All posts by Rob Fairmichael

News, April 2025

Nonviolent News, ,

Forthspring plan Belfast-based Institute for Nonviolence

Forthspring https://www.forthspring.org/, a cross-community centre at the Catholic-Protestant interface on the Springfield Road, Belfast, is transforming to an Institute for Nonviolence.  New Director, Dr Kate Laverty, is bringing to the fore her work with the Martin Luther King Institute for Nonviolence in the USA https://www.nonviolenceinstitute.org/ Her experience in promoting nonviolence principles in her youth work practice will serve as a springboard to launch the new methodology in Forthspring as it enters its 30th year later in 2025. For anyone interested in being part of this evolution, get in touch. Contact: Dr Kate Laverty, Director, 07746984833, director@forthspring.com     See also article by Kate Laverty in email and web editions of this issue.

Resistance continues to Triple Lock axe

The ‘Save Irish Neutrality, Save the Triple Lock’ campaign involving a wide variety of groups continues to work in opposition to Irish government plans to axe it. While a Social Democrat motion in the Dáil to hold a plebiscite/referendum on the issue was voted down through a government counter-motion, the government plans to move legislation through the committee stage so there is still time for citizen pressure to work. A comprehensive rebuttal of government arguments is made in various resources including the August 2024 document from the Transnational Institute https://www.tni.org/en/publication/saving-the-triple-lock

Mothers Against Genocide manhandled at Dáil

There were eleven arrests and three legal charges, plus some police cautions, on 30th March at the end of a Mothers Against Genocide all night Mothers’ Day vigil on Palestine outside the Dáil in Dublin. The group had already announced their intention to leave a couple of hours later. What some found particularly distasteful was that photos of dead Palestinian children were treated like dirt by by the Gardaí. See coverage at https://www.facebook.com/search/posts/?q=mothers%20against%20genocide and other media.

Missing Peace toolkit

The Glencree Centre for Peace & Reconciliation (Glencree), together with its consortium partners from five different countries in the Missing Peace project, have launched a new resource to help youth workers, educators and community practitioners engage young people in peacebuilding and reconciliation. The 68-page Missing Peace Project Toolkit, developed as part of the EU-funded Missing Peace project, provides 12 interactive activities designed to foster dialogue, critical thinking and conflict resolution skills. Further information and a link for downloading can be found at https://glencree.ie/homepage-highlight/missing-peace-toolkit/

Mairead Maguire in Gaza fast

Nobel Peace laureate Mairead Maguire is undertaking a 40 day liquids only fast for Gaza and the world’s children suffering from the violence of hunger and war. “Refuse to hate, refuse to kill each other and demand instead dialogue and negotiation.  Today in Gaza, the policy of starvation of 2.5 million people, by Israeli policies, is continuing and it is killing the children,  we see it and it is breaking our hearts!!!”. https://www.peacepeople.com/nobel-peace-laureate-maguire-starts-40-day-fast-for-gaza-and-the-worlds-children-for-peace/

Frank Aiken lectures

There has been a change of date for the Frank Aiken Evening previously announced (e.g. in last issue) to take place on 27th March. This will now take place on Wednesday 2nd April. “The Legacy of Frank Aiken – The Role of Small Countries in Times of Danger and Uncertainty” – An Evening of Talks and Discussion hosted by Lex Innocentium, 21st Century  and  the Irish School of Ecumenics now takes place on Wednesday, 2nd of April 2025, at 7.00 p.m. in Room G16, Loyola Building, Trinity College Dublin Speakers include Dr. Stephen Kelly, Dr. Patrick Bresnihan, and Dr. John Maguire. Lex Innocentium, 21st Century website is at https://lexinnocentium21.ie/

Thales to open third NI site

With war in Ukraine and rearmament in many countries, business and profits are booming for the lagest arms company on the island of Ireland, Thales. They have announced new investment and the intention to set up a third site in Northern Ireland, recruiting 200 more workers. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgl0z7gxpg2o See also Thales fact file in email and web editions of this issue.

Adi Roche on 14 years after Fukushima

Adi Roche, Voluntary CEO of Chernobyl Children International (CCI), in a statement issued for the 14th anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, said “It’s devastating to see that patterns laid down by Chernobyl are being mirrored now in Fukushima.  Any potential explosion or meltdown at any nuclear power plant, by accident or design, would cause irreversible damage to the environment and human life that will last for thousands of years. Though Fukushima happened because of a natural disaster, and Chernobyl was a man-made disaster, their long lasting impact are the same.  Now, recent attacks in Ukraine have shown us how little mankind have learned about the fragility of nuclear power and now innocent children are, once again, paying the highest price.” See https://www.chernobyl-international.com/fourteen-years-after-fukushima-the-unfolding-nuclear-nightmare-and-parallels-with-chernobyl/

lMeanwhile CCI reports that, not being the recipient of any state aid, they are unaffected by governmental aid cuts but that “However, in the communities where we work, the effects of these cuts are devastating and we anticipate that we will see a knock-on effect in the demand for our support over the coming months. “ https://www.chernobyl-international.com/

Good Relations Awards 2025

The Northern Ireland Good Relations Awards presentation event took place on 25th March at Shankill Shared Women’s Centre, Belfast. Here are the six award winners: CRC Exceptional Achievement Award – Kathy Wolff: Volunteer of the Year – Cooper McClure; Youth Award – Emma Baptista; Community Champion – Jonah Atos; Connecting Communities – Jubilee Community; Housing for All – Portstewart Community Association. Full details are available on the CRC website at https://www.community-relations.org.uk/news-centre/good-relations-awards-2025-winners-announced

ICCL petition on facial recognition use by Gardaí

ICCL/Irish Council for Civil Liberties have a petition opposing the Minister for Justice giving the Gardaí permission to use facial recognition technology (FRT). They state “FRT has been shown to exhibit significant racial bias leading to wrongful arrests, surveillance and discrimination. Studies have shown that these technologies are less accurate in identifying people of colour. This can result in severe consequences for innocent people. This is not just a technical issue but a systematic injustice built into these technologies that reinforce racial inequality. Recent developments in Hungary have also highlighted the dangers that FRT holds for minorities, where attempts are being made to ban pride events. FRT has been proposed to track members of the LGBTI+ community who gather publicly, which will also disproportionately affect racial minorities within that community.” See https://www.iccl.ie/i-do-not-consent-to-frt/

CAJ human rights news

You can catch up with valuable insights on various human rights issues in Northern Ireland with the March issue of the CAJ/Committee on the Administration of Justice newsletter Just News which is available at https://caj.org.uk/publication_type/our-newsletter/ (where you can also subscribe for updates). Issues covered include the Irish government and legacy issues, extremism, the ongoing effort to get the NI Executive going on an antipoverty strategy, racism and Sperrins goldmining.

