Feargal Cochrane

Feargal Cochrane "is Director of the Richardson Institute for Peace and Conflict Research, a research centre within the Department of Politics and International Relations. His research interests primarily centre on intra-state conflicts and emerging peace processes within ethnically divided societies. He is particularly interested in political and cultural aspects of Diaspora communities and has recently been conducting research on the Irish-American Diaspora. Beyond the Irish case, He is interested in how Diaspora communities intersect with peace processes and conflict within deeply divided societies and how these groups engage from the outside, with political and cultural processes taking place within their countries of origin.

"In addition to these research interests, He has also published widely on issues relating to the political conflict in Northern Ireland and on 'civil society', especially non-governmental organisations and their capacity to assist conflict prevention and conflict transformation within divided societies."

Research Grants

• 2007 £5000 from the Lancaster University Research Committee for a conference to take place on 1-2 May 2008 entitled 'The role of migration in peace and security in the 2st Century: The Lancaster Summit'.
• 2005: £3000 grant from the Institute for Advanced Studies at Lancaster University for a workshop entitled 'Civil Society and Conflict Prevention: Patterns and Limitations'
• 2004: £4000 grant from the Lancaster Universtiy Research Committee for Global Mobility and Diaspora Communities: Irish America, September 11th and the 'War on Terror' project.
• 2002: £6000 grant from Lancaster University Research Committee for a research project centred on global governance and environmental resources in Madagascar (With Rosaleen Duffy and Prof. Christopher Clapham)
• 1996/1998 $100,000: Feargal was the principal researcher in Northern Ireland on a grant from the Aspen Institute in Washington, on a project entitled the 'International Study of Peace/Conflict Resolution Organisations (ISPO)'. This study focused on the evolution, roles and impact of NGOs working in the field of conflict resolution in Northern Ireland, South Africa and Israel/Palestine."

Select Books

• People Power? The role of the voluntary and community sector in the Northern Ireland Conflict. With Seamus Dunn, (Cork University Press, 2002, 194pp).

Select Articles

• 'Stop-Go Democracy: the Peace Process in Northern Ireland Revisisted' in, Democracy, Conflict and Human Security: Volume 2, International IDEA (Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance). (Stockholm, 2007, 78-93)
• 'Two Cheers for the NGOs: Civil Society and the Good Friday Agreement' in A Farewell to Arms? From Long War to Long Peace in Northern Ireland (2nd Edition) M. Cox, A. Guelke, F. Stephen. (eds.) (Manchester University Press, 2006).
• 'Unsung Heroes? The role of civil society in the Northern Ireland conflict' in Professor John McGarry (ed.), Northern Ireland and the Divided World, Oxford: Oxford University Press, Autumn 2001, 137-156.