Launch of the CAIN Political Biographies

Aberfoyle House, Magee Campus, University of Ulster

12.30pm Monday 19 May2003

Remarks by Professor John Hume

I would like to open my remarks by thanking Professor Tom Fraser, Provost here at Magee, for his introduction. I would also like to thank ARK (The Northern Ireland Social and Political Archive) and INCORE for the kind invitation to come here today to launch the CAIN Political Biographies resource on the Internet.

It is now over seven years since work commenced on CAIN here at the university. Since it was first published on-line in March 1997, it has become established a reliable, comprehensive and authoritative information resource on the Northern Ireland conflict, and indeed is generally regarded as the leading on-line information source on 'The Troubles'. I recall that it has been described by 'The Guardian' as a

'definitive website'.

That critical and academic appraisal has, fortunately, been reflected in the popularity of the site. I know from the site that it currently boasts a total of over 18 million 'hits' and over 4.3 million separate visits from internet users since it first went live. Five million of those hits have been in the last year alone, indicating that the usage of the resource is increasing with time.

While it was initially aimed at an academic audience, I know that it has now become a regularly utilised source of information for academics and non-academics alike. Whether it be the intrepid web surfer, a prospective visitor to our country, the casual follower of Irish current affairs or whomever, the site provides not only a comprehensive well of information but an accessible introduction to the complexities of the conflict and its background.

With both primary and secondary source material, CAIN also acts as a useful and accurate source for academics of all varieties, from the school-frequenting pupil to the post-doctoral scholar seeking to refresh or reaffirm. It is this breadth of appeal and functionality that makes CAIN such a wonderful facility.

I know that previous, regular and future users of the CAIN site will welcome this addition of Political Biographies to the project. This buttressing of the archive's content comes at a most opportune time. This is a period where we are continuing along a process of conflict transformation and resolution. Notwithstanding its imperfections and political difficulties, such as we are currently witnessing, such a process brings both a reduction in violence and civil strife and a consequent decline in media interest from abroad. It is useful that at a time when public comment and analysis is so decreasing externally, that a resource such as this is made available.

As we move ever more away from violent conflict, it is understandable that there will be a tendency to compartmentalise the time of violent conflict as a separate, cohesive and congeneric era. As people develop more that perception of 'The Troubles' as something that is now past, the tendency to view it as something which can be examined comprehensively and conclusively will rise. This is already being demonstrated by the growth in the number of academic courses treating of 'The Troubles'. I note, for example, that the civil rights period is now the focus of an 'A' level course. In addition, and as sensitivities regarding the study of a violence are reduced, the nature of the study of the conflict, its origins and manifestations, increases. Not only is the period studied by undergraduates of politics and related social sciences:

• Art courses now include modules on the murals that have demonstrated political perspectives;
• those undertaking media studies analyse how the conflict has been reported and presented;
• psychiatrists have examined the effects of violence on children and young people and others;
• urban planners have scrutinised the effect of the conflict on demographics and the planned environment;
• and economists have considered the impact of the conflict on the economy of this island, both North and South.

For students such as these, who will not usually possess the depth of knowledge of the political background to the conflict, CAIN provides a most useful point of introduction. In some ways, it could be argued that a primary difficulty for those taking their first steps towards understanding our history of conflict is not only its complexity for the size of the body of analysis which has been accumulated on the conflict. Hundreds of books - many by those included in the political biographies site - thousands of academic journal pieces, millions of words in the print media not to mention booklets, pamphlets and other scripts have been written. The weary novice may well wonder 'where do I start?' and CAIN provides a welcome answer to such an enquiry.

I have often remarked upon the great changes in the world in recent years. Recent decades have seen more change than at any other time in human history, and at a pace the multiple of any previously. I have referred to this as the transport, telecommunications and technological revolution. The world is now a smaller place. In many ways I believe these international developments have assisted us in resolving our own quarrel.

One inevitable aspect of the commentary of that resolution is that the number of resources available to the student or inquisitor correlates inversely with distance from the conflict zone. The 'Troubles' section in the library in Adelaide is unlikely to resemble the wealth of that found in the Linenhall.

The great strength of the internet as a learning tool is that it greatly ameliorates the effects of that physical phenomenon. The student in South Australia has the same level of access to CAIN as the student of Irish politics here.

It is true, of course, that CAIN is not the only 'Troubles'-related resource on the world-wide web, nor is it the only in-depth site of its kind. Similarly, many of the alternative sources are hosted by very reliable and respected information outlets, be they academic, media-related or other. However, CAIN is largely considered unrivalled in that it is comprehensive in not only form of presentation (be it biographical, chronological or sectoral etc.), but also in scope of time (from 1968 to the present) and in provision of external links. In short, CAIN provides both breadth and depth in its treatment of topics.

One aspect of the development of the internet that is pleasing to see for all those with an interest in learning is that it has served as a ready means of encouraging and facilitating interest in learning for younger people. Many parents and grandparents will be only too aware of the degree to which 'the net' is relished by children and young adults as a means of accessing myriad information. In particular, its ability to represent and relay visual images provides an entry point for many inquisitive young minds who would be turned off by pages of text or hours of documentaries.

Our universities are now filled with many students whose first active taste of interest in public affairs was scanning political murals or perusing photographs of civil rights banners. With the development of the potential of 'the net', newer possibilities such as the ability to 'download' video graphics and footage on to the computer screen can only maximise the number of budding young scholars. From that pool with come the politicians, journalists, lecturers and civic leaders of the future. All those involved in CAIN can be proud of their role in nurturing and developing that potential.

In my capacity as Tip O'Neill Chair of Peace studies here at Magee, I recently invited and hosted the former Prime Minister of France, M. Michel Rocard. He made a presentation to an open lecture on his involvement in and experience of the peace process in New Caledonia which resulted in the so-called Matignon Accords in 1988, just a few months after he took office. His visit to recount lessons from that small French Territory in the Pacific Ocean will, I hope, be but the first in a series of such visits by prominent international figures to Magee.

In what I hope is a fitting tribute to the memory of Tip O'Neill, who was a man so passionate about the cause of peace and conflict resolution in Ireland, I hope that Magee will become an international centre for the sharing of ideas and experiences on the practice of conflict resolution and the philosophy of peace.

Such a series of lectures and discussions will, I believe, create a symbiosis with the resource provided by CAIN. It is already the case that some of those featured on the CAIN site, and particularly in the Political Biographies section, are from outside these islands. It is my hope that the synergy provided by the continuing development of CAIN and the development of a conflict-resolution discourse will result in Magee becoming ever-more perceived as an international centre for the study of conflict resolution, complementing the work of the academics and students of the sphere who frequent the university otherwise.

I hope that Magee will become an academic beacon for the cause of peace around the world. I would like to think that CAIN will, in due course, communicate some of the content of our discourse around the world via the information superhighway.

Today, though, is a day to commend the work that has already been done and to celebrate the success that is the fruit of the efforts of everyone involved in CAIN. The section of the archive of 'Biographies of people prominent during the Troubles' that is launched here today is already a significant and important resource, with over 160 biographies being made available. I understand that there are plans to extend this number, and I look forward to viewing those developments.

I am sure the vital development of the organic concept that is the Conflict Archive on the Internet will continue. Dr. Martin Melaugh and all those involved the project since its inception deserve credit for what has been achieved and I wish you all the best in the future. Long may your success continue and long may your work contribute to the work of conflict resolution here and throughout the world.