Peter Erskine

A critical commentary of Northern Irelands' changing face of Community Work and the importance of the political sphere of influence

Introduction

The context of construction for this paper is relatively simple and focuses on a personal need to bring one area of life to a close while opening the door to another. Three years of academic study of Youth & Community work – often related to a Northern Irish context - in England is concluding, while a career in that profession combined with further study beckons. Therefore  a need for the author to fully understand the circumstances in which Northern Ireland resides in 2010. It is also intended that this paper will form the basis of the next period of academic study, further pursuing the issues and history which are touched on briefly in this paper.

To achieve the above, the important historical events which created and shaped the secular communities of Northern Ireland will be analysed and critically discussed. Using arguably the most important document of Anglo-Irish politics, it will be seen how secular has become singular, however is still challenged by the socio-religio-cultural web of influence which has been present. This paper is not placed to answer the questions of what went on previously, perhaps that is a discussion for the future. It will however, analyse key events, people and organisations in respect to the culture, politics and religions of Northern Ireland in order to link it to Community Work's past failings. Once this has been achieved, recommendations will be drawn out, set out for all interested and engaged parties to see what a viable pathway for development is.

The Northern Ireland Context & Community Power

The history of Northern Ireland since it's conception in 1921 is laden with key events, both positive but often negative. Such is the complexities of the community framework; these historical events have been instigated on very different but interrelated realms, including the influences of; political parties; religious sects; cultural organisations; community & residents groups; the British & Irish governments; international leaders and paramilitary organisations.

When attempting to analyse where our current facet of community has come from, it's important to look at more recent key events rather than delving into the deep rooted past of over twenty years ago. This said, context remains important, and will be primarily called into question to understand developments of the society.

On the 30th of January, 1972 (Museum of Free Derry; 2005), thirteen men were shot dead by the British Army in Londonderry while taking part in Civil Rights Movement march which had been banned. While many believe these actions – and others relating to the social mobilisation of Catholics in this period - by the British Army to be the conception of thirty years of violence in Northern Ireland (Probert; 1978), the march itself was part of a wider series of events organised by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) (Widgery, Lord; 1972) who were organising against the corruption of a majority protestant local government (Minahan, J.B; 2000 & Lydon, J; 1998) lead by Faulkner. Prior to this in 1970, born out of the uprising of ill-feelings from the nationalist community, the Provisional IRA was created, a ruthless band of militants preparing to take the British State to account with the use of force (McCreary; 1975, Probert; 1978). There has indeed been a number of positive examples of community power coming into action within the country such as The Peace People led by 1976 Nobel Peace Prize winners Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan (Nobel Web AB; 2010 & Peacepeople.com; no date). As the example of the NICRA shows, it can often be overshadowed by the violent acts surrounding it. The NICRA movement and that key march in Londonderry, in personal opinion, must be accredited massively with being the catalyst of change against a corrupt Protestant majority oppressing a Catholic minority. Instead, it is memorialised – and rightly so - by many due to the losses and violence it suffered, and accused by some in the loyalist community as being trouble makers who deserved what they got. Wilson (1998) We will never know if NICRA's peaceful means could have brought down the Northern Ireland government, rather than it being dissolved into direct rule due to the violent crisis in which the British Government had to be seen to be dealing with swiftly and effective. It is the opinion of this paper that it would have achieved this in a peaceful manner, however the timescale would have been much longer and the struggle against the sectarian government at Stormont much greater.

 

The Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement

Many believe The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) was only born out of talks taking place in Stormont from the new year of 1998 up until Easter, however this is a misconception. Many commentators (Craig, J; 2002, Morton, A; 2009) suggest the roots of the GFA where planted at the signing of the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1984. Personal feelings sugesst that the Downing Street talks of 1991 and the subsequent risks taken by John Hulme was the catalyst for change. Simply put; there can be little argument against the fact that the events of 1991 sparked a change in paramilitary circles, leading the IRA and Loyalist Ceasefires of 1994. For the first time in almost thirty years, the people of Northern Ireland faced a minimal level of conflict, albeit briefly.

The British Governments acceptance of Sinn Fein lead to a change of psyche within republican circles, and was a long way from the voice bans of the Thatcher years only three years prior (BBC News; 2005). Republicans were accepted into the political talks with British government officials, which not only angered unionists, but hard line republicans in the process as well, in the end, forcing a split which resulted in the Real IRA. It would be foolish to say that this was a cataclysmic event in republican communities, however the choices which the Loyalist and Unionist community of Northern Ireland were about to face would be much more demanding. In personal opinion, the key event which directly led to the development of the GFA was the democratically elected ‘Northern Ireland Forum' of 1996 (Whyte, N; 2003). This was the first major step towards devolved, cross community government by getting political representatives from all sides of the divide to begin communicating with each other.