Voters in Republic want more climate action

A poll taken in January shows a clear majority of voters in the Republic, 55%, want the government to take more action on climate change than the last government, compared to only 21% who want less action. This includes 59% of Fianna Fail voters and 55% of Fine Gael voters. Interestingly there was little difference between urban and rural voters; three in every four rural voters want the same or more climate action, 72%, compared to 81% of those living in cities. See https://www.friendsoftheearth.ie/news/new-poll-shows-fianna-fail-and-fine-gael-voters-want-more-cl/

Major German peace congress

A major online German-language peace congress takes place at Easter time. See https://friedenistmoeglich.de/ Entitled “Wie geht Frieden? “ (‘How does peace go?’) with a wide variety of speakers and activities…..as some of those involved speak in English (German subtitles added) those reading this but not speaking German may still view videos with interest. The Northern Ireland peace process, and history, feature along with a myriad of other situations.

Church and Peace call on justice and peacebuilding

Church and Peace, the European church peace network, has called for an orientation to justice and peacebuilding in the current environment. Their statement includes “The European Union’s aim is to promote peace, its values and the welfare of its peoples. For that reason it is irresponsible, according to the Board of Church and Peace, to declare a ‘pre-war situation’ and so legitimize massive armament, especially as this might be a self-fulfilling prophecy.” https://www.church-and-peace.org/en/2025/03/in-view-of-current-developments-church-and-peace-calls-for-clear-orientation-to-justice-and-peace/

Inclusion in the Northern Ireland peace process

An academic article “Inclusion in the Northern Ireland Peace Process: A ‘History of the Present’ “ by Catherine Turner (Professor of Law at Durham University) is available at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/17502977.2024.2365512?needAccess=true appearing in the Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding. This 21 page article has some useful insights on the peace process, the resultant consociational form of government, the role of civil society, and how narratives have narrowed.

Editorials: Rules-based international order, ‘Defence freeloading’

Editorials, Nonviolent News

A rules-based international order

“A rules-based international order” is what some Western politicians and commentators say has been lost with Donald Trump’s second elevation to the White House. To this issue perhaps we could take Mohandas Gandhi’s (falsely) attributed response to the question on what he thought about western civilisation – “It would be a very good idea”. The idea that ‘the West’ has kept to the rules when it doesn’t suit them is a fallacy. It may have suited them to keep most of the rules most of the time to ensure stability but when they wanted they had other policies and principles too. But we should also remember the alternative ‘golden rule’ – ‘whoever has the gold makes the rules’.

Examples of western rule flouting are perhaps too numerous to mention more than a few. The previous administration in the USA, that of Joe Biden, effectively looked the other way in continuing to massively support genocidal weapons and financial support to Israel. Most western European countries also looked the other way. Britain produced a ‘dodgy dossier’ which was basically false to justify participation in a war on Iraq in 2003. To the adage ‘Do no harm’, NATO’s action in overthrowing the Gaddafi regime in Libya destabilised much of north Africa. Talking about ‘peace’ but bringing or threatening military force is not something pertaining only to the Trump era in the USA.

The USA proclaims (loudly under Trump but still staunchly under other regimes since the Monroe Doctrine in 1823) its hegemony in the Americas but has refused to allow that Russia might have, on the same basis, strategic interests regarding its neighbours; the broken promise to Russia not to extend NATO eastwards after the collapse of Soviet communism has been, in the case of Ukraine, a red rag to a Putin bull – and part of his unjustifiable justification for full-scale invasion more than three years ago. However in a possible rapprochement between the USA and Russia under Trump, each allowing the other to misbehave is not an answer either. And those in the rich world who believe in global heating have been unconscionably slow in acting on that knowledge when it is poor countries who least contributed to the problem who suffer most.

Of course we question military hegemony in any region by any country but within the existing order there is a severe lack of self perception ‘in the West’. While President Trump’s erratic and sometimes threatening behaviour has made other countries look askance at the USA, there is also a huge lack of awareness of how conflict develops and wars start. Europe at the moment feels a bit like the arms race prior to the First World War with two sides gearing up for a military confrontation that would be totally disastrous and would be the worst of lose-lose results. How is rearmament in western Europe seen by ‘the other side’, i.e. Russia? That is a question which is demonstrably not asked.

Yes, there is a need for a ‘rule-based international order’ but it may not look much like what Trump, Putin, Starmer or even Martin envisage. We need a rules based international order with the primacy of a reformed United Nations, with the UN Security Council either stripped of its ‘great power’ privileges or sidestepped in favour of the General Assembly. We need an international order where human rights is prioritised and bodies like the International Criminal Court are strengthened. We need moves towards disarmament, not rearmament.

‘Defence freeloading’

An accusation made against Ireland (Republic), largely abroad but also at home to some extent, is that it is a ‘defence freeloader’, i.e. that it spends little on military defence and relies instead on being protected by NATO ‘for free’. This is complete nonsense while based on the reality that Ireland does spend relatively little on its military – although rapidly increasing expenditure.

The alternative accusation which can be made, and we would support, is that NATO and many other countries are ‘military wasters’, i.e. spending money on their military which is needed for welfare, green and infrastructure development. The ecological crisis is undoubtedly the largest contributor to forthcoming conflicts on a global scale. We currently have the scenario in Britain, our nearest neighbour and custodian of Northern Ireland, of the government cutting disability benefits while ramping up military expenditure. Military expenditure does create employment – not as much as in other government supported sectors – but is money wasted in terms of social development. However it can also contribute to an arms race – which we currently have in Europe.

There are many points which can be made here. The Irish government and establishment would undoubtedly join NATO if the citizenry would allow it, which they won’t, but they have played a clever game in cosying up to NATO through the so-called ‘Partnership for Peace’ and through removing the Triple Lock on deployment of Irish troops overseas they want to buy in to EU and NATO operations – and warfare. Part of the rationale is being ‘good Europeans’ – we would argue that it is actually being ‘bad Europeans’ and acting against peace.

From the start of the Irish Free State there was an attempt to contribute to international peace through involvement in the League of Nations. Later on Ireland had a strong non-aligned policy and contributed significantly to nuclear non-proliferation and more recently to treaties banning landmines and cluster munitions. The direction the country is heading is a total negation of that history and experience.

The idea that Ireland is at risk of invasion is nonsense and there is an argument that in the Second World War Irish neutrality was more beneficial to the Allies because they did not have to have troops tied up to defend it. Some people have tried to create the idea that, vague as it may be, Russia is a threat to Ireland. It is not, reprehensible as its war on Ukraine may be. And the only risk to Ireland, including international communication cables, is though general escalation and warfare in Europe.

NATO is an aggressive military force and is prepared to use nuclear force as it deems necessary (including ‘first use’). The EU is ramping up to be a regional, if not world, superpower. Ireland’s role, consistent with its history and the desire of its people, should be as a conciliator, an actor for peace, continually looking at how de-escalation and disarmament can be brought about, not just in Europe but globally. A small country such as Ireland could make a significant contribution to world peace.

Within conventional military thinking there is a concept of ‘non-offensive defence’, i.e. military defence and preparations which cannot be considered provocative by ‘the’ – or any – ‘other side’. This is totally missing in Europe at the moment and is part of the reason for the Russian invasion of Ukraine which, as stated, we consider totally reprehensible. In expecting Russia to accept what would be totally unacceptable to the USA – an opposing military force on its borders with Ukraine through possible membership of NATO – ‘the West’ played in to Putin’s hands and gave him a perceived justification for invasion.

