CHAPTER 5: Blended Contact for Community Cohesion in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland

The island of Ireland, with its border separating Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, has probably experienced more ICT-based links between schools than any other comparable part of the world. With a total population of around 4.8 million (3 million in the Republic of Ireland and 1.8 million in Northern Ireland), what is it about Ireland that explains the extensive use of ICT for links between schools? What lessons are emerging from almost 30 years of educational partnerships between schools that have been involved in sustained ICT contact and brief face-to-face encounters?

This chapter examines both a cross-border program, which linked schools between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland between 1999 and 2014, and more recent work within Northern Ireland between schools that were mainly either Protestant or Catholic in ethos. The duration and scale of this work, with foundations laid as early as 1986 and over 140,000 pupils involved, makes this a unique study for understanding how national education policies have tried to mobilize technology to address longstanding cultural and political differences.