Delivered by Diversity Challenges - DC
This was the final project of the Louth PEACE IV Programme under the theme CYP – Children and Young People. This project was awarded to Diversity Challenges in June 2021 and finished December 2021. Engagement between Diversity Challenges and a young person’s advisory group (YPAG) co-developed the Adapting Aftermath Archives Programme.
The project was coordinated by Dr Laurence McKeown who devised and coordinated the original Aftermath project. Laurence therefore had a very detailed and intimate knowledge of the content of the Aftermath archives. Laurence is also skilled in filmmaking and experienced in working with film editors and that skill was brought to bear in terms of reviewing and adapting the filmed archives in line with requirements for the educational resource toolkit.
“The Aftermath Archive, as it is now known, was developed out of a project I designed and coordinated back in 2012-2014 called Aftermath (https://www.diversity-challenges.com/aftermath-project/). That project was also funded under the EU’S Peace Programme (then PEACE III) and the archive is a collection of both audio and filmed interviews, and photographs gathered from a very broad spectrum of people: former IRA volunteers, former members of the British Army, a former member of the RUC and PSNI, former members of the Irish Defence Forces, victims/survivors, a representative from ‘Families of the Disappeared’, those who reported for the media on the conflict, those who had been displaced from the North due to the conflict and arrived in Louth and reared their families here, and also others who escaped conflict in abroad and arrived in Ireland.”
“It’s an extremely rich depository of stories and I’d always wanted an opportunity to develop some sort of educational resource based on them, which would help facilitate discussion, in a structured manner, around how we might deal with the legacy of the conflict in and about Northern Ireland/the north of Ireland. That opportunity came through the EU PEACE IV funding programme.”
The other partners in the project were Lesley Emmerson, and Kabosh Theatre. Lesley Emmerson, Lecturer in Education, School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, at Queen’s University Belfast, worked with Laurene to develop the toolkit. Kabosh Theatre Company was responsible for the delivery of the toolkit through a series of workshops.
The Aftermath Archive is a collection of audio and filmed interviews, and photographs gathered from a broad spectrum of people: former IRA volunteers, former members of the British Army, former members of the RUC and PSNI, former members of the Irish Defence Forces, Victims/Survivors a representative from 'Families of the Disappeared', those who reported for the media on the conflict, those who had been displaced from the North, and others who had escaped conflict abroad and arrived in Ireland.
The project aimed to facilitate an engagement with the narratives of those who lived through the conflict and an interaction between a diverse range of young people on a cross-border and cross-religious basis. The programme involved participants from Louth, Monaghan, Sligo, Belfast and Carrickfergus. A unique feature of this project involved the setting up of a Young People’s Advisory Group who contributed to the final design of the programme and the development of the Aftermath Educational Resource. The young people engaged in both online and live workshops, while also experiencing cross community visits, trips to exhibitions and theatre performances.
The output from the project was an educational resource toolkit (available to download from the Diversity Challenges website).
A closing event for Adapting Aftermath Archives took place in December 2021. This closing event took place over Zoom due to Covid-19 restrictions.
