Exploring Protestant Cultural Identity

Members of community groups from across County Armagh recently joined County Armagh Community Development (CACD) at a conference, Exploring Protestant/Unionist/Loyalist Cultural Identity.

The conference held over 2 days began the Park Avenue Hotel facilitated by Tides Training and Consultancy. Attendees were encouraged to share life experiences and what influences their identity. This was followed by a discussion on Flags and Emblems and the history of these.

The event continued with a visit to the Shankill Area and a walking tour of the murals conducted by representatives of Epic - a group providing advice and counselling to loyalist ex prisoners.
During the tour discussion took place around the meaning of murals and how the local community are involved in choosing what murals depict. The tour guide also pointed out housing in the area some of which was derelict and some of which was relatively new. For many people from a rural background the urban setting was quite a contrast and the need for further investment in jobs and housing was clearly evident in this area.

At the Peace Wall the various artistic creations were viewed and discussion took please around the meaning of these. The group then visited the Spectrum Centre where two former paramilitaries spoke candidly about their life experience and answered questions.

The evening seminar examined faith as part of our identity. Four ministers talked about their faith and the outreach work of their churches in interface areas of Belfast. They discussed the problems in these areas and described their work with an emphasis on socio-political and cultural issues. The outreach programmes try to address the problems through various methods - youth programmes, after schools club, community based learning and older peoples groups.

On Saturday the group moved to Farset International a community based project on the Springfield Road. They heard about the development of this project which is now run as a hostel.

The rest of the morning was spent on summing up and reflecting on the previous days experiences before considering definitions for Good Relations and Civic Leadership and the role they have in their local community.