How do you suffer?

The Belfast Lecture on Compassion
Text by Nicodemus. Photography by Jordan Hutchings

The Belfast Lecture on Compassion, co-convened by ​Chérie Driver and Frank Liddy, was delivered outside City Hall on 15 October 2022.

Utilising as its starting point the Silent Lecture concept I had proposed, the project was conceived within the context of the upcoming 25th anniversary of the Good Friday (Peace) Agreement, focusing on the suffering and trauma people have endured.

​To collaboratively identify the focus and location for the Belfast Lecture, Chérie and Frank hosted a psycho-spiritual workshop at The Duncairn Arts Centre on the question of 'how do you suffer'. The workshop was attended by 13 people who eventually chose 'compassion' as the topic and the area in front of City Hall as the location for the Belfast Lecture.

In the end, both the workshop and the subsequent Belfast Lecture on Compassion were received very well. Since neither would have been possible without Bbeyond's dedicated support, the Democracy School and I would like to thank Alastair MacLennan, for bringing the Silent Lecture concept to Bbeyond’s attention, Chérie Driver and Frank Liddy, for taking the project on, and Elaine McGinn, Brian Patterson and, again, Chérie Driver, for hosting me during my stay in Northern Ireland.

The Belfast Lecture Workshop and Belfast Lecture on Compassion are supported by