Mary Southwell, Board member of the International Fund for Ireland, officially launched this innovative community reconciliation project. Pictured above at the opening of the conference were, from left, Dr. Kate O’Dubhchair, Director, An Teach Bán, the Donegal Peace Centre, Mary Southwell, Board member, International Fund for Ireland and Ian McCracken, Donegal Peace Centre.
A two-day intergenerational Conference entitled ‘Communities Living out of their Imagination’, organised by the local Donegal Peace Centre: An Teach Bán, kicked off today, 6th May, at the Downings Bay Hotel in Co. Donegal. The Conference, which has attracted an impressive line-up of speakers from the community, arts and education sectors, forms a key component of the International Fund for Ireland (IFI) funded ‘Pass it On’ project, which is being delivered by An Teach Bán. At the Conference, Mary Southwell, Board member of the International Fund for Ireland, officially launched this innovative community reconciliation project.
The IFI, under its Community Bridges Programme, last year awarded Donegal Peace Centre: An Teach Bán funding of EUR379,133 towards the development and operation of ‘Pass it On’ over a three-year period. Considerable progress has already been made with the project, which sees An Teach Bán working in collaboration with community groups across the North West region, and addressing and implementing approaches around a range of peace-building issues, including working through music and story. There will also be extensive accredited learning on topics such as anti-sectarianism, diversity, prejudice and active citizenship, which will result in a pool of 240 community leaders being provided with the skills and development opportunities to enhance their communities. Another key output will be the publication of a Community Reconciliation Strategy for life for the North West region, which will be delivered on completion of the project.
Speaking at the Conference, Mary Southwell, Board Member of the International Fund for Ireland, remarked, “In their three-year ‘Pass it On’ project, An Teach Bán is encouraging the development of cross-border and cross-community relationships and co-operation between representatives of fifteen communities in Derry and Donegal. The message of reconciliation is now reaching many people throughout the island of Ireland. Our challenge today, not made easier by the change in the economic climate, is to plough on with efforts to forge these new relationships and to strengthen the process of reconciliation.”
Mary Southwell also recorded the IFI’s appreciation for the international donors to the International Fund for Ireland – the US, EU, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, who had made possible the Fund’s support for the ‘Pass it On’ project.
Addressing delegates at the Conference, Dr. Kate O’Dubhchair, Director of Donegal Peace Centre: An Teach Ban, said: “In the Donegal Peace Centre, we have recognized that there is a need to reconcile not simply the traditional differences of nationalist and loyalist but also the differences within communities that today pose the risk of further violence and alienation. We see young people deprived of the knowledge of the older generations, and older people, isolated, devalued, and in some instances, living terrified within their own homes. But we’ve also found that there is a thirst for identity, for belonging, and for being part of the excitement of building a new future. In our experience, communities have a hidden wealth in their citizens, and in bringing young and old together in ‘Pass it On’, we hope to turn a ‘no win’ situation into a ‘win-win’ for all.”
Also speaking at the Conference, Dr. Duncan Morrow, CEO of the Community Relations Council, which administers the Community Bridges Programme on behalf of the IFI, said that: “Building a shared future will only be possible if we learn from the success, failures and experiences of the past and engage with the challenges of the present. In too many places, there is no real opportunity for intergenerational dialogue, which does justice to tradition while allowing for change. What we imagine for the future depends on who we engage with and how we meet. This project is important not just for the North West or for ‘peace’ but as a model of open community development for the future.”
The theme of the two day Conference reflects many of the issues and topics addressed as part of the ‘Pass it On’ project, namely, individual responsibility, a sense of place, identity and active citizenship and the harnessing of the power of music and arts. Also included in the line-up of speakers were John Lonergan, Governor of Mountjoy Prison, Sharon Treacy Dunne, Cross Border Orchestra, Dame Joan Harbison, Advocate for Older People and Patricia Lewsley, Commissioner for Children and Young People.