The webmaster and photographer for PeaceNIreland.com is John Callister, based just outside Lisburn in County Down. On every working day during his twelve years on staff with BBC Northern Ireland throughout the 1980s, John walked past the BBC coat of arms which displayed the Corporation’s founding motto, ‘Nation Shall Speak Peace Unto Nation.’ With the Troubles at their height, he knew that realistically, as far as BBC Northern Ireland was concerned, the only thing that was likely to be spoken to other nations that day was News of the latest bombing or shooting.

So having played a role in packaging too many stories of conflict for broadcast around the world, John vowed that if peace ever returned, he would get his camera out and show the world what the ‘real’ Northern Ireland looked like. He realised that despite the Troubles, an awful lot of  ‘good’ was happening; but too often, conflict grabbed the headlines. As someone who is passionate about story-telling, he wanted to delve beneath the surface of the headlines. He could see that human interest stories needed to be told – of victims from both sides, peace-builders, former paramilitaries, security forces, politicians, and ordinary people who continued to show goodwill despite the troubles. It was a difficult task to work towards and pray for peace, especially as the years passed and there was no sign of improvement. But that’s exactly what many people did.

When John set up his own TV production company in 1990, as well as producing broadcast documentaries, he had the opportunity to work on numerous productions in partnership with the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, including their own branded video to promote Northern Ireland around the world. It was the beginning of his journey towards “speaking peace unto nations” and his vow being fulfilled. 

These days (2024), I’m still shooting stills and video and also working closely with a book publisher, helping people write and publish their stories. This includes the stories of innocent victims and survivors of the Troubles, many of whom lost family members and loved ones and had to learn to cope with ongoing trauma as well as other physical and psychological scars. We can learn a lot from the past, and I believe it’s important that future generations have information directly from those who had first hand experience of the Troubles while they’re still alive and able to tell their story. If you fall into this category and would like to explore possibilities of getting your story out their to a wider audience then please drop me an email to john@callister.tv. I look forward to hearing from you.