Sport and creativity are important ways to bridge community divides and bring young people together to form lasting relationships. This key ideal was intrinsic to the latest T:BUC Engagement Forum where practitioners delivered keynote talks from the Irish Football Association, Gaelic Athletic Association, and PeacePlayers NI. Over 150 people – Including Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, Cllr Mealla Campbell and Junior Ministers Declan Kearney and Gordon Lyons – where in attendance at Armagh City Hotel on 11 February 2020 for the event Together: Building A United Community (T:BUC).

The T:BUC Engagement Forum, which runs three times per year, is organised by the Community Relations Council on behalf of The Executive Office. The Engagement Forum is an important opportunity for government to update the voluntary and community sector on T:BUC progress, as well as identifying good practice and recommendations for improved delivery. Key to this event were discussion groups and workshops focussed on using of sport as a medium for improving good relations. Sport’s reach is unrivalled. Regardless of age, gender or background – sport is enjoyed by all. It promotes universal values of co-operation, respect, and tolerance, which is why it can be utilised for effective community building and peace education.

Gareth Harper, Managing Director of Peaceplayers NI, explained:

“At PeacePlayers we use the power of sport to unite, educate and inspire young people to create a more peaceful world. The funding we receive from the Community Relations Council means we can offer sport programming, peace education, and leadership development to those living in communities in conflict. “We challenge the hate that is driven by the fear of our differences. We bridge divides between people through the game of basketball and we develop young leaders who help to change perceptions.”

T:BUC hopes to harness the power of sport to build a better community through the programmes funded under the T:BUC strategy.

PeacePlayers participants Aimee (AJ) McMinn and Rachel Madden are living proof of the power of community relations sport programming. Both teenagers presented a talk at the event. Having graduated from a PeacePlayers programme, they now deliver community relations sport programming across Belfast as sessional coaches for PeacePlayers. Now friends, AJ and Rachel first met during a PeacePlayers programme at their primary school. AJ took the opportunity to explain how she met Rachel: “You’ll never really find us in a conversation without each other or you won’t hear AJ without hearing Rachel. You won’t see AJ without seeing Rachel. We are practically inseparable, and it’s been that way really from we started PeacePlayers.” Eleven years ago PeacePlayers brought the two girls’ primary schools together. Holy Cross and Wheatfield in North Belfast were separated by a community divide, but basketball was the medium used to bridge the gap. “We went to primary schools in Belfast just across the street from each other,” AJ continued. “But we grew up in separate worlds and never crossed the road to speak. Today, simply after the opportunity to play basketball together, we’re the best of friends, forming a friendship across the divide with the help of PeacePlayers Northern Ireland.” The event was completed with a panel discussion based on the points raised during group discussions.

“I’ve been in parts of North Belfast that I’d never seen before but people don’t mind where you are from when you are bringing them help.”

Key work to date

• 50 volunteers from across North Belfast working on the Food Bank Programme.
• Produced and delivered 10,000 Covid-19 directories of key contacts and
  information for those in need.
• 550 packs delivered to Hostels and Sheltered Accommodation.
• 900 Homeless Packs delivered across Belfast to date.
• 450 Packs Delivered to those shielding with underlying health conditions.
• 200 Served per day at a North Belfast Soup Kitchen
• 131 Older People receiving fresh meals provided by local businesses
• 50 Vulnerable Adults receiving 3 meals per day
• 996 Family Food Hampers Delivered
• 1,000 Sunflower Kits distributed as part of N Belfast in Bloom Challenge
• Organised rubbish skips for local areas.

Organisation involved

The 9 organisations who jointly coordinated their responses to cover the whole of North Belfast and Shankill areas are:

• The Vine Centre
• Ligoniel Improvement Association
• Cliftonville Community Regeneration Forum
• Ballysillan Community Forum
• Greater Whitewell Surgery
• Loughview Community Action partnership
• Ardoyne Youth Enterprise
• Intercomm
• Upper Ardoyne Community partnership.

The groups take referrals from Elected Reps, Local Council and Sure Start amongst others.

The dreams and wishes of service users and staff were displayed at the acute Mental Health In-patient Centre. The artwork, produced by Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (BHSCT) to mark Good Relations Week 2019, depicts a river of their words and thoughts. River of Hope was created by artists Grainne Kielty and Anne Quail. Jacqueline Irwin, Community Relations Council (CRC) Chief Executive, attended the unveiling alongside Peter McNaney, HSC Trust Chair. Jacqueline highlighted CRC’s partnership with BHSCT over the last 8 years, since they first assisting them with advice developing BHSCT’s first good relations strategy: Healthy Relations for a Healthy Future.

“BHSCT was the first Trust to develop a Good Relations strategy,” Jacqueline said, “and the fact that – even with all the other responsibilities of a large Trust – they have taken the time to produce projects such as River of Hope is testament to their commitment to promoting good relations and an inclusive environment.”

Dr Cathy Jack, Belfast Trust’s Chief Executive, believes BHSCT can play a part in building a shared society based on mutual respect.

“We as a Trust are committed to the promotion of good relations between people of different religions, racial groups and political opinions,” Cathy said, “and whilst we cannot address all the ills in society, Belfast Trust, as the largest employer and provider of integrated health and social care in Northern Ireland, believe it important and incumbent upon us to play a significant role in building an inclusive and shared society based on mutual respect.”

Produced by LUMI and funded by a media grant from the Community Relations Council, this 6-part docuseries offers a portrayal of the attitudes, reflections, tragedies, passions and ambitions of a generation of young people born after 1998, who only know Northern Ireland in relative peace-time – The Ceasefire Generation.

