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Girdwood Barracks: Power, Politics and Planning in the Post-Ceasefire City

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Girdwood Barracks: Power, Politics and Planning in the Post-Ceasefire City Girdwood Barracks: power, politics and planning in the post-ceasefire city Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Liverpool for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy by Elizabeth Helen DeYoung 14th February 2018 1 Abstract In any society, contestation arises over the 'right' to space - how access to space is controlled and negotiated, who belongs and who is excluded. My research is primarily concerned with the policy and planning machinations of the post-ceasefire city, taking the former Girdwood Army Barracks in Belfast, Northern Ireland as its case study. It examines how power is exercised and how rhetoric is practiced and subverted through the processes of governance. The focal point of the analysis will be the nuanced relationships and dynamics within and between groups, and how these reflect upon the transformation of politics, society, and space in a city emerging from conflict. The regeneration of the former Girdwood Army Barracks is a microcosm of wider problems in Northern Ireland. The 1998 Good Friday Agreement promised a new future for a society previously mired in sectarianism and violence; the subsequent Northern Ireland Act enshrined its prescriptions into law. The vision for the 'new' Northern Ireland included a ceasefire leading to devolved consociational governance, which would then deliver social justice and the protection of vulnerable groups. Girdwood's regeneration was a test case for putting the rhetoric of the Agreement and the legislative framework of the Act into practice: promoting equality and democracy, sharedness and reconciliation, and a 'peace dividend' of prosperity in areas that saw the worst of the Troubles. The demilitarised Barracks site offered an opportunity for a regeneration project of international significance in one of the most deprived, divided, and conflict-afflicted parts of Northern Ireland. My research argues that such sentiments were rhetorical and camouflage the reality of a planning process that lacked shared visions; ignored equality and human rights legislation; and frustrated inter-community conflict amelioration. Girdwood is a site that has never before been studied in-depth, but which exemplifies the nature of ethnosectarian territorialism and zero-sum resource competition between groups estranged by conflict. However, it also highlights a developing social justice element which emerged as a dissenting voice to the sectarian status quo in Northern Ireland, attempting to hold politicians to the promises and prescriptions of the peace process. Ultimately, this thesis demonstrates that consociationalism has not delivered the promises of the Agreement, nor the rule of law enshrined in the subsequent Act. It highlights the chasm between rhetoric and reality, vision and practice evident throughout both the eleven-year Girdwood development process and in the concurrent workings of the Assembly. The uneasy dynamic of power-sharing in the post-ceasefire Assembly which produced Girdwood has come to a seemingly intractable end; the Assembly collapsed in January 2017, and over a year later at the time of writing, a compromise still has not been reached. My study concludes that as a test case, Girdwood shows that the consociational system is ultimately not fit for purpose, and influenced the eventual failure of government. 2 Index of terms: CEP: Community Empowerment Partnership CFNI: Community Foundation Northern Ireland CCRF: Cliftonville Community Regeneration Forum CRC: Community Relations Council DCAL: Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure DETI: Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment DOE: Department of the Environment DSD: Department for Social Development DUP: Democratic Unionist Party ECNI: Equality Commission for Northern Ireland EQIA: Equality Impact Assessment IRA: Irish Republican Army (in this thesis, used to refer to the Provisional wing) INLA: Irish National Liberation Army IPLO: Irish People's Liberation Organisation LOCA: Lower Oldpark Community Association LSCA: Lower Shankill Community Association LVF: Loyalist Volunteer Force MLA: Member of Legislative Assembly (Stormont) NBCAP: North Belfast Community Action Project NBCAU: North Belfast Community Action Unit NBIN: North Belfast Interface Network NBPB: North Belfast Partnership Board NAMA: National Assets and Management Agency NICVA: Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action NIO: Northern Ireland Office NISRA: Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency NINIS: Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service NIHE: Northern Ireland Housing Executive OFMDFM: Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister PPR: Participation and the Practice