the Troubles – Slugger O'Toole

‘We collect without fear or favour’: embodying inclusion at the Linen Hall Library

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on October 20, 2026, 9:48 am

| Readers 333

A Good Relations Week workshop at the Linen Hall Library offered an unusual angle on this year’s theme of ‘Include’: rather than framing inclusion as a goal to be worked toward, it asked how a library collection can embody it. Patsy Horton of the Linen Hall Library and Sam Manning, its outreach and engagement officer, drew on the breadth of the institution’s holdings to trace over two centuries of Belfast’s life and political history, and to explore how archives can …

Challenges to belonging in a changing Northern Ireland

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on October 16, 2026, 4:56 pm

| Readers 1866

A public lecture held at Ulster University’s Coleraine campus during Good Relations Week brought a social psychologist’s lens to some of Northern Ireland’s most persistent divisions. The event, titled “Finding Your Place: Belonging in a Changing Northern Ireland”, was introduced by Damian McIlduff and delivered by Dr Bethany Corbett, a lecturer in developmental and educational psychology at Ulster University. A profound human need Dr Corbett opened by reframing what belonging actually means. Far from being a pleasant social comfort, she …

Still our ghosts visit: Garvaghy Road, founding myths and the dangerous fantasy of victory

Mick Fealty on October 6, 2026, 10:19 am

| Readers 5304

closeup photo of nut

The Garvaghy Road estates were formed in a few short years by families fleeing intimidation, and that founding story is still being renewed. The law may be clear on the Orange Order’s right to walk, but neither a court ruling nor tribal politics can resolve what only engagement will.

Songs of the blackberry path: Tia Bow maps a journey from the Troubles to discovery

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on July 31, 2026, 5:55 pm

| Readers 337

Blackberry Path is a forthcoming album by Belfast-based songwriter Tia Bow (Fionnuala Fagan-Thiébot), with her bandmates Clare Galway and Danny Trouton. Their one-hour live performance of all of the album’s songs delved into Fagan-Thiébot’s personal narrative, exploring themes of life’s unpredictable journey, self-discovery, friendship, love, loss, care, and hope. The performance took place at the Sanctuary Theatre, itself a former church and space of reflection, and was part of the Eastside Arts Festival. Róisin Whyte provided a support act, singing primarily her own songs …

‘The violence is continuing’: scholars examine embodied memory of conflict

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on May 8, 2026, 12:05 pm

| Readers 425

The International Conflict Research Institute (INCORE) at Ulster University hosted a seminar to mark the exhibition “Aftershocks: The Sensory Afterlives of Violence”, on display at the university’s Belfast campus until 13 May. The seminar brought together Professor Roísín Higgins (Maynooth University), who organised the event and chaired proceedings, in conversation with Professor Élise Féron (Director of INCORE); Dr Lisa Fitzpatrick (Senior Lecturer in Drama at Ulster); and Dr Adrian Grant (Lecturer in History at Ulster). The discussion focused on their research and its relationship to embodied memory — how conflict …

Curating the conflict: Everyday Objects and the challenge of representing the Troubles

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on March 28, 2026, 10:42 pm

| Readers 650

An online panel discussion hosted by The Peace Museum in Bradford brought together museum professionals, academics, and heritage practitioners to explore how the conflict in and about Northern Ireland has been represented in exhibitions. Chaired by Dr Louise Purbrick of the Royal College of Art, the conversation introduced the museum’s current special exhibition, Everyday Objects Transformed by the Conflict, developed by Healing Through Remembering (HTR). The panel included Professor Elizabeth Crooke of Ulster University, Dr Karine Bigand of Aix-Marseille University, and Dr …

Opsahl Commission 30th anniversary: ‘civic poetry’ still yielding insights

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on July 24, 2023, 9:15 am

| Readers 1040

Laurence Simms (joint secretary of the British-Irish Secretariat) hosted a reception to mark the 30th anniversary of the Opsahl Commission, which invited and gathered oral and written submissions from individuals and civil society organisations about their suggestions for the way forward in Northern Ireland. Several dozen guests at the Notting Hill residence listened to reflections by various participants of the initiative and shared their stories with each other afterwards. Simms welcomed all who travelled long and short to attend. Remarking …

Acknowledging deep hurt and pain: Day of Reflection at Belfast City Hall

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on June 21, 2023, 10:33 pm

| Readers 754

Belfast City Council hosted an annual Day of Reflection event for a second year, providing an opportunity for people and communities across the city to acknowledge the deep hurt and pain caused by the conflict in and about Northern Ireland. After introductory remarks, a short film was repeated during the day, interspersed with readings from a variety of authors. Attendees were invited to share their hopes for the future by adding a leaf to a “Message Tree”, and a number …

The memorials in our heads: the Im/material Monument (Gail Ritchie)

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on April 11, 2023, 7:28 am

| Readers 1244

As the information sheet for Gail Ritchie’s exhibition, The Im/material Monument, points out, 25 years after the signing of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement there is no memorial to commemorate the collective dead of the Troubles. Through a series of objects, Ritchie challenges our imaginations as to what our memorialising could be. With a guided tour, she explained the motivations and intent of her work on display at QSS Artist Studios. Ritchie began her curated tour by remarking that she had …

Book review — Refugees and Forced Displacement in Northern Ireland’s Troubles (Niall GILMARTIN and Brendan Ciarán BROWNE)

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on February 20, 2023, 7:55 am

| Readers 1804

Among the imagery associated with the Troubles, occasionally you see one of a van or car overladen with house furniture and hastily assembled parcels of clothing and personal possessions. These people were given enough time to bring some things with them as they were either forced out or no longer felt safe remaining in their homes. These incidents usually get a brief mention in the analysis of the 30-year violent conflict in Northern Ireland, yet in a tone of an …

How realistic is the doomsday scenario?

