The Corrymeela Podcast

Season 4, Episode 6. Samuel Salim Munayer This podcast includes a conversation with Palestinian Liberation Theologian Samuel Salim Munayer. The episode ends with a twenty minute talk that he gave at a day long conference Corrymeela ran in Belfast in August 2026. The event was called the Oak Tree Sessions, and was an event platforming voices articulating Public Theology which engaged with questions of liberation, ecology, peace, solidarity and decolonisation. Samuel Salim Munayer is a Palestinian theologian based in Jerusalem who works for a humanitarian organisation serving in Gaza and the West Bank. He holds degrees in philosophy and theology from Durham University and in Middle Eastern Studies from University of Exeter, where he was supervised by Ilan Pappé. Samuel recently co-edited and authored with his brother John the book “The Cross and the Olive Tree: Cultivating Palestinian Theology amid Gaza”. This episode cannot possibly say all that can be said in relation to the mass displacement of the Palestinian population in Gaza, or the mass slaughter of over 70,000 innocent men, women and children by the Israeli army, or the brutal attacks on the Israeli civilian population on the 7th October 2023 by Hamas. It also cannot fully capture the fear felt by so many Palestinians in the occupied West Bank whose land is being stolen from them by a new wave of settler colonialism. But this podcast can create the space for an articulation of a theology of liberation in a time of genocide or what Samuel refers to as “the ongoing Nakba”. There will always be a need to hear the voices of those who can imagine peace, but unless we name the horror of reality, we are possibly merely dreaming fantasies and not laying the foundations of justice, truth and mercy needed to house “the beloved community”. Sam podcast

Stand Up, Speak Out: reflecting on the life and work of Monica McWilliams

Paul is a mediator, a group facilitator, a storyteller, a therapist, and overall an artist. He was also the Centre Director of the Corrymeela Community and so witnessed first hand the thousands of individuals that come through our doors each year. His work in community relations here, during and post the Troubles, has led him into a variety of contexts and environments, including for a time sitting on the Parades Commission of Northern Ireland. In addition to his mediation work, he has extensive experience in community arts programmes and he's been behind large events that have sought to help our society deal with the legacy of the past. Paul has also worked in a therapeutic context, helping individuals process and unpack trauma. So his reach in our society has been both wide and deep. He is the author of “Between The Bells”, a book which recounts the varied experiences of many whose lives have been changed by their visit to Corrymeela. He has also produced short films, including “Vacancies”, a reflection on the lives lost during the Troubles. In this podcast we talk about Paul's life, from childhood to the work he's engaged in now. We touch on the intersection in his life and work with art, mediation and spirituality.

Unravelling religious trauma and finding a way home to ourselves and each other.

This is a live conversation held at an event in June 2025 called Borderlands. This is a monthly event run by Jonny Clark from Corrymeela and a small cluster of friends and partners. Over the last 4 years we have platformed the stories of people whose lives were shaped on opposite sides of violence — victims, survivors, and former combatants — and invited them into honest, difficult, and courageous conversation. Last June it was a profound privilege to host Jo Berry CBE and Pat Magee at the Black Box for our event that came days before the annual Day of Reflection. Their story is one of the most challenging and inspiring examples of dialogue towards friendship we have encountered. Jo and Pat were brought together through tragedy: the Brighton bomb that killed Jo’s father, Sir Anthony Berry. Years later, Jo made the extraordinary choice to seek out the man responsible for his death. What followed was not a moment of closure, but the beginning of a long, evolving journey of dialogue. Since then, they have shared their story of unlikely friendship over 300 times, offering a living reminder that, even in a world often framed as zero‑sum, transformation is possible. They embody the truth that “an enemy is someone whose story you have never heard.” Their courage shows us that even in the most entrenched and painful conflicts, there can still be room for listening, dignity, and hope. The Day of Reflection is held on the 21st June every year, the longest day of the year, the day of most light. It is a day where we stop and reflect on the pain of our past conflict in and about Northern Ireland and imagine with hope the possibility of a truly shared society. Jo Berry’s website is here. Jo Berry and Pat Magee: Hope beyond the Brighton bomb Embed Block Add an embed URL or code.