Inspired to Act

Nathaniel Jennings isn't easy to place - and it's brilliant!  With an American dad, an English mum, and a Jamaican grandfather, he grew up in Bangladesh, was educated in the UK, and later married a woman from east Belfast - where they now live with their son and daughter.  Working as Intercultural Ministries Director for OMF (UK), he's just the person to help Diane and Will understand good relations among different cultures, and see the arrival of Christians from many other nations as gifts to us...  Last episode in series 3.Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

It's time to rethink community relations, because reconciliation almost certainly isn't what you think it is. Even the word itself gets everything from an eye-roll to a myriad different definitions, depending whom you ask. In a special episode, Diane and Will hear about a new study trying to work out what has changed. They're joined by the report author, Dr Cathy Bollaert, and the Very Rev Dr Norman Hamilton - both board members of Contemporary Christianity. The work was also undertaken by Clonard Monastery Belfast, Youthlink, and supported by the Community Relations Council. Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

Norman Hamilton is known for his efforts to help broker peace during the Holy Cross dispute in Belfast of 25 years ago.  Anyone aged over 40 will remember the images which flew around the world - as the police and army escorted young children to and from their primary school, in the midst of an adult dispute over interfaces, and claim and counter-claim of sectarian abuse.  Now a retired Presbyterian Minister, Norman tells Diane and Will that for those few months of his life, Holy Cross, confronted him with "public evil, on a grand scale".Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

Joe McKeown's life could have been very different.  He grew up in West Belfast during  the Troubles, and saw plenty of conflict, for a time joining in with the recreational stone-throwing when the army or RUC were there. Later he learned  that his grandfather - a demonstrably innocent man - had initially been branded as an IRA gunman after being shot and killed by a teenaged soldier. To one side, a justifiable casualty, to the other, a murder victim. Yet Joe chose not revenge, but peace and reconciliation, rooted in his Christian faith.  Joe now runs the youth service Youthlink - and he tells Diane and Will how his decision was simply "saying 'Yes' to possibility". Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

Ruth Garvey-Williams lives and works in the small Donegal town of Buncrana.  Yet despite living in what's often dubbed "Ireland's forgotten county", she and her family make a huge impact across the island and beyond.  Ruth helped found their church, edits a magazine, and serves with local and national groups tackling suicide, poverty, and immigration issues.  She works as leader, journalist, author, playwright and researcher.  And still she found time to join Diane and Will for a fascinating discussion on the joys - and the cost - of "ministering at the margins".Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

Dr John Kyle has had 3 intertwined careers, as a GP, as a church leader, and as a local councillor.  Determined to make a difference for peace and reconciliation, he made a choice to join a party which raised a lot of  eyebrows.  He joined the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP), which had links with the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), and served with them on Belfast City Council for well over a decade.  But as Diane and Will discover, there's much more to John's story than that...Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

Tim Magowan is a leader, a motivator, and an enabler.  Currently he's Executive Director at the 174 Trust on Belfast's Antrim Road.  But he's also a mentor and a dreamer, with a strong motivation to see change, justice and healing in our communities.  He has experience with organisations like Tearfund, Christian Aid, Corrymeela, and has been both probation officer and PR Executive.  Now he's involved with an initiative called "Circle of Change".  All that means reaching out, or as Tim explains to Diane and Will, he has to "lean out of my bubble."Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

"Trust Martin, trust."  That's what Father Martin Magill thinks when he's looking to God for guidance on how to take the next right step for peace.  He's well-known as a campaigner and peacemaker.   In this first episode of a brand new series of Inspired to Act, Martin tells Diane and Will about growing up during the Troubles and how his life as a parish priest in West Belfast is been defined by his determination to make intentional steps for peace, and speak out against what needs to change.Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

Series 3 of Inspired to Act is coming very soon! Diane and Will have already been in studio listening and learning.  Here's a quick reminder of just some of the great conversations we had in Series 2.Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

Mark Houston, Director of The Link Family and Community Centre in Newtownards sits down with Diane and Will.  Mark's an engineer, a family man, and a musician, having been in bands with some remarkable names. He's also been plumber, pastor and peacemaker in communities with paramilitaries in their midst, and has learned much about knowing the battles to fight, and the battles to walk away from.Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

"Peacemaking isn't easy" says Rev Tony Davidson as he tells Diane and Will about almost 30 years living and working in the city of Armagh, taking risks for peace.  He saw gradual changes in hearts and minds and finally peace did come.  Although there's always a cost, he wouldn't have it any other way. That's why Tony calls himself a "wounded healer".Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

Darren O'Reilly really doesn't look like a monk.  Yet he's a member of a religious community in County Antrim, a "Brother".  He's also an experienced youth worker used to making connections and building relationships across many traditions.  He's a former academic with a love for studying theology.  As he tells Diane and Will, his own journey of Christian faith  is one of constantly joining up the dots...Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

In the 1980s, the Rev Useni Sibanda flew home from his UK studies to Zimbabwe, not long after it achieved independence. A civil war was raging, and inflation was rampant.  You could easily hand over a trillion dollar note for just one egg.  Now Useni works with the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance, a Christian advocacy organisation addressing social, political, economic and humanitarian issues affecting the country's poor and vulnerable communities. What might we learn from a group which is never party-political, yet never afraid to speak truth to power? Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

The Archdeacon of Derry, Robert Miller, looks after three Church of Ireland joint parishes, Christ church, St Peter’s Culmore and Muff.  He's a peacemaker, mediator and community activist, as well as part of the team producing the Walled City Passion every Easter.  But he tells Diane and Will one special secret - how the Christian life should be  "like a really well-made hot chocolate"...Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

