The Matrix vote
For a proportional, all-party, power-sharing Executive. Whether...the NI Assembly is electing a fully inclusive Executive; a parliament is electing an all-party coalition 'government of national unity'; a parliament or local council is appointing the chairs of various select committees; or a political party or community association is choosing an executive committee.....the appropriate voting procedure is the matrix vote. To take the NI executive as an example, using this tabular methodology would allow all MLAs to be able to aspire to office, and all MLAs to have an equal influence on the outcome...without any resort to party labels let alone designations of other distinctions. Sponsored by Steven Agnew MLA, David Ford MLA, Alban Maginness MLA, John McCallister MLA, Nelson McCausland MLA and Francie Molloy MLA, you are invited to a seminar on the matrix vote in Room 144, Parliament Buildings, Stormont, Belfast at 12.00 noon on Wednesday 12th September to be presented by Peter Emerson, director, the de Borda Institute, www.deborda.org Please contact pemerson@deborda.org if interested in attending.
My kind of nonviolence launch, Coleraine
International Day of Peace, Friday 21st September, will see the launch of INNATE's booklet 'My kind of nonviolence' in which fifteen people from around Ireland share their thoughts on what nonviolence means in their lives. The launch event takes place at 7pm in the council chamber of Coleraine Town Hall and will include songs from Tony Kempster of the International Peace Bureau, a talk by Nobel laureate Mairead Maguire, and a guided tour of the Stitching and unstitching the Troubles exhibition (see following item). All interested welcome, further details from INNATE. 'My kind of nonviolence' will appear on the INNATE website as well as the production of a limited number of paper copies.
Stitching and unstitching the Troubles, Coleraine
This is an exhibition with associated workshops and events exploring responses to conflict through textile art, curated by Roberta Bacic assisted by Breege Doherty. Nearly forty quilts and arpilleras from seven countries will be displayed to inspire dialogue on the Troubles in the North East area. Open Monday to Saturday, 11am - 4pm from 5th - 29th September in Coleraine Town Hall. Organised by North East PEACE III partnership Cultural Fusions Project, developed by Causeway Museum Service and Mid-Antrim Museums Service, this will include the production of textile arpilleras which will be displayed in a second phase of the programme in Ballymena in spring 2013. Full details here. Workshops need booking as recorded there but the exhibition is open.
Corrymeela lecture series
Corrymeela will be hosting a series of lunchtime lectures over the course of the next year. The inaugural lecture will take place on UN Peace Day 21st September 2012. Venue will be at The MAC in Belfast on the 4th floor in the 'Hub' room. The speaker will be Rebecca Dudley, Human Rights Policy Consultant formerly of Human Rights Commission and she will be speaking on Human Rights and Peace Building. The lecture will take place from 1.30pm - 2.30pm with registration at 1pm and tea/coffee on arrival. This is part of a new programme of Corrymeela activities in Belfast and further information will be on the website www.corrymeela.org
Poppies for remembrance, and peace
Autumn brings the lead up to the 'Remembrance season' in Britain and Ireland and, for those who wish, the opportunity to remember those who died in wars and make a statement for peace at the same time by wearing a white poppy. The Peace Pledge Union in Britain sells white poppies (profits support their work) at £3.50 for 5, 10 for £7 or 25 for £15, plus £3 post and packing (UK postal area prices). You can also e-mail mail@ppu.org.uk or see www.whitepoppy.org.uk or their website in general at www.ppu.org.uk Other resources on war and peace are also available and listed. PPU, 1 Peace Passage, London N7 0BT, ph 020 7424 9444.
INNATE has a limited number of white poppies available - contact us.
VSI training seminar
'Get Outdoors and Have Fun' is the name of a training seminar being organised by VSI in Avoca, Co. Wicklow 2nd - 9th September. The seminar brings together youth leaders from the Caucasus region including Georgia, Armenia and Abkhazia with young people from Poland and Ireland. Citizens of Abkhazia and Georgia do not meet each other since the civil war in the early 1990's and it is hoped with this small effort some seeds may be sown for future actions from the participants. More details at www.vsi.ie
PANA on Iranian nuclear activities
PANA (the Peace And Neutrality Alliance) has available the booklet 'Some facts about Iran's nuclear activities' by Dr David Morrison on its website: www.pana.ie This is a well documented 24 page publication considering the actual position, starting with a quote from Reuters (March 2012) that "The United States, European allies and even Israel generally agree on three things about Iran's nuclear program: Tehran does not have a bomb, has not decided to build one, and is probably years away from having a deliverable nuclear warhead."
It then goes on to consider pressure by the US and its allies, double standards regarding nuclear weapons and other aspects of the situation. Roger Cole, Chair of PANA stated: " It is not in the interests of the Irish people that we line up behind Israel and support a war on Iran the consequences will not just be a disaster for the people of Iran, but the peoples of the world. The Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore has a constitutional obligation under articles 1, 2 & 3 of Article 29 to seek the pacific settlement of international disputes...."
