Abstract
In this paper, I examine the BBC radio programme, Legacy. Broadcast each day during 1999, its explicit intention was to persuade Northern Ireland’s publics of the necessity of reconciliation. The programme, aired during the nascent post peace accord period, raised questions about the necessity of the region’s legacy of conflict. Based on an examination of audio and print transcripts of broadcasts, I demonstrate how Legacy’s ability to enact change was constrained by the programme’s format and its political climate. I identify and examine programmatic limitations, including a constrained model of public participation, wide-reaching expectations for storytelling as a model of community engagement and transitional justice, and parallel alignment that permitted the two communities to work alongside each other, rather than with each other. I argue that this cautious approach facilitated public discussions about the long-term effects of the conflict but did not facilitate wide-reaching, societal reconciliation efforts.
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