Peacebuilding Interventions

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-111
Author(s):  
Ane Cristina Figueiredo ◽  
Calum Dean ◽  
Sean Byrne ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Community Leaders ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Development Officers ◽  
External Aid ◽  
International Fund ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Peace And Reconciliation

This article examines the perceptions and experiences of 120 participants interviewed in Northern Ireland and the Border Counties in 2010 regarding community peacebuilding, and the future of community-based projects. The respondents shared their thoughts on the projects and program initiatives funded by the European Union Peace and Reconciliation or Peace III Fund and the International Fund for Ireland. They discussed the impacts of external aid on the community peacebuilding process as well as the long-term sustainability of projects. This study explores the narratives of community leaders and program development officers from Derry and the Border Counties. The findings emphasize that while the participants noted that the external aid contributed to promoting community peacebuilding, there is a lot more to be addressed in terms of cross-community interaction. Additionally, there is an uncertainty regarding the sustainability of many project initiatives once the funds end. As a result of such insecurity, there is a concern regarding the stability of peace in the region.

The Role of Economic Assistance in Conflict Resolution in Northern Ireland

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Byrne ◽  
Cynthia Irvin ◽  
Eyob Fissuh ◽  
Chris Cunningham
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Support Program ◽  
Civic Culture ◽  
Economic Assistance ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Special Support ◽  
Peace Dividend ◽  
International Fund ◽  
Peace And Reconciliation

External economic assistance from the International Fund for Ireland and the European Union Special Support Program for Peace and Reconciliation assisted in setting the context of the Northern Ireland peace agenda, and holds out the promise of a new civic culture. This article explores people’s perceptions of economic assistance of conflict amelioration in Northern Ireland. Some of the findings, in respect of inter-community differences in perceptions of the utility of external economic assistance in building the peace dividend, are discussed in the paper.

Understanding Peacebuilding in Derry/Londonderry, Northern Ireland

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-85
Author(s):  
Sean Byrne ◽  
Ashleigh Cummer ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Peace Process ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Civil Society Organization ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Past ◽  
Belfast Agreement ◽  
International Fund

Two qualitative data sets from 2010 and 2016 are compared to explore the respondents’ perceptions of peacebuilding in the wake of the 1998 Belfast Agreement (BA) and the ensuing peace process. Fifty-two Civil Society Organization (CSO) leaders from Londonderry/Derry were interviewed during the summer of 2010 to delve into their perceptions of the BA, and building cross community contact through peacebuilding and reconciliation processes. The International Fund for Ireland and the European Union Peace Fund funded these respondents CSO peacebuilding projects. They held many viewpoints on peacebuilding. Seven grassroots peacebuilders from Derry/Londonderry were interviewed in 2016. These peacebuilders revealed that Northern Ireland has a long way to go to build an authentic and genuine peace. A key stumbling block to the Northern Ireland peace process is heightened societal segregation that results from the BA institutionalizing sectarianism, and the recent fallout from Brexit. Politicians continue to refuse addressing the past that has long-term implications for peace.

scholarly journals The IFI and EU Peace II Fund: Respondents’ Perceptions of Funded Project Success in Promoting Peacebuilding and Community Development in Northern Ireland

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Byrne ◽  
Chuck Thiessen ◽  
Eyob Fissuh ◽  
Cynthia Irvin
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Community Development ◽  
Funding Agency ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Group Leaders ◽  
Community Group ◽  
Development Officers ◽  
Funded Project ◽  
International Fund ◽  
Study Participants

This article examines the views of ninety-eight study participants on community development and peacebuilding supported by the European Union (EU) Peace II Fund and the International Fund for Ireland (IFI). We elaborate the perceptions of community group leaders, funding agency civil servants and development officers regarding the role of both funds in Northern Ireland. Their experiences of the EU Peace II Fund and the IFI are discussed in the wider context of peacebuilding and reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the Border Counties. Furthermore, this article explores the importance of community development and cross-community contact through joint economic and social development projects.

Impacts of agriculture on aquatic systems: lessons learnt and new unknowns in Northern Ireland

2001 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 151 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. I. Heaney ◽  
R. H. Foy ◽  
G. J. A. Kennedy ◽  
W. W. Crozier ◽  
W. C. K. O' Connor
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Soluble Reactive Phosphorus ◽  
Phosphorus Loading ◽  
Phosphorus Concentration ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Blue Green Algae ◽  
Lough Neagh ◽  
The Impact

Agriculture in Northern Ireland depends on grass-based production, but since 1980, expansion of output has been effectively constrained by production limits set by the European Union agricultural policy. Despite this, long-term monitoring over several decades has shown significant degradation of water quality in Lough Neagh, with persistent high biomass of blue-green algae. Similar long-term studies have revealed a marked decline in the freshwater survival of salmon in the nearby River Bush. These changes may be related and reflect the impact of farming on water quality and salmonid production. Regular sampling of the inflowing rivers to Lough Neagh has shown that continued increase in lake phosphorus concentration has been primarily due to an increase in the soluble reactive phosphorus loading from agricultural diffuse sources. Similar diffuse inputs of agriculturally derived nutrients to the River Bush, leading to increased plant growth together with the accumulation of fine sediment in salmon spawning redds, are considered to be important in the decline of freshwater survival of salmon from egg to smolt. The impact of farming practices on lakes and rivers is considered in relation to understanding of the complex and interacting factors that link land use to water quality.