 

The Changing Face: Pre-GFA Community Work

In majority Catholic areas, "Concerned Resident's Groups" received a large amount of publicity by the press surrounding their objections to Loyal Order parades through their areas. These received a lot of criticism in Loyalist circles, as often there would be a distinct connection to Sinn Fein as well as the ‘chairperson' of many of these groups being found to be not from these areas. A well known example is that of the Garvaghy Road, were Brendan McKenna was leader of the local residents group in protesting against Portadown Orange Lodge's demands to walk down that particular road (BBC News; 2007). While being leader of this particular residents group in Portadown, he was a resident of West Belfast, over thirty miles away.

Where community work in republican areas have always been associated closely with Sinn Fein, in loyalist areas, the links have not been with political organisations, but more with the paramilitary groups associated with the ‘policing' of the local area. Of course there have been aligned Political parties such as The Progressive Unionist Party (PUP), and to an extent historically, Ian Paisleys' Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) were closely aligned to the loyalist workers movements of the 1980's and was seen as the face of the Ulster Workers Council strike of 1974 due to his opposing of the Sunningdale Agreement (BBC News; no date, Probert; 1978). Indeed, Paisley is regarded as the godfather of Ulster Loyalism and the face of Northern Irish Politics, his famous speech in November 1985 cemented his legacy and outlined the depth of opposition felt towards a more extensive agreement, the Anglo-Irish Agreement, which Prime Minister Thatcher supported due to wanting to create better links between Britain and the Republic of Ireland. In this renowned speech to over 100,000 people at Belfast City Hall, Reverend Paisley stated;

"I want to ask a question today. And the question is simple. Where do the terrorists operate from? From the Irish Republic! That's where they come from! Where do the terrorists return to for Sanctuary? To the Irish Republic! And yet Mrs. Thatcher tells us that that Republic must have some say in our province! We say NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER!!"

(Youtube.com; 2009).

 

This is not to say that the paramilitary's themselves were openly the face of community work, rather it was well known names of the organisations or ex-members being seen in the press as ‘community workers' (BBC News; 2009). Grass-roots, front line community workers have a great deal of scepticism surrounding them due to this, and it will take a lot before the general public will be won over by the profession.

The Good Friday Agreement and Community Work

Although not totally explicit in its intentions, The Good Friday Agreement does make quite a number of references to Community Work, particularly in respect to reconciliation initiatives (Northern Ireland Office; 1998). In respect to institutions which would be established; The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission would have a "...membership from Northern Ireland reflecting the community balance..." (Rights, Safeguards and Equality of Opportunity –  Human Rights -Section 5); Equality Commission to replace four sub-commissions (Section 6) and discussions to further consider a dedicated Department of Equality (Section 7).

Critically, it is Section Twelve of The Agreement which made the most impact for community provisions in Northern Ireland by stating:

"...Young people from areas affected by the troubles face particular difficulties and will support the development of special community-based initiatives based on international best practice... will need to be channelled through both statutory and community based voluntary organisations facilitating locally-based self-help and support networks." (Section 12).

Further comment is made under sub-section "Rights, Safeguards and Equality of Opportunity – Human Rights", where social inclusion is pinpointed as needing to prioritise "Community Development and the advancement of women in public life" (Section 1). A further key mention is given to the Irish language speaking community of Northern Ireland and the need for inclusion and liaising with said community.

The Changing Face: Post-GFA Community Work

Since The Good Friday Agreement, the political structures have been a situation of constant stopping and starting, being under a constant strain of tension. In contrast however, while not without issue, the implementations of The Agreement in terms of Community Work have proceeded in a more steady and progressive manner.  In 21st Century Northern Ireland, community organisations are becoming more and more mainstream and recognised entities. Many ‘Community Workers' are still often recognisable names to locals as men who have been associated paramilitary's, and while I feel strongly that to command more respect and rid the scepticism from the general public surrounding the profession we need to have a strong uniformed qualification programme and an understand of what a community worker is and isn't, we cannot afford to write these hard working people off anymore. It is personally felt that often when local media seek the views of a ‘community worker', it is a about a singular issue. It is to state that, "the police used heavy handed tactics", or perhaps, "the local community has been provoked to this reaction", but always feeling the need to, "appeal for calm." Of course I am not so ignorant to suggest that a worker in a 95% protestant housing estate is not going to represent those people and their views, but is it really their role to carry this out in such a public way?