The Forum on International Security Policy held by the Irish government in 2023 refused to consider possibilities for nonviolent civilian defence; INNATE offered in good time for this to have been included but this was fobbed off. The government seems to have a one track mind which is a sad reflection on Irish independence and any possibility of an imaginative and creative response to world issues.

Yes, the Irish government should spend more on active involvement in the international sphere but we would say this should be through contributing to peace. Much could be done in terms of diplomatic and mediative actions, and work to address potential conflicts before they simmer to boiling point. This should include financial assistance to areas in need where conflict is a likely outcome of poverty and lack of developmental infrastructure. Simply being another small actor in NATO and EU militarism will contribute, not to peace, but to war, warfare and military waste.

This is the 21st century. Have we learned nothing from the wars of the 20th and early 21st century?

Eco-Awareness: Interdependencies and interconnections

Eco-Awareness, Nonviolent News, , , ,

Larry Speight brings us his monthly column –

With two children born into my extended family these past two weeks I am reminded that we are vulnerable, interdependent creatures liable to all types of mishaps most especially in our early and late years. If born with a disability or a medical condition we may live a life of acute vulnerability and dependency even during what otherwise would be our years of greatest strength, resilience, confidence and ability.

Evidence suggests that babies are aware of their vulnerability from the moment they are born and communicate their needs and anxieties to their parents and carers through crying and gurgling, the use of their limbs along with a range of facial expressions. As they grow and become more capable they rely less on physical support. The self-reliance of adulthood belies the fact that we are vulnerable our entire life through our immersion in a complex web of interdependencies.

A lack of awareness of our interdependencies is a disability on par with having a dormant antennae as we are unable to read the signs of impending ecological, economic and political upheaval if not utter disaster.

In hunter-gatherer, low intensity agricultural societies the extended family and community teach each new generation all the knowledge, skills, aptitudes and values they need to survive, thrive and live fulfilled, meaningful lives.

In industrialised digitally reliant societies like our own we supplement and reinforce the education received from family and community with a rigorous and minutely planned formal education system which inculcates children and young adults with the knowledge, skills, values and aptitudes it is thought they need to earn their livelihood and contribute to society. There are exceptions, in Northern Ireland a disproportionate number of inner-city working-class boys in Unionist communities leave school without the qualifications employers and higher educational institutions require.

In the 2024 – 2025 N.I. Executive budget £2.76 billion is reserved for education, which places it second in the expenditure league to that of health. Likewise in the Republic of Ireland. Its 2024 budget allocated 11.9 billion Euro to education placing it second in expenditure to that of health. This pattern of expenditure is the norm in high and middle-income countries. Yet, in spite of the importance countries regard formal education they fail to adequately prepare pupils to live in our interdependent and interconnected world.

An important reason for this is because governments and many parents view formal education through the lens of economic returns. Understandably parents are inclined to see formal education as the means that will enable their children to earn a decent salary throughout their working life. While governments regard formal education as essential to economic growth which Rachel Reeves, the UK Chancellor, never ceases to tell us is the UK government’s number one priority, its raison d’etre, the metric by which it thinks its tenure will be judged. This is something it shares with most governments regardless of what their political credo is on the left – right spectrum.

The goal of economic growth means nothing less than endless consumption which has catastrophic ecological consequences and is thus short-sighted and self-defeating. One of these consequences, as the World Bank informs us, is that 2.1 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste is generated every year of which, it is conservatively estimated, 33% is not treated in an ecologically safe way. In Fermanagh people throw away so much waste that the county’s only landfill site will have reached capacity much earlier than once expected.

The fixation on economic growth means that the entire Earth is considered a sacrifice zone to the end of enabling the transnational corporations and the exceedingly wealthy to accumulate money without end. President Trump’s “drill baby drill” rallying call encapsulates the widespread dearth of appreciation for the intricacy of the natural world.

The UK prime minister Keir Starmer, who regards economic growth as the be-all and end-all of government policy, is of the same mind as Donald Trump as is evident by his intention to weaken planning controls which were enacted to protect the nature that makes life possible for us all. The governments in both parts of our island are similarly minded.

Robert Kennedy in his presidential campaign speech at the University of Kansas in March 1968 clearly understood the life-impoverishing consequences of the religious-like veneration of economic growth as measured by Gross National Product saying that “it measures everything … except that which makes life worthwhile.”

One of the failures of formal education is that it does not equip pupils to understand the full measure of ecological and economic interdependencies. Grasping this helps us decipher the messages we are assailed with through the multiple media outlets about the nature of the world and the values and intentions of the key characters in the drama such as politicians and financiers.

In other words, knowing about our interdependencies and interconnectedness helps us discern fact from fiction, understand complexities, appreciate nuance and context which enhance our ability to make decisions that serve our interests, our local community and people in faraway places.

A case that aptly illustrates this, and effects the amount of money in our pocket, is that one of Donald Trump’s main election campaign promises was that he was going to introduce tariffs, which he said on innumerable occasions is the most beautiful word in the English dictionary. According to the research the majority of those who voted for him did so in the belief that tariffs would mean lower prices in the shops. The opposite is the case.

Pivotal decisions made on the basis of misunderstanding and ignorance are common and can largely be avoided through awareness of our interdependencies and interconnections. Schools are well placed to inculcate in the younger generation the practice of searching these out and most adults can integrate the practice into their own life. This is a critical aspect of education and as Mary Colwell, naturalist and author, recently said, as quoted in the Guardian: “Education is the most important thing we can do for the planet at this moment.”

Readings in Nonviolence: Nonviolence – and plans for a Nonviolence Institute in Belfast

Nonviolent News, Readings, , ,

by Kate Laverty

Nonviolence is more than the absence of physical harm; it is an active principle that shapes how we engage with the world, fostering compassion, understanding, and justice. In an era where violence—both in words and actions—permeates our societies, nonviolence stands as a necessary antidote, offering a way to cultivate peace in our daily lives.

At its core, nonviolence is about intentionality—choosing to respond to conflict with patience rather than aggression, with dialogue rather than hostility. It calls us to recognize the humanity in others, even when we disagree, and to resist the temptation to dehumanize those we oppose. Small acts of nonviolence—listening without judgment, speaking with kindness, refusing to perpetuate cycles of harm—create ripples that extend beyond our immediate surroundings, influencing communities and cultures. I’ve learned to practice this life in my work with the Nonviolence Institute Rhode Island. Here, Kingian nonviolence is taught over 3 levels in successive years. As a youth worker in St. Peter’s Immaculata Youth Centre, I’ve been privileged to accompany youths on their journey to the States to learn the key principles of the practice.

Nonviolence is also a practice of inner discipline. It requires us to confront our own tendencies toward anger, fear, and reactivity, replacing them with a commitment to understanding and reconciliation. This daily practice helps us build resilience in the face of adversity, allowing us to stand firmly against injustice without resorting to the same destructive methods we seek to overcome. In my decades as a youth worker, this has included democratic advocacy, peaceful protest, funding discipline lead contact sports such as Brazilian ju-jitsu where there are no strikes – only defensive grapples.

