SUPPLEMENT to Number 341, Belfast, 1st August 2026
Please note this is a relatively short supplement with mainly time-limited or immediate information, not a full issue (the next one will appear at the start of September)
ICND: Annual commemoration of Hiroshima bombing, Dublin
This year will mark the 81st anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, which took place on 6th August 1945. Irish CND will be holding the customary annual commemoration in Merrion Square in Dublin.
The ceremony will take place at the memorial cherry tree in Merrion Square Park, Dublin, at 1.10 pm o Thursday 6th August. There will be short speeches by Lord Mayor of Dublin Daryl Barron, Japanese Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission in Ireland, Mr Koji Hirohata, and Afri Board member, Dr Patrick Bresnihan (Maynooth University). There will also be contributions of music and poetry, and a wreath of flowers will be laid at the tree at the close of the commemoration. Both Irish CND and Afri are members of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), so it is fitting that both organisations are involved in the commemoration.
An estimated 80,000 people were directly killed by the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, with casualties reaching 140,000 within a year. Approximately 12,500 nuclear weapons remain in the world today, more than enough to destroy life on earth as we know it many times over.
ICND continues “Sadly, the dark shadow of the possibility of nuclear war looms more grimly than perhaps ever before. Spending on nuclear weapons reached more than $119 billion last year, a shocking new high, with more than half of this expenditure deriving from the United States. Nuclear weapons states are all engaged in modernising their arsenals and delivery systems. Five of the nine nuclear-armed states have engaged in international military attacks in the past year alone. It would only take a moment of madness to plunge the world into an irreversible nuclear war.
Yet there are positive signs of progress. More countries continue to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons each year. The Treaty has now been signed or ratified by 100 countries, more than half the recognised states in the world. The first Review Conference of the Treaty will take place later this year.
We must meet darkness with the light of positive hope and determination. We look forward to welcoming as many of you as possible to our commemoration in Merrion Square, remembering eight decades of the legacy of nuclear destruction. Wherever you are, even if you are not in a position to join us in person this year, please do join us in spirit to stand in solidarity with the victims of these horrific weapons of mass destruction, and to affirm our determination to work for their elimination, the only way to ensure that the ghastly events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will not be repeated.” http://irishcnd.blogspot.ie/ www.afri.ie
Hiroshima, Nagasaki lantern vigil, Belfast, 5th August evening
There will be a commemorative lantern vigil held at the Big Fish/Donegall Quay/Lagan Weir from 9.00pm – 11.30pm on Wednesday 5th August to mark the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings and stand for nuclear disarmament today. As Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann is on in Belfast at this time with a main stage at the City Hall, the Big Fish was chosen as an alternative venue….but attendees can combine a visit to the Fleadh with the vigil (or vice versa!). Bring a lantern or failing that a candle in a jar. The event is organised by INNATE innate@ntlworld.com and see flyer at https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Hiroshima-Nagasaki-vigil-26.08.pdf Lantern vigils are being promoted by Pax Christi International https://paxchristi.net/lanterns-for-peace-from-hiroshima-to-the-world/ and this address includes instructions for making your own lantern……
Afri Doolough walk video, sponsored cycle in September
Afri’s Doolough ‘Famine’ Walk is always a powerful occasion and you can visit or revisit the June event of this year in a 14 minute video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayK0TILHiLk and there are photos at https://lightroom.adobe.com/shares/1e90b33ca4a643bfb8d64e8f7aa35e0f Donnah Vuma’s reflections at the walk are at https://www.rundale.org/2026/07/21/what-doolough-asks-of-us/ and Patrick Bresnihan’s at https://www.rundale.org/2026/07/21/republic-or-empire/ The 2027 ‘Famine’ Walk will be on 19th June next year.
Meanwhile on 12th September there is a sponsored ‘Famine’ Walk Solidarity Cycle on the same Louisburgh-Doolough-Louisburgh route (both ways) led by Joe Murray, former Afri coordinator, and Richard Moore, of Children in Crossfire. This will support Afri’s work for peace, justice, human rights and sustainability. The start will be in Louisburgh Town Hall at 12 noon. More info at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1O3vp3_a8Cy5MEXA2KTn6pVfZNyt57rN9/view
Demilitarise for the Just Transition!
The third annual Week of Action for Peace & Climate Justice, backed by a wide variety of groups, is taking place from 21st – 27th September and will address the links between war, militarism/militarisation and social, economic and climate injustice; the title of the week is Divest from War – Invest in The Just Transition! It will promote grassroots action and policymaking to confront both genocide and ecocide – for peace and a just systemic transition. As the Week of Action website states “amid escalating climate change effects and their disastrous toll on social and economic well-being, governments across the globe are militarising at pace. Over the last two years, a majority of NATO and EU states have committed to historic increases in military spending while gutting public funds for real climate and biodiversity action, overseas aid, social welfare, migrant justice, civil society and peacebuilding. This trend is echoed globally and, indeed, has global consequences for people and planetary health.” See https://climatemilitarism.org/weekofaction/ Source: War Resisters’ International www.wri-irg.org
Peace News rides again
British peace publication Peace News (founded 1936) restarts publication in September with a relaunch pilot issue after a couple of years hiatus. The new ‘PN’ will be quarterly in full colour magazine format. They state “PN will continue to be a space for news, reflection, analysis and promotion of pacifism, anti-militarism, and nonviolence, of campaigns and actions for social, economic and environmental justice. We aim to have a wide range of contributors and book reviewers, and encourage broad discussion through comment articles and a lively letters page.” A new editor has still to be appointed – the post will be advertised in the first issue – but an admin worker, Maryam Namazie, is in place. Subscription rates are still to be announced. editorial@peacenews.info
From Othering to Belonging
john a. powell is director of the Othering and Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley https://belonging.berkeley.edu/ and a highly regarded thinker in the US on racism, identity, democracy and belonging. He visited Ireland in early June as a guest of Social Change Initiative and the Community Foundation Ireland. His thinking provides a very useful counterpoint to concepts about scapegoating and division, as in Northern Ireland. See https://www.socialchangeinitiative.com/from-othering-to-belonging-creating-a-world-where-everyone-belongs
l Attitudes in the Republic of Ireland towards immigration, trans rights, class, wealth and public housing are more progressive and inclusive than the narrative of polarisation dominating national debate – according to Hope and Courage Collective‘s first Ireland in Focus report, which tracks key developments, trends and events from 2024 to 2025. https://tinyurl.com/36sa3n7x with full report at https://hopeandcourage.ie/ireland-in-focus-mind-the-gap/
On democracy
Deciding how decisions are made is often the most important decision that people make. There is a new short exposition of the de Borda Institute www.deborda.org approach; “Democracy is for everybody, not just a majority, and definitely not just the majority. True democracy leaves no community behind.” See https://www.tasc.ie/blog/2026/07/24/democracy-is-for-everybody-not-just-a-majority-and-definitely-not-just-the-majority/
Síolta Chroí courses
Síolta Chroí run regular courses and you can sign up to receive their news at https://sioltachroi.ie/ and click on ‘Get updates’. Their aim is to “teach people how to grow food in ways that heal the land, strengthen communities, and create a healthier future.” Upcoming courses include ones on food fermentation (15th August) with Laura and Ruairí of Bio Cultures and one on 3rd October on seeds and seed-saving with Conor O’Kane, to mention just a couple. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/sioltachroi Síolta Chroí, Aghacloghan, Carrickmacross, Monaghan A81C998.