Social Psychology Special Issue

Discussion paper:
A difference of opinion; hope and fear in
post-conflict society: An exploration of
readiness for reconciliation
Candida Darling
SEVENTY-NINE PER CENT of conflicts
around the world that became active in
the last 10 years were conflict relapses –
occurrences of resurgent, armed violence in
societies where conflict had been settled for
at least a year (Sandole, 2013). It is suggested
that the major cause of this resurgence is that
the conflicts were not truly settled, that there
was no reconciliation (Auerbach, 2009).
The conflict in Northern Ireland was,
undoubtedly, an identity conflict (White,
2001); it ran for at least 30 years causing individuals,
who had once lived a relatively
peaceful co-existence to commit many acts
of violence and wreak bloody revenge. This
conflict has been officially over for nearly 17
years, yet there are violent flare-ups every day
including bombings, shootings and a refusal
by many in civil society to consider actions
necessary to end this cycle of violence
(Robinson, 2014).
This article is going to discuss PhD
research in progress and the preliminary
findings at this stage. This research explores
readiness for reconciliation, employing semistructured
interviews with a sample of
opinion formers from Northern Ireland.
The data is analysed using Interpretative
Phenomenological Analysis (IPA; Smith,
Flowers & Larkin, 2013). Overwhelmingly,
the people interviewed wanted understanding,
they wanted their stories to be
heard and their opinion validated. There
are, though, differences regarding the
extent to which forgiveness is possible and
the need for keeping the sectarian divide
active. It appears a threat to the divide is a
threat to the fundamental personal identity
of much of the population of Northern
Ireland.
The conflict: A very short introduction to the
main narratives
The first English involvement in Ireland as a
whole is reported to have begun as early as
1170; this date is often cited by Catholic
Nationalist Republicans (CNR) as the
commencement of an 800-year struggle for
control of the Irish state. These struggles
ultimately culminated in a division of the
state into two separate entities: the Irish Free
State (Eire) and Northern Ireland – part of
the British state in 1922 (Mulholland, 2002).
‘The Troubles’, 1968(9)–1998, was a
30-year period of intense political violence in
Northern Ireland. Over 40,000 people were
injured and more than 3600 people died
during ‘The Troubles’, which are repeatedly
cited as the start date of the conflict as a
whole by most in the Protestant Unionist
Loyalist (PUL) community; although, this
community also has significant emotional
investment in many historical dates, chiefly
from the 17th and 18th century.
Official peace
This conflict officially came to an end with
an Irish Republican Army ceasefire in 1994
and the signing of the Good Friday Agreement
in 1998, which was put out for referendum.
It was ratified by a yes vote of over 70
per cent of the people of Northern Ireland
and over 90 per cent from the population of
Eire (Edwards & McCrattan, 2012), clearly
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