The first instalment was released on QFT Player on 1 February 2021. LUMI developed this project with a neutral mind-set and a collaborative and empathetic approach, aiming to provide space to explore the issues that may prevent different communities from coming together. The outcome was a range of personal experiences exploring the emotional labours of living in post-conflict Northern Ireland.

“It’s difficult to balance those feelings of hurt from the past with really real problems that we’re having now.” Madeeha, 19, South Belfast

Drawn from interviews with 9 young people from Belfast, Omagh and Dungannon, each part of the docuseries tackles different issues. Through these conversations, recurring themes emerge beyond the binaries of Green/Orange, allowing the Ceasefire Generation to voice their opinions on issues like mental health, discuss their aspirations and explore their different experiences of growing up in Northern Ireland. With the space to explore these issues, do our similarities outweigh our differences? How do young people experience the legacy of The Troubles? What future do they wish for Northern Ireland?

This topical docuseries is as important to parents, educators and religious leaders, as it is to young people and their peers in developing knowledge, empathy and understanding. Ceasefire Generation finally gives young people in Northern Ireland the opportunity to tell their stories in their own words. And we need to listen.

The power of sport and community relations has helped to heal the divide in North Belfast.

In 2001 and 2002 a North Belfast primary school found itself in the news headlines. Holy Cross Girls is a Catholic primary school located in the middle of a Protestant area and school children walking to school faced daily pickets. In what was known as the Holy Cross dispute, violence and tensions escalated in Ardoyne and the wider North Belfast area.

Following the aftermath of these tensions, PeacePlayers NI (who are core-funded by the Community Relations Council) brought together pupils from Holy Cross and the predominantly Protestant neighbouring Wheatfield Primary. This peacebuilding intervention utilised an innovative programme of tailored community relations work through sport.

The aim: to build long-term relationships; create leavers; and reduce barriers.

“What we try to install is a sense of responsibility,” Gareth said. “The kids have a role here to play in making Northern Ireland better, and we’re going to try and give them the skills, experiences and opportunities to allow them to do that.” This led to another innovative programme. Drawing on local and international experience using basketball to bridge divides, develop leaders and change perceptions, PeacePlayers – working closely with the Ulster Council of the GAA, the IFA and Ulster Rugby – helped evolve and develop the Game of Three Halves model – which typically uses Gaelic football, rugby and soccer to challenge perceptions and attitudes. But the inclusion of an expertly facilitated 4th half of community relations conversations and capacity building helped unlock the peacebuilding potential of sport.

This innovative strategy has been referenced in The Executive’s Together: Building a United Community strategy as a case study of best practice.

And two such people have already experienced the PeacePlayers effect. Rachel and AJ attended two primary schools in North Belfast separated by a community divide. PeacePlayers brought them together and they’ve since been friends for almost a decade. They’re both sessional coach with PeacePlayers, having graduated from one of their courses.

Virtual Reality is being used to help challenge stereotypes and reduce sectarian prejudice in a project developed through Queen’s University Belfast with assistance from the Community Relations Council (CRC). Dr Salvador Alvidrez, principal investigator for the project, joined CRC for a research secondment during 2019. Virtual reality (VR) is an emergent technology that is currently being applied to many areas such as business, health care and entertainment. It has become more affordable and popular in recent years.

“Our project will test social interactions in VR between members of the Catholic and Protestant communities in Northern Ireland and their influence in overcoming prejudiced perceptions,” Salvador explained.

Salvador is from Mexico and completed his PhD in Spain, focusing on using communication technologies to reduce prejudice towards ethnic minorities. “I carried out a similar study at the University of California Davis using VR and the findings were quite promising,” Salvador explained. “My current project was awarded a Marie Curie Fellowship, giving me the opportunity of working with Professor Rhiannon Turner at Queen’s University Belfast. The reason behind this approach was to find out first-hand what is the state of current relationships between communities, and what position sectarianism occupies among people’s current concerns.”

A risk-free space

“VR offers a risk-free space to talk and discuss issues that would otherwise be difficult on a face-to-face basis,” Salvador began. “As you are using an avatar, you remain “anonymous” but visible at the same time. VR can be a stage in which animosity can be alleviated before getting people to meet face-to-face.”

It was important for Salvador to develop this project in Northern Ireland.

“While I was collecting information from community members, I noticed that not only the people who lived during The Troubles consider that sectarianism is still present and alive in Northern Ireland, but this opinion is also shared by young university students,” he said. “This says a lot about the current state of relations between communities.”

However, respondents also expressed a strong interest and willingness to overcome these differences with bottom-up solutions.

“They trust in community work for addressing social problems,” he continued, “and this is where our project can become a tool for peace building.”

Digital and immersive communication tools can also be effective at bringing people together.

“The current Covid-19 pandemic has pushed a digital transformation that has not been seen before,” Salvador added. “We rely now more than ever on digital technologies, particularly communication technologies for staying connected with our loved ones, our work colleagues, and the world outside. Every day we learn from the new communities that have been created since most lockdowns started. This shows us that communication technologies can bring people together.”

Salvador believes the project would not have been possible without the support of CRC.

“CRC helped me to get in touch with community organisations, practitioners, and contract holders that provided me not only with valuable information about the conflict but also about successful practices to bring communities closer. Collaborating with the CRC has shaped the project significantly by learning from its target population, thus giving us the opportunity to refine it in order to maximise its social impact.”

Find out more about the VR project at Queen’s University Belfast.

Select the button below to see VR in action when staff of CRC took part in a virtual reality game show.