In a world filled with division and harm, nonviolence is not passive; it is revolutionary. It is the quiet, persistent force that counters cruelty with care, ignorance with education, and hatred with love. By embedding nonviolence in our everyday interactions in Forthspring Intercommunity Group, we contribute to a world that values dignity, respect, and true peace.

And I can delight in sharing how our vision in Forthspring is to step into nonviolence as the core methodology across our services which will see us through the next decade of our peacebuilding mission. In the coming year, we’ll welcome trainers from the Nonviolence Institute to deliver their Level 1 course in Forthspring, enabling people in the field to apply the practice in their daily work.

I’ve rejoiced in researching the emerging science of behavioural systems analysis to the practice of nonviolent struggle and civil resistance. I’ve found strength in recognising all the ways in which nonviolent action remains a viable solution; in ending violence against women and girls, in transforming racial hatred, in dissolving the walls of otherness between us.

But this is a call. I am asking for help. I am reaching in to a community already wise in the practice of nonviolence. I am asking you to meet with me, to talk to me, to teach me. If you would like to craft the Nonviolence Institute in Northern Ireland, call or email and help us in our goal to nurture a community at peace with itself.

– Dr Kate Laverty, Director, Forthspring, ph 07746984833, director@forthspring.com

Thales fact file

Nonviolent News, Readings, , ,

Thales Watchkeeper drones are used to kill civilians

INNATE introduction

Arms company Thales is a large-scale employer in East Belfast (manufacture) and Co Down (testing) with plans to open a third site elsewhere in Northern Ireland. It is the largest arms manufacturer on the island of Ireland. Here John Eversley shares some facts about Thales – much more in general can be found in his hyperlinks in the text as well as searches online and in books on the arms trade – and more could be added about the current war in Gaza.

There are some photos of protests at Thales sites in Northern Ireland in the album “The arms trade in Ireland including Thales missile company, Belfast” at

https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/albums/72177720297420924/

The irony of Thales being the largest ‘bomb factory’ in the North throughout the Troubles seems to be lost on most people. That a society which has undergone – and still suffers from – the trauma, collective and individual, of thirty years of political and sectarian violence should look to an arms company to provide employment beggars belief.

Thales

A fact file compiled by John Eversley

Thales has a joint venture with Elbit, an Israeli arms manufacturer to make Watchkeeper drones. Thales will say that these drones are for surveillance only so that only military targets are hit by other weapons. This is misleading:

  • The Border Force used Watchkeepers in 2020 in the English Channel. These were not used to rescue refugees trying to reach safety but to detect them before they were in international waters. Using drones avoids the obligation which sea vessels have to aid a vessel in distress.

In November 2024 the UK government announced that it would spend money on surveillance equipment to deter small boats from crossing the English Channel. In September 2024 they trialled a number of. surveillance drones in a NATO exercise. These included the uncrewed aerial vehicle Peregrine for which Thales is the prime contractor ; surveillance drones Puma manufactured by AeroVironment, and Ebee Vision made by AgEagle Aerial Systems. The Peregrine was originally bought by the MoD for .“protecting British interests in the Gulf”

  • The Torch 750 command and control software, Iron Sting and many of the IDF’s drones are made by Elbit Systems according to Forbes

  • Surveillance drones are used on civilian populations. Israel has used surveillance and armed drones in Palestine. One of the main drones Israel uses is the Hermes 450 which the Watchkeeper is based on. These drones have killed including, infamously, a group of boys playing football on a beach in 2014

  • In May 2021 Israeli air attacks including by drones damaging

When these things happen in Ukraine, we rightly say that they are war crimes

  • In 2020 the UK’s National Police Air Service said that it had made use of the Elbit Systems Hermes 900 as part of a wider trial’ presumably for controlling demonstrations

  • Thales makes biometric and identification equipment used by American and European immigration agencies. Thales funded research at Queen’s University Belfast on ‘object detection in cluttered urban scenes’. Such methods were used in policing the Black Lives Matters demonstrations in the USA.

  • In 2015 Thales entered into a partnership with WB Electronics in Poland manufacture ‘Gryf’ drones with a ‘strike capability’ based on the Watchkeeper and the Thales FreeFall Lightweight Multi-role Missiles (FFLMMs) which are made in Belfast – see below. Thales hoped that the British government would underwrite sales. Thales is currently trying to sell its Watchkeeper X drone to Poland. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is totally unjustified but not unprovoked. However, the sale of arms to eastern European members of NATO and armed drones to Ukraine are part of the narrative which Putin has used to justify the invasion.

  • In 2024 it was announced that the Royal Navy was ordering £176m of Lightweight Multirole Weapons (LMM) from Thales. In March 2025 the Government announced that it would buy 5000 LMM for Ukraine. Thales makes the detonators use to fire weapons on the RAF’s Typhoon aircraft

  • Thales has also developed a system for detecting drones called Eagle Shield .

Thales weapons are intended to be used against ‘soft’ targets too

In January 2022 the Royal Air Force flew 18 Next Generation Light Antitank Weapons, or NLAWs, made by Thales, to Ukraine. They are often described as anti-tank weapons. According to defence experts they are only useful at less than 6-800 metres when Russian strategy is generally to use tanks for long- distance barrage. However, NLAWs primary manufacturer, Saab says that ‘In Direct Attack (DA) mode NLAW can be used for non-armoured opponents and troops inside buildings, NLAW fires perfectly in confined spaces. It can be used against soft targets like trucks, buses, cars and helicopters. When fired directly through a window into a building, fragments will cause significant damage’.

People in Northern Ireland might be uneasy about these powerful weapons being used against buses, for instance, whether they have soldiers on board or not.

Thales makes Lightweight Multirole Missiles in Belfast. They are designed to be fired from Tactical and MALE (medium altitude, long endurance) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs), helicopters and ‘low cost’ fixed wing aircraft. Like the NLAWs they are designed to be used against soft targets too. Thales own publicity talks about using them against Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIBs) and jet skiers.

Damocles kills civilians in Yemen

Thales makes a laser-targeting system called Damocles. Thales says it has been used in Afghanistan, Mali, Sahel, Iraq, Syria and Libya. Thales itself says it is in service with the SU30, used by the Russians in Ukraine. There are various reports (mainly from the Ukrainian side) which say that Ukraine shot down to Russian SU30s.

One source says Russia is not using Damocles source says this never happened.

Thales mentions that the Saudi Arabian-led coalition in Yemen use Damocles and it is implicated in many attacks on civilians, including on a bus.

Academic links

Thales boasts of the research and training it supports at Queen’s and Ulster universities.

Alternative jobs: necessary and possible

The Watchkeeper has largely been a failure. The British Army originally ordered 54 of them. It is not clear that they were all delivered. According to the Ministry of Defence, five have crashed. Since 2010, Watchkeeper has only flown 3,000 flying hours or so. In 2020 a government minister said only ‘5 Watchkeeper airframes were in service as at 23 July 2020. 13 have flown in the past 12 months and 23 have been in storage for longer than 12 months’. In November 2024 the government announced that it would ‘‘retire’ the Watchkeeper drones which had proved unreliable.

