Peace seemed a long way away with war in Europe (Ukraine) as well as many other parts of the globe, Northern Ireland still not at peace within itself, and the Republic getting sucked deeper and deeper into the morass of the arms trade and EU militarisation. Sometimes all that it is possible to do is state clearly that ‘there is an alternative’ and work, and hope, that people can see that alternative before it is too late. Already it is too late to avoid some drastic effects of global warming.
In terms of public presence, we organised a demonstration to call into question Thales arms production in Castlereagh, Belfast https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/51943904438/in/dateposted/ on St Patrick’s Day – this well attended event received additional attention because of the war in Ukraine (it was organised before that started) but one TV interview conducted during it was never aired, presumably because of an – accurate – description of corruption by Thales). However we did in mid-year run a discussion programme for community TV station in Belfast NVTV, and we hope to do more in this regard. https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/52245726256/in/dateposted/ We were also involved in promoting a picket of an Irish government arms event in Dublin organised by Afri; see https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/52408699982/in/dateposted/ and accompanying photos.
Early in 2022 INNATE handed over the coordinatorship of StoP/Swords to Ploughshares which INNATE had been involved in founding a bit more than a year previously. StoP is a an all-island network on the arms trade and demilitarisation and it continues to meet regularly online and organise webinars including a very useful one on ‘human security’. https://www.facebook.com/SToPIreland and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpcK1QYLk6M
INNATE completed the transfer of most of the peace movement archives it held to PRONI/Public Record Office for Northern Ireland. A full list of the material transferred is available on request. However a more extensive list of online materials on the INNATE websites was produced (https://innatenonviolence.org/ as the main website and https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland as its photo and documentary site). This listing has been included in Nonviolent News and is on the website at https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/INNATE-online-listing-2023-for-web.pdf .
Nonviolent News was produced monthly in its usual 10 full issues and two news supplements (for January and August). https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/category/nonviolent-news/ The INNATE photo and documentary site now has upwards of two and a half thousand entries with many new additions during the year, both contemporary and archival, and this site has now had well over half a million opening of photos (you can see photos and a caption without opening them to see more detail).
Another production, at the start of the year was a 15-page publication, “Peace groups in Ireland through the years”. This is not intended as an exhaustive history but rather a listing since the 19th century with brief facts plus details about where to find further information, i.e. to signpost where to find out more for those interested, and the link is at https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/pamphlets/ – it will be updated as needed.
INNATE ran a workshop on ‘Nonviolent struggle in the global South’ for the One World Festival in the North; a report appears at https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/2022/11/03/the-effectiveness-of-violence-and-nonviolence/ The coordinator gave a keynote talk at the Afri Hedge School in TUD Blanchardstown on “The war in Ukraine, Irish and EU responses, and possibilities for peace”.
As with so many voluntary, political and community groups, you may get to see ‘the duck gliding serenely by’ – but not the energetic paddling going on under the water. INNATE is sustained by a small number of activists but in the Zoom and internet era ‘anyone anywhere’ can be involved – please get in touch if you might be interested in being involved in any way or have suggestions for work to be done. And as usual INNATE exists on a very frayed financial shoestring – and all work is done voluntarily – so subscriptions and donations of any size are very welcome.
– Rob Fairmichael, Coordinator, February 2023