Sixteen Saint Mary's students spent Reading Week in Belfast, Northern Ireland working in local schools to teach children there about resolving conflict peacefully. The students, members of the Saint Mary's University Conflict Resolution Society, are the fifth group to travel from Nova Scotia to Belfast to work in Catholic, Protestant and integrated schools in the city. In the past violent conflict riddled Northern Ireland. Students visited elementary schools surrounded by barbed wire and bulletproof glass and visited one school that could easily be described as a fortress (ASK Jeff) remnants of a much more violent time in the city's history. The worst violence of the conflict may be over but it lies under the surface for the people of Belfast.

The children respond positively to the workshops led by Saint Mary's students. They are often excited to show off their knowledge of Canada and conflict resolution techniques.In some cases the knowledge is what they remember from visits from SMU students in previous years, many children even ask for former society members by name. Talking with students during activities offers a look into their lives and experiences, several children have parents or relatives who were involved or injured in the conflict. At the high school level students will sometimes open up about their own experiences with paramilitary groups.

Before travelling to Northern Ireland the sixteen students facilitated many workshops at Oxford School in Halifax. These workshops provided preparation for the trip to Belfast. The children at Oxford offer valuable feedback regarding what they like, and what isn't so great allowing the Society to work out the kinks before leaving for Northern Ireland.

Society member Randy Dunn said of his experience: “In Northern Ireland seeing the children for the first time and the neighbourhoods they live in really put into perspective the reasons for providing conflict resolution workshops. The first day our group was a little nervous because we were not sure how the kids would react to our workshops we developed in Canada. Our first run was a little mixed up, however throughout the week it was the children that helped tailor our workshops. Day after day, our workshops became more and more fun – for both the kids and especially for us as a group.”

The initiative is a project of Peaceful Schools International founded by Dr. Hetty van Gurp in 2001 is a Canadian program that aims to support schools that are committed to teaching peace to their students by providing resources and programming materials. Saint Mary's was the first University to meet the Peaceful Schools Membership Criteria.