34
Iulia E. Padeanu
A New FACE to Peace
This development can also be observed on a micro scale, within local
grassroots projects. Currently, one of the most segregated groups in
Northern Ireland remains the British Services community.2 As a result
of controversies and civilian casualties during the Troubles, many individuals and groups from Northern Ireland have not been able to forgive
the British Army, and continue to project their distrust and dislike onto
individuals representing the community today. Many of these individuals, mostly young wives and children, do not have a direct link to the
Troubles or Northern Ireland, and many do not have any links to the
community that served in Northern Ireland over a decade ago. They,
however, can bear the brunt of resentment and fear that exists among
local communities living around the bases in the region. They feel unwelcome, marginalised, and scared, limiting themselves to the confines
of the barracks they live in or near (See Sanders 2012 253-256).
Using a carefully designed managed contact approach, the FACE project
seeks to break down the walls of separation and elicit forgiveness on a
group level, between local Northern Irish communities and the British
Services. Within the project, interpersonal relationships, based on empathy and shared interests, were the first to develop. The project utilises the
MCT approach, to ensure that all involved reach a certain level of comfort and trust among their own group before being introduced to their
counterparts. This consists of a series of ‘single-identity’3, pre-contact
workshops before the two groups meet. The project has revealed that after the first ‘joint’ workshop, a number of participants noted how friendly
2 This
community, comprised of Royal Army, Navy, and Air Force, and their immediate
families, continues to live marginalised lives on and around the four remaining regional
bases. Contributing factors to this segregation include the perpetuating myths that surround the Services community and the lingering resentment from local groups.
3 Single-identity workshops consist of only one of the two communities the FACE project
engages with: either members of the Services community or the local communities based
near the Army camps.