Y0000805
This may seem a rather negative submission. Briefly considering the facts - there are now 30 counties in Ireland which have a nationalist majority. Further demographic changes has led many analysts to conclude that within about two decades this could rise to 31 counties out of 32, as Co. Down becomes more nationalist. Further, Northern Ireland9s two main cities Derry and Belfast have already got nationalist majorities (the latter mitigates against any re-partition.) Therefore it seems to me that there is no 'resolution' as such, only a winner and a loser. And because of the population shifts, and for a variety of other reasons (cost, international opprobrium, pressure from America) it seems that the irish government have probably decided that the nationalists are to be the winners. (Presumably the British Conservative government had already decided that, but because of their sinking majority could not act on the decision). We have a situation then where the British Government think that they should be out of Ireland, the British people overwhelmingly think likewise, the nationalists in the North agree, presumably most public opinion in the Republic, and also the Irish government think the British should leave Ireland, the majority of the EU states agree, and of course the Americans too. The job seeems to have been done. The question remains - how do we persuade the Northern Protestants (of which incidentally I am one) that this can be achieved? With great difficulty, although there is one important point to remember> There are now THREE groupings in the North. The nationalists, the loyalists and the middle class. It is one of the best kept secrets in Europe that NI is an amazingly pleasant place to live. If the burgeoning middle class can be persuaded that their standard of living will remain unaffected in any deal (and surely this can be done with the current bouyancy of the Irish economy) then that is a fairly large proportion of the loyalist community taken care of. There will always be a part of the loyalist community who make up the 'kick the pope' bands who will never be satisfied with anything less than return to Stormont. However these will never be able to mount a strong campaign (either in NI, England or the Republic) and any bombing/terror campaign would be quickly cleaned up by some new police force. I could amplify on any of these points if you want, but feel I've rambled on too much long already. I'll finish now and wish you the very best of luck in this very worthwhile endeavour.

ŠThe Author & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1997

Z0000806
"...The argument for an Independent Northern Ireland is one which has been neglected and laughed at in the past, it is refreshing to hear it now put forward in a plausible and coherent manner."
That young man's message tended to reinforce a feeling I have long held: that, whatever its pros and cons, the notion of possible fair and workable negotiated independence is a subject so taboo, North and South, that few there in the conventional political arena have been or will be able to take any first, public step in formally discussing--or, still less, in formally advocating--it.
Set forth below is the gist of what I have tried to encourage over the past fifteen years and, particularly, during the last four. In this regard, I have sent scores of letters to various individuals and groups in the British Isles .
Naturally, I hope very much that possible fair and workable negotiated independence will receive considered attention in the course of your "Design Conference" efforts.
PROPOSED CALL FOR EXAMINATION OF POSSIBLE NEGOTIATED INDEPENDENCE
In light of fundamental principles of democracy, we the undersigned must conclude as follows: were a proposal for Northern Ireland's independence to receive approval from the British Government, the Irish Government, the people of the Republic through a plebiscite, and at least two-out-of-three voters in a Northern Ireland plebiscite, such approval would constitute a legitimate democratic mandate.
Based upon that conclusion--but without endorsing any proposal for independence and while expressly reserving every right to urge rejection of any such proposal--we hereby request that the British Government immediately use all efforts to develop, debate, and test formally a fair and workable independence proposal for Northern Ireland.
ŠThe Author & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1997

A0000807
The Department of Education should offer incentives to both students and teachers to enroll in schools of the opposite traditions. Incentives of a monetary kind would be most welcome in a region where the phrase 'loyal to the half-crown (coin), not to the Crown' is often heard. Too often the children are subjected to a narrow interpretation of their history and culture. One is probably correct in stating that 'The Massacres of 1641',for example, were rarely mentioned in history classes in Catholic schools. Reluctance on the part of students might well be overcome by enlisting the services of educators such as myself who have spent some time working with children from multi-cultural backgrounds for, a minimum say of, 10 years. As an Educator in the U.S.A. I have helped resolve conflict between Afro-American and Caucasian; Hispanic and Afro-American; Samoan and Tongan students. Teaching conflict resolution skills to the kids is most rewarding and needs to be integrated in to the curriculum of the secondary schools where most of those actively involved in 'the Troubles' come from. Actively engage those who have cherished memories of childhood to return to the land they left and offer their services. Can we apply some International Funds money to this?
The Board of Governors from 'both sides' will be not think the idea a good one. However, continuation of the present programs will only preserve the status quo. I acknowledge the attempts of the "Integrated Schools" but I think we must do more, do it differently and do it before another generation begins queuing for the 'dole'.
ŠThe Author & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1997

