Joseph Rowntree Foundation

How Israel failed to learn from the Northern Ireland peace process

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, January 3, 2024
People, Senate, National Defense Authorization Act, Public policy, Policy, Failure, Ulster Democratic Party, Public opinion, Learning, Government, FC Kramatorsk, Belfast Telegraph, System, Research, Benjamin Netanyahu, Hope, Fatah, Representative, One Voice, Sense and reference, Hamas, Violence, Ulster Volunteer Force, Irish Republican Army, Ulster Defence Association, Alliance Party, Joseph Rowntree, Institute, Negotiation, Optimism, Peacebuilding, UN, Coffee, Good, Unionist Party, Time, Grief, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Labour

The Good Friday agreement which brought peace to Northern Ireland a quarter of a century ago, provided a clear guide.

Key Points: 
  • The Good Friday agreement which brought peace to Northern Ireland a quarter of a century ago, provided a clear guide.
  • They have to do what the negotiating teams, of which I was a part, did in Northern Ireland.
  • The problem is Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his ally, the United States of America, who have failed to apply the lessons of Northern Ireland to Middle East peacemaking.

How ‘peace polls’ work

  • The objective was to determine the precise points of common ground, where they existed, or effective compromise where it was needed for peacemaking.
  • So I always made a point of hand delivering the reports to Mitchell and the parties the day before they were published.
  • Through public opinion polls the people gained a seat at the negotiating table, and through a referendum the deal was made.

When it all went wrong

  • I had been in touch with Mitchell and met him in his office at the State Department.
  • At that time I had also been running peace polls in Sri Lanka with support from the Norwegians.
  • So I did not get the funding and Mitchell eventually resigned his post without achieving peace in May 2011.
  • But I had made all necessary preparations and contacts with all the parties to the conflict to make it work.
  • My pollster Mina Zemach was a good friend of Peres and had been his pollster when he led the Labour party.
  • Like Sinn Féin they had a legitimate grievance and said they would be happy to cooperate with the peace polls.

Misplaced optimism

  • In my optimism at the time, I thought perhaps that Clinton – if she became president – would send her husband to the Middle East as her special envoy.
  • Bill Clinton had got very close to making an agreement some years earlier with the “Clinton parameters”, but he ran out of time.
  • And then Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election to Donald Trump – and so we are where we are.
  • It is just as likely that my optimism was misplaced and that Clinton and possibly Joe Biden – who has always been a very strong supporter of Israel – did not want to oppose Netanyahu for domestic political reasons.


Colin John Irwin receives funding from: Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, Center for Democracy and Reconciliation in South East Europe, Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, OneVoice, Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (now FCDO), Economic and Social Research Council (UK ESRC), United Nations, InterPeace, Health and Welfare Canada, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), British Academy, Norwegian Peoples Aid, The Day After, No Peace Without Justice, US Department of State, Local Administrations Council Unit (Syria), Asia Foundation, Department for International Development (UK DFID), OpenAI, Atlantic Philanthropies, Universities: Dalhousie, Manitoba, Syracuse, Pennsylvania, Queens Belfast, Liverpool. Also member of the World Association of Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) which promotes freedom to publish public opinion polls and sets international professional standards.

I, Daniel Blake on stage is a powerful representation of real people struggling in the cost of living crisis

Retrieved on: 
Monday, June 5, 2023
Johns, Poverty, NOT, Interview, Disability, Politics, Pension, Policy, Jobcentre Plus, Shock, GP, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Government, Social justice, Work, Good Side, Bad Side (Crucial Conflict album), News, Social media, Film industry, Book, Cryptocurrency, Entertainment, Tourism

Ken Loach’s 2016 film I, Daniel Blake is a scathing indictment of the British benefits system.

Key Points: 
  • Ken Loach’s 2016 film I, Daniel Blake is a scathing indictment of the British benefits system.
  • The film follows 59-year-old widower Daniel Blake who suffers a heart attack and becomes unable to work.
  • Despite medical evidence and GP support, Blake is told that he is not eligible to receive state benefits.

Staging reality

    • The play responds powerfully to this dismissal by projecting the words “THIS IS NOT FICTION” across the stage.
    • The production forcefully shows that people really have to live like this.
    • This explodes the myth that benefits claimants are “scroungers,” with a breezy lifestyle funded by the working UK taxpayer.
    • According to a 2022 report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 14.5 million people in the UK live in poverty.

Political theatre

    • These are projected behind the actors to make it clear that this story is grounded in the lived experiences of many.
    • Documentary theatre often tells real stories.
    • Here, however, they have decided to tell the story of the benefits system through a fictional character.
    • In this way, I, Daniel Blake demonstrates how theatre can campaign for social justice and hold the government to account.

Wagestream Announces $175M Series C to Expand its Financial Wellbeing App to 30 Million U.S. Frontline Workers

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
Venture Capital, Software, Other Communications, Human Resources, Finance, Communications, Professional Services, Technology, BlackRock, Design, CEO, CTO, Ascension, Crate, University of Chicago, Workplace, Research, Association, Crate & Barrel, Workforce, Series, Balderton Capital, Growth, The Walt Disney Company, Silicon Valley Bank, Technology, Heart, Insurance, DuckDuckGo, St. Louis Fed Financial Stress Index, Investment, Epic Games, Income, Silicon, Burger King, Multimedia, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Quality of life, University, Big Society Capital, Pizza Hut, Organic, Public relations, Health insurance

Wagestream , the financial wellbeing app founded by charities and designed for frontline workers, today announced it has closed a $175 million Series C funding round as it prepares to scale up support for underserved, financially stressed workers across North America and beyond.

Key Points: 
  • Wagestream , the financial wellbeing app founded by charities and designed for frontline workers, today announced it has closed a $175 million Series C funding round as it prepares to scale up support for underserved, financially stressed workers across North America and beyond.
  • Additionally, with financial inclusion in mind, the app provides users with a variety of financial services to help them build up their financial health over time.
  • The charter ensures that the company can only offer financial services which improve workers' financial wellbeing.
  • Wagestream is the financial wellbeing app founded with charities, designed for frontline workers and built around their pay.