Diversity Challenges
REPORT OF WORK
2009/10
AGREED AT AGM 6th July 2010
Contents
Foreword......
Introduction......
Current Themes......
Funders......
Work Programmes......
The Way We Were - Uncovering our Shared Past
Do You Remember the Mem
Netwell Centre Dundalk Railway History......
Archiving......
Partisan Belfast......
Storytelling Promoting Intergenerational Reconciliation and Learning SPIRAL.
After Conflict Experiences......
Working with difficult to reach groups......
Future......
Foreword
Diversity Challenges has been going for 9 years It remains committed to a vision of society in Northern Ireland in which people understand, and take responsibility for, the shared and distinctive traditions of all communities. Building this society has never been more important than in 2010. Political stability has offered the space in which significant conversations can take place between peoples of different identities and traditions. These conversations are particularly important where the people involved come from differing backgrounds and have not had the opportunity to meet and where the subjects are on the nature and history of the conflict. The broad political environment and greater equity in society can only be achieved through better community relations and more open dialogue on possibly contentious issues. Diversity Challenges remains committed to helping culturally specific groups in integrating community relations principles and considerations within all aspects of their work. We have identified groups that have been marginalised thought the peace process and, in partnership with them, we have accessed significant funding to work together on projects of engagement and understanding. The future of Northern Ireland required the broadest civic space allowing for all of its peoples to feel represented and valued. Diversity Challenges through its Board and Associates wishes to be active in making this future possible.
Dr. Dominic Bryan Chair Diversity Challenges
Director Institute Irish Studies Queens University Belfast
Introduction
Vision
A society in which people understand, and take responsibility for, the shared and distinctive traditions of all communities.
Mission
To assist culturally specific groups in integrating community relations principles and considerations within all aspects of their work.
Description of work
- Target key culturally specific groups within Ireland, with greatest impact on community life.
- Identify influential individuals within each organisation who are driving change (or wish to drive change) – towards a fuller and more constructive role in a diverse society.
- Support the individuals through consultancy, coaching, training, networking and practical assistance to develop and implement change strategies within their organisations.
- support development work by those in the target groups. This can be
- Training, e.g. community development, good relations, essential skills, drama, musical skills
- Support for ‘family friendly’ events at parades and demonstrations leading to change in the nature of parading and reducing tension.
- Use the experience gained in the project to develop and publish good practice models for international circulation
- Provide consultancy and training support on the use of the best practice models to agencies in other countries facing similar challenges
Target Groups
Diversity Challenges targets its work with the following groups
1.Loyal Orders:
Apprentice Boys of Derry
Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland
Royal Black Preceptory
Independent Loyal Orange Institution
2.‘Protestant’ Cultural Groups
Bands
Others
3.Gealic Athletic Association
4.Ancient Order of Hibernians
6.‘Catholic’ Cultural Groups
7. Wider republican community
8. Former members of the security forces
Management
A Board of Directors manages Diversity Challenges.
The current board is:
Chair Dr. Dominic Bryan Director Institute of Irish Studies Queens University Belfast
Eileen Bell Former Speaker of N.I. Assembly
Frank Dolaghan Director Mentor Economic Development Newry
John Montgomery former member Belfast City Council
Ann McGeeney Community Development Consultant
Drew Robinson Manger East Tyrone Rural Deputy Manager Cookstown LSP
The Board regrets the sudden death of Dr. David Stevens. David was a member of the board since the inception of Diversity Challenges. The Board wish to place on record their thanks for the service and support David gave to this work and to reconciliation. We pass on to his family and friends our condolences.
Diversity Challenges carries out its work through a Coordinator Will Glendinning. Will is a former CEO of the CRC and someone with considerable experience in community relations and community development. He is assisted by Associate Consultants who are selected on the basis of their skills for particular tasks by an open call process.
History
Diversity Challenges was set up in 2001 with an initial grant from Atlantic Philanthropies. At that time its main work was the facilitation of change in the Loyal Orders the GAA and bands. Since its inception Diversity Challenges has worked on peace-building often with groups and people who are outside of the main peace process but who are seen as key players in Irish society. When first established there were strong connections to the Community Relations Council with CRC nominating a number of the members of the Board. We are now totally independent but have a good working relationship with CRC and other peace and reconciliation groups.
Current Themes
Diversity Challenges has adapted its work since it was established in 2001. Now the focus has shifted to work recalling the past and developing dialogue with difficult to reach groups.
We still operate as facilitators and change agents developing community relations and peace building. We work through our Coordinator and a diverse group of Associates and Partner Agencies.
