The missing link: notes for facilitators

This simulation is designed to allow the participant to gain an insight into the experience of political leaders who are attempting to resolve a political conflict. It is loosely based on a phase of the Northern Ireland conflict when the parties were struggling to implement the Belfast Agreement of April 1998. In particular it can be used to draw together a series of sessions using the Accord discussion pack and, since it requires some awareness of the conflict, it will benefit from earlier sessions on specific topics.

Aims

1. To give participants an insight into the constraints on politicians especially in relation to their grass roots support (in this case the IRA for Sinn Féin and the Ulster Unionist Council for the Ulster Unionist Party members in the Assembly.) It allows participants to try out different ways to manage this relationship and they may see ways in which they can help their opponents to overcome constraints and as a result work more co-operatively.

2. To provide an opportunity for participants to experiment with reframing a problem or looking at it in new ways which makes it easier to find to solving the problem which are mutually acceptable to the protagonists.

3. To examine the possible roles and contributions of mediators (in this example most probably the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, though they are not specifically required to assume such a function, or the British government).

Requirements

The exercise will require at least three hours to carry out, including time for debriefing and discussion. A minimum of 13 people is required to take the roles of 6 parties (a minimum of two participants for each role) and three observers. More roles can be added if there are sufficient participants. There are a number of other bodies that in reality could have a significant role in the resolution of the situation but they have not been included for the sake of simplicity. They include the Irish Government and the moderate nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party and a loyalist paramilitary group. These roles can be included if desired and some basic information on the stated positions of the SDLP and the Irish government is included in the sheet “Parties and Their Stated Positions.” Each sets of participants (6) will require a room or operational basis as follows:

• Unionist Party leaders;
• Unionist Council members;
• Sinn Féin;
• Irish Republican Army;
• British government minister and security adviser;
• Members of the International Independent Commission on Decommissioning.

In addition a room or open space is needed for the “post office” where information is posted and shared. It can also double as a newsroom. It would be helpful to have a photocopier available to make copies of statements, press releases and other information, as they need to be circulated. The facilitators can act as postal staff.

Procedures

It is not possible to completely predict the course of a simulation but it is envisaged that the exercise will have two phases. Participants are given an initial deadline of one hour. If the parties have not reached an agreement on decommissioning by that time, the unionist leader will withdraw from the Executive body of Ministers leading in all probability to the collapse of the Belfast Agreement. After the deadline, the simulation continues for another hour to see how the situation develops. However if the parties had reached a workable solution after one hour, then there may be no reason to continue for the full time. On the instruction sheets specific times are not given, but we recommend facilitators to include specific times on the instruction sheets for participants.

All instructions are given to participants in their original briefing sheets. They receive a personal briefing sheet on their own role and in addition all participants receive the following information:

• Background
• Parties and Their Stated Positions
• Organisational Procedures

The “Organisational Procedures” sheet should provide all the information required to explain how the process works and as far as possible the facilitators should not intervene directly in the process after it has started. However the procedures require that most meetings are arranged through the facilitators to help them to be aware of what is happening and to avoid confusion between different requests for meetings. In addition the facilitators can make strategic interventions in the process if necessary, by issuing general press releases or individual notes and letters to individual participants. To maintain the atmosphere of the exercise these messages should be prepared and issued within the spirit of the game. For example if the facilitators thought it might be helpful to ask one of the parties to take some action they should put it in the form of a request from another party which is not represented in the simulation such as the Irish government, or if they feel that a specific party needs to be reminded of the concerns of its grass roots this could be conveyed though a press release.

Note that some participants may find themselves ignored by other participants or may not make a very positive effort to be involved. This is a normal phenomenon in conflict processes and it is useful to appreciate this experience. At the same time, monitor those who are in such situation and try to ensure that the exercise is still a positive leaning experience for them. If their experience becomes very negative it may be necessary to devise ways to bring them more actively into the exercise.

Evaluation

At the end of the exercise give adequate time for a thorough debriefing of participants and evaluation. Relate the evaluation to the three aims of the exercise and to the strategic options that were suggested in the “Background” Sheet. Normally it is best to let each participant speak in the role that they had been assigned, allowing them to explain what they were trying to do, the problems they faced and the lessons they learned. They can then step out of role and make a comment. The observers can then add any other thoughts and comments that seem appropriate, followed by open discussion.

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