B0000808
I am a 29 year old Protestant who has lived in N.I. all my life. I have a baby daughter who I hope won't grow up amongst the hatred and bigotry that I have always known. I can count the number of Catholic friends I have in single digits. I feel the reason for this has a lot to do with the education system here in N.I. I didn't meet any Catholics until I left school. Of course, school and its associated social gatherings are where people form the great majority of their friendships (in my experience). I also find that friends who entered tertiary level education in N.I. (and who therefore were able to mix with Catholics) now have a greater mix of friends that I have.
My point obviously is that I feel integrated education is a primary goal for the future of a peaceful Northern Ireland. The segregation of our children all through their education only serves to strengthen the "them and us" mentality.
I wish this project well.
ŠThe Author & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1997

C0000809
Progress suggests movement forward. How long can we look back in anger.
Culture is a dynamic force and cannot be reduced to some stagnant romantic notion locked within our mind-sets of an image of some original and pure identity.
People are dynamic and diverse and it is this diversity that gives humanity the richness it has.
The challenge is to develop peace through an understanding and sharing of this differance.
We must recognise our historical, social, religous, cultural, political and psychological elements that create and mediate our understanding. For our own future and the future of other generations we must take responisibility for building a future that is not reduced to a national past experience but built on the past experience of the global villagers and a vision that will incoroprate all their needs.
We need to think beyond the rigid boarders in our minds and learn to embrace the 'other'.
ŠThe Author & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1997

D0000810
DEAR EDWARD:
TRYING TO FIND A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEMS IN THE NORTH OF IRELAND IS NO EASY TASK. THE TWO COMMUNITIES THERE HAVE TWO SEPERATE NATIONAL BACKGROUNDS. THEREFORE IT FOLLOWS THAT IF THE PROBLEM IS TO BE SOLVED IN A PEACEFUL WAY IT MUST BE BASED AROUND AN AGREEMENT THAT TAKES INTO ACCOUNT THE RIGHTS AND SENSITIVITIES OF BOTH SIDES. ON THE LEVEL OF CIVIL RIGHTS THIS CAN BE AGREED WITHOUT TOO MUCH DIFFICULTY. THE CRUCIAL PROBLEM TO BE RESOLVED IS THE CONSTITUTIONAL STATUS OF THE TERRITORY. TO DO THIS ALL SIDES WILL NEED TO RECOGNISE THE MUTUAL STATUS OF THE NORTH AS BOTH BEING BRITISH AND IRISH. IF THIS CAN BE AGREED THEN A SOLUTION IS AT LEAST POSSIBLE. THERE WOULD ALSO HAVE TO BE ALONGSIDE OF THIS A DRAMATIC REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF ARMAMENTS PRESENTLY DEPLOYED IN THE HANDS OF THE VARIOUS GROUPS, BOTH MILITARY AND PARAMILITARY, AS WELL AS IN THE HANDS OF PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS. I BELIEVE THAT THE CONSTITUTIONAL STATUS OF THE NORTH AS BOTH PART OF THE UNITED KINGDOM AND ALSO AS PART OF IRELAND COULD BE REFLECTED IN ANY FINAL AGREEMENT. THIS SHOULD AVOID PEOPLE IN THE NORTH FEELING BETRAYED BY THEIR RESPECTIVE GOVERNMENTS OR PARTIES. I AM NOT SAYING THAT I BELIEVE THAT THIS SOLUTION IS BASED ON THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE OF THE NORTH TO REMAIN PART OF THE UK OR FOR THAT MATTER THAT THEY SHOULD BE FORCED INTO A UNITED IRELAND. FORCING YOUR POLITICAL VIEWPOINT DOWN SOMEONE ELSE'S THROAT WILL NOT WORK AND ANY SETTLEMENT THAT TRIES TO DO THAT IS GOING TO FAIL.
ŠThe Author & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1997

