Gr8 events mark alternatives
The programme of the Fairer World Festival, showing and discussing alternatives to the policies associated with the G8 conference (which takes place in Co Fermanagh, near Enniskillen, on 17th and 18th June), is online at http://www.fairerworldfestival.org and paper copies are available from the NI Committee of the ICTU. There are a wide variety of political and cultural events but highlights include:
March and rally in Belfast on Saturday 15th June, assembling at Custom House Square at 12 noon and walking to City Hall where there will be a rally, finishing in time for people to attend the Big IF event at Belfast’s Botanic Gardens from 2pm – 5.30 pm, this IF event is ticketed, see http://www.enoughfoodif.org/northernireland
G8 Not Welcome Demonstration takes place from 6.30 pm on Monday 17th June, assembling at Enniskillen Library; buses from Belfast, Derry and Dublin, contact g8notwelcome@gmail.com or 07743 282321.
CAJ/Committee on the Administration of Justice will be monitoring the big demonstrations in both Belfast and Fermanagh, http://www.caj.org.uk
INNATE’s contribution to the programme is a socio-economic-political-cultural walking tour of central Belfast on both Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th June, meet at front of Belfast City Hall at 10 a.m. either morning.
Note the time and venue for Amnesty International’s film “Diaz: Don’t clean up this blood” has changed from the printed programme due to the closure of QUB for the weekend – check http://www.niireland@amnesty.org.uk
Buddhist monk’s peace pilgrimage to Fermanagh
Since 2009 Japanese Buddhist monk Toyoshige Sekiguchi has been walking around the world praying for the peaceful rest of all who have died in nuclear accidents and violence and also for the abolition of nuclear devices and nuclear power plants as well as for harmonious relationships between religions throughout the world. He started his peace walk from Belfast on Wednesday 5th June, hoping to arrive in Enniskillen on 14th before the G8 Summit. You can join him, offer accommodation or food; he is walking 10 miles a day so intended stopping points are Lisburn 5th June, Moira 6th, Portadown 7th, Armagh 8th, Caledon 9th, Aughnacloy 10th, Clogher 11th, Fivemiletown 12th, Maguiresbridge 13th, Enniskillen 14th June. During the walk his UK mobile number is 07840 250 224.
Upstanding
‘Upstanding - Stories of courage from Northern Ireland’ is a film featuring ten diverse accounts from people who stood up to violence, discrimination or prejudice in Northern Ireland. It provides a window into often untold stories of courage that individuals have shown in the context of a divided and often violent society. The film will be used by schools across Northern Ireland and beyond to explore what it means to show courage and stand up to violence in difficult circumstances. The film forms part of a wider resource which includes a book containing transcriptions from the accounts featured in the film plus additional stories of upstanding and a guide to support classroom use – there will be two training sessions with educators on how to use the resource in educational settings. For more information contact Sean Pettis via e-mail seanpettis@corrymeela.org Produced as part of ‘Facing our History, Shaping the Future’, a Corrymeela Community project in partnership with Facing History and Ourselves. For more information visit www.corrymeela.org
Northern Ireland: Day of Reflection
The annual Day of Reflection will be held on Friday, 21st June, the longest day of the year. This is an initiative promoted by Healing Through Remembering as a day for personal and private reflection; a day to acknowledge the deep hurt and pain caused by the conflict, to reflect on our own attitudes, on what more we might have done or might still do, and to make a personal commitment that such loss should never be allowed to happen again. It provides a voluntary opportunity for everyone in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Great Britain and further afield to reflect upon the conflict in and about Northern Ireland and the future that is before us. This could be at work or within a family, group or organisation. See http://www.dayofreflection.com or contact Healing Through Remembering, Alexander House, 17a Ormeau Avenue, Belfast BT2 8HD, ph 028 9023 8844.
MNI Summer school: Fostering dialogues across divides
Mediation Northern Ireland’s Dialogue Summer School takes place from 10 am – 2pm each day 19th – 22nd June at Riddel Hall, Stranmillis, Belfast; it draws on the techniques of Augusto Boal and Paulo Freire to explore creative ways to explore and respond to issues. Workshops will include the Max-Neef human needs model, frames that we work out of, forum theatre, and newspaper theatre. Participation is free for any or all of these days but booking is essential, by 12th June. Details at http://www.mediationnorthernireland.org or contact Miriam at 028 90438614 or e-mail miriam@mediationnorthernireland.org
Shannon vigil
As part of their ongoing response to the continuing use of Shannon Airport by the US military, Shannonwatch are holding a vigil outside the airport from 2pm to 3pm on Sunday 9th June. The vigil will be attended by a number of TDs including Clare Daly and Mick Wallace who will call for government action in line with their stated commitment to international law and Irish neutrality. For more information email shannonwatch@gmail.com or phone 087 8225087, see also http://www.shannonwatch.org
Conflict Resolution, Mediation and Peacemaking course
A six day course will be held at the Glencree Centre, Co Wicklow from Monday 12th to Saturday 17th August. The course is accredited by the Mediator’s Institute of Ireland and is presented by Geoffrey Corry. It gives a solid grounding in the mediation process, particularly for interpersonal disputes, and includes a small module on the peacemaking lessons of the Irish peace process. For further information go to the Glencree website http://www.glencree.ie which also has news of what has been happening in Glencree more generally, and you can sign up to receive their newsletter.
