Institute of Irish Studies
and INNATE get into conflict
‘Directions through conflict’ is the title of
the Institute of Irish Studies (at Queen’s University
Belfast) autumn seminar series being run in association with
INNATE. All meetings take place at the Institute of Irish
Studies (Seminar Room 1), 53-67 University Road, Belfast at
4.00 p.m. (until around 5.30) and are on Tuesdays except for
the session on 30th November which is on a Wednesday. Sessions
are as follows: 18th October – Nonviolence – the
possible dream, with Rob Fairmichael (INNATE); 25th October
- Finding peace in Northern Ireland: The dark side of community,
with Dr Dominic Bryan (IIS); 8th November – Nice, NATO
and neutrality, with Michael Kennedy (RIA); 15th November
– ‘Borders and security, 1923-1956’, with
Prof Eunan O’Halpin (TCD); 22nd November – A place
for reconciliation? Conflict and locality in Northern Ireland,
with Dr Brandon Hamber (Healing Through Remembering) and Grainne
Kelly; 30th November (Wednesday) – Mediation in Northern
Ireland with Brendan McAllister (Mediation Northern Ireland);
6th December – Dealing with the past, with Paul Arthur
(UU). Details from the secretary of the IIS/Institute of Irish
Studies at 028 – 9097 3386. All welcome, admission free.
MII what a conference
The 7th Annual Mediators Institute Ireland conference takes
place on Saturday 26th (starting around 10.00 a.m) and Sunday
27th November (finishing 3.15 p.m.) at the Heritage Hotel.
Portlaoise, Co Laois. The keynote address is by Dr Larry Fong
from Canada on ‘Hope in mediation’ with other
inputs from Helen Harnett, Fiona McAuslan, Geoffrey Corry,
Joe Behan, Thomas Smith, Julie McAuliffe, Niamh Cunningham,
Ewan Malcolm, Bill McLaughlin, Deborah Watters, John Horgan,
Rachel Lofthouse, Gabriel Kiely, Patricia Hayes and Treasa
Kenny. Topics include mediating in an intercultural context,
creative solutions to conflict for children, commercial case
study, workplace mediation, Milan Systemic Theory, bullying
power and mediation, restorative justice, volunteer mediators,
social change and the family. The non-residential fee for
the full conference is €315 for MII members and €355
for non-members with reduced rates for Saturday or Sunday
only; accommodation needs to be booked separately. Details
from Anne Walsh, MII Secretary, 22 Carrig Villas, Killincarrig,
Greystones, Co Wicklow, ph 01 - 2017526, fax 2828952, e-mail
info@mediatorsinstituteireland.ie
and web http://www.mediationireland.com
Bookings should be made by 7th November to avoid €25
late registration fee.
Solace at Solas
The weekend of 11th and 12th November sees the coming together
of three lynchpins of the Irish development sector to mark
30 years of each organisation: Afri, Comhlamh, and Development
Studies Centre (DSC) Kimmage will host SOLAS 2005, a conference
featuring keynote speakers from the Irish and international
development sectors, a challenging and engaging series of
workshops, music and cultural interludes, discussions, meetings
and the exchange of ideas, opinions and strategies. This takes
place on Friday 11th November, evening, and Saturday 12th
November, all day, at All Hallows College, Drumcondra, Dublin.
