Emma deSouza: Focus on the North's politicians misguided, the real work happens on the ground
Betty Williams (left) and Mairead Corrigan blowing whistles at a Peace Rally in Belfast in 1977. File picture: Alan Lewis, Photopress Belfast
As the ramp-up to the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement reaches a fever pitch, focus appears fixed on the politics, with former architects, presidents past and present, and politicians across these islands in the spotlight.
But the agreement needed more than politics to reach fruition; It required people, and key to the resounding “yes” in 1998, and the sustained peace thereafter, has been civic society.
There is no question of the significance of political negotiation — as Senator George Mitchell said: “We had 700 days of failure and one day of success.” For many, agreement seemed impossible, but through determination for a peaceful solution, success was found.
The subsequent referenda resulted in landslide victories, with 72% in support in Northern Ireland and 94% in the Republic. These results were down to several factors: desperation for an end to violence, fatigue of negotiation, and for so many, an unadulterated desire for peace.
However, the journey toward agreement within communities was not concluded overnight; It entailed decades of work in and across communities on behalf of civic society leaders and activists in order to prepare people for peace.
Civic society played a key role throughout the conflict, with several groups and initiatives emerging to strengthen cross-community links and build a case for a peaceful resolution. In 1976, Peace People, founded by Mairead Maguire and Betty Williams, organised huge rallies for an end to violence. Both women went on to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
In the 1980s it was civic society that created the first integrated education programmes and integrated schools. In 1992, a group of civic activists actioned the Opsahl Commission, a citizens’ inquiry which engaged with groups to find pathways forward. The Opsahl report contained several recommendations which carried through to the Agreement, including a Bill of Rights and parity of esteem.
So too did the Women’s Coalition have its roots in civic society; The cross-community party was borne from community activists and citizens and the party regularly engaged with civic society and community-based groups to inform policy positions.
The Coalition was responsible for several key recommendations which built social cohesion and inter-community reconciliation, including specific language around victims’ rights, integrated education, women’s rights to full and equal political participation, and the Civic Forum.
The ‘Yes’ campaign in the referendum was run and organised by civil society with the aid of strategist Quintin Oliver, who resigned from his position as Director of NICVA in 1998 in order to lead the campaign.
Beyond these few short examples lay so many unseen and under-recognised works, many of which were responsible for tilling the ground in order to provide vital fertile soil for peace.
Today, civic society’s vital role is reduced to little more than a footnote in a worrying number of celebratory events marking the GFA anniversary. This isn't an altogether surprising phenomenon given that even in the years immediately following the referendum, the community and voluntary sector was systemically underfunded and unappreciated.
The promise of a Civic Forum, which was to act as a consultative mechanism between civic society and elected representatives, was discarded after only two years in operation.
A lack of investment means we have an ageing society of peace builders who have dedicated much — if not most — of their lives to supporting and sustaining peace. Many of these peace builders were put on notice recently following a failure of the British government to replace the European Social Fund — a further casualty of Brexit.
Emergency temporary packages are being rolled out at the eleventh hour — quite literally the day the funding ends — by the British government, but without sustainable funding, this generation and those that follow will not have the resources necessary to take forward the work of the peace process.
The challenge we face in the North is the utter dysfunction of our political landscape. Rather than viewing the role of civic society as an essential component in a functioning democracy, it is perceived by some political classes to be a threat.
The combative nature of our politics also stifles civic voice, with community workers and civic leaders regularly subjected to sectarian harassment and threats to their safety for espousing views on the socioeconomic challenges in Northern Ireland even 25 years on from the Good Friday Agreement. There is a clear and pressing need to depoliticise the role of civic society, and for political leaders to recognise the immense value and importance of civic voice in representative democracy.
Recognising the growing disillusionment stemming from Northern Ireland’s political vacuum, civic society is once again stepping up. The peace process is stagnant and there’s a strong need for fresh thinking and new ideas — change always comes from the ground up.
A lack of new ideas has never been the issue within communities, but rather the framework and structure necessary to harness and realise those ideas, which is why a wide range of civic society organisations have come together to form the ‘Civic Initiative’, a large-scale participatory structure designed to create space for wider civic engagement.
On May 20, we are holding a ‘Say Yes Again’ rally in Belfast to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday referendum vote. People across this island took an enormous leap of faith in 1998 when they said ‘Yes’, and it is people and communities who sustain and advance peace on the ground.
This display of hope in the face of uncertainty deserves to be honoured and celebrated. With so much focus on the politics of the Agreement, it can be easy to lose sight of the role citizens play in the peace process, but above all else, it is our Agreement.
Political drift and complacency means that many of the rights-based commitments in the Good Friday Agreement have not been delivered; The rally offers us the space to demand more. In the words of Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world”.
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