The role of the International Fund for Ireland and the European Union Peace II Fund in reducing violence and sectarianism in Northern Ireland

2010 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Byrne ◽  
Eyob Fissuh ◽  
Chuck Thiessen ◽  
Cynthia Irvin ◽  
Pauline Tennent
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
The European Union ◽  
International Fund

Assessing external funding supports for the Northern Ireland peace process

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Buchanan
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Peace Process ◽  
Transformation Process ◽  
External Funding ◽  
Root Cause ◽  
Social And Economic Development ◽  
Grassroots Level ◽  
International Fund

Chapter ten explores the role of external economic aid in conflict resolution and since the signing of the Agreement to promote peacebuilding. In moving from violence to peace, most efforts have concentrated on the removal of direct violence through top level political engagement, usually over the short-term. However, a number of external funding programmes have focused their efforts on all levels of society, supporting the Northern Ireland peace process over the long-term through social and economic development. By focusing on the local, they have attempted to redress the root cause of conflict in Northern Ireland. Under the guise of the International Fund for Ireland and the EU Peace programmes (I, II, III), they have been responsible for a huge increase in grassroots level involvement in the region’s conflict transformation process, prompting previously unforeseen levels of citizen empowerment and local ownership of the process. Consequently this has assisted in sustaining the peace process during its most challenging political periods.

scholarly journals Europe and Russia in the post-coronavirus world

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 430-448
Author(s):  
Timofei Bordachev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
New Order ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Global Context ◽  
Bilateral Relations ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The Cold War

The article analyzes the interaction between central phenomena of the science of international relations such as the balance of power and international institutions on the example of the development of the European Union (EU) and Russia-EU relations in a changing global context, which was catalyzed by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. The change in the balance of power and its significance in the development of institutions of cooperation at the regional and global levels leads, in the author’s opinion, to the necessity to reassess the possibilities of institutional interaction and the stability of institutions as such. After the end of the Cold War, relations between Russia and the EU developed, within the framework of the author’s main theoretical paradigm, as part of attempts to include Russia in the balance of power underlying European integration. Current trends point to a relative decrease of the importance of this problem in the context of realizing the main interests of Russia and the leading EU states, which in the long term may allow them to move towards a more stable common European order. The new order would be less dependent on the actual bilateral relations between Russia and the European Union, but more dependent on the interests of both actors in a wide global environment.

scholarly journals Grassroots Peacebuilding in Northern Ireland and the Border Counties: Elements of An Effective Model

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Skarlato ◽  
Sean Byrne ◽  
Kawser Ahmed ◽  
Julie Hyde ◽  
Peter Karari
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
Political Support ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Good Friday ◽  
Community Based Organizations ◽  
Building Activities ◽  
International Fund

Following the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement many community-based organizations became involved in localized peace-building activities in Northern Ireland and the Border Counties. Drawing financial support from the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation and the International Fund for Ireland, these organizations adopted various strategic mechanisms to implement their projects –synchronizing bottom-up development initiatives with top-level government policies. Their effectiveness has already been felt in Northern Ireland as reduced political violence and improved socioeconomic conditions. However, the long-term sustainability of this work is questionable, affected as it is by continued intercommunity segregation, low macro-level political support, and global economic instability. This article explores the perceptions of 120 civil society leaders regarding the peace-building practices employed by community-based organizations in Northern Ireland and the Border Counties. Key elements of an effective peace-building model are suggested that may contribute to the improvement of peace-building and reconciliation efforts in other contexts affected by ethno-political conflict.

The International Fund for Ireland: Economic Assistance and the Northern Ireland Peace Process

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Byrne ◽  
Eyob Fissuh ◽  
Mislav Matic
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Social Development ◽  
Economic Assistance ◽  
Direct Experience ◽  
Community Groups ◽  
Development Officers ◽  
Ethnopolitical Conflict ◽  
International Fund ◽  
Study Participants

The role of the International Fund for Ireland (IFI) is examined within the context of the conflict in Northern Ireland through the perspectives of community groups, civil servants and development officers. Specifically, this paper examines the views of 36 study participants from Northern Ireland and the Border Area—that have direct experience with protracted ethnopolitical conflict and with the IFI. Further, this paper explains the importance of economic and social development to peacebuilding within Northern Ireland.

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