of Rights PSNI: Police Service of Northern Ireland RHI: Renewable Heat Initiative RUC: Royal Ulster Constabulary SDLP: Social Democratic and Labour Party SIF: Social Investment Fund TUV: Traditional Unionist Voice UDA: Ulster Defence Association UUP: Ulster Unionist Party UVF: Ulster Volunteer Force 3 Acknowledgments I would never have started this thesis without the support of Professor Marianne Elliott, and I would never have finished it without the guidance of Dr. Kevin Bean and Professor Peter Shirlow. I am thankful for the support of the Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool; the Liverpool Doctoral College; British Association of Irish Studies; and the European Federation of Associations and Centres of Irish Studies' Werner Huber bursary in allowing me to conduct fieldwork, travel, experience different places, and meet and learn from scores of people. The PhD has been an incredible adventure and learning opportunity. To my wonderful friends in Belfast - Adam, Laura, Niamh Árd, Niamh Catach, Amy, Pawel - to the people of Belfast - those who agreed to be interviewed, friends and acquaintances who contributed to the research and to my life there in ways large and small - I am very grateful. To the postgraduate community in Liverpool - Anna, James, Dean, Ellie - and the friendly camaraderie at the Institute, many thanks for the companionship, conversation and commiseration over the past three years. Other friends are never really that far away. Johanna, Robin, Lauren, Rose and Maura have always brought out the best in me, for better and for worse, across time zones and countries. Lastly, thank you to my family: my mum, dad, and Greg. And thank you to Brendan. Go raibh céad míle maith agaibh uilig. I am so lucky to have you all and I could not have written this without your unwavering love and encouragement. It's for you. 4 Table of Contents: Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………...2 Index of terms…………………………………………………………………………….3 Acknowledgments………………………………………………………………………..4 Chapter 1: Introduction to the Research……………………………………………….6 1.1. The Girdwood Community Hub……………………………………………...6 1.2. Girdwood as microcosm: setting out the research aims………………………8 1.3. 'A fine history of walls'……………………………………………………...20 1.4. What was promised?: From consociationalism to contestation……………..26 1.5. Habitus and Field: Introducing the theoretical framework………………….35 1.6. Conclusion: crisis and collapse……………………………………………...44 Chapter 2: Methodology and Ethics…………………………………………………..52 2.1. A fortuitous accident………………………………………………………...52 2.2. In the Field: Participant observation and walking…………………………..60 2.3. Interviews, discourse, and ethics……………………………………………67 Chapter 3: 'Unlocking the Potential': the Draft Masterplan………………………...77 3.1. 'Frictions, factions and fractions'……………………………………………77 3.2. Girdwood Advisory Panel…………………………………………………...93 3.3. Rhetoric vs. reality: Economic growth and human rights………………….111 Chapter 4: Carve-up or Compromise?: Negotiating Girdwood……………………127 4.1. Ethnic champions and the zero-sum game…………………………………127 4.2. From contested to 'shared': the bid for 'Girdwood Community Hub'…...…145 4.3. DSD, the DUP, and 'Differential Deprivation'……………………………..166 Chapter 5: 'Shenanigans and Skullduggery': Building Girdwood………………...177 5.1. The Trouble with 'community'……………………………………………..177 5.2. Paramilitaries - they haven't gone away you know!.....................................188 5.3. 'How can it be "shared space" when you're wrangling over the whole planning process?'………………………………………………………………197 5.4. 'Better' at Girdwood Community Hub……………………………………..218 Chapter 6: Conclusion……………………………………………………………...…223 6.1. 'These civil wars are only ever over on paper!'…………………………….223 6.2. 'Better' than nothing?....................................................................................227 Appendix……………………………………………………………………………….236 Works Cited……………………………………………………………………………247 5 Chapter 1: Introduction to the Research 1.1. The Girdwood Community Hub On the bitterly cold morning of 15th January 2016, two hundred-odd people congregate across from the interface barrier on Cliftonpark Avenue in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Here, a metal wall separates two neighbourhoods from one another, zig-zagging behind houses and along vacant fields. Opposite from the wall, a brand-new building is opening its doors to the public for the first time. This is the Girdwood Community Hub. It sits on a space which had formerly been the main Army barracks in North Belfast. This part of North Belfast was a key site for violence during the conflict colloquially known as 'the Troubles', characterised by ethnosectarian clashes and contestations. The area witnessed sniper battles and sectarian murder, riots and petrol bombs and raids. After the ceasefires, the Girdwood Barracks were demilitarised. They sat vacant for years, an abandoned monument
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