The terms “shared” and “divided” society seems to be frequently used
interchangeably. However, when looking at the communities in Norway and the communities of Northern Ireland, and how the diversities of society is managed, one gets the sense that the words indeed refer to two different sets of managing the diverse societies.
That is not to say there are no conflicts between the Sami community and the
Norwegian community. Nonetheless, the divisions run deeper within Northern Ireland, with the two communities maintaining public rituals that are exclusive to one community and flags
and emblems that contest the nationality of areas. Even what newspaper one buys or where one shops for groceries is a way of confirming and constructing identity.
Within the divided society, there is a struggle for legitimacy, from the recognition of cultural expressions to access to social space. In Northern Ireland there has been established a Parades Commission (Fitzduff, 2013) in response to complaints from the Catholic community that the parades of organizations such as the Orange Order is an affirmation of dominance.
The task of the commission is to assess the parade and tensions, and consider whether it is to be allowed to proceed as is, re-routed or even banned, as well as negotiate other possible terms for the parade to take place.
As a result of the conflict, and events predating it, the history of Northern Ireland for the purposes of education is a subject that should be approached with caution. It has been said of the Omagh bombing9 that everybody knew somebody. In Northern Ireland that is in many ways the situation, with the families of victims sometimes living only a short walk from a loved one’s killer, and as such there are many of the themes relating to the conflict might also be part of family history for some.
Part of the work to reconcile the two communities have been to negotiate and settle upon a history of Northern Ireland that does not polarize one community or the other.
Member of Parliament and Sinn Féin member Michelle Gildernew said in her speech given at the Hunger Strike anniversary march in August 2014:
It is clear to all of us that we are never going to share interpretations and sentiments about many historical events and issues which divide us. At times our communities have deliberately hurt each other, at others we have simply
9 15. August, 1998.
misunderstand the other. Our history is shared and yet deeply divided.(Gildernew, 2014)
In the past, state schools had mostly focused on the history of Britain, largely
disregarding Ireland in the narrative (Fitzduff, 2002), while Catholic maintained schools often put a negative emphasis on the British role in Ireland. Since 1993 this curriculum, which is the work of members from both communities, has been implemented in schools in favour of a one-sided account decided upon by the dominant culture.
Even so, children living in segregated societies grow up under quite different influences. Research has found that Catholic families and Protestant families often keep different newspapers, watch different television and radio broadcasts, visits different places on a local level as well as for summer holidays and engage in different sports (Connolly et al., 2007). The various arenas these represent also provides the respective societies with their own separate authorities on legitimacy.
To the international world, the media depicted a Northern Ireland of constant unrest, punctuated by times of escalating violence. An image that has proven itself a lingering one, with several members of my own social circle expressing worry upon my travelling to Northern Ireland. The media, however, as a conveyer of language and worldviews, chose to emphasize this aspect in their representation of the area on the news. By exercising its power to define and label, naming the paramilitaries as terrorists, even if they themselves may have seen their part differently in what they perceived to be a war, the media also exercised a form of symbolic violence.
Life in Northern Ireland was however quite different from the media’s representation, as confirmed by a woman who grew up in Belfast during the Troubles. She explained that the city centre was mostly considered neutral ground. Nevertheless, her family only went there if
they had to and it was not something she had relished doing, though it was less because from fear of the paramilitaries than it was due to the time-consuming security checks.
5.5 SUMMARY
There are several ways of managing the diverse communities of a society. In this chapter, we have briefly covered some of these. Furthermore, we have explored the divided society of Northern Ireland and some of the mechanisms contributing to the division, as well as maintaining the impression internationally of Northern Ireland as a deeply divided society.
A lot of work has been and is being done in an effort to build a more cohesive society. From creating a historical curriculum within the educational institutions that does not polarize one community or the other, to sharing in sports and venues.