The Junction

06/05/2026

The Junction is inviting community workers, community practitioners, and key workers working to create communities of care across the spectrum of wellbeing and peace-building work to come together for a morning of reflection.

We will share findings from our inquiry and practice as part of our 'Changing the Story I Tell Myself" Project. Come along and be a part of a conversation about shared values and 'cultures of care'.

Spaces limited - Book early to avoid disappointment!!

NW CN Community Relations Council Derry City & Strabane District Council Irish Foreign Ministry The Ideas Fund Holywell Trust

26/04/2026

Thank-you to all those from the community, voluntary sector and educational sectors taking part in our discussions over the last few days. Both events created space for reflection around our Re-Imagining Relationships programme and discussions around how we change who needs to be involved in the conversations to support. preventing gender-based violence work. We will have more to bring to you on that over the coming days and weeks. For now - some images from the Launch Events at Minor Hall Magee (23rd April) and Fir Trees Hotel, Srabane (Fri 24th April 2026). The Executive Office Derry City & Strabane District Council Community Relations Council

24/04/2026

"Violence against women and girls grows in the silence, it grows in the inequalities. Talking alone will not fix violence against women and girls but if we don't talk about this cultural crisis nothing changes. When people speak - the silences are disrupted" Leona O'Neill.
The Junction wishes to thank the Deputy Mayor of Derry City & Strabane District Alderman Niree McMorris and everyone who came along and contributed to our discussions at our two Launch events at Magee and in The Fir Trees Hotel, wodnerulyl hosted by Elise Feron of ,Ulster University; as we launched our new Re-Imagining Relationships programme and our Changing the Story about gender based violence Podcast. It was truly encouraging to interact with so many in the community and voluntary sector and to consider how we can work together, and it is also necessary to point out how inspired we all were by the contribution to the conversations from the next generation Leaders - Keelie, Anna, Robert, Xaviour and Ramel Thankyou eveyone. Photographs and much more to come - stay tuned!

21/04/2026

Much of what we know comes to us through conversations......... outside of the classroom, in the locker room, in your social spaces, on the bus, on the street and at home.

Join us this Thursday, 11am, Magee UU or Friday, 11am - Fir Trees Hotel, Strabane and hear more about our Re-Imagining Relationships Community Conversation and Dialogue Programme and Changing the Story about gender-based violence Podcast.

There will be presentations, a panel talk, and plenty of opportunity for discussion, creative reflections, networking and LUNCH!! Register -via the QR code

15/04/2026

Please come to one of our Launch Events! Come along and hear more about the Re-Imagining Relationships Community Dialogue Programme and a new Podcast. A programme and podcast which are about supporting good conversations, clarifying personal learning and actions which will help change the story about gendered violence in Northern Ireland.

Choose the day and venue which suits you. Register via the QR code (please arrive 10.45am for an 11am start).
We really look forward to sharing more with you then.

We are grateful to Leona O'Neill and Féron, Director of Conflict Research www.ulster.ac.uk/incore and all the community-based Associate Facilitators who have been working shaping this work with us for some time, and all the participants (so far) who have informed the programme. In this moment, we acknowledge the foundational work of Cathy Higgins, Maureen Hetherington, FWIN, DCSDC Peace Partnership back in 2018. Our Thanks also go to DCSDC EVAWG Change Fund and The Executive Office Ending Violence Against Women and Girls for supporting us in this initiative, alongside our core funders Community Relations Council and the Reconciliation Fund, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ireland.

31/03/2026

“Love isnt a cage. It doesn’t shrink someone until they disappear” …… an excellent script, performed by young people pf St Cecelia’s … speaking to what ‘coercive control’ is.

Performance as one part of a launch event around the new comic ‘Our Modern Troubles: The Storm before the Calm”. Foyle Women's Aid Comics

“Children and young people are often the hidden victims of abuse”.. Marie Brown CEO FWA

30/03/2026

The Junction Board is delighted to see this award go to Brian Dougherty. Brian is to be commended for a lifetime, dedicated to civic engagement and leadership, to work which continues to build capacity and voice, and enables greater community understanding.

21/03/2026

The Junction Board and CEO are delighted the years of committment and dedication given to peacebuilding by our Chairperson Lyn Moffet and our recently retired Board member JimONeill - not least to the community education and dialogue work of The Junction, is being recognised through these awards. They are very well deserved. Wishing you both our congratulations and thankyou for all of your contributions to bringing people together, to providing a new perspective and holding space for connection and community.

On Monday the 23rd of March 2026, the John and Pat Hume Foundation will host the 2nd Quiet Peacebuilders Award in the Guildhall, Derry City.

The Quiet Peacebuilders Award recognises everyday peacemakers, who, during the Troubles or today, quietly and effectively promoted peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. We are inviting guests to arrive for 11am for tea/coffee and scones.

We will have a special address from Dr Ali Shaar MD on the day. Dr Ali is currently the Director of the Palestinian Child Institute. He will make a short address about his work on the impact of war and conflict on children, women and health systems in the Arab world and the work of the Early Childhood Peace Consortium, which promotes a peaceful world where children grow up in a healthy, safe, and nurturing environment—free from violence and supported in their development.

We will have a panel conversation on Peace and Reconciliation including:

👉 Siobhan Fitzpatrick, Vice Chair and Founder member of the Early Childhood Peace Consortia
👉 Ivy Goddard, Ballymena Inter Ethnic Forum
👉 Denise Hughes, Mediator, Restorative Justice Practitioner and Peacebuilder

The full nominee list for the Quiet Peacebuilders Award is as follows:

🔴 Patricia O'Neill
🔴 Dr Siobhan Fitzpatrick
🔴 Paul Caskey
🔴 Denise Hughes
🔴 Jim O’Neill
🔴 Paddy Harte
🔴 Colin Flinn
🔴 Lauren McAreavey
🔴 Lyn Moffett
🔴 Darren Ferguson
🔴 Nisha Tandon
🔴 Julitta Clancy
🔴 Peter Weil
🔴 Eamonn McCann

🎟 Book a ticket, click here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/humefoundation/2110724

16/03/2026

A great morning, mapping critical conversations for a community led podcast, considering the questions: "What happens if we not do the prevention work?" "What does prevention really mean?" when it comes to addressing violence against women and girls and all gender based violence? Emerging key messages we hope to illuminate further, include: - the cycle of violence repeats itself becoming inter-generational; violence becomes normalised and the normalisation cements in unhealthy relationship dynamics causing untold and ongoing harms to women, and also to men; - the shame gender based violence brings to families has in the past led to cover-up, all of which can create a sense that perpetrators can be 'untouchable'; - the human and community costs of gender based violence are enormous, and go to the heart of the individual right to self-determination and especially to the self realisation of women and girls; and the costs too are measurable - economically. It was good to hear about Foyle Women's Aid Perpetrator Prevention Programme, which articulate well the right to safety: "I have the right to feel safe and others have the right to feel safe with me". There was no doubt today, that 'what prevention really needs to mean, is PREvention; to bring to an end the potential for harm and for this a wide ranging interventions are required, from early years right through to elder years, with a big emphasis on restorative education and in particular Relationship and S*x Education and Parenting Education for the next generation and for new parents informed by rights and equality. We highlighted the very real need for a 'big societal conversation' about our own cultures today and how do we or do not foster healthy man-hoods? There is much to do in regard to restorative actions across the whole of society. Everyone has an active role to play. We are grateful to EVAWG Change Fund, Violence against Women's and Girls, The Executive Office and our core funders for enabling us to progress this work. Thanks to Leona O'Neill , Ulster University for facilitating the conversation today.