Samuel Thompson on December 30, 2022, 2:00 pm

| Readers 6990

Back in the bad old days a mitigation presented for loyalists convicted of unlawfully possessing firearms was that the guns were stored for a ‘Doomsday scenario’, the doomsday in question being a United Ireland. Nationalists should consider that for a moment. For many Unionists, a united Ireland spells the end of life as they know it, an unknown, full of dread. As a child at the start of the Troubles I can remember such fears being voiced and although one …

“One of the most disturbing features of contemporary Ireland is the almost universal ignorance among the younger generation of the Northern Troubles…”

Andy Pollak on October 31, 2022, 11:00 am

| Readers 7920

Una Mullally is a high profile Irish Times columnist: a gay left-wing feminist (although I have never seen or heard her describe herself as a socialist) who is particularly popular among the young. This is not surprising given that one of her recurrent themes is that young Irish people (idealistic, open-minded, liberal in gender and identity politics, probably Sinn Fein inclined) are mobilising to take over the running of this country from old Irish people (reactionary, narrow-minded, Catholic Church-influenced, probably …

The Steel Shutter Revisited 50th Anniversary Conference…

Soapbox on October 18, 2022, 7:46 am

| Readers 2529

In 1972 at the height of the violent Troubles in Northern Ireland a group of people believed that they could make a difference by simply getting people to listen to one another. Taking great risks for all involved they flew nine stakeholders (5 Protestants and 4 Catholics) from Ireland to Pittsburgh and filmed a three-day encounter group. The famous psychologist Carl Rogers, and colleagues, attempted something radical. For the majority, it was the first time they had any real interaction with …

Why I think The IRA War was a failure…

Frank Schnittger on August 26, 2022, 7:00 am

| Readers 6144

Various posts by Mick Fealty and many others, most recently by Brian Walker in “Leave futile arguments about equivalence aside. We all need to come clean about why the Troubles lasted so unforgivably long” have asked us to re-examine culpability for the Troubles and the need to let the healing process proceed through a truth recovery process. Despite their best efforts, the ensuing conversations have always descended into a welter of “whataboutery” and the sins of the other side. The …

The trouble with teaching ‘the Troubles’…

Ulster University on August 16, 2022, 11:21 am

| Readers 4105

teacher, learning, school

The final episode of Derry Girls (spoiler alert) covered the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement (GFA) with wit and plenty of pathos. After its broadcast, social media was full of older viewers reporting that they had quite forgotten the challenges that many people across the island of Ireland faced when deciding to support unpalatable aspects of the agreement, such as the release of prisoners. The younger adults were open about being entirely unaware of the context of this peace settlement which ended …

Something Unresolved – The 50th Anniversary of Bloody Friday…

Roy Uprichard on July 21, 2022, 2:10 pm

| Readers 4419

The room was spartan. Two chairs, a few books on a table and a filing cabinet. Where she kept notes, no doubt – on other stragglers who’d dragged their excess baggage up the stairs. I told of the house purchase gone wrong, how stupid I felt, and the sense of being trapped. She wrote something down. ‘If only I could get an unbroken night’s sleep, I might be able to cope.’ She asked when that problem started. I weighed up …

Paras have at last told their grim stories of the Falklands War. With strong public support behind them, perhaps Troubles combatants would do the same

Brian Walker on June 14, 2022, 2:11 pm

| Readers 3066

This week’s showing on BBC2 of the gripping Our Falklands War: a front line story will have forced comparisons and contrasts with the Troubles. When I reported the Falklands War from afar in Buenos Aires I used to wonder how those spotty youths in ill fitting uniforms would fare against the elite of the British Army like the Parachute Brigade. Not well as we saw when 1000 of them surrendered to less than 100 paras at Goose Green, although the …

Police Ombudsman finds “collusive behaviour” by police in 11 loyalist murders…

Brian O'Neill on February 8, 2022, 10:51 am

| Readers 3941

The Police Ombudsman has released her reporting into collusion between the RUC and loyalist paramilitaries. From the report overview: Mrs Anderson found that concerns about police actions expressed by bereaved families and survivors were “legitimate and justified”, and said her investigation had identified a range of collusive behaviours by police, which included: Intelligence and surveillance failings which led to loyalist paramilitaries obtaining military grade weaponry in a 1987 arms importation; A failure to warn two men of threats to their …

The media’s role in peacebuilding: none of its business?

Allan LEONARD (Mr Ulster) on June 10, 2021, 10:27 am

| Readers 1663

So is peacebuilding none of the media’s business? That was a conclusion that broadcaster and journalist, Declan Harvey, posed to a panel of fellow journalists and writers at an online webinar delivered through Belfast City Council’s PEACE IV Programme, which is funded through the EU and managed by the Special EU Programmes Body. Panellists Alex Kane, Amanda Ferguson, and Leona O’Neill shared their perspectives and experiences of reporting in Northern Ireland, answering questions from Declan Harvey and those submitted by …

‘Politicians will argue, they will fight over it and they will come up with reasons for not dealing with the past’

Paul Gosling on June 22, 2020, 9:02 am

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It was hoped that the Patten reforms would herald a new start for policing in Northern Ireland, but, argues Denis Bradley, the PSNI remains burdened with its legacy from the old RUC. Denis is a former vice-chair of the Northern Ireland Policing Board and co-chair of the Consultative Group on the Past. He was talking in the latest Forward Together podcast from the Holywell Trust. “In the setting-up of the PSNI, the new service inherited, carried with it, the deeds …