The Militarisation of
Ireland
"The Militarisation of Ireland's foreign and defence
policy; A Decade of Betrayal, and the Challenge of Renewal"
is the latest report from Afri (24 pages, A4). Covering Shannon,
Iraq, Afghanistan, rendition, integration into EU/NATO/PfP
military structures, the EU Rapid Reaction Force, EU Battlegroups,
the international arms trade, and the challenge of renewal.
Available at €3 including postage from: Afri, 134 Phibsborough
Road, Dublin 7, ph. 01 - 8827563, e-mail afri@iol.ie,
web www.afri.ie
The Local Planet
The green movement needs a magazine which is 'out there',
in the shops, dealing with the issues that matter in an informative
way without being patronising or condescending - the sort
of magazine that you can give to anyone and say 'this is what
the green movement is about'. In a slot similar but different
to the old Earthwatch magazine, 'The Local Planet' is a quarterly,
64 pages A4 in full colour, retailing at €3.95 or £2.50.
The contents are very varied - the Spring issue has Richard
Douthwaite on climate change and poverty, and on peak oil;
articles on green education, green cars, powerdown, sparrows
in Antrim, winter in a passive solar house in Ireland, shopping
locally, political coverage, the EU, ethical investments,
squirrels and other animals, staying healthy cleaning the
house, gardening, fast breeder reactors etc. You may or may
not agree with everything but that is what being a political
magazine is about - informing and stimulating debate. Look
out for The Local Planet in the shops or subscribe directly:
€28 in Ireland, £28 UK, €35 worldwide, students
(Ireland and UK) €20, by phone to 057 - 9133119 / 9133985
/ 9133962, e-mail subscribe@localplanet.ie,
via the web at http://www.localplanet.ie
or to The Local Planet, Fivealley, Birr, Co Offaly.
Kember at Corrymeela
/ Programme Coordinator @ Corrymeela
Norman Kember, the British peace activist who worked with
Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) in Iraq until taken hostage
with other CPT members, will speak at the Corrymeela Centre,
Ballycastle, Co Antrim at 3.00 pm on Saturday 16th June. This
is part of the Church and Peace conference taking place at
Corrymeela (see Nonviolent News 147). Norman Kember is a retired
professor of biophysics, a Baptist, and a longstanding member
of the Fellowship of Reconciliation; he went to Iraq to show
his opposition the the invasion by the US-led coalition and
to show his solidarity with the Iraqi people. The Corrymeela
Centre in Ballycastle is contactable at 028 - 20762626 The
Church and Peace website is at http://www.church-and-peace.org
The Corrymeela Community is looking for a Programme
Co-ordinator to be based at Ballycastle, to co-ordinate, develop
and run reconciliation programmes there to help meet the vision
and purpose of the Corrymeela Community. For an application
pack contact: Anne McDonagh, Corrymeela house, 8 Upper Crescent,
Belfast BT7 1NT, ph 028 - 90508080, e-mail annemcdonagh@corrymeela.org
Closing date is midday on 15th June. Web http://www.corrymeela.org
Quakers look at peace
and reconciliation
This year Quakers in Ireland are hosting the Triennial Meeting
of the Friends World Committee for Consultation (FWCC - the
global body of Friends). This will take place in Dublin in
August and around 230 Quakers will travel from all continents
to attend. In the previous week, 7th - 11th August, local
friends and others in Ulster are organising a four day study
tour on 'Peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland'. Participants,
from a range of about ten countries, will visit people and
groups who work and have worked for reconciliation and the
political peace process. For further info about the 'Peace
and Reconciliation in Northern Ireland' event only, contact
Felicity McCartney at 028 - 90662777.
Mediation Northern Ireland;
Development officer, assistant jobs
Mediation Northern Ireland (MNI) is looking for people for
two posts i) a Development Officer who will develop strategic
partnerships locally and develop, train and support local
mediation practitioners; criteria include Group Mediation
Skills at OCN Level 3 or equivalent, and ii) a Development
Assistant who will provide administrative, logistical and
local support to the eight area based projects and to the
project team. For info pack contact: Personnel Officer, MNI,
83 University Street, Belfast BT7 1HP, ph 028 - 9043 8614
stating which post you're interested in, alternatively you
can download a pack from http://www.mediationnortherniteland.org
Closing date is 4pm on 19th June and interviews will be the
week beginning 25th June.
End the Occupation!
National demonstration, Saturday 9th June
On Saturday 9th June, people around the world will be demonstrating
for an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and
Gaza, now 40 years old. The demand is for 'a rights-based
solution and end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict' (http://www.badil.org/call-en.htm).