Speakers include Rakiya Omaar, Yao Graham, Denis Halliday,
Eamon Stack, Hans Zomer and Dier Tong. A 2-day ticket costs
€30. Bookings should be made to Afri, 134 Phibsborough
Road, Dublin 7, phone 01 – 8827563, e-mail afri@iol.ie
Ploughshares plough
on through trials and tribulations
Once again the Pitstop Ploughshares Five - Deirdre Clancy,
Nuin Dunlop, Karen Fallon, Damien Moran, Ciaron O'Reilly -
are on trial in Dublin following the mistrial in the spring
(see NN 127 & 128). The trial starts at the Four Courts
on 24th October and there will be an anti-war vigil each morning
at The Spire, O'Connell Street. People will move off in a
single file silent peace procession at 9.15am, each morning
of the trial. Check http://www.peaceontrial.com
for venues and times of evening events during the trial. There
will be a benefit gig on Thursday 13th October at 8 pm in
the Lower Deck Pub, near Portobello College, Dublin. There
is an urgent need of funds to bring relevant witnesses to
court to testify to the nature of the high crimes inflicted
in Iraq and to facilitate outreach in the lead up to and throughout
the trial. Please consider donating to: "Ploughshares
Defence Fund", 134 Phibsborough Road, Dublin 7. Donations
can also be lodged at any Bank of Ireland branch: "Ploughshares
Defence Fund", Account No. 80965573, Sort Code 900551.
Solidarity actions welcome. More information: http://www.peaceontrial.com
and e-mail ploughsharesireland@yahoo.ie
Phone mobile - 087 918 4552 or landline 01-4549144.
ICCL: Guarding the Guards
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties made a submission on
the Garda Siochana Act (2005) in early 2005 before it had
been passed by Dail Eireann. This is a significant piece of
legislation as it is the first reform of the gardai since
1922 and comes after such high profile scandals as the McBrearty
Case, which exposed Garda corruption in Donegal. It incorporates
all aspects of policing, including personnel, complaints procedure
and community policing.
A positive element of the Act is the stipulation
that Gardai must pay due attention to human rights when carrying
out their duties. The Act also outlines provisions for community
policing and new arrangements for consulting with the public.
However there are many aspects of the Act the
ICCL has reservations about, such as the lack of accountability
to gardai who discriminate against ethnic minorities and travellers.
This is disappointing, considering that ethnic minorities
now make up a considerable proportion of our society. A disturbing
aspect of the Act is the major change in the relationship
of the gardai to the Minister for Justice. In a democratic
society it is important that the Police Force remain independent
of any government department and this has traditionally been
the case in Ireland. The Garda Siochana Act 2005, however,
radically changes the relationship between the Gardai and
the Minister for Justice now. The Garda Commissioner is supposed
to be independent and free from political interference but
s/he must now report directly to the Minister for Justice,
Equality and Law Reform.
The ICCL has for many years advocated the introduction
of an independent Garda Ombudsperson and welcomed this introduction
in the Garda Siochana Act, however the Act introduces an Ombudsperson
Commission which is made up of a three person team, not one
individual, which is the case for every other statutory body.
The complaints procedure for this commission we feel is over
complicated and could prove ineffective, with complaints getting
tied up in over-complicated procedures.
The Act fails to establish a national authority
for managing the gardai. This goes against best practice in
policing which has been proven in other countries.
The important issue now is the implementation
of the Act and the length of time this will take to occur.
The ICCL welcomes the appointment of Senator Maurice Hayes
as the Chairperson of the Garda Siochana Act 2005 Implementation
Group to oversee the implementation of this piece of legislation.
- Individual subscriptions to ICCL are €31.74
and €6.35 unwaged. ICCL, Dominick Court, 40-41 Lower
Dominick Street, Dublin 1, ph 01 – 8783136, fax 8783109,
e-mail iccl@iol.ie and web
http://www.iccl.ie[A
fuller version of this piece appears in the e-mail and web
editions.]
