The Glencree Community and Political Dialogue Programme is funded by the Reconciliation Fund of the Department of Foreign Affairs, and more recently with the added support of the Porticus Foundation and The Community Foundation for Ireland. Through this programme, Glencree works with political parties and their representatives drawn from across the islands of Ireland and Britain, as well as civic society organisations and actors integral to the political debate.
The aim of this programme has evolved over the last 25 years since it first began during the peace process in the early 1990s. However, one fundamental principle remains constant: to create and sustain a process where people of different traditions, political persuasions or cultural identities can come together in confidential spaces to discuss issues that arise as disrupting factors in their relationships with each other.
The process of community and political dialogue has its origins in the early 1990’s when the political parties from Ireland, Northern Ireland and Britain first gathered at Glencree to discuss the emerging circumstances around the period of the ceasefire. Introduced by Glencree's Ian White and Geoffrey Corry, these early efforts in dialogue ran for over 12 years through the period of the negotiations and subsequent implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.
The dialogue workshops involved the creation of confidential, safe spaces where parties and individuals returned each month to discuss relevant trends in the political atmosphere of the time. Through this process, key relationships emerged between the parties, individuals and community leaders involved.
With the formation of the Executive within the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2007, the need for such intensive levels of private political engagement decreased, thus reducing the frequency of the political dialogues at Glencree. However, while many aspects of the Agreement were functioning, by 2012 the very difficult topic of Legacy - the lingering issues and pain from the past conflict - emerged as a key stumbling block to deeper reconciliation.
It became evident that healing was not going to occur unless significant and sustained efforts were made to enable those affected by conflict to share their experiences, to hear and be heard, and to have their pain and loss acknowledged by those who may have been responsible. Only then could reconciliation begin to emerge.
Dealing with the legacy of past conflict is now a key focus of Glencree’s work in the area of Community and Political Dialogue. Central to this is the process of examining how the narratives of different communities have been built and developed, and how they play an essential role in the way we see each other. It is essential that these narratives are accurate and not distorted by misconceptions.
Throughout our inclusive dialogue process, the participants control the agenda and agree the issues for discussion, while Glencree, as facilitator, controls the process. This process is based on the essential principles of: mutual respect, the importance of listening, and the assurance of confidentiality. We place a strong emphasis on the use of the Chatham House Rule among participants wishing to engage through our process. Some of our dialogue work is of such a sensitive nature that it is kept strictly confidential.
In the political space more broadly, Glencree continues to manage conversations about Brexit and its potential to undo much of the progress made in the past 21 years since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. Brexit represents a profound disturbance in the positive relationships between the North and South, and between the U.K. and Ireland.
What the Brexit process has demonstrated is a clear need to continue dialogue at political level to ensure ongoing engagement and avoid the risk of misunderstanding and estrangement should other unforeseen issues create political uncertainty in the future. Running parallel to the issue of legacy, this has been the most challenging aspect of our political dialogue in recent years.
For reasons of confidentiality, the detail of much of the work associated with our Community and Political Dialogue programme remains private to ensure confidence in the process for those taking part. An outline of some of our work includes:
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