Brendan McAllister and Joe Campbell -- peace veterans, long-time friends, and former colleagues -- reconnected on February 2, 2009, at a popular cafe in Belfast. Campbell was on home leave from his work in Nepal.
percent of the shift away from violence came as a result of work at the civil society level (where Mennonites generally situate themselves), with another 25 percent government-initiated. The remaining 25 percent was attributable to other influences, such as initiatives by the Clintons and widespread revulsion to terrorism of any kind after 9/11. “The Mennonite influence on the situation in Northern Ireland is clear, particularly in the areas of trauma and trauma healing, restorative justice, and work to rebuild relationships,” Williams told Peacebuilder. But she added that a convergence of factors – many having nothing to do with pacifist peace workers per se – led to the 1998 Belfast Agreement and subsequent reforms. “As policies became fairer and violence diminished, there were fewer people who suffered and wanted revenge,” she explained. “As relationships improved and leaders took difficult – sometimes bold – steps, people slowly began to believe that a solution might be possible. That gave them the strength to work out how to move from violence to peace in many areas of life.” Williams, who moved from England in 2008 to become direc20
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peacebuilder spring/summer 2009
tor of EMU’s Summer Peacebuilding Institute, says hopelessness is a major obstacle to peace. “It is vital to understand that true peacebuilding means dealing with a variety of problems and injustices in such a way that people do not fall into polarization and despair,” said Williams. She speaks from experience, having worked in Rwanda, Kenya, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Guatemala, Georgia, Abkhazia, Afghanistan, Côte d’Ivoire, and Myanmar, in addition to Northern Ireland. “People must be able to see that fairness can be achieved, and that their society can be a place where they and their children can flourish,” she said. The peacebuilders of Northern Ireland obviously cannot rest on their laurels. Much work remains to be done. Fortunately, however, Northern Ireland has something which it didn’t have in 1967. It’s what John Paul Lederach calls “critical yeast” – enough people like Jim Auld, Joe Campbell, Judith Gillespie, Nigel Grimshaw, Denise Hughes, Mark Kelly, Brendan McAllister, Sandra Peake, and Martin Snoddon – sprinkled through all echelons of society to cause the whole to “rise” from hatred and violence.
Photo by David Cordner