Canadian Consortium on Human Security

I. OVERVIEW

My first period of field research in Northern Ireland from February 6th – 17th, 2008 was conducted in and around the city of Derry/Londonderry (Derry), Northern Ireland. In addition to a small amount of archival research carried out at the University of Ulster, the primary goal of this research was to carry out a short series of semi-structured expert interviews with members of local government, directors of peace and conflict NGOs, and academic professionals.

These expert interviews were designed to assess the relative contributions of various transitional justice efforts undertaken at both governmental and grassroots levels to processes of reconciliation between Protestant/Unionist and Catholic/Nationalist communities both in Derry and in Northern Ireland more broadly. My aim with these interviews was to solicit expert assessments of the impact that the discrete mechanisms of Northern Ireland’s ‘piecemeal’ approach to transitional justice have had on intercommunal reconciliation. In particular, I sought these experts’ views of the contributions, positive or negative, that victim initiatives, prisoner release/reintegration programs, education reforms, and economic development programming may have made to reconciliation efforts following the 1998 Belfast Agreement. I similarly inquired into these experts’ views of the contributions that local and government ‘Community Relations’ strategies undertaken by Northern Ireland’s Community Relations Unit (CRU) and Community Relations Council (CRC) may have made to intercommunal reconciliation.

My questions also sought to investigate these experts’ perceptions of the efficacy of community-based strategies employed by non-governmental peace and conflict resolution organizations, including ‘cross-community’ contact initiatives, ‘single identity’ work focused on intracommunity development, and ‘truth-recovery’ projects which have been carried out or proposed in Northern Ireland. Finally, I hoped to take advantage of the insight that these experts had with regards to the current nature of intercommunal relations between Catholics and Protestants in Derry, as well as to related levels of antipathy/empathy, contact/segregation, and prejudice/mutual understanding which exist between these communities.

During my short time in Derry, I was able to arrange and carry out a total of eight of these expert interviews. These included meetings with the head Community Relations Officer of the Derry City Council, the Director of the Peace and Reconciliation Group (NGO), the Coordinator of the Pat Finucane Centre for Human Rights and Social Change, and the Directors of the Centre for International Conflict Research (INCORE) and the Transitional Justice Institute (TJI) at the University of Ulster, Magee Campus. Overall, the experience was a uniformly positive one and the information and insight I gained from these interviews has already proven to be a substantial asset to my dissertation project. Additionally, this small group of initial contacts has provided a great resource for future institutional and interview contacts for my later fieldwork in both Northern Ireland and South Africa.

II. RECOMMENDATIONS AND LESSONS LEARNED

This initial period of field research in Derry was my first experience with qualitative fieldwork and also my first experience with the interview process. While no major dilemmas presented themselves and each of the interviews went quite well, as a whole they did suggest several recommendations and lessons learned which might be of some use to other scholars beginning to engage in similar forms of research. In no particular order, several of the most pertinent include:

i. The Importance of Advance Planning

While interviews with governmental, NGO, or academic experts can provide an excellent opportunity to gain insight and perspective into the issues under question, this expertise also means that the interviewee will invariably have a very tight schedule. My initial contact (via email) with my potential interviewees took place 3-4 weeks in advance of my arrival and this seemed to be a good minimum timeframe to begin arranging dates, striking a balance between giving enough advance notice and allowing the interviewee to consult his or her upcoming schedule. I found that the best way to proceed was to offer as wide a range of specific times and dates as possible to potential interviewees, allowing each of them to select a time when they might have an hour free for the interview. This can be difficult to arrange, especially when trying to meet with a number of experts in a short timeframe as I was in Derry, but beginning 3-4 weeks in advance allows time for any potential rearranging that needs to take place. A further note would be not to be discouraged if a potential interviewee doesn’t respond within the first week or two. Two of my most successful interviewees didn’t respond to my initial email or to a gentle reminder message sent two weeks later, but did finally get in touch once I’d arrived and were able to fit me in. Be as prepared as possible but also be prepared to be flexible.

