VIEW, Issue two, 2012 WRITING ON THE WALL?


n a pioneering move youth work providers are coming together in Lurgan for the first time to develop a strategic approach to community peace building which has the potential to radically change its future. As part of the groundbreaking initiative youths in


the area will be taught ‘graffiti art’, which could pave the way for more ‘arty’ images decorating the town’s working-class districts – such as the nation- alist Kilwilkie estate or the unionist Mourneview estate – where sporadic paramilitary slogans still adorn their gable walls. The Lurgan Town Project is a new two-year


Changing the message I


Chris McCann reports on a new cross-community initiative in Lurgan


cross-community project funded by the Interna- tional Fund for Ireland’s Community Bridges Pro- gramme, which has been developed in partnership with Craigavon Borough Council. The project will be managed by the Southern Education and Library Board Youth Service. ‘Verz’, from from Re-Ink-Our-Nation – who will be facilitating the graffiti workshops – explained what they will involve. “We will be looking at tips and tricks with a can


of spray paint and how to develop characters and your own graffiti writing,” he said. “We will also be using a relatively new technique


called ‘reverse graffiti’ or ‘street bleaching’. This in- volves creating a large stencil and placing it on the ground or against a wall. The surface chosen must be dirty. “The dirtier the better. We then scrub a bio- degradable bleach (made from lemon juice and borax amongst other things) into the stencil. Once this stencil has been removed, it leaves a clean image or message on the surface. Its a very envi- ronmentally friendly way of creating an artwork in dirt and can be visible for months. It is also legal, which helps.” But how does graffiti art itself fit in to the overall


community relations project that is being run? “Graffiti and street art are art forms which specifically appeal to young people,” said Verz.


Opinion:


BREAKING down Lurgan’s ‘invisible divide’ isn’t going to be easy. I should know, I live there, writes Chris McCann I say invisible, because that’s exactly what


it is. As anyone from Lurgan will tell you, somewhere in the centre of the town lies a line that splits the town – historically known for its linen industry – in two, where you’re cut from either distinctively orange or green cloth.


An influx of eastern Europeans in more re- cent years has neutralised the town's popu- lation somewhat, but growing up there you were simply from ‘this side or that side’. And in between, where some of the town’s most prominent shops were, often became a battleground for youths from nationalist/re- publican/Catholic and


But such was life there. Saturday trips into town often resulted in chases through the shopping mall or street brawls. Facilities which enjoyed a sense of neu- trality in most areas outside embattled Ul- ster – such as swimming pools and parks – became no-go areas or high-risk places for some, fraught with tension.


unionist/loyalist/Protestant backgrounds. I’ll always remember the story about one young kid who was shopping in Woolworths for a pick ‘n’ mix when he suddenly realised that outside a gang was waiting on him. Startled, he filled his bag of sweets before making his way to an aisle to pick up a brush


But therein, perhaps, lies the problem. The peace came, but what of the reconciliation? Okay, the youths who once chased one another through Woolworths perhaps met in offices and workplaces years later as adults, but it’s this generation of youths who have to


of the Troubles, which were reaching their latter stages by then and the peace, thank- fully, restored some sense of normality. The town centre quietened, the gangs of youths retreated to their own communities and grew up.


handle to use a weapon against his attack- ers. Needless to say, they fled, not counting on their prey’s creativity in a spot of self-de- fence.


build the bridges we never got the chance to. Which is why the project by the Interna- tional Fund for Ireland is so important in its efforts to herald a new start for Lurgan’s young people.


The crucial question is: will it make any dif- ference? And the answer is we just don't know.


Of course, such actions were a by-product


What I do know is that my home town houses many talented and creative young- sters, and the chance to apply themselves to street art, DJ classes or drama can only be a good thing as it gives them a deserved chance to express themselves. As someone who spends a lot of time in Belfast, I can’t help but think that Lurgan has stood still since the days of conflict. Take a look at the community structures on the Falls or the Shankill and you'll per- haps see more in the way of community ac- tivism. It’s time that Lurgan caught up. The sectarian line in the sand may well have been kicked, but the grains still blind too many of our youths to look beyond the safety of their own neighbourhoods.


and every teen fancies themselves as the next Banksy. They use a visual language which is familiar and accessible to young people and therefore they are more likely to participate in their design. We will be going into areas of Lurgan which perhaps the participants haven’t traditionally gone to be- cause of our recent political history. The young people will also be working on design and problem solving together, regardless of their own religious background.” In an unprecedented move, the overall project will build a shared agenda for the town by bringing together key stakeholders across education, poli-


Street anger: Graffiti on a wall in the loyalist Mourneview estate in Lurgan “They all generally have an opinion about them


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tics, business as well as the community and volun- tary sectors to create the conditions to change. It will collectively encourage and facilitate dia- logue and contact between the groups and begin the process of building trust and understanding. As part of the project a team of young ambassadors, aged 15 to19, have been recruited from both sides of the community to positively promote commu- nity relations in the town. Anne Henderson, board member of the Interna- tional Fund for Ireland, said: “The International Fund for Ireland remains focused on creating inno- vative ways to promote peace building and recon- ciliation.”


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