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  Dr Micheàl Hearty currently lectures in the School of Applied Social and Policy Sciences. He completed a PhD at the Transitional Justice Institute at Ulster University in 2024. m.hearty@ulster.ac.uk  This INCORE Blog is Based on elements of his PhD Thesis "How and why do we (not) collectively remember non-combatants in Northern Ireland?" ‘Recognisability’, Collective Remembrance & Transitional Justice   I arrived at the first finding of my PhD in a way unlikely to rival the folklore of Newton and his apple. My PhD examined the collective remembrance of those killed in the North of Ireland/Northern Ireland (NI) conflict who were neither state nor non-state armed actors. As repeatedly typing and reading “the collective remembrance of those killed who were neither state nor non-state armed actors” would quickly become tiresome, I reasoned a more suitable (and shorter) term was needed. I identified three possibilities from the literature: “victim”, “civi...

  Dr Andrea Carlà, is a Senior Researcher at Eurac Research Bozen-Bolzano, Italy. [1] Andrea.carla@eurac.edu This INCORE blog is based on: Andrea Carlà, “ Shifting Political Landscapes and Outbidding Effects in South Tyrol: Narratives of South Tyrolean Political Forces towards the Autonomy System,” EJM Europäisches Journal für Minderheitenfragen , 18, 1-2 (2025): 221-246 .  Introduction South Tyrol, a small autonomous province in northern Italy, has long been seen as a success story of peacebuilding and managing diversity . Home to German-, Italian-, and Ladin-speaking communities, since 1972 the province is characterized by a sophisticated autonomy and power-sharing system which contributed to appease ethnic tensions and foster a stable system of coexistence. Yet recent political developments suggest that even well-established peace arrangements remain subject to change.  Image supplied by Andrea Carl à The 2023 provincial elections marked a turning point . For the first...

INCORE ( https://www.ulster.ac.uk/incore )  at Ulster University's Derry-Londonderry Campus is inviting contributions for a new series of short, accessible blog posts that explore how peace and conflict are lived, understood and negotiated in different places and communities. We are particularly interested in research that looks at the everyday and community-based dimensions of peacebuilding, sometimes described as peacebuilding from below. This includes work on how people navigate division, rebuild relationships or create new forms of connection in contexts shaped by conflict or social tension. We also welcome contributions that reflect more broadly on peacebuilding, memory, identity and social change. The blog will be linked to the INCORE website. Who should submit This call is aimed at academic researchers who would like to share their work in a clear and public facing way. Submissions should aim to summarise recently published research, share insights from ongoing projects or c...

Dr Éamonn Ó Ciardha is a Reader in History in the School of Arts and Humanities at Ulster University E.ociardha@ulster.ac.uk This INCORE blog is based on an article due to be published in the forthcoming Volume: Frenk, J., Freier, N., Ó Ciardha, É and Pearson, V. (eds) (2026) Irish Studies in a Changing Europe. Saarbrucken: Saarbrucken University press. Comparing Ireland and Ukraine may seem unconventional at first, yet placing these two regions side by side reveals patterns that offer valuable insight into how communities today negotiate division and identity. Ireland and Ukraine’s histories remind us that the contemporary society of both places is shaped not only by political agreements but by deep-rooted cultural memories and long-term experiences of historic conflict. These influences continue to shape Ireland’s ongoing peace process and remain ever present in Ukraine, where conflict continues as an everyday reality. Both Ireland and Ukraine have been imagined, and at ti...