In August 2021 Thales announced that it was selling its ground transportation (rail) division to Hitachi in order to ‘accelerate EBIT margin accretion and further deleveraging’. In English that means to increase its profits and reduce its debt.

Thales workers are highly skilled. Their skills could be used for work in which Northern Ireland excels, such as fossil free transport and medical equipment.

– – – – – –

Billy King: Rites Again, 328

Billy King, Nonviolent News, , ,

Billy King shares his monthly thoughts

Well, isn’t it a strange world when some TDs and parties in the Dáil believe you can be in government and opposition at the same time, to their advantage, and is an abuse even of a majoritarian system that believes it can ride roughshod over minorities. Whether you believe in inclusive voting methodologies for everything or not, it is certainly an argument for the kind of voting systems promoted by the de Borda Institute www.deborda.org which could help arrive at a fair consensus relatively effortlessly and avoid months of messing around. It doesn’t have to be like this debacle over speaking rights for government-supporting ‘independents’. And in fact (with the same voting methodologies) it doesn’t have to be back room deals in forming a government either when there is no clear overall arithmetic majority for any party or couple of parties – it was these back room deals which led to this mess in the first place.

The unstrangeness of the kindness of strangers

It is probably entering Rutger Bregman ‘Humankind’ territory https://www.innatenonviolence.org/readings/2020_07.shtml and the nature of human nature but there was a great little experiment conducted in Belfast recently, a game of “Where’s wallet?” rather than “Where’s Wally?”. Apparently it is a recognised international methodology to deliberately ‘drop’ wallets in public places and see how many are returned; research shows that more wallets are returned than people think, in other words, people are kinder than other people estimate. In this case the wallets had £10, some personal mementos, and a note saying if found to please contact a particular phone number. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/cewkqjlpg0vo

Ten wallets were placed or ‘dropped’ around Belfast city centre in different locations. And do you know what – all ten were returned, some via a police station. How is that for the kindness of strangers and the kindness of the people of Belfast. Mind you, if it was £100 or £1,000 in the wallet there might have been more gone astray and more conscience-searching (though the prospect of a reward if sums were larger might also have figured in finders’ thoughts) but as it was the finders of all of the ten wallets took the effort to get in touch and reunite the supposed loser with the wallet. And – in a Belfast accent – “ ’Wallet’ be enough to persuade you of the goodness of ordinary Belfast people?”

Routine harassment of politicians

During the Troubles in Norn Iron, sticking your head above the political parapet – of any kind, not just party politics – was dangerous. As well as vilification from ‘the other side’ there could be vilification from ‘your own side’ because you were seen to be selling out the cause, plus threats of violence, actual violence and occasionally assassination. Have those days gone? Yes in a very limited kind of a way in that causes have changed slightly but North and South of the border, emboldened by the social media era, serious threats continue and are particularly prevalent and unpleasant for women through misogynistic social media attacks which are totally reprehensible and these include threats of rape and murder.

We all have our least favourite politicians and political groupings. That is natural. But however much we may disagree with a political viewpoint the question is whether the exponents of it have the right to express their point of view – they do, subject to human rights and the laws of the land (as a nonviolent activist I am not always opposed to defying the existing laws, depending on circumstances and preparedness to take the consequences but am very aware of not causing violence, or threats of violence, against people). Some politicians may indeed be there because they are on the make, or subsequently see their prominence as an opportunity to do so, but most are there wanting to serve their community however widely or narrowly they define ‘their community’.

Disagreement is fine, and there is lots to disagree about, but there is a fine line between tackling the ball in play and tackling the man or woman with it because feeling threatened is not good for the individuals concerned but neither is it good for politics as it can make people reject getting involved. It is also symptomatic of a wider malaise where threats and violence, e.g. against migrants and migrant facilities, are seen as an effective way of getting an issue dealt with to your satisfaction. But then systems need also to listen to people’s needs and deal with them and some reactions against migrants are because the needs of longer term residents are unaddressed.

Human nature hasn’t changed. What has changed in the culture of the times – worse than some times, better than others – and currently unregulated technological advances which permit harassment without consequences.

Quare times

Times are always a bit quare but you might say they are particularly quare at the moment. In the USA the presidential apparatus is gunning (sic) to take over all aspects of governance and banning free speech all over the place while letting on they are protecting it (that is how it’s done); 21st century McCarthyism may well far outpace 1940s/1950s McCarthyism. Political analysts had warned that during the Biden presidency the Trumpian right was getting really organised to come back with a bang but its has proved to be quite a BANG. Whether the US constitution in terms of the separation of powers can withstand the shock remains to be seen…but then the system is also archaic in a variety of ways. Elon Musk is obviously prominent in the auto industry but who would have guessed even a year ago that he’d be prominent in the autocracy industry as well.

In Germany for the first time in the modern era a far right party is the main opposition, and obviously Hungary has been straining at the leash for some time in a far right direction. But then we look at something like a social democratic type government in Britain, with Keir Starmer and the Labour Party, and we see them cutting disability benefits – with general social security benefits already some of the poorest in Europe – pushing hundreds of thousands more into dire poverty. Norn Iron First Monister Michelle O’Neill hit the nail on the head when she called Starmer’s £2.2 billion increase in the military budget part of a “macho agenda of militarisation”. Also in Britain recently we had police breaking in (literally) to a Quaker Meeting House and arresting those at a peaceful meeting https://www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-events/news/quakers-condemn-police-raid-on-westminster-meeting-house and you know democracy is in trouble.

Both parts of Ireland seem to be almost bastions of normality in contrast, something I never thought I might just about say concerning Norn Iron. However we cannot congratulate ourselves. Threats against and destruction of migrant facilities in the Republic are the total opposite of not only Ireland of a bit of welcome but also a denial of the Irish history of emigration. As mentioned above, threats against politicians are two a penny/cent (choose your local currency). The move to remove the Triple Lock in the Republic is being foisted on the citizenry by duplicitous means. The very recent forcible removal of members of Mothers Against Genocide from in front of the Dáil after an all night vigil for Palestine and Palestinian children, when they were going to move soon anyway, is not a great ad for the Gardaí or Irish law ‘n disorder. And while divisions in the North might be relatively quiescent they haven’t gone away, you know (and neither have some paramilitaries).

Quare times indeed. But we must believe our time will come or we will quare the pitch for progress.

Burke-ing up the wrong tree

Enoch Burke and family are excellent at getting publicity for their cause, most recently trying to disrupt an Ireland Funds dinner in Washington DC in mid-March. For those who aren’t familiar with the case or issue, it stems from Enoch Burke’s refusal to use the desired pronouns for a transgender young person in a school in Co Westmeath where he has been a teacher; as a particular variety of conservative evangelical Christian he sees that as an attack on his faith. Refusing to be bound over to not come to the school, he has spent a considerable amount of time in prison.

