Conference organised by the CRHIA (Research Centre for Atlantic and International History) of the University of La Rochelle, and the ERIBIA-GREI (Research Group in Irish Studies) of the University of Caen

University of La Rochelle, 16 November 2018

University of Caen, 29 March 2019

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Day 1 of the Conference (University of La Rochelle, 16 November 2018)

2018 marks the 20^th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement, signed on 10^th April 1998 by the British and Irish governments and most of the political parties in the province. The intervening years have borne witness to the difficulty in bringing the unionist and republican communities together and in dealing with the legacy of the conflict. The political situation has recently been further complicated by the inability of Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist party to restore power-sharing to Stormont. The resulting power vacuum could lead to revived tensions in the province, while Brexit, which is due to become effective on 31 December 2020, could have ‘a catastrophic effect on the peace process’. [1]

Brian Rowan, in his book on the conflict in Ireland ‘Unfinished Peace’, wrote that ‘the war and peace of this place has been, and is still, a long journey of learning’.[2] There is a continual need for dialogue, for understanding and justice – and for reconciliation, for a ‘future that does not echo the past’.[3] Paul Ricoeur, in his landmark work ‘Memory, History, Forgetting’, examined the relations between remembering and forgetting and how this interaction affects both the perception of historical experience and the production of historical narrative.[4] This philosophical essay, together with the works of Halbwachs, who considered memory to be a social practice that is shaped by participation in social groups,[5] provide examples of approaches that can help to build a framework for the analysis of the present-day situation in Northern Ireland, which in turn may lead us to an understanding of whether or not a peaceful, reconciled society can in fact emerge from the fractured memories of the past.

Transitioning toward this future Northern Ireland, if it is at all possible, will therefore require more than political summits and agreements. The role of culture and those who produce it will also be of primordial importance. One area in which culture can play a role is in providing sectarian-free spaces and relationships.[6] New quarters, buildings and tourist attractions may play a significant role in a culture-led regeneration of Northern Ireland. The Titanic Quarter in Belfast, which is now home to the Titanic Museum and is fronted by Rowan Gillespie’s statue Titanica, representing hope and positivity, is just one example. The role of culture and Art may also be examined through experiences like the Theatre of Witness, the work of playwrights such as Marie Jones and Owen McCafferty, the paintings of Colin Davidson and Rita Duffy, and the fiction work of Jennifer Johnston or Glenn Patterson, to give but a small number of examples.

Day 2 of the Conference (University of Caen Normandy, 29 March 2019)

Twenty years after the peace agreement signed in Belfast on 10 April 1998, an assessment is overdue, if only because of the political context in Northern Ireland. The regional institutions are suspended since January 2017, and the Brexit negotiations have not facilitated the search for a solution, especially as the confidence-and-supply agreement between the British Conservative Party and the DUP prevents London from acting as an honest broker between Sinn Féin and the DUP. At the same time, the issue of the Irish border has created tensions between Dublin and London.

There have been calls to scrap the 1998 Agreement, notably from some British Conservatives who argue that its deficiencies require a new approach. Its limits were recognised as soon as 2003 when American envoys like Richard Haass sought to help Northern Irish political parties overcome persistent difficulties in the region, such as flags, emblems and marches, and more generally the way in which to deal with a controversial past. The peace walls are still standing in Belfast, with no plans to dismantle them before 2023, while the rarity of mixed districts and the increase in “punishment beatings” show that Northern Irish society is not yet normalised.

The conference – organised with the University of La Rochelle, which will cover the cultural, literary, artistic and urban aspects of the question – aims at studying the political, social and economic results of the Good Friday Agreement over the last twenty years. Areas like cooperation between Dublin and London and the changing political landscape in Northern Ireland are obvious issues to be dealt with, but social and economic developments in the region are also relevant. The conference will furnish the opportunity of understanding the reasons for the decline in intercommunity relations since 1998 (if that is indeed the case), but also to look at the numerous initiatives that have sought to promote reconciliation, be it in the economy, the working environment, in schools or in the urban landscape.

According to Desmond Tutu, who presided the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, reconciliation is not an event but a process. Did Northern Ireland miss an important stage in the promotion of reconciliation by not launching a similar commission? What comparisons can be made between Northern Ireland, South Africa, and other countries in South America or Europe?

[1] G. Moriarty, Brexit could have ‘catastrophic effect on peace process’, court told, Irish Times, October 4 2016.

2 B. Rowan, Unfinished Peace, Newtownards, Colourpoint Books, 2015, p. 14.

3 H. Morris, quoted in Unfinished Peace, B. Rowan, Colourpoint Books, 2015, p. 164-5.

4 P. Ricoeur, Memory, History, Forgetting,TheUniversity of Chicago Press, 2004 (Le Seuil, 2003).

5 M. Halbwachs, On Collective Memory, TheUniversity of Chicago Press, 1992.

6 L. McAtackney, “Remembering the Troubles: Community memorials, memory and identity in post-conflict Northern Ireland”, in Post Celtic Tiger Ireland: Exploring New Cultural Spaces, CSP, 2016.