Being True.

Here's a quick last blog post for 2013, and it's on a subject that I've been thinking of and talking about to others for a long, long time.

In the media, there has been a lot of coverage in recent times about the Haas talks in Belfast, the possibility of some sort of 'truth commission', and how to deal with justice and the past in Northern Ireland.

Last year as we set out on the path to finding and capturing people's stories of the troubles, we were often asked about how inclusive it would be. For example, if we film an ex-RUC officer, will we also film an ex-republican prisoner?

The simple answer is yes - if they want to tell their story. Border Lives will not exclude anyone who wishes to tell us their story. It would be irresponsible and deceiving if we did. However, we are thoughtful about how to approach this. If we are not thoughtful and if we don't take care of the process then that's when controversy and hurt will undoubtedly arise.

For us, this project has always been about individuals - People - fellow human beings. It's not about politics, it's not about religion, it's not about justice. That may sound silly because it certainly touches on all of these things but they are never the main focus. We focus on experiences and emotions.

For an example, we filmed a man whose father was murdered by the IRA when he was just 11. Our focus in the interview was not to drag him through the emotions of that exact time, not to talk about who did it, not even to make him reconcile with his past or the IRA. That is not our place. In actual fact, he did talk a lot about forgiveness but we only asked him to describe how the loss of his father shaped his life going forward. How did growing up without his dad contribute to the man he is today? And it was inspiring to hear about his youth work and faith which sees him acting as a positive male role model to the young men he works with.

We also filmed a man who talked about the army presence near his home and how he disliked it, how he would defy them as a young boy. The focus of this was to hear about how he felt as a young boy from a tiny island on Lough Erne. The feeling of being cut off, trapped, having English soldiers to answer to. In this instance, we are not passing judgement on either him as a young boy, or the soldiers who were there. It is only about his experience and how he felt. It lead to his interest in politics and ultimately to community development and youth work in that rural area.

I suppose for me as a researcher, I am conscious that I am not a counsellor and I am not a judge. I am a listener. I hope that everyone who views the final films will watch and listen to these people and their very individual experiences with the same openness.

We have always explained to our participants that we will be as open and inclusive as possible, whilst respecting the current participants and ensuring we care for their well-being throughout.

We are not deciding who was right, who was wrong, who was a victim, who was a perpetrator - and why. We are documenting these stories as each individual sees themselves and their life. We are being as true to each person as we possibly can, and surely this is a better place to begin?

Progress in November

November is almost gone and what a month we've had. I thought I'd post a wee update on our filming progress.

In case you didn't know, we currently have four areas where we are filming. These are:

1.    Markethill, Newtownhamilton, Keady
2.    Forkhill, Crossmaglen, Newry, Camlough
3.    Roslea, Clones, Newtownbutler
4.    Belleek, Ballyshannon, Garrison, Rossinver

We are researching two more areas which are:

5. Castlederg, Victoria Bridge, Lifford, Strabane
6.    Newtowncunningham, Inishowen

We have made huge progress over the last two months. We have interviewed and filmed many more people in the four areas listed above. We've also held more information sessions, partnering with groups who are based directly on the border. These events were really successful and well attended. 

People continue to feel excited and engaged by the work that we are doing.

As I've spoken to several individuals over the last fortnight, it's clear that our 'grassroots' approach of engaging directly with groups and those on the border is the best way forward. They are positive about our work and hopefully feel some sense of shared ownership of it.

In January, we will focus much more on the final two areas to film. If anyone from those areas wishes to meet with me before Christmas, in preparation for organising an information session in the new year, please get in touch. I'm really keen to meet and listen to those communities to see how we can work together.

I'll try to do at least one more blog post before the Christmas holidays so keep an eye out for that.

Sarah

Looking back, and going forward

I was sitting at my desk catching up on social media updates, emails and admin when I glanced at my diary with the realisation that it was 1st of November. Wow. I have been working on the Border Lives project for over a year.

In a cliched way, time has flown by, but actually it's quite satisfying to look back and think about how much work has been done in the past year.

When I started on 29th October last year, I was still a blonde (am now a redhead), the project had a different name and was just some text on a funding application form. Conor (Project Manager) and myself were faced with the challenge of turning this name and the objectives into a project that not only met our targets but really achieved something.

