Northern Ireland's 2016: Approaching the contested commemoration of the Easter Rising and the Somme

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This application is made under the Public Policy Call. It fulfils the principal aim of that scheme by bringing together arts and humanities researchers from a range of disciplines (history, Irish studies, social anthropology, politics, education, English literature and geography) to share their expertise with policy makers at devolved and local government level and stakeholders in the voluntary and non-governmental sectors to discuss how commemorations of the centenaries of the Easter Rising and the Battle of the Somme in Northern Ireland (NI) in 2016 can be facilitated to avoid heightening further inter-communal and ethnic tensions and to promote greater engagement with and understanding of the shared past.The principal objective of the application is to facilitate academics in contributing to the aims of the NI executive's strategy of May 2013 'Together Building a United Community' (TBAUC) which seeks to establish in NI: 'a united community, based on equality of opportunity, the desirability of good relations and reconciliation - one which is strengthened by its diversity, where cultural expression is celebrated and embraced and where everyone can live, learn, work and socialise together, free from prejudice, hate and intolerance.' This strategy recognises the significance of the Irish 'decade of centenaries', running from c. 1912 to 1923: 'The decade we have just entered will include a number of potentially sensitive anniversaries which we cannot ignore within the context of this Strategy ... and the way in which these events are marked will also have a significant influence on our continued journey towards a united community.'The second objective is to share the body of knowledge and expertise of the network's academic members with each other and with public bodies in NI that will have a key role in over-seeing and organising events to mark these historic centenaries, including:- The Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM)- The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL)- Belfast City CouncilAnd policy and non-governmental organisations involved in improving cross-community and cross-border relations and promoting peace and reconciliation:- The Community Relations Council- Healing Through Remembering- Co-operation IrelandThe final objective is to invite experts in the areas of commemorative practice, contested commemoration in international situations similar to NI and public engagement with history and commemoration through education to establish best practice guidelines which will assist those organising and managing commemorative events.The network will address three key issues:1. The nature and purpose of commemoration.2. Comparative contested commemorations in an Irish and an international context.3. Shared engagement with a contested past through education and the shared use of public space for contested commemorations.The network will hold three workshops to address each of these issues and the findings will be disseminated in the form of:- policy briefing documents that will summarise the conclusions of each workshop- the presentation of findings to the DCAL committee of the NI Assembly- a seminar in the Knowledge Exchange Seminar Series organised by the Research and Information Service of the Assembly- summaries of the workshops posted on the 'Compromise After Conflict' blog hosted by the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation and Social Justice at Queen's University- an article in Shared Space, the journal of the Community Relations Council- the PGCE History curriculum in the University of Ulster.This is a unique opportunity to raise awareness of the breadth of expertise represented by the network and apply it to the benefit of public policy. It will also inform the academics' research through their own role in advising on the commemorative process.