Funders
Our funding sources have also changed, we now are funded for specific projects by a variety of funders
- ‘The Way We Were’ - Peace III Programme managed for the Special EU Programmes Body by the Community Relations Council/Pobal consortium’.
- ‘SPIRAL’ in partnership with Netwell Centre Dundalk Peace III Programme by Louth Peace Partnership
- ‘After Conflict Experiences’ by International Coalition of Sites of Conscience and Community Relations Council
- Work with difficult to reach groups byCFNI , CRC and John O'Callaghan Memorial Trust
- Research with former Republican Prisoners documenting the changes from prisoner to citizen by Hickingbotham Charitable Trust and Barrow Cadbury Trust.
We wish to thank each of these funders for their support for this work and look forward to a continuing positive relationship.
Work Programmes
The Way We Were - Uncovering our Shared Past
‘A project supported by PEACE III Programme managed for the Special EU Programmes Body by the Community Relations Council/Pobal consortium’
Introduction
This is funded by Peace III Theme 1.2 Acknowledging and dealing with the past Securing the Future. The project is to source and archive stories of community camaraderie from across NI and the border counties, to archive sourced materials and to utilize this material to provoke discussion and debate among the most marginalized young people from Peace III target areas about the value of a ‘Shared Past’ in terms of shaping a concept of a ‘Shared Future’ in their community.
Aims
Our project seeks to positively influence future behaviours by introducing the most vulnerable young people from marginalized and segregated communities (many of whom have yet to engage with any activities geared at breaking the cycle of sectarian violence) to a world where communities were not always segregated on the basis of politics and/or religion. We regard our project as being an ‘Innovative initiative that will play a role in preventing the outbreak of violence in the future and that will seek to build and repair relationships and engage the wider community in peace - building and reconciliation activities.
We firmly believe that all too often and especially in working class areas the voices of young people often go unheard in the peace building process (with many adopted fora, activities and projects organized ‘for’ as opposed to ‘by’ young people). As such our project will seek to increase their participation by promoting the concepts of ‘community’ and positive action based on cooperation.
Objectives
1)By Oct 2010 to have created a regional archive of recorded material drawn from across NI recounting a social history of both individual and collective community action which was not inhibited by religion and/or politics;
2)By May 2011 to have effectively marketed the existence of these online archive materials to youth workers, good relations officers, community development workers, committees, etc, enabling them to utilize the materials to facilitate informed discussion and debate about a precedence for shared practice and/or action based on a legacy of such actions which few young people ever knew existed;
3)By August 2011 to have commissioned, written, rehearsed and delivered socially engaging dramatic production(s) (Partisan Productions) based on the archive materials which will be performed to and by an audience of the most vulnerable young people age 14 -18+ drawn from polarized communities in Belfast, L/Derry, Armagh, and Ballymena.
4)To have created a skills capacity in each of these communities through training that will enable the archive resource to be a useful engagement tool beyond the three year life of the project.
Progress to date
We have developed four separate work programmes in
- Derry/Londonderry,
- Casltederg,
- Belfast
- Dundalk.
These are looking at different areas of a shared past and shared future. The development of the project was delayed due to the difficulties in engaging with communities. This has meant that the progamme has been put back. We now though have four working partnerships. The Community Relations Council have understood these difficulties and have enabled us to re-schedule the budget to enable the project to develop.
Do You Remember the Mem
In this project we are working with the Apprentice Boys and Roy Arbuckle. The project is remembering the time before the onset of the troubles in the 1960s when the Memorial Hall was a regular dance venue up to three nights a week. The hall was used by people from across the City and from all backgrounds. Roy has made contact with people who danced in the MEM in the 60's and collected stories of their memories. These will then be used to give a reflection on a time when the Memorial Hall was not seen as an exclusively Loyalist venue.
In the last two years as part of the Maiden City Festival re-enactments of the dances have been held and friendships have been renewed and new one’s made.
Following on from this we have developed a partnership with the Playhouse Theatre to extend the project so that young people can learn of the previous shared activities and the dances.
DANCING DOWN THE DAYS – A SHARED FUTURE PROJECT WITH Diversity Challenges ROY ARBUCKLE & THE PLAYHOUSE
This is a youth dance project researching the iconic dance trends within the North West area, beginning with the 1940’s War Years and up to present day. Seven decades of the most memorable, exciting dance styles, including fox trots, waltzes, jitterbugs, tango, jive, rock & roll, punk, mod, trance, hip hop & street will be taught, rehearsed and performed.
The performances will be held publicly in the:
Memorial Hall, which was the epicentre of dance in Derry /Londonderry during the pre conflict Years.
Officer Quarters Ballroom at Ebrington Barracks, Waterside.
