Washington Ireland Programme

Co-operation Ireland recently hosted a group of young professionals from America on a ten day study visit to Ireland, north and south. The group was interested in finding out more about conflict resolution and peace-building and in particular getting an insight into the Northern Ireland Peace Process, and how life has changed since the Good Friday Agreement. The participants stayed in Belfast, Londonderry and Dublin. They were given the opportunity to meet with a variety of people including grassroots community groups, politicians, academics and peace and reconciliation workers. What a professional opportunity! This program was a home run. I have studied the conflict and volunteered time and resources to contribute to its resolution but there is no comparison to the insights gained by being on the ground. My understanding of the nuances of the conflict improved immensely and I believe this will benefit my future studies and work. I hope there will be plenty of funding/opportunities for future tours. As someone interested in comparative nationalisms and state – minority group’s relations, the opportunity to study the Northern Ireland case and learn from it was truly incredible. I feel like I have gained extremely valuable insights on the Northern Ireland conflict which are quite useful as a mechanism of comparison toward my focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I also gained a real sense of practical, on the ground understanding of a peace-building society as it evolves. One can read in books, articles as well as watch tv programs/movies, but nothing could replace the first hand experiences gained on the study trip. I found the different narratives/perspectives to be truly fascinating. So often information is presented and not experienced – living the experience (at least at a primary level) was irreplaceable. I learned a tremendous amount about the conflict and about the way people frame the conflict. Reading can only give me so much information and analysis. Here I could taste almost all elements of the conflict. The participants are currently compiling a document which details their experiences during the Washington Ireland Programme study visit to Ireland and how it relates to their own particular area of work or field of study. You can see more photos of the exchange in the photo gallery section.