Journey of Understanding across the border

Irish Peace Centres has been conducting a series of meetings since early June with members of the JUAH Project (Journey (of) Understanding, Acceptance (and) Healing) made up of former Gardaí and Irish Defence Force personnel. 

The aim of this programme is to facilitate an inter-cultural and cross-border visit by JUAH to meet and build relationships with former members of the UDR/RIR and the PSNI/RUC.  The group also visited the ulster Folk and Transport museum and met former combatants who facilitated a tour of the Belfast peace walls.  They visited Newforge and the George Cross Memorial Garden at Knock Rd where they laid a wreath.  They also enjoyed the opportunity to meet with the Minister for Justice, Mr David Ford MLA at Parliament Buildings, Stormont.  At this meeting, Peter Sheridan, Chair of Irish Peace Centres and former Assistant Chief Constable of the RUC/PSNI spoke to the group and answered questions about his experiences in peace-building in different contexts.

This programme will lead to an increase in capacity building within JUAH; an increase in confidence in dealing with issues of cultural, political and communal difference; and the start of a process of joint events with their Northern Ireland colleagues including an exchange visit to Donegal, a workshop on understanding stress and PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder) and a joint research study comparing and contrasting the experiences of all 4 security forces along the Border during the conflict. It will launch the group on an experiential learning programme that will build lasting relationships among the participants on a cross-border and cross-community basis.

The involvement of all groups in this programme and the visit to Belfast will be the first in a series of events within this programme which Irish Peace Centres will run in the Autumn.  It aims to build a sustainable cross-border relationship between services and will inform the Irish Peace Centres’ research into cross-border relationships in this field.  The Irish Peace Centres will also identify the training support needs of the programme participants to ensure that the collaborative relationship is nurtured and the learning is shared.

Background on JUAH (by group leader, Joe Lynch):

A new concept was born when retired members of the security services in Co Donegal came together to form the Journey (of) Understanding, Acceptance (and) Healing (JUAH) Project. While members of An Garda Síochána and the Irish Defence Forces have worked together along the border area throughout the period of the Northern Ireland conflict, there has never been a joint approach to addressing the various needs of the wider membership of those who served in the Irish Security Services.

It has to be acknowledged that members of the Security Services in Co. Donegal played a significant role in the preservation of law and order, the saving of lives through the prevention and detection of paramilitary activity and the continuance of a stable society during the turbulent period that spans the late 1960’s and the following three decades, into the mid to late 1990’s, during which the very fabric of society on this island was challenged. In playing that crucial role, our members made significant sacrifices, not only in the area of their professional employment, but also in their family and private lives, sacrifices that were duly shared by their respective wives, husbands, partners and immediate family members. For some, the burden of that sacrifice continues to be carried, right to this present time.

The JUAH Project has been formed to help and assist our members in dealing with issues arising out of their protracted service along the border, issues which have never been fully addressed and which have left a residue of emotional, physiological and physical challenges for those concerned. This project encompasses two distinct groups with former Gardaí and Defence Force personnel each having elected Committees from which the membership of the JUAH Central Steering Committee is drawn. The JUAH Project will provide appropriate assistance to individual members who need it, and will endeavour to build on the substantial cross border links that already exist between members of the group and former members of the security services in Northern Ireland. We are confident that this Project can act as a “Role Model” for retired members of the Irish Security services in the other border counties.

The Project aims, by our actions, to enhance not only the lives of our individual members, but also life in society, both in Donegal and in Northern Ireland by adding to cross border understanding and development through interactive events involving cultural, historical and social elements, activities that can be sustained throughout the decades that lie ahead. With this in mind, the JUAH Project is intent on providing interaction for our members and the members of the former security services in Northern Ireland through various cross-border, cross community initiatives and activities.

Through these activities, our members trust that this Project can lead us forward, on what truly will be a Journey of Understanding, Acceptance and Healing, a journey that will have lasting benefits for our society as a whole, North and South of the border.