Trapped by the Pain of Memory

In the aftermath of a period of mass violence, how does a society strike the proper balance between acknowledgement of past injustices and moving away from bitterness and anger?
The field of transitional justice operates in the fragile space between unhealed wounds and the hopes and desires for a better future. The challenge of honoring both ends of this spectrum is enormous. In the case of Northern Ireland, this challenge is exacerbated by the realities of a religiously segregated society. Still, there is hope as Tony Gallagher reminds us, because "the world my children experience is a far, far better place than I experienced."

Tony Gallagher is a Professor of Education at Queen's University in Belfast, and a member of the Institute for Conflict Research, which concentrates on research on the effects of violence in Northern Ireland. He also runs courses and workshops on diversity for teachers. Much of his work revolves around confronting the past in Northern Ireland and the hard task of beginning to repair a divided country. Gallagher discusses the effects of decades of violence in Northern Ireland and some of the obstacles to moving forward.

Northern Ireland went through a quarter-century of political violence and has spent ten years struggling to build an unsteady peace. Most of my adult life was lived through the violence and it is a matter of great pleasure that my children will only know about most of this as history. The level of violence we experienced was very much less than that experienced in places such as the former Yugoslavia, South Africa or the Middle East. But while proportionately there were many fewer killed in Northern Ireland, each one of the victims is 100 percent dead and each left a legacy to friends and family.

The BBC in Northern Ireland produced a CD and website on the history of the conflict and included a database of all those who had been killed in the violence. For many of us it was to the database of deaths that we turned to first, to remember lost friends, as if the end of violence provides space, for the first time, to grieve. This, I think, is part of the reason why the attempt to build the architecture of a new society has been so difficult. We are trapped by the pain of memory and our inability, as a society, to come to terms with this loss. We have not yet agreed on a common memorial for all of the victims of the years of violence, but Northern Ireland is a place replete with memorials to some of the victims. Each community remembers its own, but we risk wallowing in bitterness and anger, with no space left for forgiveness and reconciliation.

Nor is it difficult to understand why this is so. Many feel there is a profound lack of justice. The British government and security forces have not given a full account of the "dirty war" they waged or the full extent of collusion. Many politicians wash their hands of the actions inspired by their words, but carried out when their backs were turned. And many feel that paramilitary leaders, or "terrorists," should not stalk the corridors of power without some acknowledgement of their actions.

When the violence ends, or mostly ends, the struggle for peace only really begins. Ten years on, the world my children experience is a far, far better place than I experienced, but it is still a world poisoned by sectarianism and deeply divided on the basis of religion. The real struggle now is to develop a truly shared society in which the communities are interwoven in every conceivable way-institutionally, socially, psychologically-and in which we begin to speak the language of a common good. This goal is harder than we imagined in 1994, but it is still believable and achievable.1


Connections for the Classroom...

  • Tony Gallagher asserts that one of the major stumbling blocks towards moving forward in Northern Ireland is that "we risk wallowing in bitterness and anger, with no space left for forgiveness and reconciliation." As you study the Troubles, and learn more about the situation in Northern Ireland, what do you think might be some ways of moving forward? What do you think needs to change for this society to find "space for forgiveness and reconciliation"?
  • Gallagher writes that the Northern Irish "have not yet agreed on a common memorial for all of the victims of the years of violence." What role do memorials play in healing and reconciliation? Is it possible to design a "common memorial" for Northern Ireland that would work for all its citizens? What would it look like? Where would it be? What qualities must it have? What must not be included?

    For more on the role and importance of memorials, go to Facing History's online module, Memory, History, Memorials.
  • In the Voices section of this Web module, there is a video clip of Gallagher discussing the challenges faced in the classrooms of Northern Ireland. Click here to view the video clip.


1 Tony Gallagher, personal correspondence with author.