Kerri Ní Dochartaigh / Author

Kerri Ní Dochartaigh

Author

Credit: Stuart Bailie

Kerri ní Dochartaigh was born in Derry to a Catholic mother and Protestant father at the height of the Troubles. Through writing her memoirs, published as Thin Places in 2020 to critical acclaim, she reveals how she heals her trauma by immersing in the natural world and ancient mythology, inspiring other survivors with a unique perspective that is testament to humanity’s potential to heal from unimaginable suffering. She believes that ‘the less silencing that happens, the more healing happens.’ Kerri asks us ‘to reclaim and rejoice in our landscape, and to remember that the land we fight over is much more than lines on a map.’

Joanne Fitzpatrick / Core Programming and Curriculum Specialist with The PeacePlayers

Joanne Fitzpatrick

Core Programming and Curriculum Specialist with The PeacePlayers

Founded in South Africa in 2000 and launched in Northern Ireland in 2002 by brothers Sean and Brendan Tuohey, PeacePlayers was born from the recognition of ‘the unique role sport could play in bringing people together across societal divides.’ The organisation offers basketball programming, peace education, and leadership development and since 2002, PeacePlayers has expanded into the Middle East, the US and Cyprus to empower the youth to build peaceful societies.

Credit: Charles Beaumont

My name is Joanne Fitzpatrick and I was born and raised in the beautiful Mourne mountains area of County Down, in Northern Ireland. I grew up in a small village called Dundrum, just outside of Newcastle. Dundrum is a very mixed community, with Catholics and Protestants living beside each other and, as children, we attended the same youth club and played in the same parks. Growing up, to me, this was ‘normal’. It wasn’t in our heads to ask who was Catholic or who was Protestant, we just knew that we went to different primary schools, and that was just how it was. We were friends and there was never any sectarianism.

In 1998, the two schools from our village, the Catholic ‘Sacred Heart’ and the Protestant ‘Downshire’ primary school went to Stormont, to sing with a man called Tommy Sands. We had no idea why. We didn’t understand why there were hundreds of news cameras around us or why a man with a big beard called Gerry gave us a bottle of coke. It was only years later that I discovered that this was in fact referred to as “a decisive moment” in the week of the Good Friday Agreement. I guess that’s where my role in activism began.

I now work for PeacePlayers, a global charity organisation that uses sport, mainly basketball, to bridge divides, change perceptions and develop leaders in areas that have historically been divided by conflict. In South Africa, we address the legacy of apartheid. In Cyprus, we bridge the divide between the Turkish North and the Greek South. In the Middle East, we address the ongoing conflict of territory between the Jewish and Arab communities living in Israel. In the United States, we address the legacy of years of racism and discrimination. In Northern Ireland, we address the legacy of the Troubles. In each of these sites, we address these divides by creating integrated basketball teams, in the hope that ‘children that play together, can learn to live together’.

I discovered PeacePlayers as I was asked to volunteer at a winter tournament, Jingle Ball 2007, and fell in love instantly. The atmosphere was like nothing I’d seen before, music playing all day, kids dancing and playing together, both on and off the court. I got my first t-shirt and noticed the logo, a basketball, a world and a hand shake. I got it, I understood the purpose and I wanted in.

Refereeing at Jingle Bell, 2007

I started coaching in 2008 and within 4 months was asked to join the staff team. Our management at the time were American and the recruitment policy was a bit slacker then. They offered me the job because they wanted a local female, it worked for me.

When I started coaching young people from communities where there was so much hatred for ‘the other side’, I felt very out of my depth. I didn’t know what it was like to be in their shoes. I didn’t know what it was like to see and hear ‘kill all taigs/huns’ on a daily basis. I didn’t know what it was like to know death at the hands of ‘a religion’. I felt very inadequate, ‘who was I, a girl who grew up knowing Protestants as my equals, relate to these kids in any way.’ I was on a Living with Diversity training course where I discovered that I could use my experiences as an example of what was possible. I was bringing a baggage-free approach to coaching, that our local, Belfast-based coaches maybe didn’t have, I presented possibilities.

