Media Release

For Immediate Release

January 28, 2010

Witnesses to a Fragile Peace

When 16 Saint Mary’s students travel to Northern Ireland in early February they may not see the violence that has rocked the fabled isle for decades, but  Dr. Hetty van Gurp, President of Peaceful Schools International, says they will see the scars.

“It is clear that, although weapons may be for the most part silenced in Northern Ireland, the conflict still occupies the hearts of the citizens of this troubled region.”

Cait Dix, an International Development Studies graduate student, agrees. She saw the consequences of generations of political and religious turmoil last year when she travelled to Belfast with the university’s Conflict Resolutions Society and saw fear in the eyes of kindergarten students and overheard 10-year-old boys talk about their fathers having been murdered with the same casual ease they discussed soccer scores.

“I don’t like to use the word hatred, but you could feel the animosity between the groups every where .you went,” she says. “The fighting may be over, but the hurt and pain float just below the surface.”

Dix and one other veteran of last year’s initiative will be travelling back to Belfast with 14 new members of the society to engage students and teachers in addressing issues surrounding peace and the importance of conflict resolution.

It will be the fifth year that students from Saint Mary’s will visit Catholic, Protestant and Integrated schools throughout Belfast to offer conflict resolution workshops. Last year, students were interviewed and filmed about their work by the BBC News and the Belfast Telegraph.

Bridget Brownlow, Conflict Resolution Advisor at Saint Mary’s, says by working alongside Catholic and Protestant students, it is hoped the Saint Mary’s students will feel they have a hand in creating a more peaceful world in which everyone can learn in a safe environment.

“This initiative presents an opportunity for Saint Mary’s students to learn about the real impact of violent conflict on a society as well as an opportunity to share some of our conflict resolution skills,” said Brownlow, who will be joining students on this unique venture abroad.

“With the horror of Afghanistan and Haiti, it is easy to skip past Northern Ireland, accepting that the peace process is underway and everything is lovely. It’s just not the case. When you are there, you see that many of the schools remain covered over in barbed wire. Belfast teachers often describe it as a “violent peace.”

Dr. Pádraig Ó Siadhail, Coordinator of the D’Arcy McGee Chair of Irish Studies at Saint Mary’s, says there is the need for innovative strategies and initiatives that will encourage its people, especially the young, to come to terms with the open and not-so-open wounds that still fester.

“The Peaceful Schools' project, involving Saint Mary's, is one such initiative,” he said.

In an email, Marie McIntyre, Vice Principal, St. Aidan’s Christian Brothers Primary School, Belfast, says the impact of the visits by the students from Saint Mary’s University cannot be overestimated.

“On their second visit to St. Aidan's (after an interval of one year), our boys greeted returning students by name and enquired where others were.  They were able to recall the activities they had been involved in the previous year in impressive detail and remind the students of the follow up discussions that had taken place.

“There is no doubt that our boys find the visits fun; they enjoy the interaction with students and the opportunity to learn about a different country.  More importantly however, our boys see the value and relevance of the message imparted by the Canadian students in relation to peace.”
        
The impact of the visit may be just as profound for the Saint Mary’s students as it is for the pupils in Belfast schools they visit. Dix says she knows the trip changed her and she’s more anxious than ever to get out and help people home and abroad find ways to deal with emotionally explosive situations.

As part of their preparation for the trip, the members of the Conflict Resolution Society have been honing their skills by facilitating a variety of workshops for the students at Oxford School not far from the campus.

“The Saint Mary’s students have taken on a role of mentors for our students and we are very happy to have them,” says Principal Joe Morrison.

This year’s initiative has been developed in consultation and partnership with Peaceful Schools International, the Charitable Irish Society of Halifax, An Cumann, MLA Leonard Preyra, and  the departments of Irish Studies, Religious Studies, Political Science, and International Development Studies; the Conflict Resolution Office; and the offices of the Dean of Arts, Vice President Academic and Research and Vice President Administration; as well as the International Activities Office at Saint Mary’s.

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For More Information:

Steve Proctor
Public Affairs
Saint Mary's University
(902) 420.5513
E-mail: steve.proctor@smu.ca
www.smu.ca