E0000811
this problem is really an economic one where two distinghuishable groups are vying to maximise their advantages at the expense of the other
the solution is to offer an opportunity where both groups will
gain even if one group gains more than the other
ŠThe Author & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1997

F0000812
I think that one way foreward is to completely remap Ireland - to remove the Ulster versus the rest of Ireland psyche.This could be achieved by the government of Eire and the government of the UK overseeing the 'remapping' of Ireland.
This would mean removing existing local government areas of control and redrawing the map of Ireland - rather than four provinces in Ireland let there be nine - each drawn up along environmental borders such as rivers, mountain ranges, etc and allocating local government autonomy to these regions along the Swiss canton, department model so that no-one would feel that they did not have 'control' over their own government. This confederal model is, I believe, one of the few methods which would appease all sides.
The 'capital' of the island of Ireland would have to change and it cannot be Belfast or Dublin as both these cities have too many connotations for too many people.
By redrawing the boundaries the fixed psyche will have to change.
ŠThe Author & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1997

G0000813
Integration is a word that means different things to different people. To some people it means losing your identity and culture. To prevent this from happening, seperation is seen as a reasonable way forward. Others see integration as a synergistic process whereby the component parts retain their individuality and unique genius whilst simultaneously contributing to the well-being of a greater whole. The "greater whole" does not discourage individuality, in fact it is dependent upon each and every component to provide the unique genius that only it can provide. By way of analogy, the fruit salad needs the essence of apple, the essence of orange and the essence of grape and if any one of these is diminished the salad is the poorer for it. But when the individual fruits are at their individual best, the salad (greater whole) is at its best, with the attendant benefits outweighing the sum of the individual "seperate" benefits.
Thus, when we are talking about two communities who cannot live together, one principle is obviously that any political arrangement must welcome and encourage the essence of all the cultural identities involved. This is all well and good, but now take a closer look at one of the assumptions just made : "Two communities who cannot live together". Would it be fair to say that in apartheid South Africa, there was a problem between two traditions who couldn't live together ? Was it not more realistically a problem of political rights and wrongs, involving questions of justice and injustice ?
Thus a second principle might be that any way forward should address the real questions of political rights and wrongs, justice and injustice.
The third principle could be that once a politically correct groundwork is established, nature should be allowed to take its course - ie. political interference to establish a just foundation, and political non-interference thereafter.

ŠThe Author & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1997

J0000816
Having read through some of the level one submissions I can't help thinking that they are text book, fantasy ideas that should be classified as 'science fiction'.
That may sound dismissive and pessimistic, but I live in the real world, not the romantic world that some people seem to think Ireland is.
I was brought up as a catholic in scotland, with irish grandparents and from an early age it was sort of ingrained (not taught) that protestants could not be your friends, and that they were "different" for want of a better word.
The fact that you had protestant friends up to the age of 5 and were then seperated into "catholic" and "protestant" schools does not help in the slightest, to say the least, especially when from that early age all you hear are the views of your 'own kind'.
Up until the age of 17, I had no protestant friends, and if you met someone new the question eventually got round to "what school did you go to", so you could classify that person as "an orange b*****d" or "one of us".
Really I think all the fancy talk sounds good, but until we stop segregating children into 'catholic' and 'protestant' schools, then there is no real hope of changing peoples belief's - they are ingrained from such a young age.
Sending children to school should be to prepare them educationally and morally for life, not to teach them bigotry and hatred.
It is not going to happen overnight, but we should look to the children as the future of ireland and try to maintain (as best possible) an interim peace until our children's children can grow up without predetermined barriers.
ŠThe Author & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1997

L0000818
I believe the following would be an acceptable outcome of the Sept 15th conference.