ii. Asking the Right Questions

My interviews were all semi-structured, meaning that I had a set of approximately 15 questions prepared in advance for each interviewee but left open the flexibility to go ‘off script’ if the conversation naturally led toward a unexpected (but relevant) area, which it often fruitfully did. I found that interviewees often raised points or issues I hadn’t originally thought of, and some of the greatest insights gained came from these unexpected turns. Also, while I did have my series of questions listed in order, I discovered that it often made much more sense to skip ahead or back several questions if another approach seemed to fit better with the natural flow of the conversation. That said, over several interviews I also did find it important to mark which ‘key’ questions I wanted to make sure I was able to ask in case the interview ran long or time ran short (as invariably it did). I also learned the importance of tailoring my questions to each specific expert interviewee, all of whom had unique positions and perspectives on the issues about which I was asking. I found that while I may have had several ‘core’ questions that I wanted to be sure to ask each expert, the best information was gained when the questions were more specifically tailored to that interviewee’s area of expertise. While this means more work up-front (with a slightly different list of questions for each academic, NGO leader, or government official), ultimately the returns in the quality of responses proved well worth the extra effort.

iii. Important Interview Bookends

Beyond the substantive questions of the interview process itself, over time I found that there were several other ‘bookend’ questions tied to the interview process that I found quite helpful. The first of these, after introductions were over, was to specifically ask about the interviewee’s time constraints (when his or her next appointment was, when the interview would have to come to a close). This proved immensely helpful in setting clear timeframe boundaries for the interview (which often helped put the interviewee at ease) and, if the time allotted was shorter than originally anticipated, knowing this in advance allowed me to ensure I was able to focus on the most important questions. Tied to this is the importance of bringing a watch or other timepiece along to the interview – once the interview began and the conversation got underway, it was often very difficult to keep accurate track of time. The second important question that I came to ask at the end of each interview was whether the interviewee knew of any other experts with whom I might get in contact. This question proved invaluable, as each interviewee I spoke with often suggested a minimum of 3-4 other contacts and, more often than not, offered to facilitate an introduction. Especially if future research is planned, this is an excellent resource with which to build a network of potential interview contacts and institutional affiliations.

iv. Other Recommendations

One other main suggestion would be to request to audio record the interview itself (with the explicit consent of the interviewee). I found that this enabled me to keep my note-taking to a minimum during the interview process, which in turn allowed me to listen more closely to the interviewee, permitted more time to consider my next question, and gave the interview a much more relaxed and conversational feel than would otherwise have been possible. I used a digital audio recorder for all of my interviews that was small and lightweight, provided excellent sound quality, and, most importantly, allowed me to transfer the files directly onto a secured hard drive immediately following the interview. Many sound recorders also now come with automatic transcription programs that would greatly cut down on the time required to transcribe the completed interviews.

A second general recommendation would be to limit the interview length to roughly one hour where possible. I found that this gave enough time to ask the main list of questions I prepared, left some time for unexpected turns in the conversation, and was also of a short enough duration that the interviewee remained engaged throughout. A further suggestion would be to schedule a maximum of three interviews a day when possible. I found that while three one-hour interviews doesn’t seem like much, with preparatory and follow-up work, time to get to and from the interview, and the energy needed for the interview itself, three interviews make for a very full day.

A final recommendation would be to be very explicit at the beginning of each interview as to what the interviewee’s wishes are regarding confidentiality and attribution of the content of the interview itself (most of which will likely be included in an Ethics Board consent form). While none of my interviewees expressed an explicit desire to be kept confidential in future publications, several did express a wish to see a draft form of what the attribution would look like prior to publication. Exchanging business cards with current contact information was important here, and also had the added benefit of leaving open future lines of communication with the interviewee. After this exchange, several of my interviewees mentioned I might get in touch following the interview by phone or email to ask any other questions which might arise – a valuable resource to be able to draw upon as the dissertation project progresses.

III. Final Thoughts

The interview process has been an incredibly rewarding experience. In particular, I found that interviews with NGO leaders and Community Relations practitioners who work directly ‘on the ground’ with the communities provided me with a new and unique perspective on the conflict and ongoing peacebuilding efforts that couldn’t have been gained from secondary research. In conjunction with my archival and theoretical research, I believe that this component of my fieldwork has provided me with crucial first-hand experience of the impact of transitional justice on intergroup reconciliation in Northern Ireland, experience that will ultimately provide added legitimacy and validity to my dissertation findings. I look forward to continuing this research in both Northern Ireland and South Africa in 2008.