Seeking refuge from the Troubles

By Mary Campbell BBC Northern Ireland

We think of refugees as people who flee from famine, war or persecution in far-flung corners of the world.

But some people who left Northern Ireland during the height of the Troubles share similar feelings of displacement and isolation.

The violence drove many people out of Northern Ireland

A new report examines the fate of people displaced during the years 1969-1994 - when violence and unrest in the province were at their worst.

It details the experiences of 32 people, who left Northern Ireland to live in the Republic of Ireland or abroad for different reasons.

Some feared prison and arrest or internment.

Some were on the run from the authorities, some fled because they feared they would be assassinated and some left because they could not cope with spiralling and often random violence.

The report was commissioned by Area Development Management and the Combat Poverty Agency within the European Union peace programme.

The fear which forced people to leave is still very real - many were even reluctant to give radio interviews because they were worried about being identified.

I made my bed, I have to lie on it - but I was always a political activist and had no military involvement Brian McKeown

One man who was prepared to talk was Brian McKeown, who fled from County Tyrone to Cavan in the early 1980s.

He had just come out of prison where he had served seven years for firearms offences.

He had plans to get married and work in his brother's engineering firm.

But he feared being implicated by an informer and he was warned by the authorities that details about him were in the hands of loyalist paramilitaries.

Twenty five years on, he is well settled in his adopted town of Cavan where he is now in his second term as a local Sinn Fein councillor and runs a very successful boxing club.

But it has been hard for him to find full-time work.

Once employers found out about his past, they were reluctant to keep him on because they feared they too might suffer repercussions.

"I made my bed, I have to lie on it," he says, but maintains he has always been a political activist and had no military involvement.

Scale of displacement

Social policy analyst Pauline Conroy of Ralaheen Limited in Dublin said there were common experiences among all interviewees.

Many talked of family occasions such as christenings and funerals which they missed.

Many felt guilty because they believed they abandoned ageing parents or left a farm on which they loved to work.

One interviewee said he used to meet his brother every Sunday across the border in the Republic of Ireland to tell him what to do on the farm.

The study could locate few statistical sources which would permit making a strong estimate of the scale of displacement.

Displacement is defined as an involuntary movement, when people feel they have no choice but to move.

Some security force members left because of fears of attack

However, it makes a conservative estimate that of the 22,000 people born in Northern Ireland and living in border counties during the Troubles, approximately 11,000 are displaced persons.

The researchers believe many northern Protestants fled to Britain and particularly to Canada.

They talk of a Northern Ireland diaspora which now exists because of the Troubles.

Pauline Conroy recommends that similar studies should be carried out with these people.

The Fine Gael TD for the constituency of Cavan- Monaghan, Seymour Crawford, who contributed to the report, recalls meeting a woman on Prince Edward Island in Canada.

He knew by her accent that she was from Northern Ireland and as they chatted she told him she and her husband left because members of their family were in the security forces and they feared for their lives.

Sadly, her husband died from cancer a short time after they moved to Canada.

Mr Crawford cautions against creating a "victimisation culture", but accepts that if exercises like the report help the hurt to heal, then they are worthwhile.

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