Causeway – Engi joint project: What might Cyprus gain from the experience of the Northern Ireland peace process?
12 October 2011 (Closed seminar for Political Parties)
A one-day, closed seminar was held at the Home for Cooperation. Senior negotiators from the DUP (The Rt Hon Jeffrey Donaldson MP) and Sinn Fein (Mitchel McLaughlin) spoke frankly about their personal experiences of the Northern Ireland peace process and then took questions from the floor. The presentation was very well received by the entire audience and provoked a lively and enthusiastic discussion.
13 October 2011 (Open seminars in the south and the north)
The Northern Ireland team, this time comprising representatives from the DUP (The Rt Hon Jeffrey Donaldson MP) and the SDLP (Denis Haughey) held open seminars on each side of the island; the University of Nicosia in the south and the Nicosia Municipality in the north. The participants included students, academics, civil society representatives and IGOs.
Publicity
The University of Nicosia seminar was recorded for broadcast on CYBC. Several TV channels reported the event at the Nicosia Municipality (BRT, ADA TV, Sim TV). The speakers subsequently joined a live 50 minute news programme on Sim TV, which was repeated over several days, such was the interest in the various events.
The seminars were also reported on in newspapers across the island (Cyprus Weekly, Cyprus Mail, Famagusta Gazette, ABHaber,HaberKKTC, Yeni Duzen, Kibris Postasi).
A number of photos highlighting some of the events in this recent series of seminars and conferences are in our gallery.
Feedback
Both during and after these events, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Those attending the seminars and related events spoke highly of the power of hearing about the Northern Ireland peace process directly from members of the actual negotiation teams, not least because of their openness and honesty in describing their personal feelings, and what moving towards an understanding of the other parties’ positions had meant for them.
The quality of the briefing of speakers, the sensitivity they showed to all parties and the relevance of the subjects discussed to the current negotiations, were also highly praised. A number of participants expressed the desire for further seminars in the near future, with a focus on specific topics.
During the previous visit by CIPCR and Engi in August a small group of potential ‘champions’ was established. Thanks to the success of the seminars, this group has now grown considerably. Causeway and Engi are now working on a further project of bridge-building between the two communities at several levels within the island – the political, civil society and grassroots.