NI 'could be conflict model'

It is hoped NI's experience could help the Middle East

The Middle East could use Northern Ireland as a model for emerging from conflict, an international conference is expected to hear.

The University of Ulster is holding the event in association with the Northern Ireland/Middle East Connection.

Led by software pioneer Dr John Cullinane, it is a private sector initiative created by a group of US entrepreneurs which will be bringing Middle-Eastern policy makers and business leaders to Belfast for the two-day conference.

About 100 delegates hope to gain insight into how economic regeneration and the peace process have transformed Northern Ireland.

The participants will come from the US, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Ireland.

They will be addressed by Northern Ireland politicians, community leaders and academics.

'Depths of despair'

Professor Gerry McKenna, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ulster, said: "Northern Ireland is not yet a post-conflict society: It is a society emerging from conflict, one in transition.

"Nevertheless, our story already has a moral to it, one that we hope will resonate in other places of conflict such as the Middle East."

Jobs can lead to community support for new, enlightened approaches to problem-solving Dr John Cullinane

Northern Ireland was "a symbol of hope to people who are currently in the depths of despair which marked our own community less than a decade ago", he said.

Professor McKenna said he hoped that even the beginnings of a social and political consensus based on respect for cultural diversity and tolerance of different cultural values was "a light to the rest of the world".

The conference is expected to begin in Belfast on Tuesday.

Dr Cullinane, will present a draft plan proposing 20,000 contact centre jobs in the Middle East as a first step in the economic regeneration of the region.

"Jobs can lead to community support for new, enlightened approaches to problem-solving," he said.

Professor Gillian Robinson, coordinator of the conference said the Ulster University had been at the forefront of international research into conflict resolution in divided societies.

"We are now moving to make available our global experience in conflict resolution to further the cause of peace and economic development in the Middle East," she said.