Pax Christi AGM
The AGM of Pax Christi Ireland, an all Ireland section of Pax Christi International, was held in Dublin in May. Dr. Bryan Maguire was elected Chairperson of the organisation. Mairead McKeown from Belfast and Sr. Margaret Ivers from Dublin were also elected to the executive committee. There was a short reflection on Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth), a papal encyclical celebrating its 50th anniversary. Bryan spoke about it relevance today and highlighted some of the aspects related to universal common good, relationship on the basis of truth and justice, human rights and disarmament. The annual report highlighted the international advocacy work of Pax Christi Ireland on issues related to anti-personnel landmines, cluster munitions, the Arms Trade Treaty and Nuclear Disarmament at meetings held at the United Nations, in Vienna, Geneva and New York and participation of Pax Christi at various other international meetings on these issues. It also recalled the presentation of Senator Douglas Roche of Canada to the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs on Nuclear Disarmament and his visit to President Higgins organised by Pax Christi. Contacts: 52 Lower Rathmines Road, Dublin 6, ph 01 496 5293, http://www.paxchristi.ie
CAJ guides on stop and search, assembly, Human Rights Act
CAJ/Committee on the Administration of Justice has published two new rights guides for Northern Ireland:
Rights Guide 2: Stop and Search – a guide to your rights if stopped, questioned and searched by the PSNI; this details the different stop and search powers which are legitimately available to the PSNI, along with the human rights which are engaged, and what you can do, if they are used incorrectly.
Rights Guide 3: Protesting and Parading – a guide to your rights to freedom of assembly in Northern Ireland: sets out what the law says you need to do when organising parades or protests and which human rights issues are relevant.
The Guides cover a range of human rights topics and are written in plain English. The first, Rights Guide 1 looks at the Human Rights Act. All guides are available online at http://www.caj.org.uk/rights-guides Given the changing nature of policy, law and practice, paper copies of the two new guides are not generally available.
Rossport Solidarity Camp Week of Action
This takes place from 21st – 30th June at Pullathomas, Co Mayo - a week of action against Shell’s Corrib Gas Project. This week has been called to coincide with one of Shell’s busiest work times, acting in solidarity with the 13 year old campaign in Mayo against Shell’s Corrib Gas Project. The week will be packed with a wide variety of actions and there will be something useful for everyone to do, regardless of experience and skills. The Rossport Solidarity Camp is being erected specifically for this week, and will be taken back down when the week is completed. For info see http://www.rossportsolidaritycamp.orghttp://www.shelltosea.com or Facebook.
Eco-Congregation Ireland
You can sign up to receive Eco-Congregation Ireland’s monthly newsletter at http://ecocongregationireland.com. It aims to see churches throughout Ireland adopt an eco approach to worship, lifestyle, property and finance management, community outreach and contact with the developing world.
Women and Men Peacemakers
To celebrate 24th May – International Women’s Day for Peace and Disarmament – the Women Peacemakers Program (WPP), in cooperation with Humanity House, organised the public event “Peace: Men & Women as Allies” in Den Haag. An overview of the highlights of the evening can be found here.
This event also saw the launch of the WPP Publication for 24th May, “Men and Women working as Partners for Gender-sensitive Active Nonviolence – A Collection of Stories from the Field”. This features a collection of personal stories of the men trained during the 2009-2010 Training of Trainers (ToT) Cycle, complemented by the reflections of pioneering women peacemakers on these journeys of transformation. Three years after the training, the trainees share how the ToT experience impacted them on many levels - from the deeply personal to the family, community and work level. The men's testimonies show that any social change starts with profound personal transformation. See here.
Victims in Post-Conflict Northern Ireland
The INCORE International Summer School lecture will be on 'Engaging, Acknowledging and Supporting Victims in Post-conflict Northern Ireland' and be given by Kathryn Stone, Commissioner for Victims and Survivors, and taking place at 6.30 p.m on Wednesday, 19th June in MD007 (Main building), Magee campus. Refreshments will be served before the lecture, from 6 p.m. The lecture will provide an outline of the work of the Commission and the Commissioner in engaging, acknowledging and supporting victims and survivors.
Two members of the Forum will contribute to the lecture, sharing their experiences to date and in particular share their work and contribution to dealing with the past from the victims’ perspective. Kathryn Stone was appointed as the new Commissioner for Victims and Survivors for Northern Ireland in 2012. RSVP to Janet Farren, Je.farren@ulster.ac.uk; 028-7167557.
INCORE Summer School bursaries
The Community Relations Council is providing 10 full bursaries for Northern Ireland community relations practitioners at the INCORE International Summer School 17th-21st June but closing date is 9am on 10th June. See http://www.incore.ulster.ac.uk for full details.
Report on Syria visit
Mairead Maguire and Ann Patterson were among a delegation which travelled to Damascus, Syria, and to Lebanon in May. Mairead Maguire’s report on the visit is available on the Peace People website“After a 10 days visit to Lebanon and Syria, leading a 16 person delegation from 8 countries, invited by Mussalaha Reconciliation Movement, I have returned hopeful that peace is possible in Syria, if all outside interference is stopped and the Syrians are allowed to solve their own problems upholding their right to self-determination.” See also here.
Next INNATE monthly networking meeting: 7pm on Monday 10th June at Corrymeela House, 8 Upper Crescent, Belfast. SUBSCRIPTIONS are on a calendar year basis: UK£10 or €15 minimum, £5 or €8 unwaged or you can have Nonviolent News e-mailed, suggested donation £5 or €8 minimum. Subs can be paid by British or Irish cheque or by PayPal.
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