This idea of presenting the possibilities became my motivation. I gained a love for learning and sharing understanding. With the idea of uniting, educating and inspiring our participants, I started thinking of how to bring the fun to more challenging conversations, to explore what the world beyond the barriers was like, through basketball.

Basketball is a great tool for this, especially in Northern Ireland where sport can be divisive. Where sport is branded Catholic or Protestant and where it’s neutral, there’s Catholic and Protestant teams. Basketball is still a novelty, but it’s a neutral novelty. It holds no religion, no gender, no language and no barriers.

Over the years, my role in the organisation has developed as my understanding and experience grew. I am now, 14 years later, responsible for all of our programming for 8 years to 18 years across Northern Ireland and my key role is in the development of our peace education through sport material. We don’t take the approach that many others do, where the kids play games, then we talk about good relations topics. We interweave both, creating experiential learning opportunities on the court and exploring how competition on the court can represent conflict in the real world. Our core values of inside out transformation, seeing people as people and culture of collaboration are vital messages on the basketball court and across the divide.

Israel, 2022, Working with PeacePlayers participants from Cyprus, Middle East, Northern Ireland, South Africa and United States

I’ve been very fortunate over the years to take my experience in developing curricula and delivering peace education training around the world working with sporting governing bodies, NGOs and corporate organisations in Rome, Chicago, Hong Kong and Rwanda. Learning from mentors such as Chad Ford, author of the book Dangerous Love, and Tony MacAuley, author of The Paper Boy, The Bread Boy and The Belfast Gate, I’ve discovered the passion that I hold for educating others in all things conflict resolution.

Thank you to Joanne for contributing her story.

Monica McWilliams & Pearl Sagar / Delegates of Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition during the Multi-Party Peace Negotiations / Peace Activists

Monica McWilliams & Pearl Sagar

Delegates of Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition during the Multi-Party Peace Negotiations / Peace Activists

Pearl Sagar & Monica McWilliams. Credit: Pacemaker

In 1996, fearful that women’s voices would not be considered by the politicians negotiating plans for Northern Ireland’s future, a collection of women’s groups decided to lobby the government to allow a women’s network to be included in the peace talks. From this, the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition (NIWC) was formed whose main principles were: equality, human rights, and inclusion. After just six weeks of existence, the NIWC secured two seats for the All-Party Talks which began on 10 June. The only women at the table were the two elected to represent the NIWC – Monica McWilliams and Pearl Sagar.

Monica McWilliams

Monica McWilliams was born on 28 April 1954 in Ballymoney, Co. Antrim but grew up in Kilrea, Co. Derry. She graduated from Queen’s University in Belfast and would go on to eventually become Professor of Women’s Studies and Social Policy at the University of Ulster.

Throughout the 1980s Monica sat as the Chair of Gingerbread’s Social Policy Committee – an organisation ‘working to secure and protect equality and social inclusion for one parent families’ and often also spoke on behalf of the Northern Ireland Poverty Lobby on poor housing, unemployment, and dependence on social welfare.

Portrait by FRIZ

In early 1996, Monica and a friend, Avila Kilmurray, discussed the upcoming peace talks and lamented the fact that due to the lack of women in politics, women’s voices would not be heard or considered by the politicians negotiating plans for Northern Ireland’s future. Working closely with the Northern Ireland Women’s European Platform – a group that campaigned for women’s equal civic and political rights – Monica and Avila began lobbying the Northern Ireland Office for a gender-proofed party list system by which men and women were alternated in equal proportions on their lists. They also sought funds for non-party organisations to be included in the peace talks, as it was widely acknowledged that women were particularly active in community-based groups and their voices and experiences would be of value. Their proposals were largely ignored by the British Government.