We need to gain an understanding of this, we need to draw these protocols up and this needs to be down immediately. It is not enough for the University of Ulster to change it's Community Youth Work course to bring it in line with the rest of the UK, we need to remember we are a regional area with very unique regional issues. You don't go around to a friends house stating, "Come and look at my new kitchen, I think it's as nice as yours", when your friends' kitchen is near perfect whereas yours has the door off its' hinges and tiles are missing from your floor. There is absolutely no point in Northern Ireland trying to act the equal of the rest of the UK in terms of Youth & Community Work when we haven't got our grassroots challenges sorted out. It's not going to be easy, as new protocols, policy and procedure will not fix these issues overnight, as it is more than a issue with the profession itself. It would be my argument that we are in a paradox, where to fix the profession we have to use the profession at its best to change the mindset of communities to accept the changes, and this will not be simple in carrying out.

 

Two Become One: A More United Community

Of course there is one key difference for Northern Irish people to their country compared to that of 20 years ago and that is the simple fact that violence is almost completely vanished, or at least is certainly not comparable to what it was. It is maybe this fact which is most important in defining what changes have been made in terms of other aspects of the culture such as; sports; arts; leisure; economic investment and so on. It has been observed that in recent years, the pluralisation of the term community has become used in decreasing amounts, with politicians in particular showing willingness to promote the steps which I have been taken by them by uniting the sects of Northern Ireland, finally, as one community.

Compared to those of people in other parts of the UK, Northern Irelands' cultural scene was heavily neglected for the most part of the troubles. Particularly in music, many acts would not announce Northern Irish dates on tours, or often cancelled due to violence. The change since the progress of the peace process began cannot be understated and can be shown with basic examples of concert arenas year of construction and dates of the provinces music festivals:

• The Waterfront Hall, opened 1997 (Belfast Waterfront; no date)
• Glasgowbury Music Festival, ongoing since 2000 (Glasgowbury Music Group; no date)
• The Odyssey Arena and Pavilion, opened 2000 (Odysseyarena.com; 2009)
• Tennants ViTAL Music Festival, 2002 – 2007, citing over-saturation in the music festival market (tennantsvital.com; no date).

Case Study: Feile an Phobail

With these examples aside, there is one, community based festival ongoing since 1988; ‘Feile an Phobail', colloquially referred to in English as ‘The West Belfast Festival', however directly translated from Irish Gaelic as being ‘The Community Festival' (Feile and Phobail West Belfast: 2010). This festival has been constantly at the receiving end of criticism (culturenorthernireland.org; no date), particularly by unionist circles as being an ‘un-true' community festival, due to the connections with Republicanism and Sinn Fein it holds. We must ask ourselves; however, is this fair criticism? After all, the area of West Belfast is predominately a republican stronghold. While it could be argued that unionist criticisms were to score a political point or two, it would be personal opinion that Feile an Phobail is not a totally inclusive community festival, particularly through the use of Gaelic as its main title. Yes, West Belfast is, as stated, a predominately catholic area, however, it also includes the famous protestant stronghold of the Shankill Road. So for the past twenty two years, has Feile an Phobail been a festival for Belfast; a festival for West Belfast; or a festival for the Catholic community? While it may not have been the intentions of the organisers, it has, rightly or wrongly, become simply a festival for the catholic community of the area, with outsiders feeling unwelcome.

The vast majority of objects and subjects prior to 1998 would often have been found to be ‘owned' by one section of the community or the other. For example, even particular musical acts came into the debate of the politico-religious divide, an obvious case being punk band ‘Stiff Little Fingers', particularly for their hit rebellious song, ‘Alternative Ulster' which included the following lyrics referring to the Royal Ulster Constabulary;

"Get an Alternative Ulster,

Be an anti-security force,

Alter your native Ulster,

Alter your native land...

... Take a look where you're livin',

You got the Army on your street,

And the RUC dog of repression,

Is barking at your feet,

Is this the kind of place you wanna live?,

Is this where you wanna be?,

Is this the only life we're gonna have?"

(Stiff Little Fingers; 1978)

Another example which is less obvious would be ‘The Undertones', famous for their hit, ‘Teenage Kicks', who were associated with a more catholic fan base due to being from the republican majority city of Londonderry (theundertones.com; no date)

 

It is important, however, to outline and celebrate the existence of certain enigma's, in which, in times of trouble where a source of healing and unity for a country so deeply divided. The most famous example is of course the footballer, George Best. Even though he played for the Northern Ireland International team, a team with a vastly protestant support, his fame and reputation for being one of the worlds greatest, automatically made the him the country's most famous son. In turn, his achievements gripped publics imagination and support, regardless of religious or political background. A less widely known example, but equally important to the country, was Joey Dunlop, World Road Racing champion. His soft spoken personality, extraordinary efforts for charities at home and abroad and his disregard for political and religious discussion in public made him very much a people's man. Both these men have now deceased, and while I accept that their achievements as successful sportsmen take prominence, it can only argue that the large gatherings of people and tributes at their funerals can be also attributed to the regard in which they were held by the people of all communities in Northern Ireland.