During the research period, the participating teenagers will meet dancers from the older generations, and this will foster remembrance, storytelling and nostalgia for a bye gone age when the ‘Ballrooms of Romance’ were a meeting place for all communities…and where many romances were born.
The performances will include:
Dancing Demonstrations by the young and old participants.
Narrations of some of the collected and documented stories of a shared past.
Performance by a leading Big Band.
Castlederg Border Arts
We worked with the Border Arts Group in Castlederg on a cultural diversity exhibition.
Aims
- To bring together a wide variety of cultural artefacts from different local groups
- To enable groups from differing backgrounds to display material in the same room and take part in a communal event
- To show to the wider population, as well as and those involved with the participating groups, the range of cultural activities in Castlederg
- To broaden the knowledge of these groups and their activities to each other and the wider population.
- To collect information on examples of sharing what has taken place in the past.
- To establish a basis of cooperation on which to build further work
The exhibition took place in the Leisure Centre Castlederg on 30th September and over 150 people from across the local community attended. We had school groups from the High School and St Eugene’s as well as from four schools in Donegal
Pupils viewing GAA and Orange Order Stands
The following local groups had displays
AOH
Bands
British Legion
Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann
Freemasons
GAA
Irish Dancing
Loyal Orders
Naiscoil Na Deirege
Scottish Dancing
Soccer Clubs
Ulster Scots
There were musical events at various stages with a group comprised of young people including those from local marching bands and traditional Irish playing arrangements of well known tunes.
Group Performing Willie McBride
Follow up
We brought together the organisations that set up stands and reviewed their perceptions of the exhibition. There was an agreed desire to develop the initiative and have a further exhibition in 2010 As a result of this we are now working on the following
Castlederg Royal British Legion
We facilitated a meeting between Castlederg British Legion and the Diamond War Memorial Project www.diamondwarmemorial.com.
The aims of the War Memorial Project are to investigate the stories of the lives and deaths of the many people, from the Derry/Londonderry area, who died as result of World War 1 (1914-1918) and also to pass on all this information to as many people as possible throughout the world. The project has resulted in the memorial being viewed as a more inclusive memorial owned by people from differing backgrounds. The Castlederg RBL plan to look at how they could develop a similar project in Castlederg. Diversity Challenges will support those discussions and planning as part of The Way We Were.
Exhibition 2010
A further exhibition is planned fro the autumn building on the success of last year. It is hoped to have more performance of music and songs from differing backgrounds. It is also hoped to have information sessions where differing groups can explain the background to their organisation and there enable those from whatever community background to learn and ask questions in a safe environment.
It is also planned to work on the restoration of old lambeg drums one from the AOH and one from the Orange Order. From this to teach young people in drumming skills of differing traditions. This could then lead to performances
Cowboy Film
In 1974 a film the Gunhawks was staged in Castlederg. This received publicity far and wide include the front page of the Daily Mirror. The group that made the film still are together and the plan is to make a new one. This will bring back the memoires of a hared event in Castlederg. It is hope that the production will be shown of TG 4.
Netwell Centre Dundalk Railway History
We are working in partnership with the Netwell Centre in Dundalk Institute of Technology on the history of railways in Dundalk. In its time, Dundalk was a major railway centre facilitating the meeting of lines from Belfast, Dublin, Enniskillen, and Greenore as well as the site for the engineering works of the Great Northern Railway.
So far a number of stories have been collected and old friendships rekindled .
A group of over twenty former railway men from Dundalk and Portadown travelled on the RPSI Steam Special in May. This was then followed a fortnight by a visit to the RPSI Workshop and Museum at Whithead Co. Antrim. A visit is also planned to the Folk and Transport museum Cultra.
The Railway men are also working with Louth County Council to ensure that there is a record to the impact of the railway to the economic live of Dundalk. They are designing a plaque to be placed at the site of a social housing complex GNR Close on the site of the former Barrack St Station.
All this is part of developing cross border and cross community links and ensuring that current generations know of the shared industrial heritage and the role of the railways and railway men. We are also examining with the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland how this project can be connected into their work of preserving railway heritage.
Former Railway Employees at Dundalk Station on RPSI Dalriada Steam Tour May 2010
Archiving
The Way We Were is exploring the use of the proposed NI Community Archive as a means of archiving the stories and outcomes of the project. We have been working with Robert Heslip of Belfast City Council. We are examining the training necessary to undertake this work.
Partisan Belfast
Fintan Brady of Partisan has engaged further with the groups in Ardoyne /Glencairn. He has carried a series of workshops with the young people who are marginalised and not members of formal groups. they have been examining their perception of their space.. He is hoping to do some joint work between this group and a group from Ballynafeigh where there are examples of sharing and to compare and contrast experiences.