The period 2012 -2023 marks a number of significant political events which have shaped the sense of British and Irish identity in the 20th century. The Community Relations Council (CRC) and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) joined together for a series of lectures and events with an accompanying website to stimulate a conversation about what it means to remember in public space while realising there needs to be a contextualisation and discussion about how we remember periods and events and what the historic record tells us. 

Two Irelands in Conflict? 1912 Revisited

CRC & HLF were aware that as society engages with the legacies of this revolutionary period there is potential to reinforce the development of political and civic culture – engaging with culture and identity, rights, what we mean by democracy and the nature of political change.

There is a 12 disc DVD box set which documents the CRC and HLF series of lectures at the Ulster Museum and Stranmillis University College to mark the Decade of Anniversaries 1912-1923 period, featuring over 25 historians and commentators looking at the events of 1912-1923 and the consequences and implications of the events through discussion with the audience. Lectures are also available on YouTube via links on the CRC ‘Marking Anniversaries’ website.

The Remembering the Future website assists projects who need assistance in:
using the principles outlined;
researching the decade; researching the part play by local people or finding out more about particular places;
working in partnership across councils, arts, museums and heritage; and working with venues such as libraries, museum services and arts centres.

What worked well and what, if anything, didn't?

Average attendance 100-120, and not same people each time The website resource and DVD box set makes the information available to a wide range of people marking a variety of commemorative anniversaries.

Further Information

Deirdre Mac Bride, Programme Director – Cultural Diversity at Community Relations Council, 028 90 227500 or dmacbride@nicrc.org.uk

Click here to access the full lecture series.