Katrina Barr
Northern Ireland

Katrina Barr is Assistant Secretary to the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, an investigation commissioned by Prime Minister Tony Blair to discover the truth about the 1972 event, where 13 civil rights demonstrators were killed by the British Army. The Inquiry, which began in 1998, is expected to conclude by 2004. Ms. Barr focuses on conflict resolution within both the Protestant and Catholic communities, helping build trust between them, and manages the staff of the Inquiry. A civil servant in Northern Ireland since 1974, Ms. Barr began her career as a social security fraud investigator for the Department of Health and Social Security. She also worked as a civil representative for the British Army in Northern Ireland, assessing compensation for damages caused by Army searches in homes and farmland patrols throughout the country. She is currently participating in a six-week Northern Ireland program at Harvard University, where she is studying leadership and conflict management, including a military-focused conflict management course with General Tad Olstrom.

Ms. Barr's peace-building activities include:

• assisting in the collation of documents related to the Bloody Sunday events;
• working at the Prison Service Headquarters and handling requests from prisoners in the notorious Maze Prison, now empty of inmates as a result of the early release program under the Good Friday Agreement; and
• gauging community sentiment about the local political situation and influencing senior politicians as a result of these investigations.

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