Undoubtedly he and his family consider him to be a Christian martyr and their lives seem to be consumed with the issue. Perhaps the USA trip was an effort to get right wing support there, though if so it does not seem to have been particularly successful. The Irish Times (18/3/25) reported that ‘ “We live in fear in Ireland”, Martina Burke’ [[Enoch’s mammy]] ‘said outside the venue. “My son has spent over 500 days in Mountjoy Prison simply because he will not affirm a 15-year-old boy in transgender ideology and use the they pronoun. “ ‘ But it is not as simple as that. Disruption to the school is a principal issue.

However three areas of consideration come to mind. When it comes to the Christian faith, which is what this is meant to be about for the Burkes, I am not sure where its teachings say you should not use the desired pronouns for any individual. And if the greatest value of the Christian faith is meant to be love, where is the love shown to the young person concerned? In fact it seems to be the opposite of love. Coming out as transgender is a very difficult path to take and those involved deserve all the love and support they can get, not least for their bravery. I could also point out that the founder of the Christian religion, if I can call Jesus that, mixed with everyone and anyone and didn’t set preconditions for interacting with people. And can everyone expect society at large to adhere to what they see as the requirements of their own religious beliefs? No is the short answer to that.

The second consideration is pragmatism. We can all be martyrs for our cause if we want to be, and it is certainly brave of Enoch Burke to spend so long in prison for his beliefs. Perhaps he and his family see progress for their cause through such martyrdom. He can continue to protest as long as he wants but suffer the legal consequences. But there is such a thing as pragmatism. Perhaps he could find a way around the issue if he desired, e.g. only using the young person’s name and not a pronoun. Or he could seek a job where he would not be confronted with such an issue. Proportionality is also an issue in relation to pragmatism here. And he can publicise the issue by his course of action but the chances of getting change are extremely slim; some things you have to live with or be in for a long haul.

Finally, the Burkes are also a family extremely well versed in the law, some of them being lawyers or legally trained. They should know that there can be clashes between different human rights which set up tricky interactions and decisions. The young person concerned has the right to be treated with respect and dignity. Enoch Burke has the right to his own religious and social beliefs – but he does not have the right to be disrespectful and abusive of a young person, particularly in a school setting and when he is ignoring school policy.

Of course nonviolent or other protest is a possibility when you see an issue which you feel needs corrected. However I would suggest to the Burke family that there are other issues of greater importance and it is the Burke family themselves who are the cause of an injustice in opposing a caring response to a young person in need of support at this stage in their life.

–

Well, sin é, spring is sprung and I hope you are thinking of planting something somewhere is terms of seeds or plants, be it in a window box or a plot of ground – it’s a plot! Green fingers are made from experience, not born, so if at first you don’t succeed it can be very trying, but give it another go. And as April and May are the driest months in Ireland, it’s time to be out and about if you can. See you soon, Billy.

Frank Aiken lecture new date, 2nd April

Latest News, ,

There has been a change of date for the Frank Aiken Evening previously announced to take place on 27th March. This will now take place on Wednesday 2nd April. Full details:

The Legacy of Frank Aiken
The Role of Small Countries in Times of Danger and Uncertainty – An Evening of Talks and Discussion hosted by Lex Innocentium, 21st Century  and  The Irish School of Ecumenics

Wednesday, 2nd of April 2025, at 7.00 p.m.
Room G16, Loyola Building, Trinity College Dublin

Speakers (in order of presentations): Dr. Stephen Kelly, Head of the School of Humanities, Professor of Modern Irish History and British-Irish Relations, Liverpool Hope University;    Dr. Patrick Bresnihan, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Maynooth University; Dr. John Maguire, Professor of Sociology Emeritus,University College Cork.

Lex Innocentium, 21st Century website is at https://lexinnocentium21.ie/

News, March 2025

Nonviolent News,

Government poised to end Triple Lock

With the Defence (Amendment) (No.2) Bill listed for the spring Dáil session, its purpose described as “To amend the Defence Acts to reform the existing provisions concerning the dispatch of members of the Defence Forces for service outside the State”, the Irish government, spearheaded (sic) by Micheál Martin, is set to remove one of the key features of Irish neutrality and its protection. Without the need for UN authorisation for sending more than 12 troops overseas, the government can commit the armed forces to engage in any actions or wars it sees fit. More info on Triple Lock at https://swordstoploughsharesireland.org/triple-lock/ and see also https://people.ie/english1.html A number of groups are working together and have adopted the slogan “Save our Neutrality; Save the Triple Lock “; contact any of StoP, PANA, Transnational Institute, World Beyond War, Action Against War (Cork), Afri, Uplift, Lex Innocentium.

lNow, immediately, is the time for residents of the 26 counties to contact their TDs demanding that they stand by the Triple Lock. See also editorial in this issue.

lInternational peace organisations CODEPINK, International Peace Bureau (IPB), Transnational Institute (TNI), Veterans For Peace and World BEYOND War have written a collective letter to the Taoiseach asking for the retention of the Triple Lock.

Frank Aiken and the Irish contribution to international peace

This event, ‘Frank Aiken and the Irish Contribution to International Peace in Times of Risk and Uncertainty’ takes place in Loyola Building, Trinity College Dublin on Thursday, 27th March 2025, at 7.00 p.m. to 8.30/9.00 p.m. with speakers Prof Patrick Bresnihan, Maynooth, Prof John Maguire, Professor Emeritus, UCC and one other speaker. Chair: Carol Fox. Organised by Lex Innocentium, 21st Century and hosted by Irish School of Ecumenics. https://lexinnocentium21.ie and https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61560485884212

The Irish government and legacy investigations

Legacy issues North of the border have obviously had centre stage in recent years but there are also significant questions about how the Irish government handles matters within its jurisdiction. CAJ/Committee on the Administration of Justice and ICCL/Irish Council for Civil liberties have published the report on a seminar in September 2024 looking at how the Irish government should deal with legacy investigations. The 24 page report can be accessed at https://caj.org.uk/publications/reports/policing-for-peace-commitment-to-repeal-and-replace-the-northern-ireland-legacy-act/ and https://www.iccl.ie/news/human-rights-groups-victims-and-families-call-on-government-to-investigate-historic-human-rights-violations/ The report states that “Victims and survivors of outstanding violations from conflict-related violence in the South, including the Dublin and Monaghan bombings (1974) and the Sallins train robbery (1976), have not been provided with a formal and systematised approach to investigations and accountability.” It also says “Various UN treaty bodies have highlighted the lack of accountability and transparency for violations in Ireland, including concerns regarding the independence and effectiveness of GSOC to investigate instances of torture and ill-treatment…..The roundtable discussions revealed a general consensus on the need for a new legacy mechanism(s), or combination thereof, to investigate State and non-State actors in conflict and non-conflict related historical cases, to be established in consultation with survivors and families.” Conclusions include the lack of political will to proceed and the untapped potential of the inquest model. It calls on the Irish government to establish a Historical Investigations Unit (HIU) to investigate unresolved deaths and incidents of torture and ill-treatment, including (but not limited to) cases related to the Troubles.