 

Help or Hindrance: The Current Political Climate

A number of sceptics (Walker, B; 2010) have stated that they believe that the parties have semi-manufactured or at least used these scandals to their advantage, particularly to buy time or bargaining power in the run up to the talks on the devolution of Policing & Justice at Hillsborough. It would be personal opinion that at the very least, these scandals have been used in some way to buy more time however have engaged both the media and public with Politics in this country like never before.

There have been some much publicised developments in Northern Irish politics within the past 6 months, particularly the scandals surrounding Gerry Adams, Peter Robinson and Irish Robinson. As well as this, we have had the recent developments of the ‘Hillsborough Agreement' on policing and justice, which has received mixed public and political opinion (Traditional Unionist Voice; 2010, The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland; 2010[a], The Ulster Unionist Party; 2010). The Hillsborough Agreement consists of eight main points, with the highest profile of those being the Parades issue (BBC News[a]; 2010).

Immediately following analysing the Hillsborough Agreement and relevant additional information, it came to personal opinion that certain aspects of the plans may have implications for modern community work in the country. Primarily, it could be said that the resolving of the parades issue, and the hope for local people being organised to work these local issues out, must be seen as a possible new task for Community Workers. This task can not fall into the hands of politicians. It is not a party political task to seek the views and organisation of people to solve delicate issues such as parades, particularly when partisan in a climate like Northern Ireland will almost ultimately lead to an alignment of one side of the relgio-cultural divide or the other.

The transfer of Policing and Justice powers did not go without problem on Monday 12th April 2010, as a Real IRA car bomb was detonated to coincide with the time of transfer just after midnight (BBC News; 2010[b]). An important step however, must be the selection of David Ford, Leader of The Alliance Party as Justice Manager, due to the parties stance on ridding Northern Ireland of tribal politics (The Alliance Party of Northern Ireland; 2010[b]).

 

Recommendations for Change

During the course of this paper, a number of suggestions and recommendations for change have been made so it's natural that before concluding that we compile these recommendations.

1. Community Work
   1. Challenge the scepticism of Community Work by the general public by;
      1. i.      Uniforming the qualification that makes one a "Community Worker" and not allowing the abuse of the term
      2. ii.      Writing new policy & procedure which states what is within a the remit of a Community Worker and what is the responsibility of a local political representative
      3. iii.      Challenging local communities to actively seek out cross-community organisation and engage more with local political representatives.
2. Ensuring that the more recent political agreements of St. Andrews and Hillsborough do not get in the way of progressing the will of The Good Friday Agreement, the only document of the three which was backed democratically by all the people of the Island of Ireland.
3. Politics
   1. Politicians need to remain out of the business and actions of the Community Sector. All should wish to encourage community work to become non-partisan and understanding of the increasingly diverse and mixed culture of the province.
   2. Members of the Legislative Assembly should work in close partnership with the Community Sector in order to progress the aims of the Hillsborough Agreement. This is particularly necessary in respect to resolving the parades issue, as Community Workers are often perfectly placed to mediate the discussions and conflicts which can arise.

 

Conclusion

In summing up, it is important for us to understand that Northern Ireland has always been an extremely complex society and will remain this way for the foreseeable future. The socio-religio-cultural web which has intertwined all aspects of Northern Irish society is slowly being shielded by a more modern, cosmopolitan region, however the inherent conservative values of the nations older generations, and their remembrance of the vicious violent assault will remain.

What has been shown in this document is that there is a methodology set out, ready and waiting to push community work forward in a sensitive and respectful manner. While Community Development Work will become a more modern, respected, and efficient profession, in turn our communities and our political sphere of influence will benefit from this. While the recommendations within this paper may never be taken on board at a higher level of governance engaged by policy-makers of the Community Sector, it is hoped that those who come in to contact with it will be motivated to understand and accept the changes which need to be made.

About the Author

My name is Nathan Erskine and I'm a 21 Year old student. I hold a BA(Hons) in Youth & Community Development work as well as a Professional Qualification in Youth Work and I'm currently working towards an MA in Comparative Ethnic Conflict. My undergraduate institution was the University of Cumbria in Lancaster (University of Lancaster Degree Award) while my current studies are at Queen's University Belfast.

My base interests are Youth & Community Work in Northern Ireland; the application of community work to conflict resolution; Peace & Reconciliation and young people and communities participating in governance.

It is my hope to become a published article writer in the near future, so please feel free to read my articles and provide feedback of any kind! You may contact me at nerskine02@qub.ac.uk

Peter Erskine

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