I remember creating my work plan for the first 3 months and it being absurdly over ambitious so I quickly re-drafted it to something more realistic.

My approach was always to get out there and meet people. Yes I did book research, yes I researched online and yes I visited libraries but none of that even came close to the knowledge and experience I got from meeting and talking to people.

I've met with approximately 300 people so far, not only to tell them about our project and what we hope to do but to listen to their thoughts and advice, and answer their questions (if I could). This has been the key influence in shaping our project to what it is today. I can safely sit here and say that I am very proud of how Border Lives is turning out.

Of course, we have painstakingly procured for services such as our branding and logo design, our monitoring and evaluation framework, our website design and the video production. (Conor can testify to that!) We have held information events and put our steering committee into place. We have researched and drawn up our own code of conduct and good practice. We really have worked hard.

At times developing this project has felt overwhelming but that's only because we care about it, we take pride in the project and our input into it. We want it to be of the highest quality in every aspect.

And so, what of the next nine months?

There is still A LOT of work to be done but I'll keep doing what I'm doing.

I'll keep meeting people, keep researching, keep listening, keep thinking, keep caring.

After all, Border Lives is about the participants and the people from the border region. It is about you.

I'm confident that it's this approach that has made and will continue to make Border Lives a great project.

BBC NI Radio Interview 

Visit to Raphoe, County Donegal

Border Town Exhibition in Newry

Information Event

Send us your Border Images

Hi everyone,

We've been busy worker bees at Border Lives these days so not as much time as I'd like to update this blog. However, the busy times have been exciting times.

We have several more interviewees in place and a lot more filming to be done over the next fortnight. This is mainly in South Armagh and Belleek, County Fermanagh.

Sunset over Armagh City in October 2013

We are also spending time on our website so that we can launch it by the middle of November. Obviously we have no films to put onto our site yet so we're uploading photographs for now. Some of these photos have been kindly given to us by participants, others are from the Belfast Exposed archive.

So this blog post is a call for anyone with good images of the border. Whether they are of people, or landmarks and places, or of scenes specific to the years of the troubles - we'd love to use them in our online gallery.

Feel free to send any to me, Sarah, at s.bryden@tyronedonegalpartnership.org with one or two lines to explain what it is or where the photo was taken, plus the year if you know it.

The images will really help bring our website to life.

Thanks!

Filming in County Armagh

I thought I'd better update this blog on how our first full day of filming went.

Although we had filmed some bits and pieces in County Armagh over the 12th of July period, last week we completed our first sit down interview with David McMullen from CACD. (County Armagh Community Development)

I met with David many months ago during my researching and networking for the project. He and CACD were very warm, welcoming and open. Their attitude and interest in engaging with the project was exciting, particularly after being told many times that "you'll find it very difficult to get protestants to engage".

In fact, so far, I have found quite the opposite to be true.

When we held our information session in Newtownhamilton in April, we got a good turnout and several of them were very keen to tell their personal story and experiences.

And so the development of our first film began as more people from the area agreed to participate in our project. We decided over the summer that our first film would focus on the area of Newtownhamilton, Keady and Markethill.

Some of you might question our inclusion of Markethill because it isn't that close to the border. However, the stories in the film will answer any question over this choice as many participants are from the border but now live in Markethill (12 miles from the border).

Our first filmed interview was with David. He has been working in community development for years as well as continuing his work as a part time farmer. He is also a member of the Orange Order and lives close to the border. David is excellent at giving some context to the area and the feelings and issues that have affected and continue to affect the local protestant population there.

In the afternoon, we followed him to a successful community project in Aughnagurgan Orange Hall.

CACD was instrumental in starting up the 'Thursday club' project which tours between 3 rural orange hall venues. Each one formed a committee and they are now self sufficient, separate to the Orange Lodge. They apply for their own funding when necessary and have approximately 50 attendees each week.

We filmed the tea dance and interviewed some of the people there. It was really a lovely afternoon and fantastic to see such a turn out to an event in a very rural area. More so, fantastic to see the groups' ownership of the project.

I'd like to thank David, everyone at CACD and everyone we met in Aughnagurgan. It was a truly inspiring beginning to our interviews and filming.

