Oral history interview of Jackie Redpath

View on DRI

Context

Jackie has committed himself to community development work in Belfast since the 1970s. He is a co-founder and chief executive of the Greater Shankill Partnership, community led regeneration agency in the Greater Shankill area of Belfast, since 1996. Jackie graduated from Queen’s University in 1973 with a BA in Modern History and received honorary degree from the university 2016 to recognise his work in community development of disadvantaged areas. Jackie served as chair of the David Ervine Foundation from 2011 – 2018 and Springboard Opportunities Limited 1994 – 2018, which supports unemployed young people with personal development, offering them a life changing international experience.

Description:

This sixty-five-minute long oral history interview was conducted by the Digital Repository of Ireland as part of The Atlantic Philanthropies archive project (2017-2020) titled Amplifying change: A history of the Atlantic Philanthropies on the island of Ireland in 2019., In this interview Jackie Redpath talks about setting up Shankill Community Development Agency as a response to the decline and levels of deprivation in the area. Jackie reflects on the period before the ceasefires in 1994 in detail, offering insight on how the American involvement contributed to peace in Northern Ireland. He talks about meeting Chuck Feeney at Duke Hotel in Belfast and stresses the importance of dialogue with people from outside of the conflict with both sides of the conflict. Jackie argues that social, economic, and educational future development had been dependent on the reaching in and reaching out to the USA and the Republic of Ireland and highlights the impact of funding from The Atlantic Philanthropies., and This recording contains the personal views of the participants, they do not reflect the views of the DRI.

Type:

audio and oral histories (literary works)

Creator:

Digital Repository of Ireland, 2015 -

Subject:

Curated collection--Oral histories, Curated collection--Communities, Curated collection--Children--Youth, Atlantic Philanthropies (Organization), Greater Shankill Partnership, Curated collection--Jackie Redpath, Grant 07763, Grant 08474, Community education, Non-governmental organizations, and Education (Early childhood)

Grant:

Grant 07763 and Grant 08474

Grantee:

Greater Shankill Partnership

Year of Grant:

1998 and 2001

Location of Grantee:

Belfast

Rights:

Copyright is with DRI and Jackie Redpath. Please see license for reuse.

Attribution:

Digital Repository of Ireland and The Atlantic Philanthropies

Doi:

https://doi.org/10.7486/DRI.93076m474