In November 2009, a group of secondary level school teachers in Northern Ireland became involved in the Civic Voices project, organised by the NASUWT (the Teachers’ Union, although it is not necessary to be a member of the Union to participate.) The leaflet publicising the project describes it as ‘Funded by the US Department for Education’, explaining, ‘Civic Voices is a three-year international civic education exchange programme that will involve teachers and
students in the task of preserving the legacy of their countries’ democratic struggles. Participating teachers will ask their students to conduct interviews with activists and analyse their stories to explore how civic ideals are realised through grass-roots efforts. The project focuses on the power of personal narrative to inform and inspire future generations of citizens.
….  All teachers who participate in the Civic Voices project will be asked to work with their students to collect and record oral histories from activists for democracy and rights within their communities.’ Peter Carson and Linda Ballard of the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum have been involved in the training programmes for successive groups of teachers taking part in the project. A second training session was held in July 2010, and a third is planned for the autumn. Representatives engaged in the project from both the United States and Northern Ireland visited the UFTM in early August 2010, when they had the opportunity to look at facilities for the study of oral history.

The Royal Ulster Constabulary George Cross Foundation Oral History project continues to be very successful, and there are plans to publish a series of three books as a result of the initiative. The first of these, We Remember, was issued earlier in 2010, and in May a copy was presented to Prince Charles when he visited Northern Ireland. The prince is Patron of the Royal Ulster Constabulary George Cross Foundation, and he provided a Foreword for the book in which he commented on the power of oral history to relay ‘accounts of history which are all the more telling for being so personal.’ Drawing on recordings made by thirteen volunteer interviewers with forty five people, the book was written on behalf of the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC Foundation by John Nagle and Liam Kelly.

Linda Ballard