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The Role of Civil Society in Conflict Resolution – the Irish Experience

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The Role of Civil Society in Conflict Resolution – the Irish Experience The Role of Civil Society in Conflict Resolution – The Irish Experience Roundtable Meeting, Dublin, Ireland 9th – 11th April 2014 The Role of Civil Society in Conflict Resolution – The Irish Experience The Role of Civil Society in Conflict Resolution – The Irish Experience Roundtable Meeting, Dublin, Ireland 9th – 11th April 2014 April 2014 3 Published by Democratic Progress Institute 11 Guilford Street London WC1N 1DH United Kingdom www.democraticprogress.org [email protected] +44 (0)203 206 9939 First published, 2014 ISBN: 978-1-905592-93-7 © DPI – Democratic Progress Institute, 2014 DPI – Democratic Progress Institute is a charity registered in England and Wales. Registered Charity No. 1037236. Registered Company No. 2922108. This publication is copyright, but may be reproduced by any method without fee or prior permission for teaching purposes, but not for resale. For copying in any other circumstances, prior written permission must be obtained from the publisher, and a fee may be payable.be obtained from the publisher, and a fee may be payable 4 The Role of Civil Society in Conflict Resolution – The Irish Experience Contents Foreword ....................................................................................6 Group Photo ..............................................................................8 Welcome address ........................................................................9 Roundtable meeting on ‘A History of the Irish Conflict’ ...........13 Dinner at the Residence of Turkey Ambassador to Ireland ......219 Roundtable meeting at Iveagh House, Irish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade ......................................................................30 Rountable meeting on ‘The Role of Civil Society in the Negotiations’ ............................................................................51 Dinner Reception at the Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin .................63 Roundtable meeting on ‘Journalism and the Media in a Violently Divided Society .........................................................66 Roundtable meeting on ‘Rights and Identity as Part of a Peace Process’ ...........................................................................89 Roundtable meeting on ‘The Role of Civil Society in Peace Building’ .........................................................................95 Dinner at Johnnie Fox’s traditional Irish Restaurant ...............113 Appendix: Participants ...........................................................114 DPI Board and Council of Experts .........................................116 5 The Role of Civil Society in Conflict Resolution – The Irish Experience Foreword This report details the activities and roundtable discussion which took place during the Democratic Progress Institute’s Comparative Study visit to Dublin, Ireland from 9th – 11th April 2014, carried out in partnership with the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation and hosted by the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs. The study focused on The Role of Civil Society in Conflict Resolution with a focus on the Northern Ireland peace process. I hope that this study can be useful to participants and can contribute towards ongoing discussions in Turkey. DPI focuses on providing expertise, research and practical frameworks to encourage stronger public debates and involvements in promoting peace and democracy building internationally. Within this context DPI aims to contribute to the establishment of a structured public dialogue on peace and democratic advancement, as well as to create new and widen existing platforms for discussions on peace and democracy building. As part of DPI’s role of reaching and securing these aims, DPI focuses on supporting a public atmosphere and environment of inclusion and frank, structured discussions whereby different parties are in the position to openly share knowledge, concerns and suggestions for democracy building and strengthening across multiple levels. DPI’s objective throughout this process is to identify common priorities and develop innovative approaches to participate in and influence the process of finding democratic solutions. DPI also aims to support and strengthen collaboration between academics, civil society and policy-makers through its projects and output. 6 The Role of Civil Society in Conflict Resolution – The Irish Experience With thanks to David Comley and the staff of DPI for their assistance with this report. DPI also gives special thanks to the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, and to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Ireland, for their hosting of the visit. Kerim Yildiz Director Democratic Progress Institute 7 The Role of Civil Society in Conflict Resolution – The Irish Experience Roundtable Meeting: The Role of Civil Society in Conflict Resolution Dublin, Ireland 9th – 11th April 2014 From left to right: DPI Director Kerim Yıldız; Zeynep Ardıç; DPI Programme Manager Eleanor Johnson; Glencree’s Eamon Rafter; Sedat Yurtdaş; DPI’s Esra Elmas; Ahmet Faruk Ünsal; Necdet İpekyüz; Gülçin Avşar; Fazıl Hüsnü Erdem; Feray Salman; Talha Köse; Glencree’s Val Kiernan; Kadri Salaz; Cem Gençoğlu; Vahap Çoşkun; Fadime Özkan. 8 The Role of Civil Society in Conflict Resolution – The Irish Experience Welcome Address by Kerim Yildiz1 I would like to welcome you all here to Ireland for what we hope will be a fruitful visit. I will start by giving you an insight into DPI’s work. This is the first of our comparative studies to focus specifically on Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and civil society. Previous comparative studies have focused on conflict resolution in general and the relevance of the Irish conflict to the conflict in Turkey. This visit will examine civil society’s role conflict resolution in more detail. As you know, the Institute’s activities have included participants from all of Turkey’s main political parties. Unfortunately, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has rejected our invitations as they continue to regard DPI as a mouthpiece of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party. 1 Kerim Yildiz, Director, Democratic Progress Institute Kerim Yildiz is an expert in conflict resolution, peacebuilding, international human rights law and minority rights, having worked on numerous projects in these areas over his career. He was formerly co-founder and Chief Executive of the Kurdish Human Rights Project. Kerim has received a number of awards, including from the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights for his services to protect human rights and promote the rule of law in 1996, and the Sigrid Rausing Trust’s Human Rights award for Leadership in Indigenous and Minority Rights in 2005. Kerim is also a recipient of the 2011 Gruber Prize for Justice. He has extensive experience in human rights and actively works to raise awareness on human rights violations worldwide assisting with many cases to the European Court of Human Rights, conducting training seminars in Europe and the Middle East, and regularly contributing to seminars and conferences. Kerim has also written extensively on human rights issues, including numerous essays, articles and chapters on freedom of expression, national security and minority rights, as well as books relating to the European Convention, the United Nations and OSCE mechanisms. He has written books on the Kurds in Iraq, Iran, Syria, the Caucuses, Turkey and the diaspora and he has most recently co-authored ‘The Kurdish Conflict: International Humanitarian Law and Post Conflict Mechanisms’ (Routledge, 2010). His work has been translated into numerous languages, including Turkish, Finnish, German, Spanish, Russian, Kurdish, Arabic and Persian. Kerim also serves as a Board Member and Advisor to other human rights and environmental organisations and is an advisor to the Delfina Foundation. Kerim is a member of English PEN. 9 The Role of Civil Society in Conflict Resolution – The Irish Experience However, we have otherwise managed to attract a broad spread of political voices to take part in our comparative studies. During the visits we draw extensively on the experience of Northern Ireland by talking to key actors in the process here, directly about their experiences. Over the next few days we will try to discover what kinds of difficulties were encountered during the Irish peace process and what lessons were learned. Professor Vincent Comerford was involved in our first comparative study to Dublin several years ago. Joining us this evening he will be talking about different perspectives on the peace process in Ireland. Our other friend is Will Devas who is the Director of the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, a partner organisation of DPI. I thank them for assisting with the facilitation of this visit. William will be talking about Glencree’s work relating to the Irish peace process and also in relation to other conflicts around the world. As you will know, this trip is hosted by the Irish government and is conducted jointly by both Glencree and DPI. Over the next few days we hope to discuss some of the interesting developments which are currently taking place in Ireland. One thing that I have found extremely important to consider over the past six months is that the Northern Ireland peace process has not in fact been completed over the past fifteen years. The peace process has failed in a sense because, for better or for worse, the parties negotiating fifteen years ago were unwilling to deal with the difficult issues at stake. A similar phenomenon has been
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