Date:
Tuesday 25 August 2026
Time:
18:00 for 18:30
Venue:
District Six Homecoming Centre
Corner of Buitenkant St and Caledan St.
The CHR, in collaboration with the District Six Homecoming Centre, welcomes Brendan Ciarán Browne, visiting scholar of the Charlotte Maxeke–Mary Robinson Research Chair, who will present a public lecture on Tuesday 25 August 2026, at the District Six Homecoming Centre.
Synopsis:
As a result of the outbreak of the ‘Troubles’ in North(ern) Ireland, approximately 45 – 60,000 people were forced from their homes, becoming “burnt out”. This has been referred to as the largest movement of civilians in Europe since the outbreak of World War II. Those forced to leave their homes either crossed the border in Ireland and became refugees or stayed in North(ern) Ireland as internally displaced persons. In 2026, the legacy of this displacement remains pronounced, with segregation and division a feature of the post-conflict landscape. Although violent displacement ultimately provided the backdrop to segregated Belfast and beyond, relatively little work has been done to examine the long-term effect on those who were burnt out. In the 26 years since the signing of the historic 1998 Good Friday Agreement multiple efforts to deal with the legacy of the past in North(ern) Ireland have been proposed. Oral memory archives, grassroots storytelling projects and historical inquiries have all been attempted, with varying degrees of success and failure, however, attempts to address the issue of violent displacement have been absent from almost all of these efforts. There has been almost nothing by way of formal acknowledgement of the trauma and hurt that this rupture caused families and the state’s responsibility at the time has been significantly under scrutinised. Drawing on a number of published works, including a 2019 exhibition entitled ‘Burn/t Out’ (co-produced with Casey Asprooth-Jackson) and a co-authored book (with Dr Niall Gilmartin), Dr Brendan Ciarán Browne (Trinity College Dublin, and Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Humanities Research, University of the Western Cape) will consider this underappreciated narrative of North(ern) Ireland’s ‘troubles’, sharing insights from the work done with victims and survivors, and reflect on some of the challenges that remain in a society plagued by the lingering violence of an imperfect post-conflict transition.
Dr Brendan Ciarán Browne is Associate Professor of Conflict Resolution and fellow of Trinity College Dublin. He currently holds the position of Visiting Fellow (non resident) at the University of the Westen Cape, Centre for Humanities Research under the auspices of the Charlotte Maxeke-Mary Robinson Research Chair. His work is focused on conflict, resistance and the violence of liberal peace, with a geographical focus on the North of Ireland and Palestine. He has previously held academic positions in Palestine, including as Principal Co-Investigator on an international AHRC-DfID funded project entitled: ‘The Palestinian Bedouin at Risk of Forced Displacement: IHL vulnerabilities, ICC possibilities’ and as Professor of Transitional Justice and International Law at the Al Quds University, Occupied Jerusalem. He has 4 books, including: Refugees and Forced Displacement in Northern Ireland’s Troubles: Untold Journeys, & Transitional (in)Justice & Enforcing the Peace on Palestine (nominated for the 2023 Middle East Monitor Palestine book award). His op-eds can be read in the Irish Times, the New statesman, the Globe Post, the Journal.ie., and Middle East Monitor, and he is a frequent political and conflict analyst for global media outlets. His full body of work can be reviewed here: www.brendancbrowne.com.