Northern Irish women in the grassroots
Welcome to AvilaMedia’s first interview of the ‘Ats us nai’ project, centred on finding out what’s happening ‘now’ in Northern Ireland’s communities. Our first guest in this series is Anne Carr – a woman who has played a vital role in Northern Ireland’s reconciliation process.
The #AtsUsNai project is a series of interviews with folks from Northern Ireland’s community sector about the work they’re doing to bring about positive change. It is funded by the Community Relations Council‘s Media Grant Scheme.
As a young woman growing up through ‘The Troubles’ on Belfast’s Shankill Road, Anne has seen it all. From grassroots community activist, to peacemaker, to UN advisor, there isn’t much within the peace and reconciliation process that Anne hasn’t seen.
Anne benefited greatly from having spent a portion of her childhood in the Niagara Falls region of Canada, receiving first-hand experience of what growing up in a diverse and accepting community is like. When she returned to Belfast, the city’s troubles were at that point more foreign to her than the life she left behind in Canada. To make matters more difficult, Anne reared a ‘mixed’ family through ‘The Troubles’, something considered taboo at the time. Despite the many threats to her and her family, she pressed on in the fight for a better future for Northern Ireland.
Anne joined Women Together in 1990, a cross-community group of working class women who stood up to paramilitary violence and organised for peace from the very beginning of the conflict. Anne, along with many women from across Northern Ireland, later formed the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition – a group famous for the crucial role it played in brokering the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement, effectively ending the province’s 30 year conflict. The Women’s Coalition were able to get two women elected to the negotiating table – the only two women that made it to the table. Were it not for their dedication and perseverance towards peace, no women would have been present in the talks that eventually led to Northern Ireland’s peace accord.
Anne discuss the crucial role of women in Northern Ireland’s peace process
Anne knew at that time that the work doesn’t stop with the agreement – it starts. In our interview, she pointed out that most peace agreements around the world bring a greater return to violence and not the peace they are supposed to restore. So in the years following 1998, Anne amongst others built Community Dialogue, a community organisation helping to foster better relations and mutual understanding between traditionally fragmented communities.
“Dialogue is the process that helps people in deeply divided communities to understand one another, lessen fear of the ‘other’ and create an ease with difference that provides the foundation of a shared society where everyone can feel a sense of belonging.”
Anne has continued working in the grassroots, facilitating projects to ease tensions and heal communities from their divided pasts. She knew that this work was as important as the agreement itself. The steadfast dedication to peace of community workers like Anne has been on display recently, as the community in North Belfast where Anne works has decided to begin the removal of one of ‘The Troubles’ longest standing peace walls.
In Anne’s mind, for the most part, the community sector has done its job – there is more understanding between the two major communities and Northern Ireland hasn’t fallen back into conflict. But peace is much more than an absence of violence. There is an ongoing need to heal the wounds of the past and move painstakingly to a more shared society – the cost of division is huge.
She stated today that the real challenge comes from the top down, not the other way around. Though work still needs to be carried out in the grassroots, she says that, generally speaking, communities throughout Northern Ireland are ready for change and this new generation wants progress. She stated the biggest roadblock to this is austerity and the lack of funding in working class areas, as well as the lack of political leadership. The absence of investment in working class estates leaves young men little alternative to joining proscribed organisations and this needs to be resolved in her eyes for Northern Ireland to move forward.
She has a practical approach to the ‘New Decade, New Approach’ deal that has been brokered by the recently restored Stormont Assembly. Anne told us that “this is a time for doing, not talking. All that has ever needed to be said about what needs to be done has been said – it’s time to do, to take action!”
She’s sceptical about the plethora of new committees that are coming out of this deal. Citizen engagement is mentioned in the new agreement, but the Civic Forum, which was to be established as part of the implementation of the Belfast Agreement, needs to be reinstated and resourced properly. A much more inclusive, robust and effective model to make sure that politicians are well informed and that policy reflects real need on the ground was promised and not delivered.
She is delighted that the Assembly and Executive is back in place and has committed to making power sharing work. It is time to show real leadership and so far the mood music is promising.
For women living in disenfranchised areas of Northern Ireland, Anne states that they are painfully aware of the issues they face and need to stay resolute and hold government accountable to living their part of the agreement and helping bring about a better, more prosperous and less divisive future for all communities in Northern Ireland.
“Our communities are ready for change – it’s up to our leaders to deliver!”
It would behove many of us living in Northern Ireland today to listen to Anne’s words. Anne has given addresses to the UN and with organisations and in conflicts all over the globe. She has seen peace come and go. If there’s anyone that understands peace at the grassroots level, it is she. This is what leadership looks like.
The Ats us nai project is a series of interviews with community leaders and organisations across Northern Ireland’s ‘third sector’ centred on reconciliation. Articles are available on AvilaMedia and Northern Slant. The project is funded by the Community Relations Council.
