All posts by Rob Fairmichael

Readings in Nonviolence: How nonviolent action might save Gaza

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Introduction

The onslaught on Gaza by the Israeli state and military has created a real hell on earth with starvation used as a weapon of war and destruction, death and displacement being the common experience, and no safe place to go to. In such a situation with ‘our’ states only slowly realising they should do ‘something’ – but continually dithering on what they might do – and the United States backing Israel and Israeli annihilation to the hilt of their terrible sword, we can feel powerless despite perpetual demonstrations and solidarity actions. In this article by Charles Webel there is consideration of what could be done nonviolently on an international basis. The article is taken from the 29th September 2025 edition of Transcend Media Service https://www.transcend.org/tms/2025/09/how-nonviolent-action-might-save-gaza/

How nonviolent action might save Gaza

By Charles Webel, Ph.D.

In Gaza we are witnessing an absolute hell’, UN Secretary-General António Guterres declared in August 2025. With over 60 000 people killed – the vast majority civilians, including thousands of children – Gaza has become the most severe test of international humanitarian law since the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Yet, as diplomatic paralysis grips the Security Council, the world’s most important protection doctrine remains unused.

The UN’s Responsibility to Protect (R2P) could offer a pathway forward, but only if applied through comprehensive nonviolent action rather than failed military paradigms.

A nonviolent framework for protection

R2P emerged from the international community’s failure to prevent genocide in Rwanda and in Bosnia between 1992 and 1995. This doctrine rests on three pillars: states must protect their populations; the international community must assist them; and when states manifestly fail, collective action becomes necessary. Crucially, R2P doesn’t authorise military intervention at will — it demands proportionate, multilateral responses that prioritise prevention and respect international law.

Gaza presents a textbook R2P case. The International Court of Justice found a plausible case that Israel may be committing genocidal acts. Hamas’s October 7 attack in Israel clearly violated international humanitarian law. But with entire neighbourhoods in ruins, infrastructure decimated, and over a million people facing displacement and famine, Gazan civilians are systematically deprived of life’s necessities. When one party to a conflict possesses overwhelming military superiority and civilians suffer mass atrocities, R2P becomes urgent — regardless of nationality or political affiliation.

Traditional military interventions have failed repeatedly in this region. Libya’s 2011 experience showed how R2P’s military application can worsen conflicts rather than resolve them. Gaza thus demands a different approach: sustained nonviolent intervention that protects civilians immediately while addressing the root causes of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

The international community must treat humanitarian access as non-negotiable, employing coordinated diplomatic pressure to ensure that sufficient aid reaches civilians. This means establishing internationally-monitored humanitarian corridors to and within Gaza and demanding unrestricted medical supply access. The UN Security Council should authorise civilian protection missions composed of unarmed international observers whose presence may deter violence and who document abuses. While air drops of supplies serve as interim measures, ground access remains essential for sustained civilian protection.

Sustainable civilian protection comes from empowered communities, not external force.

Military intervention by outside powers in Gaza remains politically untenable and ethically fraught. However, deploying unarmed international observers – human rights monitors, legal experts and civilian protection teams – has proven effective from South Sudan to the West Bank. An International Civilian Protection Corps, trained in nonviolent intervention and conflict de-escalation, should be established immediately. Their presence along humanitarian corridors could reduce attacks on aid convoys while providing transparent documentation of human rights violations by all parties.

Moreover, mass atrocity crimes demand serious consequences. The International Criminal Court must investigate all violations of international humanitarian law, regardless of perpetrators. Targeted sanctions on leaders and entities responsible for war crimes should follow from the UN Security Council, General Assembly or individual states. However, punitive approaches must be complemented by truth and reconciliation processes that address collective trauma. Impunity breeds repetition: accountability deters, but reconciliation heals.

Countries with close ties to Israel bear special responsibility. The United States provides approximately $3.8 billion annually in military aid to Israel. Making this assistance conditional on humanitarian access and civilian protection compliance could put immediate pressure on Israel. Clear red lines – targeting civilians, denying humanitarian access, expanding illegal settlements – should trigger major diplomatic and economic consequences for Israel. States influencing Hamas or other militant groups in Gaza must face similar pressure to uphold international human rights norms.

Lastly, civilian protection also requires addressing root causes. Gaza’s economic strangulation fuels desperation and conflict. Targeted development aid, support for Palestinian economic and political sovereignty and pressure to lift Israeli restrictions on aid that serves no legitimate security purpose are essential. Simultaneously, Palestinian and Israeli civil society organisations working for peace need adequate funding, international accompaniment and amplified voices. Sustainable civilian protection comes from empowered communities, not external force.

The uniting for peace alternative

When the UN Security Council remains deadlocked by veto-wielding powers prioritising strategic interests over humanitarian principles, the General Assembly can act. UN Resolution 377 (V) ‘Uniting for Peace’, adopted in 1950, allows the Assembly to consider matters immediately when the Security Council fails due to permanent members’ vetoes. The resolution enables recommendations for collective measures, including armed force, when necessary, to maintain international peace and security.

Historical applications reveal both potential and limitations. The Suez Crisis in 1956 marked the mechanism’s greatest success — Britain and France complied with General Assembly withdrawal demands following international isolation, leading to the first UN peacekeeping force. Conversely, the Soviet Union completely ignored Assembly calls for Afghanistan withdrawal in 1980, demonstrating this Resolution’s potential impotence against determined major powers.

