Denver CEO gets look at how Irish build communities despite differences

As a Livingston fellow, I recently had the honor of joining a small group of Kellog, Eisenhower and Harvard fellows in Ireland and Northern Ireland to study approaches to building communities across differences.

Belfast is an excellent example of a community struggling to rebuild its social fabric after decades of violent conflict, known as the "Troubles." This conflict was between those claiming to represent nationalists (predominantly Roman Catholics) and those claiming to represent unionists (predominantly Protestants).

Unionists wanted Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom, while nationalists wished it to be politically reunited with the rest of Ireland. Since the signing of the "Good Friday Agreement" in 1998, the violence related to the Troubles has ceased.

While the Troubles may be over, its remnants are still evident in the physical and social makeup of Belfast. Protestants tend to live in Protestant neighborhoods and Catholics tend to live in Catholic neighborhoods. There are separate schools and hospitals funded by the government. Children generally play on informally segregated playgrounds.

By Tami Door
President and chief executive of the Downtown Denver Partnership

Full Story: http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_15433242