10 - Community-based action in Northern Ireland: activism in a violently contested society

Summary

Summary

The chapter considers community development practice in the sharply divided society of Northern Ireland/ the North of Ireland – where even the appellation is contested. The political context and landscape is described to offer a context for community development and conflict transformation approaches adopted over some five decades. The author is herself a long-term activist who has worked in a wide range of local communities as well as in support of marginalised groups. She examines the politics of peacebuilding as well as outlining community development practice at various phases of the conflict and emergence from overt violence. She also focuses specifically on learning drawn from work undertaken by, and with, victims/ survivors of the violence and political ex-prisoners.

The chapter also offers an insight into how development work was undertaken with those communities that were in danger of being ‘left behind’ in terms of community organising. The sensitive and difficult work of addressing inter-community divisions is also described, with an examination of the application of Putnam’s theory of social capital (2000) (bonding, bridging and linking) to frame the important task of building relationships among divided communities. The chapter concludes with some pointers for funding organisations that are interested in resourcing community development approaches to peacebuilding.

Introduction

The proximity of the island of Ireland to Britain has meant an interwoven relationship which spans over 800 years and continues to impact today. In 1921 Ireland was partitioned under a treaty between the British government and representatives of Sinn Féin, combatants in a War of Independence (1918– 21). The treaty provided for the majority of Ireland (26 counties) becoming the Irish Free State (later the Republic of Ireland in 1949) and the remaining six northeastern counties, established as Northern Ireland, remaining part of the United Kingdom. Legally, the new statelet is called Northern Ireland. Nationalists and Republicans often refer to it as the ‘North’ or the ‘Six Counties’. Unionists generally use the term ‘Ulster’.