Portrait by FRIZ

At a meeting on 17 April 1996 which was attended by representatives of up to 200 women’s groups, it was decided to lobby the government to allow a women’s network to be included in the talks. Much to their surprise, the government agreed to allow it, and the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition was formed. They had just six weeks to mount a campaign and three weeks to choose candidates to put forward. The NIWC quickly set about looking for candidates to come forward and encouraged the inclusion of women from varying communities and identities by refusing to take a stance on the constitutional question. While they managed to field 70 candidates from both nationalist and unionist backgrounds, from working- and upper-class communities, they were met with some hostility by mainly Unionist politicians. For example, Peter Robinson of the DUP said that ‘they are not representative of the decent Ulster woman that I speak to.’ Despite everything, after just six weeks of existence, the NIWC secured two seats for the All-Party Talks which began on 10 June 1996 and the only women at the table were the two elected to represent the NIWC – Monica McWilliams and Pearl Sagar.

In the lead up to the All-Party Talks, Monica and Pearl Sagar’s names had been put forward to be the two women at the table. It was decided that Monica and Pearl, the first a respected academic and Catholic and the latter a Protestant social worker who was regarded as a ‘streetfighter’ and someone who would take ‘no nonsense,’ would together be representative of the women of Northern Ireland. As the wife of a British soldier and relative to a policeman who was killed by those Sinn Féin represented, on a very personal level it often was not an easy task for Pearl to meet with and negotiate with the people she did, but she understood that it was necessary for lasting peace and so, she persisted.

Pearl Sagar by Ashfield Girls High School

Both Monica and Pearl faced serious sexism and ridicule in the Forum for Dialogue and Understanding which ran alongside the peace talks. They were called ‘silly women’ and told that they should be at home ‘breeding children for Ulster.’ Ian Paisley infamously made mooing noises when Monica stood to speak. In spite of this, Monica and Pearl, and the entire NIWC team, secured very important aspects to the peace agreement; along with integrated education, a civic forum and restitution for victims, the NIWC also included the need for a Bill of Rights, policing and criminal justice reforms as well as issues for sustainable peace in the future. These things were key to the success of the Good Friday agreement which was signed on 10 April 1998.

Monica by Hannah Millar

Following this monumental moment in history, Monica was elected as one of two women (the other being Jane Morrice) of the NIWC members to the Legislative Assembly in Northern Ireland in 1998 and represented South Belfast until 2003.  Being a member meant that her role was primarily ‘to scrutinise and make decisions on the issues dealt with by Government Departments and to consider and make legislation.’ She returned to her post as Professor in the University of Ulster in 2003 until she was appointed full-time Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission in 2005 and remained so until 2011. Under her leadership the Commission finalised the advice on a Bill of Human Rights for Northern Ireland which was then presented to the Secretary of State and general UK government in 2008. Legislation is still awaited. After running unsuccessfully for Belfast City Council, Pearl became a consultant to the Vital Voices Project, an American international, non-profit organisation that ‘works with women leaders in the areas of economic empowerment, women's political participation, and human rights.’

Monica by Ariana Quinn

In 2015, Monica was appointed to the Fresh Start Panel on the Disbandment of Paramilitary Organisations in Northern Ireland and subsequently to the Independent Reporting Commission to oversee the recommendations of the Panel report. She was also made chairperson of the Governing Board of Interpeace which is an international organisation for peacebuilding that supports local initiatives promoting peace around the world. She was awarded the John F. Kennedy Library Profile in Courage Award with the other eight signatories of the Northern Ireland peace process in 1998 and the Frank Cousins Peace award in 1999. 

Sources:

Gingerbread, online at http://www.gingerbreadni.org/ [accessed 5 June 2019].

Democratic Dialogue, ‘Power, Politics, Positionings – Women in Northern Ireland,’ Report 4, (Oct 1996), p. 4.

Fearon, Kate, Women’s Work: the story of the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition, Belfast (1999), pp. 51, 121.

Fearon, Kate and McWilliams, Monica, ‘Swimming against the mainstream: The Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition,’ in Carmel Roulston and Celia Davies (eds), Gender Democracy and Inclusion in northern Ireland, New York (2000).

Wave Goodbye to the Dinosaurs documentary (2019). Dir: Eimhear O'Neill.

Tiffany Danitz, ‘Raising voices for peace in Ireland - Northern Ireland Women's Coalition,’ Insight on the News, 1 December 1997.