Peacebuilding education and the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland

• In Event: Education Policy, Democracy and Reform (II)

Proposal

Transitional justice aims to achieve five main goals after a society has been through a major conflict, such as Northern Ireland’s Troubles from the 1960s to the 1990s. The process aims to gain reparations for victims, justice for victims and perpetrators, the right to truth, nonrecurrence of human rights violations (Lambourne, 2014), and to provide opportunities for memorialization (UN Special Rapporteur, 2020). These aims often trickle down past criminal investigations into civil society and a nation’s educational system.

Post-conflict, peacebuilding education can be used as a tool to help bridge divided societies and build understanding in the younger generations. This study focuses on Northern Ireland’s attempts in recovering from the Troubles through human rights and educational policy analysis. Three main sets of policies were selected for thematic analysis: those on school integration, the Minimum Content Curriculum of 2007, and the Community Relations, Equality & Diversity in Education of 2011 (CRED Policy). In particular, the analysis was focused on initiatives that would promote tolerance, respect, human rights, and education about the history of the Troubles. These and related concepts are among the key components of what is thought to promote tolerance, especially the teaching of the history of the conflict in thoughtful ways (UN OHCHR, 2022; Bajaj, 2016; Velez, 2021).

These policy initiatives were then compared with factors that impacted the implementation of such policies, including public support and government funding. This information was largely accessed through government data and reports on the policies such as Northern Ireland’s 2020-2021 report on integrated education. Other sources of information were used to gauge the reality of what students are learning about in Northern Ireland (McCaffery & Hansson, 2011), what the people of Northern Ireland believe about its recovery (if at all) (NI Population Survey, 2021), and other ways that the legacy of the Troubles continues to impact the country (McAlister, et al., 2021).

This multi-pronged analysis yielded what often seems to be a common pattern in post-conflict countries like Argentina. The Northern Irish government and people state their commitment to rebuilding, healing, and reintegrating, but a number of obstacles get in the way. Large-scale factors often include economic stagnation or limited fiscal resources (such as CRED’s funding cut shortly after it was started) (CRED Addendum, 2016). At the individual level, older generations often do not want to discuss such traumatic, grief-filled events (McCaffery & Hansson, 2011). The government also has other educational priorities –like more recent education policies aimed at promoting technology and preparing Northern Irish students to be global citizens.

In terms of post-conflict societies, Northern Ireland has relative stability, wealth, and trained professionals in civil society. Still, it has not undergone a full transitional justice process –which usually includes truth commissions (like the locally held Ardoyne Commemoration Project), criminal trials, reparations, and reforms (Collins, 2021). This incomplete process leaves lingering ghosts in a society and often, lingering sentiments and continued violence. Peacebuilding education can be a powerful tool, but it takes continued effort and funding. Amidst calls for criminal prosecutions of British soldiers (O’Neill, 2023), only time will tell if Northern Ireland continues its efforts of healing and in what ways.

Author

• Michelle Medved, Indiana University-Bloomington