Connecting commemorative communities: Transforming memory-work after conflict in Northern Ireland

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As Northern Ireland works through its Decade of Commemorations (leading up to the centenary of its contested creation in 2021) the challenges facing public bodies to mediate partisan narratives of the past and diffuse associated tension and violence has perhaps never been greater. Commemorative-related violence, the subject of our exploratory award, remains a potent symbol of continuing divisions and has important ramifications for a society in transition. Yet an integral part of transforming this type of violence is engaging with and learning from remembrance practices that do not tend to instigate violence or those places where we found commemorative-related violence to have dissipated throughout the 'post-conflict' years. The city of Derry/Londonderry offers one such example. An outpouring of violence leading up to or following commemorative parades was commonplace throughout the peace process and in the immediate aftermath of the signing of the Belfast Agreement in 1998, but subsided as the years progressed. Unpacking this transformation is key to formulating policies towards shared and ethical remembrance. How might the practices and processes that have occurred in spaces such as this be replicated or managed elsewhere?This follow-on proposal emerged from the outcomes of our exploratory project, 'Place or Past?' and works from the premise that there are examples of good practice within how the past is remembered and commemorated in specific places throughout Northern Ireland. The project found that these are 'exemplary spaces' where commemorative-related violence has disappeared throughout the post-agreement years. With a view to enhance present and future practice and approaches to commemoration, our focus is not on what instigates conflict (the subject of our original project), but rather to engage with, evaluate and share the 'good' practice that has occasioned improved inter-communal relations and non-violence around commemorative activities. The overarching aim of this follow-on proposal therefore is to 'connect' commemorative communities through establishing and profiling an advocacy network of practice that is working in the 'new' Northern Ireland (through the exploitation of our existing research findings) and promote knowledge exchange between those who are involved in commemoration and remembrance and the public bodies who are tasked with responding to and managing commemoration in a post-conflict context working alongside four partners: The Police Service of Northern Ireland, the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, the Northern Ireland Community Council and The Junction. The project is led by a team of interdisciplinary academics based in Northern Ireland, at the University of Ulster and Queen's University, Belfast. A series of activities including residential training courses, public engagement events, exhibits and showcases are planned for the 12 month project duration. The primary focus of these activities is to strengthen opportunities for knowledge exchange and network building beyond the academy with the ultimate purpose of transforming negative attitudes, behaviour and relationships around commemoration. A key outcome of the project is to design, establish and disseminate a toolkit for use by public bodies and community organisations. This toolkit will provide a detailed approach of how remembrance and commemoration can be both shared and ethical in its practice. The project is designed to create dialogue with the past, the present and the future. In developing mechanisms for network-building and knowledge exchange in the present, focused on how the past is understood and approached, this project traces a path towards less contentious, less violent and less costly commemorative activities now and in the future. In this way, the Connecting Commemorative Communities team are centrally concerned with caring for the future, through caring for the past.