PEACE III Council Partnership Racism Event

The Community Relations Council and their Consortium partners Pobal hosted a workshop on Racism on Thursday 11th June. The workshop was attended by members and staff from the PEACE III Partnerships which have come together under Theme 1.1 Building Positive Relations at the Local Level, to facilitate reconciliation work at a grass roots level.

A wide range of speakers brought an interesting and informative edge to the workshop. The workshop began with an introduction by SEUPB explaining why tackling racism is important for PEACE III.  Anastasia Crickley from NUI Maynooth gave an in-depth talk on the many manifestations of Racism and the effects. Talks from Maciek Bator, Polish Association N.I. Director, Benedicta Attoh, Director of the Africa Centre and a member of the Louth African Women’s Support Group, and David White, founder of Concept Eleven, a cutting edge Training & Coaching Enterprise & Consultancy provided poignant insights into personal experiences of Racism in Northern Ireland. These included individual perspectives of a new person in a new country and local lad born and bred. Maciek explained how much of the racism directed at the Polish community was predicated on misplaced fears and assumptions. David described experiences of growing up in Ballymena and being asked where he was from despite his broad Ballymena accent.  Benedicta highlighted the challenges she faced as a candidate in the recent European elections.

Feedback from the event was positive and the round table discussions showed that Peace Partnerships have an acute awareness of the problems of Racism and Sectarianism and the need to tackle these issues now, The overall consensus was that Racism and Sectarianism are 2 sides of the one coin, and that behaviour should come from the top down; tolerance needs to be across the board – in government, in politics, in business and in everyday life.

When asked what learning would be taken from the event, one attendee said “I will continually challenge my own perceptions of difference and diversity” – a reminder that assumptions and prejudices should not be allowed to turn into discrimination. Overall the participants felt the knowledge gained from the event made them better equipped to challenge racism and sectarianism through their Peace Plans.

The third in the series of workshops for Peace Partnerships organised by The Consortium is scheduled for September 2009. The topic will focus on the need to continue developing the cross border dimensions of the Peace and Reconciliation Action Plans.