In Dublin, the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC)
is planning, with the help of other groups, to hold a march
and demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinian people
in support of this demand. Assembly will be outside the Central
Bank on Dame Street at 2.00 pm., the route will go past the
EU office on Molesworth Street where participants can register
their disapproval of the EU's ongoing sanctions against the
Palestinian people. The march, which will include street theatre
and music, will finish at the GPO in Dame Street. Everyone
is welcome. E-mail supportpalestine@ireland.com
and the website is at http://www.ipsc.ie
or phone 086 8124085 or 085 7216185. There will be coach transport
from Belfast; e-mail belfastipsc@yahoo.ie
or ph 077 88576932.
At Ease looks for volunteers
in the North
At Ease is a free advisory, counselling and information service
for members of the British armed forces and their families,
all the work is done by volunteers. At Ease is looking for
volunteers who will, after induction, give occasional help
and support to people in the armed forces in their area; this
may include interviewing clients, making hospital or custody
visits or observing courts martial etc. You can find out more
at http://www,atease.org.uk
or phone 0207 247 5164 between 5pm - 7pm on Sundays, e-mail
info@atease.org.uk
or contact At Ease at Toynbee Hall Site, 28 Commercial Street,
London E1 6LS.
Rights and Righteousness:
Religious Pluralism and Human Rights
This is a conference organised by the Northern Ireland Human
Rights Commission and the Irish School of Ecumenics Belfast,
taking place from 1st - 2nd November 2007, aiming to stimulate
productive and new discussions about the relationship between
faith and rights. The conference will be of interest to educators,
clergy, academics, students and human rights practitioners.
The call for short papers is open with a closing date of 15
June 2007 - questions to be explored include: Are rights everywhere
and everywhere the same? What role do cultural and religious
traditions have in the articulation of rights? Are human rights
necessarily secular as some advocates would argue? For details,
contact Louise Furber, NIHRC, ph 028 9024 3987, e-mail: louise.furber@nihrc.org
org visit either: http://www.nihrc.org
or http://www.tcd.ie/ise/news
Media workshop for development
education, and others
IDEA, the Irish Development Education Association, is running
a A Day for Development Education Practitioners and others
to develop Media Skills and Knowledge on Wednesday June 13th
2007 at The Cultivate Centre, Essex Street, Dublin 1 from
10.00 am - 4.15 pm. There is a choice of workshops: Local
Radio/Newspapers or EBulletins/Newsletters in the morning,
and Images - Codes of Practice or Use of New Technologies
in the afternoon. Fee €25 (€20 for IDEA members)
including lunch. Book by e-mail to ideaonline@eircom.net
and confirm your place by sending cheque to IDEA, 10 Upper
Camden Street, Dublin 2. Website http://www.ideaonline.ie
Transcend Summer School
Transcend Peace University, a global online centre for peace
studies, has a variety of summer school courses coming up:
Conflict Care and Reconciliation, by Prof. S.P. Udayakumar;
Gender and Militarism, by Prof. Gal Harmat; Peace Journalism,
by Prof. Jake Lynch; Non-violent Tools and Philosophy, by
Prof. Jorgen Johansen; Peace Zones, by Prof. Christophe Barbey;
Peace and Literature, by Prof. Marisa Antonaya; Dialogue,
Negotiation and Mediation, by Prof. S.P. Udayakumar; Non-violent
Political Institutions, by Prof. Christophe Barbey. These
will start on 9th July and run until 27th August. Applications
are received until 2nd July 2007. Each online course costs
€150 for participants coming from non-OECD member states,
and €300 for residents of OECD member countries. Check
it all out at http://www.transcend.org/tpu
or e-mail tpu@transcend.org
Ph/Fax: +40 264420298, Mobile: +40 724380551, Mailing address:
PO 1 Box 331, Cluj Napoca, 134919, Romania
EAPPI: Ecumenical Accompaniers
in Palestine and Israel
EAPPI, the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine
and Israel, is looking for people to work in the West Bank
and Israel in 2008; EAPPI provides protection by presence,
supports Israeli and Palestinian peace activists and advocates
for an end to the occupation. Contracts are mainly for 3 months
with an allowance paid. Deadline for applying is 31st August.
Application packs available from: http://www.quaker.org.uk/eappi
or contact: EAPPI Programme Coordinators, QPSW, 173 Euston
Rd, London NW1 2BJ, ph +44 (0)20 7663 1144 or e-mail: eappi@quaker.org.uk
There will be three people who will have served with EAPPI
from Ireland during 2007.