The former UTV journalist Jude Hill now works in the charity sector, but still makes time to produce and present her own ground-breaking podcast about peace and reconciliation.  Diane and Will hear all about the imminent new series of "Peace by Piece", as well as understanding the faith motivation that made a teenage girl from a County Antrim village move to an interface area of Belfast and start to help people tell their own stories in their own way.Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

Rev Dr Lesley Carroll joins Diane and Will to discuss what has motivated her during an extremely varied career, as a Presbyterian Minister, working in Victim Support, as Prisons Ombudsman, with the Equality Commission and the Consultative Group on Dealing with the Past. She also discusses her new role with the ICRIR, the much-criticised Independent Commission For Reconciliation and Information Recovery. For Lesley, it all comes down to how any Christian loves their enemies, and becomes a peacemaker.Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

In the first episode of a brand new series of Inspired to Act, Thrive Ireland's Director, Diane Holt, and co-presenter Will Leitch welcome back David Porter.  His career has spanned working for missionary societies, helping set up ECONI (Evangelical Contribution on Northern Ireland), and working for some years as Chief of Staff for the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.  Now a Visiting Professor at Coventry University, his insights into national and religious identity are profound. "See a challenge in your path?" says David.  "Pick it up".Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

Diane Holt and Will Leitch are back with a new series from Thrive Ireland for 2024-5!Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

Belfast's annual Four Corners Festival has been going for 12 years.  Its Christian organisers consider it subversive, but in a positive way.  They say they want to encourage people to step out from their comfortable places and meet others with differing backgrounds and opinions.Diane and Will get around the table with Rev Steve Stockman, Fr Martin Magill, and Mylie Brennan to discover why they do what they do with the festival, and why they think they are right to  "...drop depth charges into the city's culture for a week".Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

It's the turn of Ed Petersen to join Diane and Will this time. It's fair to say he's made an unusual journey to end up working in peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland.  How does a New Jersey boy, who very nearly studied at West Point to be a US Army Officer,  end up working at Clonard in West Belfast?  Fortunately Ed is very happy to tell us about that and his work building relationships and friendships across Christian churches. And he explains how he believes that despite all the twists and turns since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, "with God, all things are possible..."Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

Diane and Will meet Rev David Campton, Methodist minister, actor, poet, peacemaker and onetime biologist.  He lives and works in Northern Ireland, having grown up in Belfast, and having once left, vowing never to return.  He's worked in many challenging areas, including some of Belfast's most volatile interfaces, and now serves as Superintendent of Belfast Central Mission.  He also plays a large part in Belfast's annual Four Corners Festival.  How does someone with such an unusual mix of skills end up having done so many different things to bring communities together?Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

Diane Holt and Will Leitch are hosting a bit of a reunion this time - as three former members of ECONI, the Evangelical Contribution on Northern lreland,  join them at Commission.  It's a big day as the gang are allowed into Commission's hallowed Studio 1 because there are so  many of them to fit around the table!Lynda Gould, David Porter, and Stephen Adams tell Diane and Will how they were inspired to act.  But they also have serious points to make about what they were trying to do with ECONI in the 1980s and 1990s, and how some other Christians were determined that it was the wrong approach.What should have been the cry back then?  "For God and Ulster"? Or "For God and His Glory Alone"?  And what do they think the cry should be now?Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

A message for Advent from two Christians living in Israel and Palestine during a war.  Diane Holt and Will Leitch hear from Rev. Nael Abu-Rahmoun, vicar of the Anglican Parish of Christ Church in Nazareth, in Israel, and Rev. Jamil Khader, vicar of the Anglican Parish of St Philip's in Nablus, in the West Bank, in Palestine. Their parishes lie within the Anglican Diocese of JerusalemBoth men are busy with their ministries and their parishes, not least at an extremely tense and difficult  time, but also in the run up to celebrating the birth of Christ.In a frank and timely conversation, they help  their fellow Christians understand what they can do and how they can pray for "the land of the Holy One".Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

Diane Holt and Will Leitch meet two of the people working at the heart of reconciliation and peace building in Northern Ireland.  Both provide support and services to victims and others affected in the years of conflict, but in subtly different ways.  Kenny Donaldson works with SEFF, the South East Fermanagh Foundation.  Alan McBride works with the Wave Trauma Centre based in Belfast.  He's perhaps better-known as the man who lost his wife  in the Shankill Bombing 30 years ago.In this edition both men tell Diane and Will why they are inspired to do what they do, and why their Christian faith is inevitably a part of that.Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

Will Leitch and Diane Holt welcome two men from East Africa to the Commission Studios - to see what they can teach us about peace building and reconciliation.  Christophe Mbonyingabo runs CARSA Ministries in post-genocide Rwanda.  Dr Allan Waihumbu runs WAPE in Kenya, where ethnic violence erupted in 2007-8 after a contested election.  Neither man has anything to learn about taking risks for healing and peace.  Diane and Will spent time with them during their most recent trips to Northern Ireland.  They have remarkable stories to tell,  and in this episode, they don't hold back!Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

Will Leitch and Diane Holt welcome the author, broadcaster and peace builder, Tony Macaulay, to Studio 2 at Commission.  Tony's first book, Paperboy was about his childhood in the Upper Shankill in West Belfast.  His latest, Killing The Devil is written with a co-author, and tells a love story set in the years following the genocide in Rwanda in 1994.  But he's also known for his work bringing communities and groups together.  Tony tells Will and Diane how his faith inspires him to act, and make a difference.Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council

News from journalist and podcaster Will Leitch, and Diane Holt, Director of Thrive Ireland.Coming soon - a regular podcast telling the stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.Tell us what you think!Produced for Thrive IrelandIn association with The Northern Ireland Community Relations Council