The Public Policy Project

Working in Belfast

In April, I spent five days working on “Difficult Stories” with writers, artists, social workers and activitists in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was good work sponsored by the Creative Writers Network with people who are engaged in, as they say, “moving beyond the tribal stories.” It is not quite a formal “truth & reconcillation” process, but rather the realization that after 34 years of “The Troubles” and 10 years of “Waging Peace” with and without a functional government; the necessity of individuals telling their stories continues and grows.

A part of the work was a variation on “The Stories of the Other” workshop I do and the race and cultural competency discussions that the Public Policy has conducted for organizations. Part of the efort was identifying specific techniques that could be used to create safe and respectful spaces for individuals to tell their stories, how to facilitate the telling of these difficult stories and what to do once they have been told.

One of the questions we were exploring is how to get beyond “shame and blame” to speak “truthfully, artfully and meaningfully” about what happened and at what cost to selves and their communities. Many residents on both sides of the Catholic and Protestant divide are not ready to forgive, but may be ready to hear the story of the “other” they live beside. What are the common threads, the shared human themes of loss and discovery in those stories?

A lot more could be said, but I’ve save that for another time.