News

Legacy of The Troubles

Published 11 July 2012

The Northern Ireland Troubles, brought again to public attention with the recent handshake between the Queen and Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness, is the subject of a conference starting today at the University of Brighton, close to the site of the IRA bombing of the Grand Hotel in 1984.

Jo Berry, daughter of Sir Anthony Berry, Whip in Margaret Thatcher's government, who was killed in the hotel blast, is due to speak at the conference. She founded the charity Building Bridges for Peace in 1999 and a year later met with the bomber Patrick Magee in an effort of reconciliation.

Also due to speak is Colin Parry OBE, whose 12-year-old son Tim died in the Provisional IRA's bombing in Warrington in 1993. He and the parents of a second child killed by the blast founded the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace, an educational charity which provides programmes for young people and adults.

The two speakers are due to address the conference on 12 July at the university's Sallis Benney Theatre in Grand Parade, Brighton. The three-day conference, The Northern Ireland Troubles in Britain: Impacts, Engagements, Legacies and Memories, has been organised by the Centre for Research in Memory, Narrative and Histories at the university, the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Leicester and the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace.

Dr Graham Dawson, School of Humanities with Clare White, Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace

Dr Graham Dawson, reader in the Faculty of Art's School of Humanities, said the conference will consider the impact and lasting effects of The Troubles in Britain and initiatives towards understanding, post-conflict engagement and bridge building. He said: "Unlike Northern Ireland, little research exists in Britain on the legacies and memories of The Troubles in Britain. The conference aims to bridge that knowledge gap."

Former soldiers who served in Northern Ireland will be taking part in the conference and among the 30 speakers will be Professor Brandon Hamber, International Institute of Conflict Research at the University of Ulster; Professor Mary Hickman, London Metropolitan University and Professor John Newsinger, Bath Spa University.