Visiting Northern Ireland re-emphasized for me how much work towards meaningful inclusion of young people in democratic processes and decision making needs to be done because at the center of all institutions throughout and after the conflict were people below the age of 25, as the highest demographic, the most affected and involved. A reminder that school curricula should be an instrument for young people to be well equipped to not repeat the cycle of conflict and cement their future involvement as instigators of peace rather than conflict, towards achieving sustainable peace for the world.
The aspect of ethical commemoration; valuing life at an equal standard in loss and in security is necessary at all local and government institutional levels to remove the absolutist mindset that is a colonial legacy passed on between generations, the hope is that we consider all lives equal and in that spirit do not justify violence/killing as a mean to an end of oppression and unjust systems by skillfully informing public debate/discourse on dealing with the past in Northern Ireland and the rest of the world suffering loss as a result of conflict.
The way words are used in storytelling as a form of remembering play an important role in determining how a group of people is perceived and can be an avenue to learn, through this trip and assigned viewings like say nothing I was reminded why it is important to be careful how we frame and communicate about conflict and commemoration but it also clearly defined the role of the different tracks of diplomacy in fostering intended collaborative communication for peace beyond the community level without choosing or leaning towards a side, using a neutral stance to mitigate conflict and resolve grievances in the different sides of the community. It is with experiential knowledge today that I commit to continue learning from the past and understand my role in communicating without bias for peace to prevail.
The only challenge I faced was a tedious visa process as a ugandan student to be able to visit Northern Ireland required visa fees and took over 3 weeks to get my passport back which also made it hard for me to get a second visa to visit the republic of Ireland missing a day of the trip in Dublin, but despite all this I enjoyed the rest of my stay.
On a personal level, though, everyone deserves to experience being a Derry girl between the hills and the river Foyle of the beautiful green Derry city, the rain on a sunny day in Belfast city home of the legendary Titanic, and the cross-generational traditional music culture of Northern Ireland. The instrumentation and the voices are absolutely breathtaking; you will leave singing and dancing, I know I did!
Kelly, G. (2005). Storytelling as the vehicle? In Healing Through Remembering, Healing Through Remembering. Healing Through Remembering. https://healingthroughremembering.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Storytelling-as-the-vehicle_2005.pdf
Arthur, P. (1990). Negotiating the Northern Ireland Problem: Track One or Track Two Diplomacy? Government and Opposition, 25(4), 403–418. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44482532