CCI on Chernobyl drone attack and 3 years of war

When Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was again attacked in February, Adi Roche, voluntary CEO of Chernobyl Children International (CCI), issued a statement which included “I appeal, on behalf of all humanity and as a first-step towards peace negotiations, that the deadly and toxic Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, with its thousands of tons and gallons of highly radioactive material, no longer be targeted, or used as an area of shelling, bombardment, and ground fighting under the Hague Convention. My worst nightmare in this conflict is that the tragedy of the Chernobyl disaster could be re-released on the world. I fear that this area…. could once again, have deadly radioactive contamination released which would spread everywhere, like a great and uncontrollable monster.” A further statement from Adi Roche came on 24th February for the third anniversary of the war; “The war in Ukraine and this recent attack on Chernobyl has highlighted the dire need to formally recognise ‘Ecocide’—the deliberate destruction of the environment—as a crime under the International Criminal Court (ICC)…….Ecocide is not collateral damage; it is a targeted and systematic weapon of war. The radioactive contamination unleashed by military activity in Chernobyl has already affected thousands, with rising levels of long-lived radionuclides detected on civilians, particularly children, in heavily populated areas. This environmental devastation will have consequences for generations, further underscoring the urgency of holding perpetrators accountable…..We urge the Irish Government to support Ukraine’s initiative in advocating for the recognition of ecocide as a war crime under the Hague Convention…..” https://www.chernobyl-international.com/

Central Bank of Ireland and Israeli war bonds

The Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) is acts as the regulator of Israel bonds in Europe, taking over that role from the UK after Brexit. These fund the Israeli Treasury and are now marketed as ‘war bonds’. World Beyond War Ireland states “By providing this gateway into Europe for Israel bonds, the CBI is making itself complicit in funding genocide and apartheid. Under EU law (Regulation 2017/18, Article 32), CBI has the power — and the responsibility — to refuse to validate Israel bonds on the grounds that the ICJ has found that Israel is plausibly committing genocide” (though a ceasefire began on 19th January). https://tinyurl.com/mvnkste7

lThe international report for World Beyond War/WBW for 2024 can be found at https://tinyurl.com/y558zdth

Terminal illness: LNG storage for Ireland?

Friends of the Earth/FOE are campaigning against a liquefied natural gas/LNG terminal for Ireland – LNG has been shown to be worse than coal burning for its carbon footprint by the time it is shipped here. FOE are organising email letters to the Taoiseach and Minister for Climate; they point out that the government plan to go ahead with an LNG terminal has not been backed up with analysis and it may be cosying up to President Trump. See https://www.friendsoftheearth.ie/act/make-sure-government-says-no-to-climate-wrecking-lng/

Race hate crimes in North hit high in summer 2024

Amnesty International has expressed concern at the level of racist hate crime in Northern Ireland, as new figures published show attacks hit an all-time high during summer 2024; these are in a report by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), which tracked recorded hate crimes and incidents for the twelve months to the end of December 2024. The report reveals that there were 1,777 racist incidents and 1,150 racist crimes recorded by the police during 2024. There were 454 more race incidents and 292 more race crimes recorded in 2024 than the previous year. Six of the eight highest monthly levels of race incidents since records began in 2004 were recorded between May and October 2024. Amnesty International Northern Ireland director Patrick Corrigan stated ““Tackling racism and hate crime in Northern Ireland will require not just a more consistent response from the police but unambiguous political leadership and effective strategies from the Executive, something which has hitherto been lacking.” See https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/northern-ireland-latest-police-figures-show-race-hate-crimes-hit-all-time-high which has a link to the report.

Introduction to Eco Congregation Ireland

Eco Congregation Ireland/ECI produces a valuable monthly round up of religious/church involvement in green issues in all parts of Ireland and you can subscribe to receive it on their website. https://www.ecocongregationireland.com/ They also have a new flyer introducing ECI. https://www.ecocongregationireland.com/2025/02/23/eci-flyer-available/ and the possibilities for local churches to go green.

ICC summer school at Irish Centre for Human Rights

2025 is the 25th year that the Irish Centre for Human Rights in Galway has run a summer school on the International Criminal Court; this year it runs from 9th – 13 June. Participants follow a series of lectures given by leading academics, as well as by legal professionals, including those working at the International Criminal Court. The participation fee is €475 and further info is at https://universityofgalwayichr.clr.events/event/137231:summer-school-on-the-international-criminal-court-2025 The website also gives details of upcoming talks.

Uncertainty at Spirit AeroSystems, Belfast

What the implications are for jobs and involvement in military related production, including dual use, remains uncertain as Spirit AeroSystems (formerly Bombardier), Belfast’s largest private sector employer, faces the possibility of being broken up with Airbus purchasing the part of it producing its A220 aircraft wings while Boeing has been negotiating a takeover of Spirit AeroSystems. Wordsearch for further information.

Síolta Chroí programme

‘Tis the season to start growing again and the current programme at Síolta Chroí, Carrickmacross, Monaghan, includes a workshop on food growing with Joanne Butler on Saturday 24th March along with much else, e.g. a workshop on syntropic agriculture on 8th March. See https://sioltachroi.ie/

INNATE change of address

INNATE’s postal address is changing, with immediate effect, to 24 Broughton Park, Belfast BT6 0BD (from the previous long term address of 16 Ravensdene Park). Other contact details including the ‘landline’ (actually VOIP) phone number +44 28 90647106, web addresses and the email address innate@ntlworld.com will remain unchanged.

Editorials: Picking the Lock, Violence and nonviolence

Editorials, Nonviolent News, , ,

Picking the Lock

The term ‘to pick a lock’ means to open it without a key using a device to open it without breaking or cutting the lock. It is usually for underhand or nefarious purposes. This aptly describes what the Fianna Fáil government is doing to the Triple Lock in working to remove it and open the Irish army up to the service of EU and NATO militarism. Fianna Fáil were not even honest in their election manifesto when they promised ‘sensible reform’ of the Triple Lock since the only reform they will bring is its complete destruction.

Micheál Martin and Fianna Fáil have been the frontrunners on this for some years now and the whole purpose of the Consultative Forum on International Security Policy in 2023 was to provide an excuse to proceed. The fact that this ‘Forum’ did not work in the way it was intended was no deterrence to proceeding. It looked like the move might have happened before the election but now that Martin is ensconced again as Taoiseach means that a move is imminent. It is included in business for the spring session of the Dáil https://www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=https://assets.gov.ie/319531/3760a815-ee4f-49ea-ba3b-e42244711ea4.pdf#page=null (see page 4)

The Triple Lock https://swordstoploughsharesireland.org/triple-lock/ entails UN, government/cabinet and Dáil approval for deploying more than 12 members of the Irish military abroad – but the Irish establishment want to fully integrate with, and have the army fighting with, the EU army. And since the EU, which began as an economic-led peace project, is increasingly a military project and the European wing of NATO, not joining NATO – which the bulk of Irish citizens oppose – is immaterial. In any case the Irish army is already cooperating with NATO through membership of the misnamed NATO ‘Partnership for Peace’.

Removing the United Nations support as an obligatory part of the Irish army being sent overseas means the government – which by definition has Dáil support – has no hoops to go through in committing the Irish army to armed action anywhere and any time. As the western world gears up increasingly for war through increased spending on arms and armies this is a sickening thought. And the EU is shaping up to become yet another military power on the world stage; as everywhere, the rhetoric may be benign but the reality is different.