A devolved elected assembly using proportional representation with 3 appointed members each from Irl-UK

A Federal police force with juristriction extended to the border counties of Louth,Cavan,Monaghan,Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal. The force would assure the Unionist that the IrA was not plotting their demise in Ireland and the Nationalist might finally accept and trust the new force which would answer to London and Dublin only.
ŠThe Author & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1997

M0000819
The difficulty to date has been that unionists and nationalists have simply engaged in a tug of war to privilege one or the other and to guarantee that privileging for ever.
The key to new thinking is to re-present 'internal' institutions in such as way as to render them attractive to the Catholic community as embodying egalitarian and pluralist democracy, not unionist power and to re-present 'external', north-south institutions as non-threatening to unionists as embodying co-operation and reconciliation, not nationalist power to come.
A summary of this way forward for Northern Ireland is:
* democratic governance, exercised collectively by representatives of free and equal citizens, with maximum autonomy for the region in the context of a decentralising UK government;
* dialogue and negotiation as the means required to resolve day-to-day, as well as constitutional, differences;
* parity of esteem for all cultural identities, as individually chosen and no longer defined as antagonistic one to another;
* maximum development of the relationship with the Republic of Ireland, based on mutual interest, enhanced trust and a commitment to reconciliation;
* human and minority rights as the touchstone of all policies and structures impinging on personal security;
* an enhanced role for citizens and organisations within civil society in the business of governance;
* an innovative, interventionist approach to engaging with the wider European Union.
ŠThe Author & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1997

N0000820
Recognising the font of the causes of the NI problems is perhaps the first step.
At a distance one hears terms such as 'sectarian', 'Catholic', 'Protestant', 'taboo', 'constitution' as we approach the millenium - the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Christ.
As members of the EU just how much does a constitution matter to a normal person. They can move around the EU to settle anywhere they want to. They can also stay at home and have European Laws apply to them. Certainly this is no sensible cause for every child in Northern Ireland to be born with a target tattooed over its heart because of historical precedence.
How many people really care about the constitution, how many people really want to know about the constitution as long as they can go about their lives in freedom, happiness and neighbourliness. Perhaps constitutional lawyers should seek to prepare a constitution for Mars instead of Northern Ireland - in preparation. Of course every person has a history, and roots are important, but strike a balance for the future.
The other main cause which is associated with the word 'taboo' is really more sinister and immediately takes one back to Medieval Times. Where people were the fodder of the war lords and knowledge, especially of religion, was frowned upon with blind faith demanded and Dante's 'Inferno' a reality.
I have tried to understand the behaviour of the 'Catholics' and 'Protestants' of Northern Ireland. Both groups are supposed to be Christian - but not the Christianity of the 'love of your neighbour as yourself' or 'the laying down of your life for your enemy' that I know, love and respect. Perhaps in the few years left to the millenium we can prepare for the great anniversary and skip the 600 years to bring about a true understanding of Christianity. The very term 'papist' smacks of a Medieval culture. Catholic and Protestants live in enhanced harmony in other parts of the world irrespective of constitution.
There seem to be the Medieval War Lords. These cannot be removed. They must be given a way of laying down their arms and joining in an agreement that will absolve them from their past and to join with the people of Northern Ireland for mutual prosperity. They appear to perpetuate a teaching of fear, hate and revenge where even the slightest set back in history becomes montrous - these tactics are so blatantly designed to promote war and division - why embrace such negative and soul-destroying attitudes? Who will win by them?
ŠThe Author & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1997

O0000821
'I am Better than no one, and no one is better than me' B. Dylan.
Prople are dynamic. Unless we live in a bubble we are continually extending our experience.
Culture is not purity but a rich mix of our historical, contempory, religous, political, social and psychological experiences.
This cannot be reduced to some pure romantic image of the past which when reflected only offers the experience of a feww wealthy men.
Peace and understanding comes out of a fusion of a multitude of complexities in which a diversity of people have very different
preceptions and realities.
To accept differance and respect the 'others' beliefs, values and cultural aspirations,does not mean we have to revise, dimminish, delute or deny any of our cultural and historical prespectives. We should be able to assert our own beliefs and identity without having to dominate others.
The challange is to create a common and peaceful history and future for our future children.
We must stop looking back in anger but look forward through understanding and the sharing of the richness of the diversity of all the global villagers.
ŠThe Author & Edward de Bono Creative Team 1997