CAJ-oling on human rights
CAJ's annual meeting is being held on 25th October and is
being addressed this year by Imran Khan, the solicitor in
the
Stephen Lawrence case. Mr Khan is now active on a number of
high profile cases in England and will be speaking on the
international "war on terror"; he is very keen to
learn something of the NI experience. CAJ's annual meeting
is only open to members, but why not join up? It only costs
£20 for employed and £5 for unwaged, and you get
monthly newsletters and an annual report keeping you up to
date on human rights and civil liberties issues in Northern
Ireland. CAJ/Committee on the Administration of Justice, 45/47
Donegall Street, Belfast BT1 2BR, ph 028 – 9096 1122,
fax 9024 6706, web http://www.caj.org.uk
Shared Space
The Community Relations Council in Northern Ireland has started
producing a new academic-style review entitled “Shared
Space – a research journal on peace, conflict and community
relations in Northern Ireland”, edited by Ray Mullan,
with plenty of interesting material. The first edition is
dated August 2005, 96 pages, A5, and contains papers on new
interface areas, strategies for sharing Belfast, community-based
approaches to ‘truth-telling’, exploring community
relations among 16-year olds, and NGOs and ethnicity, disability
and sexual orientation. It retails at £5. Orders can
go to the Community Relations Resource Centre, 21 College
Square East, Belfast BT1 6DE (the place to browse for community
relations material), ph 028 – 90 22 75 55, e-mail info@community-relations.org.uk
West Papua Action: Petition
to UN Secretary General
West Papua Action in Ireland is promoting an online petition
to the UN Secretary General to initiate a review into the
UN’s conduct in relation to the “Act of ‘Free’
Choice” in West Papua, 1968-69, which copperfastened
Indonesian control but in no way represented the will of the
people of West Papua and helped to justify brutal repression
and murder. The petition is available at http://www.petitiononline.com/unreview
and further information is available at http://westpapuaaction.buz.org/unreview
More background detail is provided in “The United Nations
and the Indonesian Takeover of West Papua, 1962-1969”
by Dr. John Saltford. De-classified
US documents released in 2004 and edited by Brad Simpson
have further underlined the complicity. The US Embassy in
Jakarta for example told the US State Department in a cable
dated July 2, 1969 that “[private] political views of
the UN team are… 95 per cent of the Irianese support
the independence movement and that the Act of Free Choice
is a mockery”. West Papua Action, 134 Phibsborough Road,
Dublin 7, ph 01 - 860 3431, e-mail wpaction@iol.ie
and web http:/www.westpapuaaction.org
Human Rights Education
Conference
A major cross border human rights education conference takes
place at Dublin Castle on 20th October organised by Lift Off
initiative and Human Rights Commissions North and South, aiming
to encourage human rights education in all education sectors
in Ireland, and may be of interest to policy-makers, teachers
and others. Check before booking as closing date is arriving.
The fee for the day is €35/UK£25. Contact: Maura
Argue, Amnesty International, 48 Fleet Street, Dublin 2, 01
– 677 6361, e-mail margue@amnesty.ie
or Deirdre McAliskey, Amnesty International, 397 Ormeau Road,
Belfast BT7 3GP, ph 028 – 9064 3000, e-mail deirdre.mcaliskey@amnsety.org.uk
Feasta: Oil energy and
Ireland’s future
As usual Feasta is hitting the oil on the barrel with its
conference on Wednesday 12th October, from 9.30 – 17.15,
on ‘Energy Prices and Ireland’s Future’
(as part of the 9th Convergence Sustainable Living festival,
see http://sustainable.ie/convergence
). Places are free but limited, contact Feasta at 01 –
405 3615. This is followed by a lecture at 8.00 pm by a lecture
by Michael Meacher on ‘Oil, Climate and Food’
(fee €15), both events at the Cultivate Centre, 15 –
19 Essex street West, Dublin 8. Feasta, 10a Lower Camden Street,
Dublin 2, ph 01 – 405 3615, e-mail feasta@anu.ie
and web http://www.feasta.org
Corrymeela 40th anniversary service,
Belfast
The Corrymeela Community has a 40th Anniversary service at
St. John’s (Presbyterian) Church, Newtownbreda (near
the top of the Ormeau Road), Belfast at 10.15 am. on Sunday
16th October. It will be broadcast live on Radio Ulster. Corrymeela
leader David Stevens will be the speaker and there will be
involvement from Corrymeela musicians and members. Corrymela,
8 Upper Crescent, Belfast BT7 1NT, phone 028 – 9050
8080 and e-mail belfast@corrymeela.org
Nonviolent
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