It's Personal

One thing has come up a lot over the last few weeks in conversations with community groups and individuals. With so many parades, commemorations, sensitivities and contentious issues being reported in the media, we've been talking about the differences between rural and urban.

Throughout the research it is clear how differently people in the border areas feel, think and respond compared with more urban areas (i.e. Belfast).

The experience of those living along the border was vastly different to those in the cities of Belfast and even Derry-Londonderry.

What was it that was so different though?

In the space of a week, I was told by three different people that "along the border, in the rural areas, it was personal." And by personal they meant intensely, deeply personal.

In the cities and larger towns for example, whole streets and estates may have come together against another or attacks were made on people with whom they had no relationship with. In a way it was somewhat anonymous.

In the border areas, people knew each other well. Generations of the same families lived in the same townland for maybe a hundred years, maybe longer. So when the conflict heightened, it felt very much like neighbours attacking neighbours. Local people knew who was involved in what activity, they often didn't know who to trust and suspicion became fierce from all sides.

That's not to say that some communities, friends and neighbours didn't strengthen and come together because they did. However, largely, it created a deep division. One that we are still seeing in places like Castlederg or South East Fermanagh.

It's this 'personal' nature that our project hopes to be able to touch on in the films- the positive and negative.

We have heard stories of small communities coming together e.g. in Belleek where Catholic neighbours and families helped mend the Church of Ireland hall after it was attacked, even inviting the church members into their homes for tea and sandwiches.

We have also heard stories of suspicion between RUC and UDR officers and their neighbours, not knowing if their neighbour was surveilling their movements as they made their way home to their farm after a shift.

And there are so many more stories in between these two poles. It has been incredibly interesting hearing this issue begin to come to the fore in our research.

I would like to stress that this doesn't speak of 100% of people but of the many, many that I have spoken to. We really hope to be able to document and demonstrate the difference in experience between the border and the urban areas in ways like this.


*Thanks to Joe O'Loughlin for the photos.

Six films

Wow, the weeks keep flying by and I realise it's been three since I updated this blog. Today I've been thinking more about the areas that Border Lives will focus on. By areas, I mean geographical.

During my research, it sometimes felt like a huge task to narrow down the focus of the project to just six areas. I'll admit there are days that it still does. However, I feel like we are getting there gradually and almost like reading tea leaves, it is becoming clearer each week.

The main criteria in choosing areas for a film has been the interest and engagement from the people there. It was crucially important when I started this project that we approach it in a way that is sensitive. Therefore I spent many months meeting people and groups all along the border and beyond. (In fact I am still doing this so get in touch if you'd like to meet me!)

The fact that this project is covering such a wide geographical area, I wanted to ensure the involvement of existing organisations. I didn't want to be seen to be entering an area without going through the proper channels and learning from those who know a lot more than me about the people and areas where they have been dedicated to working in for many years.

In doing so, I not only learned an incredible amount about each area but it began to show me which areas were more willing and more interested in engaging with a project such as this.

The first film that we are beginning to film and develop will be based in the areas of Markethill, Newtownhamilton and Keady. This takes in Darkley and Tullyvallen as well. The focus of this film will most likely be the Protestant experience on the border.

The reason we have chosen to do this is because we made a strong link with County Armagh Community Development who work closely with Orange Halls and the Protestant community there. I met with some of the members several months ago. They made me feel so welcome and really understood what we were trying to achieve with Border Lives. They told me stories then and we continue to hear stories each time we meet with them. It's a pleasure to speak with the people there, hear what they have to say and see the positive community work that they are all doing there.

We are still discussing the focus of the other films but we can see areas such as:

- Forkhill/Crossmaglen 

- Clones/Roslea

- Belleek/Garrison/Rossinver 

- Clady/Lifford/Strabane 

all featuring.

As we begin to film this month, I will also be planning some information evenings and trying to partner with groups along the border for this. I have some funding available to organise them and would love to hear from any groups that might like to host us for an evening.

I can be contacted at s.bryden@tyronedonegalpartnership.org or call +44(0)28 8225 2112.

What is it all about?