It is almost beyond irony that Fianna Fáil, the party of Eamonn de Valera and Frank Aiken, should be in the forefront of ditching Irish neutrality. It is also fundamentally dishonest since the Triple Lock was introduced to get the Nice and Lisbon treaties agreed by the citizens of Ireland in referendums. Because, also dishonestly, this was not done as a formal protocol, no referendum is required to undo it. The honest course of action would be to hold a referendum on the issue but that will not happen since, Irish neutrality being popular with citizens, a proposal to radically alter it would be defeated. An Irish Times/ARINS survey (Irish Times 8/2/25) showed that even in the event of Irish unification only 19% of citizens in the Republic felt Ireland should join NATO (7% definitely join, 12% join) whereas 24% said it shouldn’t join and 25% definitely not join. But the leaders are taking their own path to militarisation.

The move to abolish the Triple Lock is a negation of democracy and may help get Ireland fully integrated with European war machines but it will do nothing for peace, in fact the exact opposite. Peace and democracy activists have been mobilising to defend the Triple Lock but it has been hard to get the issue the attention it deserves, not least because of mass media apathy or active support for militarisation and a clever game by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in denying anything is happening. The government should hang it head in shame at abandoning Irish neutrality and refusing to consider how it, neutrality, could be developed as a real and active force for peace in the world.

Violence and nonviolence in an age of uncertainty

Change may be the only certainty in life but we, as a human species, are not always good at dealing within it. And our ‘common sense’ response to it may not be sensible at all. Thus with Russia’s war on Ukraine and President Trump’s bull-in-a-china-shop act in his second incumbency, we may react in ways which are not only unhelpful but actually detrimental to the cause of peace and justice.

The Western world is currently heading, in general, to the right and to increased militarism. More than one commentator has likened the situation to the lead up to First World War; then clashing imperialisms came to fight on the battlefield, and we already have the trench warfare in Ukraine, albeit with drones being a crucial weapon this time around.

The forces for peace can feel totally powerless when confronted with such massive pro-militarist action and propaganda. And such belligerence is backed by the mass media and some social media as well.

Powerlessness can be totally debilitating and push us into apathy. Instead we need to hold firm in our convictions and our work and be prepared so we can use any opportunities which present themselves to get or views across and to build the movement we need, in an alliance with other progressive forces, to bring transformation.

The forces of peace and nonviolence are not powerless, we should know that from Gene Sharp, Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan, among many othersi. But while we can make an impact with small numbers, to be successful we need to mobilise on a broad base and that requires cooperation across different sectors (trade unions, human rights, ecological, left of centre and so on), lots of preparatory work, a good tailwind, and seizing the moment when it comes. Awareness of the stages successful movements pass through (as with Bill Moyer’s Movement Action Plan) can help us plan and be prepared as well as perhaps avoiding depression when the going gets tough.

Eco-Awareness: We are nature and it is us

Eco-Awareness, Nonviolent News,

Larry Speight brings us his monthly column –

The anguish and pain that humans and nonhumans are enduring because of climate breakdown, the loss of bio-diversity, the pollution of rives, lakes and sea along with other human created harms could at root be attributed to believing that humans exist outside the orbit of what is conventionally thought of as the natural world.

This belief, which is an illusion as it is simply not true, can in part be attributed to religious doctrines which hold that of all the billions of species that have ever existed and might exist in the future, humankind is the only one that has a destiny outside of nature. This belief holds within it the idea that the Earth, with its neural-like connected life forms, is on a moral par with the merchandise we habitually discard.

The designation of the Earth as a thing rather than a being and the hubris of thinking that our species is exceptional, has in no small way led us at to treat the Earth as we see fit. We behave like the overseers of a factory deciding what resources to utilize and when. That these resources before they were extracted from their home place might have had qualities, relationships and self-interest does not concern us.

This misconception of our place in the natural order explains our individual and collective response to the collapse of the natural world. The response of governments and corporations to the ecological breakdowns is to employ what are thought to be technological remedies such as the replacement of petrol and diesel vehicles with electric ones, replacing the generation of electricity with solar, wind and nuclear and the use of so-called artificial intelligence to improve efficiencies.

The wellspring of these proffered solutions to our self-made ecological catastrophe is not to conserve what is left of the living Earth and enable the millions living in dire poverty to live better lives but to enable consumerism and the exploitative enterprises and structures it supports to continue unabated. Kate Crawford points this out in her very readable book Altas of Al (2021).

What is not open to discussion by those whose hands are on the steer of the global economy is the option of making a swift but orderly transition to a way of life that is not based on treating our biosphere as a thing and sustaining an economic political system that has been designed to enable the transnational corporations and finance companies to make extraordinarily large amounts of money. An alternative that is within our cultural frame of reference is communitarianism.

The nub of what communitarianism is can be found in the ancient texts. In the New Testament for instance, Acts 4. 32-36, reads: “No one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. … There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as had need.”

This practice of caring for each other is a lived experience in every Irish townland as witnessed in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn when neighbour helped neighbour to clear local roads of fallen trees, provided flasks of hot water to those who had no electricity and called on the vulnerable. The mobilisation of community resources to address needs was an integral part of rural life in Ireland until recent years. I recall in the mid-1990’s seeing farmers in County Fermanagh help each other bring in the harvest. This practice involved families working together officially began on Lughnasa, 1 August, and ended on Gleaning Sunday or Domhnach Deascan, the 15 August.

Implicit in the willingness to help each other is the predilection to see ourselves in the other, which is empathy. In this epoch of willfully destroying the Earth’s life support systems there is a need not only to help and cooperate but to see ourselves in nonhuman life-forms. We need to treat the biosphere, which means the waterways, flora, fauna, fungi and air in our neighbourhood, the places we walk through and where children play, as we want to be treated ourselves. In other words, we need to apply the Golden Rule of ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ to all life forms. That our society’s default mode is to behave otherwise does not nullify the ethical validity and survival value of the golden rule.

As the practice of working together as a community has a long pedigree so is the idea that Homo Sapiens are an integral part of nature. The evidence for the latter is recorded in Irish name places many of which refer to natural features and myths that suggest a reverence for the land. To give an example, one translation to English of the Irish name for the 33-mile long Sillees River, which originates in Lough Achork and flows through south-west Fermanagh,  is ‘Stream of the Fairies’. In times gone by the idea of fairies articulated the view of nonhuman nature as a sentient being which although at times difficult to understand deserved to be treated with respect.

The idea of ecosystems, geological features and nonhuman life-forms having the status of persons is not only a part of Irish mythology but one increasingly embraced by governments. An example is in late January the New Zealand government conferred legal personhood on Taranaki Maunga, a prominent mountain, granting it all the rights, powers, duties, responsibilities and liabilities of a person. In 2017 India granted the river Ganga and its largest tributary the Yamura the status of a person. Can we expect the Northern Ireland Assembly and the government in Dublin to grant personhood to rivers, hills, woods and even whole bioregions sometime in the near future?

We don’t need to wait for our institutions to become more enlightened in order to treat nonhuman nature with respect which I am sure our descendants will be glad we did.