Amnesty International's
2007 Report
The Amnesty International Report 2007, launched in mid-May,
provides a comprehensive global overview of the state of the
world's human rights and covers 153 countries, documenting
human rights issues of concern to Amnesty International during
2006 and reflects the organisation's activities during the
year to promote human rights and to campaign against specific
human rights abuses. It is available at http://thereport.amnesty.org/eng/Homepage
See also http://www.amnesty.ie
and http://www.amnesty.org.uk/ni
for Amnesty in the Republic and the North.
24-25 year olds wanted
from Belfast, Derry/Londonderry, Dungannon
A research project at the University of Ulster on issues around
education and reconciliation in three European regions that
have experienced conflict (Basque Country, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Northern Ireland) is looking for 24-25 year olds from the
above areas willing to be interviewed; they are particularly
interested in talking to people with experiences such as being
victims of the Troubles, connections to the security forces,
links to ex-combatants, people associated with inter-group
relationships or marriages, and individuals from ethnic minorities.
Further info from Clare Magill, Project Coordinator, UNESCO
Centre, School of Education, University of Ulster, Cromore
Road, Coleraine BT52 1SA, phone 028 - 70323287, e-mail
c.magill@ulster.ac.uk and web http://www.ulster.ac.uk/unesco
Pax Christi International
submission on chemical weapons
The Second Review Conference on the Chemical Weapons Convention
(CWC) takes place from 7th to 18th April 2008 and Pax Christi
International (PCI) has made a submission regarding its recommendations
and concerns. "The creation of the Organization for the
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), responsible for the
implementation of the CWC, has been a success. Compared to
the Biological and Toxin Weapon Convention (BTWC), where no
such organization exists, the OPCW has managed to get more
countries to sign and ratify the CWC convention in a much
shorter period of time. The OPCW also appears to play a good
role in training inspectors and destroying stocks of old chemical
weapons. Acknowledging this, Pax Christi International reiterates
its plea for agreeing on an adequate verification regime for
the BTWC convention, learning from and similar to the experience
with the OPCW." However it goes on to outline concerns
including about export controls for dual use chemicals. The
destruction of stockpiles of chemical weapons is progressing
too slowly, the PCI report states.
Concern about new technological advances includes
nanomicelles or nanocapsules, which can be used to encapsulate
any substance including a poison and deliver it to a targeted
location inside the human body, and other developments which
need to be looked at in relation to the verification regime.
Finally PCI expresses its concern about non-lethal weapons:
"Another worrying evolution is the renewed interest for
the development and use of non-lethal chemical weapons for
military purposes and the development of chemical non-lethal
incapacitating agents. The CWC clearly prohibits the development,
possession and use of chemical weapons that can cause death,
temporary incapacitation or permanent harm. But recent progress
in the biochemical and pharmaceutical industry have allowed
the identification of various types of new chemicals. Often
discarded as purely pharmaceutical by the producing companies,
these new chemicals have nevertheless sparked keen interest
in military and policing circles for their potential development
into non-lethal incapacitating agents. The CWC prohibits their
development and use for military purposes, but does not explicitly
prohibit their use for law enforcement purposes."
Pax Christi International, Rue du Vieux Marché
aux Grains 21, B-1000 Bruxelles, Belgium, ph. +32(0)2.502.55.50
http://www.paxchristi.net
Children in Crossfire's
Anniversary Conference
Children in Crossfire is celebrating its 10th anniversary
with a 2-day International Conference on Children's Rights
and has announced His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet,
as the keynote speaker for the event. Other speakers including
Jane Olson of Human Rights Watch, veteran journalist Fergal
Keane and recent Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot
Ahern. The conference is made up of a variety of workshops
that will explore a range of issues relating to Children's
Rights from a local and global perspective. Delegates from
a wide variety of sectors will get the opportunity to exchange
experiences and engage in critical debate. For further information:
conference@childrenincrossfire.org
and web http://www.childrenincrossfire.org,
ph 028 71 269 898. It will take place at the City Hotel and
Millennium Forum, Derry on Tuesday 17th and Wednesday 18th
July 2007 [Source: CGE E-Bulletin, June 2007, http://www.centreforglobaleducation.com
]
Deadline for July issue; 30th June (there
will be no August issue though if material warrants it then
there may be an e-mail supplement; the following full issue
will be the start of September).
Nonviolent
News is usually produced 10 times a year (on
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