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Profiting from the Troubles Profiting from the Troubles How a profit is being made on the Troubles and what impact it has on the peace process in Northern Ireland H.J. van Maanen Profiting from the Troubles How a profit is being made on the Troubles and what impact it has on the peace process in Northern Ireland Henk-Jan van Maanen Master Thesis Human Geography Specialization Conflicts, Territories, and Identities Supervisor: Haley Swedlund October 2013 1 Belfasts Child you are so young yet you walk to the beat of belfasts drum, there should be promise in your eyes but its replaced by historys hate and dispise, you play your flute with prody pride, religion always by your side, your anger shows in your reflective stare each note a declaration of how much you care, will no surrender be your lifes claim, will you kill and maime in ulsters name what will take you to your peace, what will make this madness cease, our fight for our counties well in the past, but this hatred between us will always last, our flags now represents our unforgivable sins, belfast child when will you see this is now a war that no one can win. Emma Wilson, September 2010 2 Acknowledgements 'It was Protestants that built the Titanic. It was Catholics that built the iceberg that sank it.'1 It is easy to judge. It is easy to look at places like Iran, Congo, Egypt, Colombia and Northern Ireland and wonder how in the world people can make such a mess of things. It is hard to really understand why and how conflict is taking place, and to take into account the complexities of it. This thesis was a challenge. Doing research sometimes felt like climbing a mountain, while not being able to see the top. Northern Ireland is an intriguing place to do research on. Admittedly that sentiment is stronger now that I have reached the top of the mountain by handing in this thesis. The mountain is called Conflicts, Territories and Identities. I often had a very good time climbing it. Fortunately I also reckon I have picked up a thing or two on the way. One specific stage of the journey stands out: the trip to Cyprus was magnificent. During the climb my fellow travelers as well as my guides were amazing. Learning from them was almost always a pleasure and worth the effort. I'd like to thank a few people specifically. Haley, thank you for your straightforward and positive way of guiding me along. No pushing or pulling, you simply helped me with useful commentary when I needed it. I really appreciate that. Opa, thanks for taking a look at the unfinished draft of this thesis. Vera, you are awesome. Thanks for being so supportive whenever I left for a couple of weeks to work on this thesis. Moefti, and va, thank you for always being there. For now this is the end of an educational journey that started 23 years ago. There is too much to thank you for in all those years. Most importantly, thank you for showing me time and again how to commit to something (or someone) worthwhile. In regard to this thesis: thanks for having me over when I needed to focus on writing the following 96 pages. And of course thank you Ingram. It was your idea to go to Northern Ireland. Best plan you had in ages buddy. Thanks for the great time. And last but not least, John. Thanks for letting us use your coffee table. This research would not have been possible without the cooperation and help of a lot of people in Belfast. Thanks for helping me find the answers to the questions I had. You have been fun and welcoming and I applaud the efforts many of you are making to promote peace in the region. I hope you will build many ships together in the future. 1 Joke by tour guide Steven Lenahan, Belfast, May 2010 3 List of terms and abbreviations BVCB (Belfast Visitor and Convention Bureau) DUP (Democratic Unionist Party) EU (European Union) IRA (Irish Republican Army) IFI (International Fund for Ireland) MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly) MP (Member of the British Parliament) NITB (Northern Irish Tourism Board) OFMDFM (Office of First Minister and Deputy First Minister) PIRA (Provisional Irish Republican Army) PSNI (Police Service Northern Ireland) RFJ (Relatives for Justice) UDA (Ulster Defence Association) UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force) SEUPB (Special EU Programmes Body) UN (United Nations) 4 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... 3 List of terms and abbreviations ............................................................................................. 4 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 7 1.1 Historical background .................................................................................................. 8 1.2 Different narratives.................................................................................................... 12 1.2 Scientific relevance .................................................................................................... 14 1.3 Societal relevance ...................................................................................................... 15 2. Theoretical framework .................................................................................................... 18 2.1 Defining the conflict ................................................................................................... 18 2.2 Political tourism and its effects on the peace process ................................................ 20 2.3 The peacebuilding ‘industry’ and its effect on the peace process ............................... 26 2.4 Aid and its effects ...................................................................................................... 28 3. Methodology ................................................................................................................... 34 3.1 Designing the research strategy ................................................................................. 34 3.2 The research methods ............................................................................................... 36 3.3 The research data ...................................................................................................... 38 3.4 Analysis of the interviews .......................................................................................... 40 4. Tourism ........................................................................................................................... 41 4.1 Overview and economic impact ................................................................................. 41 4.2 Political tourism ......................................................................................................... 43 4.3 Effects on the peacebuilding process ......................................................................... 57 5. The peacebuilding industry ............................................................................................. 64 5.1 The peacebuilding sector up close ............................................................................. 65 5.2 The effectiveness of aid ............................................................................................. 72 5.3 Profiting from peace money ...................................................................................... 78 5 6. Conclusions ..................................................................................................................... 84 6.1 Concluding remarks on the tourism sector ................................................................. 84 6.2 Concluding remarks on the peacebuilding sector ....................................................... 86 6.3 Recommendations and reflection .............................................................................. 89 Literature ............................................................................................................................ 91 Books............................................................................................................................... 91 Journal Articles ................................................................................................................ 92 Media .............................................................................................................................. 94 Other documents ............................................................................................................ 95 6 1. Introduction As a litany of bomb explosions, shootings, marches, and military brutality in a seemingly intractable conflict situation. That is how people often looked at the Troubles in Northern Ireland. When in 1998, after almost thirty years of violence the Good Friday Agreement was finally signed it came as a surprise to many. Fifteen years after this peace treaty Northern Ireland is often seen as a post-conflict society. The peace process is considered exemplary to other peace processes around the world. However, the progress that has been made to resolve the conflict should not hide the fact that Northern Ireland is still a segregated society with a high level of violence and political conflict. In the context of this thesis political conflict has to be seen as a predominantly non-violent conflict between the two antagonist communities that is taking place in parliament but also in public spheres such as education, church, media and tourism. Occasionally violence does erupt again. The January 2013 flag
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