Cahal McLaughlin on the role of the Prisons Memory Archive in Northern Ireland

Director, Prisons Memory Archive, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The Prisons Memory Archive is a collection of 175 filmed walk-and-talk recordings with people who were inmates or guards in prisons during the conflict in Northern Ireland (1968-1998). Listen to Cahal explain how he built an archive through oral history story-telling that aims at showcasing different voices and narratives on prison experiences during the conflict in Northern Ireland. The archives aims to challenge the mainstream discourse on victimhood and perpetrators.

Content:

• The Prisons Memory Archive
• What is a walk-and-talk interview?
• The advantages of an oral history archive
• What led you to the idea of collecting testimonies in this way?
• How is the Prisons Memory Archive used?
• What role can a civil society archive play in a transitional justice context?
• Reconciling different narratives?
• What can other archives learn?