stormont House Agreement,” s. 24.

100. Side, Patching Peace, 171.

101. Burke, “Who Will Speak for Northern Ireland?” 4.

102. NOI, “Stormont House Agreement,” s. 23.

103. Ashplant,Dawson, and Roper, Commemorating War, 154.

104. Ibid.

105. See Whyte, Forgiveness Project. Details may have been omitted in editing.Whyte is now a social worker and father of six. According to Sutton’s Index of Deaths, and CAIN, “Security and Defense,” Police Constable Michael Dawson, age 23, was also killed; he was one of seven police officers killed in the conflict in 1984.

106. CAIN, Deaths due to Security Situation in Northern Ireland.

107. Edwards, “Progressive Unionist Party,” 599.

108. See Ruohomaki, “Parity of Esteem” for an examination of official efforts to achieve balance.

109. Bennett et al., “Historians and the Stormont House Agreement,” 4.

110. Ibid.

111. Nolan, Northern Ireland Peace Monitoring Report: Number Three.