Special focus

Irish Peace Centres works with many different groups of actors in society, including young people, women's groups, ex-combatants, minority ethnic groups and faith groups.  In this "Special Focus" section of the website, we will be highlighting some of the issues affecting these individual groups and giving special focus to the work of Irish Peace Centres.

SPECIAL FOCUS: YOUNG PEOPLE IN POST-CONFLICT SOCIETY

The active engagement of young people in strengthening their own needs/entitlements is crucial to generating alternative democratic, non-violent and participatory/integrative projects across Northern Ireland

Through engagement in Irish Peace Centres projects, young people can become empowered to address the enduring tensions and issues that young people face, living in a post-conflict society.  Young people have a significant role to play in peace-building and reconciliation, and this cannot be overlooked if sustainable networks are to emerge and enduring peace is to be achieved.

• Young People in Post-Conflict Northern Ireland: Reflecting on the Issues

Children and young people in Northern Ireland have been the focus of many research projects that have investigated the human impact of the conflict. Much of this has centred on the effects of segregation along socio-religious lines in places of residency and in education. In their book, Young People in Post-Conflict Northern Ireland: The past cannot be changed, but the future can be developed (2008), Dirk Schubotz and Paula Devine argue that the cessation of paramilitary violence opens up the opportunity to reflect on issues affecting young people that have previously received less attention.

Stephanie Burns, IPC Research Fieldworker has summarised the principal findings of this research. See attachment below.

• Anne Frank + You : breaking down barriers of suspicion and mistrust.

Conflict, cultural and ethnic prejudice, racial hatred, religious intolerance – how the idealism of a young girl living through the Holocaust can inform the attitudes and idealism of young people in Northern Ireland today…

See attachment below.