Opening of Major Cross-Community Readers’ Symposium

Dialogues through Literature - Celebrating a Shared Interest in Literature and Language 

Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim played host to the opening of the Dialogues through Literature Readers’ Symposium 2012, a major cross-border and cross-community initiative bringing readers together from different cultural backgrounds to celebrate a shared interest in literature and language.

The three-day event gave book club members from Leitrim, Cavan, Fermanagh and Tyrone a chance to come together and engage with renowned authors, poets, actors, sports journalists, non-fiction writers and musicians from across the island of Ireland, north and south.

Featuring a packed programme of lectures, discussions and workshops, the symposium is a key highlight of the first year of the ‘Dialogues through Literature’ project, which is funded by the International Fund for Ireland (IFI) and administered by Ballinamore Sean O’Heslin’s GAA club in partnership with Leitrim County Library and in co-operation with Cavan County Library and Libraries Northern Ireland. A second symposium is planned for August 2013.

The two-year project uses books and reading to enhance the levels of interaction, communication and reconciliation among communities from both traditions by developing contacts between existing reading groups in the targeted counties with the ultimate goal of challenging stereotypes, developing greater mutual understanding and building sustainable cross-community relationships.

The project began in January this year by bringing cross-community partners together to identify and select literature for reading groups with a view to exploring past hurts, fears and experiences and working towards promoting greater understanding between both traditions. Five key themes are incorporated in the shared reading list: identity and belonging; rural and urban life; community dynamics and cultural clashes; the voices of others (such as women and young people); looking North – looking South; and looking West – looking East.

Speaking at the opening, Dorothy Clarke, Board Member of the International Fund for Ireland said: “The Fund is committed to the long-term task of breaking down traditional barriers in order to help build positive relations and contact between the two main communities on the island of Ireland. That is why we are proud to be associated with the Dialogues through Literature project. Harnessing our shared interest and love of literature, we believe this innovative project will have a very positive impact for reconciliation and by promoting greater cross-community links.”

Ms Clarke also expressed a collective thanks to the international donors who have supported the work of the International Fund for Ireland for more than twenty-five years: namely, the United States of America, the European Union, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Paddy Connaughton, Secretary, Ballinamore Seán O’Heslin’s GAA Club, said: “Community engagement and outreach is an integral part of our club’s heritage and broad cultural agenda which goes beyond sporting activity. We see the Dialogues through Literature project as an innovative way to begin to address wider cultural diversity issues, which we hope will encourage new conversations within and between communities, and build greater mutual understanding. And it has been made possible through our funders, the International Fund for Ireland.”

Ruth Gonsalves Moore, Cultural Coordinator for the project, said: “The symposium is the culmination of months of cross-border engagement with reading groups, encouraging people from different community backgrounds to meet and discuss various intertwined aspects of our shared history and cultural identities. We’re particularly pleased that so many award winning authors are taking part in the symposium, creating a unique forum in which readers can explore our cultural makeup and historical background. It really has energised participants and the wider reading public in a way that surpassed all expectation.”

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