Fermanagh fracking
Current contacts for the Fermanagh Fracking Awareness Network are to the chair, Dr Carroll O'Dolan, at chair@frackaware.com and if the matter is urgent, please copy the email to info@frackaware.com [see NN 198 for general list of Irish fracking contacts]
Research on Troubles in Co Tyrone
Amy Grubb, a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at University of California, Irvine, is conducting a study of the Troubles in Omagh and Dungannon districts in county Tyrone from 1971-1976. She is looking for people who lived in those areas and are willing to be interviewed on personal experiences, community relations and organizations for her dissertation "The Microdynamics of Violence and Order: Comparing Community Social Processes." E-mail agrubb@uci.edu
Manx anti-militarist group, Shee Nish!
Shee Nish! (Manx Gaelic for Peace Now!) is a new anti-militarist group on the Isle of Man. It is a wide coalition of interested people, ranging from Manx nationalists, CAAT supporters, young graduates and finance sector professionals to pensioners and religious pacifists. The immediate concern will be getting UK Ministry of Defence recruiters out of Manx schools. It will also resist further involvement of the current Manx finance sector and an emerging Manx space technology industry in the international arms trade. As a British dependency the island contributes £3 million annually to the MOD budget, yet the Manx parliament and people have no means of expressing an opinion on any UK military escapades involuntarily underwritten.
Faced with growing disinterest from UK youth, MOD recruiters (with the active assistance of the Manx Education Department) are increasingly entering Manx schools. Peace campaigners elsewhere are invited to add Shee Nish! to their mailing lists, and if its familiarity with the Manx finance sector in particular and offshore finance world in general could be useful, please contact via stuarth@manx.net and they will help where they can.
Pax Christi International: New secretary, peace award
JosÈ HenrÌquez, from El Salvador, as the new Secretary General of Pax Christi International. JosÈ has been actively engaged with the international peace movement since he coordinated the first Pax Christi Latin America and Caribbean Consultation in 2007. He brings to Pax Christi International a deep personal commitment to peace and social justice.
Meanwhile the 2012 Pax Christi International Peace Laureate is His Grace Archbishop Dr. John Onaiyekan for his efforts in promoting understanding between people of different faiths through dialogue in Africa, and particularly in his country, Nigeria. His work in Nigeria and other African countries, as the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, the Co-Chair for the African Council of Religious Leaders - Religions for Peace (ACRL - RfP), and immediate former Co-Chair of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) immensely and conspicuously contributed to peace. See here.
Chernobyl Children International launch raffle
Chernobyl Children International (CCI) have launched an annual raffle to help the work; "As with other organisations in this tough economic climate, our budgets have been drastically reduced and this raffle is vital to support many of our on-going programmes, particularly two cardiac missions to Kharkiv, Ukraine." explained Adi Roche. Tickets, costing Ä5, can be purchased from Chernobyl Children International's online store at http://www.chernobyl-international.com or directly from CCI on 021 431 2999. The draw takes place at the end of November.
African nonviolence network
In July in Johannesburg, South Africa, peacemakers from 12 countries in Africa met to share experiences, and birthed a new, continent-wide African Nonviolence and Peace-building Network. The delegates from over a dozen organisations pledged to intensify coordinated nonviolent resistance from the South to the North of Africa. The network acknowledges that there are many other networks in the continent and aims to connect with them to expand the work on nonviolence and peace-building in the region. The African Nonviolence Trainers Exchange was hosted by War Resisters' International (WRI) and Ceasefire Campaign. The 30-plus participants hailed from 12 countries (Egypt, South Sudan, Eritrea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa), with some other internationals present. See africannonviolencetrainers.blogspot.co.uk
Shannon Vigil, Sunday 9th September
The ongoing peaceful protest against the military misuse of Shannon Airport continues on Sunday 9th September from 2pm to 3pm; as usual, meet at the small roundabout before airport entrance. With the threat of war against Iran still looming, there is a grave danger that Shannon and Ireland will be bullied or brainwashed into supporting another illegal invasion. The consequences of such a war would be catastrophic - just as they were for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. Meanwhile August saw three US K35 mid-air refuelling tankers land at Shannon, with another on September 1st. The airport is clearly being retained as a US military base, despite the fact that troop numbers are down in recent months. For more information see www.shannonwatch.org or phone 087 8225087.
Forthspring interface job
Forthspring in Belfast are currently advertising for a new position of project worker to deliver and manage a Cross Interface Community Planning Project supporting residents and communities to develop innovative approaches to participate in community planning and engage in partnership working. Closing date 19th September, the paper work relating to the post can be downloaded from www.communityni.org Forthspring Inter-Community Group, 373-375 Springfield Road, Belfast BT12 7DG, ph 028 90 313945, fscommunity@btconnect.com and http://www.forthspring.org.ukwww.forthspring.org.uk
INNATE monthly networking meeting: 7pm Monday 17th September in Corrymeela House, 8 Upper Crescent, Belfast - all interested welcome.
Deadline for October issue: 1st October. There was no news supplement for August as the news in did not justify a mailing.
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