The Border Lives Project team are delighted to welcome Legato Solutions as our successful website designers after a competitive tendering process. We had our initial meeting with Gareth and Chris from Legato last week and it further confirmed to me the need for some clarification on what our project is actually about.

One of the issues that we are faced with is that there are so many 'storytelling' or 'oral history' projects happening through the current PEACE III funding. Groups, organisations and individuals living in Northern Ireland and the border counties are being inundated with offers to tell their story, and because of this many are becoming very disinterested in the idea.

So how do we get across the uniqueness and innovativeness of the Border Lives Project?

Well for a start, this blog. I am going to use this platform to try to explain our project, it's plans and ideas as well as its ethos and hopes. This will happen over time of course and so for right now I thought I'd clear up a few of the obvious queries.

1. Why is the Border Lives Project different? 
Border Lives will create 6 films and a website to host them on. The choice of where these films are based depends on the people who want to participate. I have spent around nine months researching areas and trying to engage with groups and local people. Some places have become obvious settings for one of the films because people there have a desire to talk to us. We are not imposing ourselves on a place, a group or a person. We do not offer workshops or group training. We want to gather and film stories from either individuals or families or groups. Any participant of the project will work closely with myself (Research Officer, Sarah Bryden) and the project's film producer Michael Beattie. Participating is either something you feel comfortable doing or not and we respect that. I would like to stress that myself and Michael want each participant to have a positive experience and at the end of the day keep it as "having a yarn over a cup of tea".

2. We are not focussing solely on victims and survivors.
This is crucial to clarify. Border Lives is a more mainstream project, accessible to all who wish to participate. The project is aiming to gather stories from all kinds of people who lived, grew up or worked along the border. We want to hear from farmers, shopkeepers, doctors, local priests/ministers, school teachers, community workers etc. We want to hear the everyday stories of how life changed or how people adapted during the troubles.
We don't want to be divisive or confrontational. Our focus isn't on the blood and guts but because we will be concentrating on experiences during the conflict years it is inevitable that there will be some victims or survivors involved. We are adamant not to dredge up a past that may re-traumatise people. For example, one of our participants' fathers was murdered. We don't want to concentrate on that but rather talk about other aspects of his life story and maybe how that experience has impacted his life, his choices and his feelings from then until now.
Our aim is to show a rounded picture of life which includes sadness, fear and pain but also joy, love and laughter.

3. We will be as balanced as possible without becoming tokenistic.
Border Lives is aiming to show a balanced perspective and include people from all backgrounds. This is another aspect of the project that we will approach in an extremely thoughtful and responsible manner. The project will show balance overall, however, we will aim to represent an area as appropriately as possible. We won't include token participants from another tradition to make up the numbers to 50/50.
Using examples, if one of the films is based in Markethill then potentially all participants involved will be from a Protestant/Unionist/Loyalist perspective. Equally should a film be based in Roslea then most if not all participants will be from a Catholic/Nationalist/Republican perspective. We aim to be true to an area and the stories of the participants there.
This will an ongoing thought process by the Border Lives team and steering committee.


4. We, just like any responsible project, follow an ethical code of conduct.
During the planning and research for Border Lives, we put a lot of thought and time into developing our code of practice. It was important for us to understand our own intentions within the project so that we can be honest and transparent throughout the process. We have found that this has helped us when we engage with people and groups. We know what we want to achieve but are also aware that our role is merely to shape and steer the project. The content is influenced by participants. Our role is to guide participants through the experience in a supportive and respectful way. (If anyone would like to read our good practice guidelines then get in touch)


5. We want to create a useful resource for the future.
So what will we do once we have the stories? We will put them together into the 6 films of course and each participant included will get to see their final appearance before it is made public. This is ensure that participants feel happy with the end result. We hope to release each film online as it is ready, however, towards the end of the project in June 2014 we will organise screenings in each border county. There will also be DVD copies available.
These films on DVD and on the website will become a useful resource as a piece of historical documentation and archive. If you think how fascinating it is to look back at old photos (like we did in our information evenings in April and May), we hope that people will feel the same about our films in 20, 30 and 50 years time.
Alongside the films, we aim to develop an educational toolkit. This will be available to community groups, youth organisations, schools and colleges. These toolkits will encourage discussion and understanding of particular stories and themes that are covered in the films.

