Abstract
Mari Fitzduff and Cathy Gormley argue that there are three stages in changing perceptions of the ’other’. First, the recognition that these perceptions of the ’other’ actually exist. Second, the realization that the perceptions of the other are in fact perpetuated by the alienation and ghettoization of the various sides. Third, by endeavouring to deal with this sense of ghettoization by bringing the communities together through various processes to dispel the myths. They show that since 1969 in Northern Ireland the society at large, with the help of government funded ventures, has managed to successfully work through these stages with considerable effect on the development of an agreed political solution.