The Corrymeela Podcast

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. Embed Block Add an embed URL or code. Learn more

Damian Gorman is a playwright, poet, and committed peacebuilder who has used his art to build bridges in theatres, playhouses and peace centres all over Ireland and the world. He has addressed large audiences and he has worked with small groups facilitating challenging conversations in places of conflict. Born in Newcastle, County Down, Damian has devoted much of his career to exploring the human stories that emerged from the Troubles, fostering dialogue and understanding through theatre, poetry, and community engagement. He has recently taken up the role of Head of Peacebuilding at the brilliant charity Children In Crossfire.Recently, he served as International Resident Artist at the Playhouse’s Theatre and Peacebuilding Academy, developing the stage production Anything Can Happen…, which reflects the voices of those affected by conflict, particularly in 1972, the most bloody year of the Troubles. He is a fellow of the Oxford Initiative for Global Ethics and Human Rights, underscoring his commitment to ethical storytelling as a vehicle for reconciliation.In this conversation with Jonny Clark we speak generally with Damian about his life and his work. Towards the end of the interview we spoke about a recent work of his called “BOY” which was written about the life of his older brother Gerard, a victim of clerical sexual abuse. For support if this conversation was triggering contact Nexus NIAmong so many works written by Damian, in the last year he has written a musical drama honouring the life of John and Pat Hume, called Beyond Belief and he has also written a play called “Witness” about the inspirational life of peacebuilder and community activist, Richard Moore. His most recent publication is B O Y S which is a limited edition made up of scripts from WITNESS and from BOY about his brother’s abuse. His selected poems and memoir “As If I Cared” is available from Blackstaff Press or good bookshops. Permalink

Pádraig Ó Tuama interviewed on The Corrymeela Podcast.

A special compilation episode of The Corrymeela Podcast

A special compilation episode of The Corrymeela Podcast