6. Feel free to contact us.
We have started filming and narrowing down areas for the films. However, it is an ongoing process that will continue for several months. Therefore, if you or a group/organisation you belong to might be interested in becoming involved, or just to find out more information then please get in touch. Part of my role is to come and meet with individuals and groups to talk about what we're doing. Sometimes, this results in people offering to participate, sometimes not. It is all worthwhile research in determining the direction of the Border Lives Project.
If you would like to discuss the project, you can email me at s.bryden@tyronedonegalpartnership.org or contact the office on +44(0)28 82252112.

I hope this has helped clarify some aspects of the Border Lives Project. I am really excited about what this project could do and I know everyone who is involved so far is too. The films have the potential to be really special and I can already see one or two coming together.

I will continue to update this blog with news and thoughts as well as our facebook page and twitter.

Thanks for taking an interest!
Sarah

Day of Reflection

Today has been dedicated as a 'Day of Reflection' by Healing Through Remembering.

"The Day of Reflection is a Day to reflect on our own attitudes, on what more we might have done or might still do, to acknowledge the deep hurt and pain caused by the conflict in and about Northern Ireland, and to make a personal commitment that such loss should never be allowed to happen again."

In that spirit I thought that I would reflect on some of my own personal attitudes and experiences.

I turned 30 years old earlier this year. Half of that time was lived during 'the troubles', the latter half has been lived in what we call peaceful times. However, in my opinion, these years have still been 'troubled'. I say this because I am from Omagh.

I was 15 when a bomb tore through the buildings and people of my town. I still get emotional when I think about it.

I had just returned from Atlanta, Georgia in the US a few weeks before. I had participated on the Ulster Project which sees 6 protestant and 6 catholic teens form a group and stay with host families of other backgrounds in America for four weeks. The concept was to promote peace and better understanding in young people on more neutral ground. At that point, it had been the best thing I'd ever done in my life. I had come home to Omagh having made new friends for life, a new perspective on life, hopeful for the future. Less than three weeks later, everything changed.

I remember that day like it was yesterday and I vividly remember the excruciating and emotional days after. My dad was called in to implement the towns emergency plan. I didn't see him for days except once he came home for a few hours sleep. He didn't look like himself. He later told me some of his experiences so I now know why.

Some of my other memories of the aftermath include watching the news reports and having the surreal feeling of seeing your town, yet feeling some sort of disconnect from it, like my eyes were lying to me. 

I remember the funerals, the weeks and weeks of funerals. The injuries, seeing so many people with cuts, bruises, on crutches, all patched up physically. Thinking that not enough patches, stitches or casts in the world would help mend the psychological and emotional damage.

I remember going back to school two weeks later and it being so sombre.

I remember those who died and their families.

I reflect on that time and I look at Omagh now- how it has been rebuilt, how the people supported each other and how it is strong. The scars will always be there but I am proud of the strength of the people and the town.

In 2011, Ronan Kerr, a young catholic PSNI officer from Omagh was murdered outside his home. The town hit the media headlines again. Everyone came together and took to the streets marching for peace. "Not in my Name" was the message. The people of Omagh and beyond wanted the world to know that we want a future living in peace together.

My Day of Reflection is to acknowledge the deep pain that so many have suffered, to be open and compassionate to all, and to be hopeful that the future generations can try to understand the past and work together for a peaceful future.

This is just a small part of my story and memory of the conflict here in Northern Ireland. Through the Border Lives project I am learning so much more about what happened to others. I am thankful to anyone who shares their experience because hearing, reading or watching personal stories can only help us all to empathise, to understand, to share, and to learn.

Legacy

I managed to get my hands on the BBC Northern Ireland's 'Legacy' pack which contains hundreds of personal stories on audio accompanied by the transcripts in a book.

I've been dipping in and out of it, listening to stories when I can. Each testimony only lasts maybe 2 minutes at most but it is very powerful. This is partly because I am listening to one story after the other, whilst the initial release of the series was one story broadcast each day for a year. However, it is also powerful because each story is from an individual, each story is vastly different, yet each story has a place in our history and experience.

The Legacy series was broadcast in 1999. That was 14 years ago.

