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Selling Conflict Heritage through Tourism in Peacetime Northern Ireland: Transforming Conflict or Exacerbating Difference?

2008; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 14; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13527250802284859

1470-3610

Sara McDowell,

Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration

Abstract The paramilitary ceasefires in 1994 and the ensuing peace negotiations brought to a close some three decades of ethno‐nationalist violence in Northern Ireland. The conflict, colloquially termed the Troubles, cost almost 3,700 lives, and bequeathed both a tangible and intangible heritage of division and hurt. This paper considers the commodification of physical conflict 'heritage' such as military installations, memorials and street murals through an examination of various tourism initiatives. Such initiatives have been employed by a number of agents ranging from local councils and tourist boards to small community groups and ex‐prisoner organisations. While 'official' agencies recognise the economic potential of this form of heritage, community‐based groups often view the sites and symbols of the conflict as vehicles through which to propagate political perspectives. Those sold by the latter, in particular, are often supported by government bodies that fund such forms of tourism under the auspices of 'conflict transformation', a strategy that is aimed at transforming the nature of the conflict through fostering self‐understanding within disputant communities. I participated in a number of these tours over the course of six months in 2005/2006. Keywords: Northern IrelandHeritagePolitical TourismConflict Transformation Notes [1] Grodach, 'Reconstituting Identity and History in Post‐war Mostar', 78. [2] Graham and Nash, 'A Shared Future', 253. [3] Boyd, 'Heritage Tourism in Northern Ireland', 167. [4] Tunbridge and Ashworth, Dissonant Heritage, 95. [5] Bourdieu, Distinction, 288. [6] Grodach, 'Reconstituting Identity and History in Post‐war Mostar', 80. [7] Interview with a member of the Falls Community Council, January 2005. [8] Debbie Lisle, 'Defending Voyeurism', paper presented at the Design Art History Conference, Belfast, 2004. [9] Luna Stein, 'Political Tourism in Palestine: Book Review', available from http://www.stanford.edu/group/SHR/5‐1/text/lstein.html [accessed 15 December 2006]. [10] Ibid. [11] Clarke, 'Self‐presentation in a Contested City', 14. [12] Between 1994 and 2000 the EU invested 1.2 billion ECU in Northern Ireland. [13] Lederach, Preparing for Peace. [14] Folger and Baruch Bush, Designing Mediation. [15] North Belfast Tourism Strategy, Final Report. [16] Ardoyne Mural Tour [accessed 15 September 2005], available from www.ardoyne.org/muralweb/page1.htm [17] Belfast Safaris [accessed 30 August 2005], available from www.belfastsafaris.com [18] Press release for Belfast Safaris, 12 May 2004 (pers. comm.). [19] Ibid. [20] Ibid. [21] McKittrick et al., Lost Lives, 1533. [22] Azaryahu, 'RePlacing Memory: The Reorientation of Buchenwald', 1–20. [23] 'West Belfast "Ready to Welcome Tourists"', Irish News, 28 February 1998. [24] Fáilte Feirste Thiar [accessed 14 September 2004], available from www.westbelfast‐failte.com/MAP/map%20total.htm [25] Northern Ireland's Visitors Journal, Spring/Summer 2004, 48–49. [26] West Belfast Taxi Association [accessed 14 August 2004], available from http://www.wbta.net/taxi_tours_of_west_belfast.htm [27] Ibid. [28] http://www.feilebelfast.com/ourhistory/ [accessed 14 May 2005]. [29] 'The Path to Peace and Propaganda', The Sunday Times, 18 July 2004. [30] 'The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round the Sites of Our Political History', Andersonstown News, 3 August 2004. [31] 'A Coach Tour with a Twist: Your Guide to Belfast is an IRA Leader who Spent 16yrs in Prison', The Independent, 31 August 2004. [32] 'Coiste's Political Tours', An Phoblacht, 22 May 2003. [33] 'The Journey of Coiste na n‐Iarchimí', An Phoblacht, 16 November 2000. [34] 'The Path to Propaganda', The Sunday Times, 18 July 2004. [35] Graham and McDowell, 'Meaning in the Maze'. [36] 'The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round the Sites of Our Political History', Andersonstown News, 3 August 2004. [37] Unionjack Shop Tours [accessed 16 September 2004], available from www.unionjackshop.com [38] NIEC, Rising to the Challenge. [39] Ibid. [40] Briony Crozier, 'Heritage in Belfast—Creating Policies for a Plural Society', paper presented at the People, Place and Heritage in Northern Ireland: Towards a Policy Agenda conference held at the Odyssey W5, 2004. [41] 'Visitors Look for Trouble', Belfast Telegraph, 1 March 2004. [42] 'The Trouble is, Tourists are Not as Interested in the Peaceful Side of Ulster', The Independent, 12 April 1998. [43] NITB, Belfast Tourism, Facts and Figures 2003 NITB. 2003. Belfast Tourism, Facts and Figures 2003, Belfast: NITB. [Google Scholar]. [44] See www.gotobelfast.com and www.derryvisitor.com, respectively, and click on affiliated links. [45] NITB, Strategic Framework for Action 2004–2007 NITB. 2004. Strategic Framework for Action 2004–2007, Belfast: NITB. [Google Scholar]. [46] Crooke, 'Dealing with the Past'.