Remembering Victims of the Troubles and Heritage Development in Northern Ireland

This paper focuses on heritage development in relation to victims of the Troubles in Northern Ireland (1968–1998). While some were killed by security forces, such as on Bloody Sunday in Londonderry/Derry (1972), paramilitaries accounted for approximately 90% of those killed, with republican groups alone taking 60% of lives. However, most public, as well as judicial, attention has been on the minority that were state victims. This is certainly important, not only for victims’ families and their communities, but also for calling the state to account. However a question remains as to justice for victims more broadly, especially as part of a negotiated settlement among all the major players. To date no universal mechanism or procedure has been agreed to deal with the overarching victims’ legacy in Northern Ireland. However, heritage development – as asserted by South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission – can contribute to transitional justice by providing symbolic reparation for past wrongs through museums and memorialization. In short, a transition in the present requires a transition of the remembered past. With the support of public funding, the trend in Northern Ireland is now towards a fractured heritage that expresses the contested past through different narratives, often for different audiences, at different locales. This includes the segmented commemoration of victims. Such fragmented commemoration reflects the saliency of violent division, both social and political, into the present day. But it also poses a challenge regarding the use of heritage as symbolic reparation contributing to reconciliation and transitional justice, especially on behalf of victims across the board. Discussion about remembering victims and heritage in Northern Ireland will draw on two specific initiatives. One is the redevelopment of the former Maze Prison/Long Kesh. Eight miles southwest of Belfast, it is one of the primary sites associated with the violence of the Troubles. In 2003 proposals were tabled, by an organization representing republican (mainly IRA) ex-prisoners, to develop a museum there. While most of the prison buildings have since been demolished, a representative sample was retained. Years of controversy ensued over their potential re-use for heritage development alongside a new EU-funded peace centre. While for some time it seemed that the project may go ahead, it stalled - perhaps permanently - in 2013. A core reason given for withdrawal of the necessary cross-party consensus regarding redevelopment was an ”insensitive attitude towards IRA victims.” The other is the Orange Heritage initiative and its two interpretive centres, one in east Belfast and the other in Loughgall (Co. Armagh), opened in 2015. The stated intent is “educating and encouraging a mutual understanding and respect for the culture and traditions of the Orange Institution.” This includes active outreach and educational programmes. Importantly the sites also memorialize the Orange Order’s 332 members – a good proportion of whom served in the security services - killed during the Troubles. Given this and the Order’s association with Protestant history, institutions of state power and contentious parades, the initiative has both a challenging and complex mandate.