All of the stories that I have listened to so far are still important today, they are still issues that Northern Ireland and the Border Counties are continuing to deal with and address.

So, for me, it is crucial to listen to these stories and remember how although they were recorded 14 years ago, they sound so close to home and current.

For those who wonder about the relevance or importance of a project such as Border Lives, I would recommend they listen to Legacy. In another 14 years, I would imagine that what we record and produce in this project in 2013/14 will still feel real, still feel important, and still need to be heard.

{Where} do we focus?

It's Friday morning and I am actually in the office all day today for a change. It gives me time to catch up on emails, on notes that I have scrawled on notepads and pieces of paper, time to re-group and focus my thoughts.

It's been a good week with plenty of fantastic contacts gained and some clarity starting to present itself in terms of "where" we start to focus our films.

I have been wary to narrow down our research and approach to the project too early for fear that we miss something important. My approach has included book research and academic papers but it was always to first go out, meet, listen and engage with communities along the border. I have gathered all of the details from the networking that I have done so far on top of our information events in April and May, and started to sift through them. It seems that the obvious is beginning to appear.

With our film producer Michael Beattie heavily involved now, the potential films are starting to show some focus.

We're seeing South Armagh/Louth as well as South Armagh/Monaghan border as possibles, also Rosslea/Newtownbutler/Clones area, Castlederg or Clady/Urney/Castlefinn to name a few....

It is still early days though and plenty of research still to do. We don't anticipate starting to film until September but already are getting a sense of communities who seem to be keen to come forward and tell their stories and experiences.

No story is unimportant.

Women on the Border

One of the themes that has come from various meetings and a few of our information events has been 'women' - the role they play within a community and a family. Their unique experiences of life during the Troubles and what they were faced with.

Project Manager, Conor, was at a seminar a few months ago where someone mentioned women being left to cope with "broken bodies and broken minds".

Another person that I spoke to in the security forces told of how, on a daily basis, his wife never knew whether he would come home from work or not.

So what was it like for a woman living and/or working along the Border during the conflict here? 

I was at an event in Forkhill last night with the South Armagh Rural Women's Network. An amazing group of women and the work that they are doing there is some of the most interesting and worthwhile that I've seen throughout my research so far.

The group is mixed - from both traditions and from both sides of the border. They have shared their stories with each other and talked very honestly about their experiences. They have come together and held their meetings in all parts of South Armagh, where some members may have never ventured to before, in spite of it being only 3 miles away. They have also gone to each others place of worship. Truly inspiring projects and community work happening there!

One of the women last night said that the Troubles was different for a woman because they "could always see both sides" as she put it. For example, even in a nationalist family, women never liked to see soldiers or security forces being hurt and killed. For a woman, the thought was always, that's somebody's son. Women have the ability to empathise with all.

And much of the time, it was a woman who had to pick up the pieces in a community that was affected by a particular incident.

The stories that were shared with us last night were fascinating but with respect to those there, I won't share them on this blog. There is no denying the fact that some experiences were horrendously traumatic and life-changing, and I thank them because it is not easy to open up about it. Other stories were lighter and showed humour.

My experience of chatting with the women last night encompasses what this project is all about- documenting the light and the dark of those years. It has also become very clear for the need for women to be represented in our final films.

Thanks again to SARN, it was a pleasure and honour to be invited to your meeting. I hope to see you again soon.

Sarah

Book Wish List

I was at a Queens conference event last week in Belfast and the lovely woman at my table, historian Margaret Callaghan recommended Henry Patterson's new book- "Ireland's Violent Frontier".

Spotted it on Amazon, a bit pricey so anyone who'd like to lend me a copy, that would be great! :)

Welcome!

Hi everyone and thanks for stopping by our blog.

I decided to set up this blog so that those who are interested in Border Lives can keep up to date with our project throughout it's lifetime. I also hope that in some way I can document our progress and approach- information which might be useful to any other projects in the future.

This blog won't be used as a promotional tool per se, more as a log for our thoughts and discussion points as we develop and deliver the project.

It's a bit of a test in how we can improve our communication, be open and encourage discussion and learning.

We'll see how it goes and we hope that it will be of some interest...