The Most Amazing Trip to Northern Ireland
May 06, 2010
I just returned from the most interesting trip to Northern Ireland. The last time I was there was 2 years ago. I left quickly in 2008 because of the death of my father, and in 2009 we decided to put our NI programs on hiatus because of lack of funding.
So in the 2 years since I have been there, Northern Ireland has changed a lot. There is a fantastic new highway that runs all the way through Belfast—making getting to one of our centers much more quick.
The biggest change, however, is that people seemed to me to be more open to talking about the lack of cross-community interaction.
The first time I went to NI, in 2004, SMF partnered with Playboard, an organization that runs afterschool clubs throughout NI. They were able to help fund our programs there with Peace money they received from the EU. The Peace money was pretty plentiful in NI until about 4 years ago—lots of money for lots of projects. But then the EU Peace funding ended.
According to the director of one of the community centers I met with, because there is no peace funding coming from the outside, the local population is taking it on their own shoulders to make cross-community interaction work.
Schools and neighborhoods are still mostly segregated (between Catholic and Protestant), and 95% of children live and attend school in segregated communities. People even shop in Catholic or Protestant stores.
But what seems to be changing is that people are talking about needing to change.
One of the most unusual things about Northern Ireland is the murals painted on so many homes. Most murals depict violence—either the threat of violence or history of violence. The majority of them are still in place—a constant reminder of violence—but for the first time, some of them have been painted over. This is the most encouraging thing I’ve seen.
There are still a lot of problems. There have been more bombings and attempted bombings in the last year than there have been since we started our program there in 2004. People are still getting attacked in their homes and on the street. But the recent bombings seem to all be perpetrated by the same group—a group that no one I know supports in any way. Both sides condemn the bombings and the violence.
As for SMF, this was the best trip I’ve ever had to Belfast. I had meetings with groups from both sides—Catholic and Protestant—and they both want to participate in our program and make it work as a cross-community music program for their children. Center Directors are volunteering to help set things up, to contact centers from the other communities. I’ve never had so many offers of help, and for the first time ever I can see a way that our program will be able to work in N Ireland not only while I am there, but continue as a program run by locals when I can’t be. I’m excited.
The funny thing is, the trip started off as a huge disappointment. I came from the U.S. and Burim came from Kosovo so that we could participate in Peacebuilding training and get staff from the centers where we hold our NI classes to attend with us. Then the Icelandic volcano struck. The man who was to lead the training wasn’t able to get to Ireland, and the training was cancelled. So we were stuck in N Ireland, with nothing planned. So I started setting up meetings. And it was amazing. Everyone I contacted wanted to be involved, and 2 of the people are even going to pay their own way to come to Kosovo this summer so that they can see our program in action there and help us to make a program in N Ireland that is just as successful. It was so exciting, and even as I write this I become excited all over again.
Our Northern Ireland program is on the cusp of a rebirth. And this time it’s going to be a local program. They will teach it and organize it and run it—as has been our goal from the beginning– and it will be so much better than ever before. The children, raised to fear each other through separation, violent home murals, and paramilitary policing, will come to know each other through our music classes and concerts. They will realize that it is through kindness, tolerance, and forgiveness that we become strong and take control of our lives. That they can decide for themselves what kind of world they want to live in and what kind of world they will create. And most importantly, that they can do much more together than they could ever do apart. I’m excited.