Most relevant to Gaza is the ongoing Tenth Emergency Special Session on Palestine, convened in 1997 and now the longest-running emergency session in UN history. Despite numerous UN resolutions condemning Israeli settlement activities by overwhelming margins (131-3-14 in 1997), Israel has refused compliance and expressed contempt for Assembly decisions. While achieving symbolic victories like Palestine’s upgraded UN observer status in 2024, fundamental objectives remain unfulfilled after nearly three decades.

Yet, even ‘failed’ applications of Assembly resolutions create legal foundations for future accountability measures and diplomatic isolation. The overwhelming support for Ukraine UN Assembly resolutions (141 countries) demonstrates the potential for broad international consensus when states and NGOs are properly mobilised.

Overcoming Israeli opposition

Israel’s strategic relationship with major powers creates for many of its actions significant protective barriers against meaningful international pressure. However, systematic nonviolent strategies might help overcome this resistance.

Economic leverage provides immediate tools. Beyond conditional or suspended US military aid to Israel, targeted sanctions on Israeli officials blocking humanitarian aid or targeting civilians, modelled on Magnitsky-style legislation, could create personal consequences for perpetrators of human rights violations.

Corporate accountability through divestment campaigns and supply chain disruptions might initiate transparency requirements that pressure companies profiting from the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Gaza’s people deserve more than temporary ceasefires between devastating violence and famine.

As recently announced by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the EU has suspended bilateral support to Israel and proposed sanctions on ‘extremist ministers’ and violent settlers, thereby demonstrating how multinational entities can apply coordinated economic pressure even when individual member states remain divided. As Israel’s primary trading partner, representing 32 per cent of its overall trade, EU actions carry significant economic weight.

Legal strategies multiply these pressure points. The General Assembly can request International Court of Justice advisory opinions on the legal consequences of Israeli policies. Universal jurisdiction prosecutions in domestic courts for war crimes could create global accountability risks for perpetrators of war crimes and other violations of human rights. Enhanced International Criminal Court cooperation with major powers could facilitate the investigation of all such violations.

Multilateral diplomatic isolation by regional bodies – the African Union, the Arab League and others – of suspected Israeli human rights violators may put pressure on Israeli decision makers to change course. Israel could also be suspended from specific UN bodies or international organisations until its compliance with UN resolutions and international law, as was done with apartheid South Africa. Third-party mediation through neutral countries like Norway or Ireland offers alternatives to failed US-dominated initiatives.

The time for action is now

Gaza’s people deserve more than temporary ceasefires between devastating violence and famine. They deserve an international community committed to their protection through patient, principled nonviolent action.

The tools exist. The legal framework is clear. R2P provides normative authority, Uniting for Peace offers procedural pathways, and successful nonviolent campaigns – from the Palestinian First Intifada in 1987 to anti-apartheid movements – demonstrate the potential efficacy of multilateral action. What’s missing is the political will by global superpowers to move beyond failed military paradigms toward sustained nonviolent initiatives.

Success demands unprecedented coordination among international organisations, civil society and individual activists — moving beyond state-centric protection toward comprehensive strategies addressing Palestinians’ immediate humanitarian needs while building lasting mechanisms for resolving the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

Gaza can become either another failure of international protection or a testimony to nonviolent intervention’s transformative power.

Billy King: Rites Again, 333

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Billy King shares his monthly thoughts

Hello – When I was writing my piece in the last issue about flagitis, the unfortunate and debilitating condition of using flags for ethno-nationalist purposes, I hadn’t referred to the fact that the disease had spread to the 26 counties, the Re:Public. This was remiss of me. The epidemic does not seem to be as widespread south and west of the border in Ireland but it is still present in many places, and it seems quite a virulent and nasty disease. I was writing about how it, obviously, has been endemic in the North but now spread to Britain where it seems to have spread like wildfire.

I hope that sensible precautions being taken will mean that it does not affect so many people and areas in the Republic; many people are already acting to welcome, and express welcome for, newcomers – who are actually needed as important parts of the economy and society. However we need to continue our research on developing effective vaccines for this terrible affliction of flagitis which poisons the whole of society.

And here we are with issue No.333 of this e-steamed publication. It is highly unlikely that it will ever reach issue 666, the supposed mark of the Divil himself, or indeed No.999 – at which point shouting ‘Help!’ might be appropriate – and at the current rate of production the latter would be sixty-odd years away. Anyway, on with my contribution to No.333…..

Jaw jaw and war war

The title of this piece is a reference to Winston Churchill’s supposed dictum that jaw jaw is better than war war, though it appears he actually said “Meeting jaw to jaw is better than war” and it was Harold Macmillan, another British PM, who actually said the “jaw, jaw…war, war” bit. In any case it is not a piece of advice Churchill necessarily observed himself.

Another relevant anecdote is about the man sprinkling salt on city pavements. When asked by a passerby what he was doing he said “It’s to keep away alligators.” The passerby responded “But there are no alligators!” and the salt sprinkler said “Exactly!” The absence of something does not prove a particular reason for that absence.

However you may have noted Donald Trump’s recent claim to have stopped a war between Cambodia and Armenia, two countries some thousands of miles apart who would be largely unaware of each other’s existence let alone engaging in armed conflict. He had however been involved with partially ending Thai-Cambodian clashes and for that we can be thankful (for small mercies which is what we are likely to get at best from the current US administration). Obama was – mistakenly – given a Nobel Peace Prize at the start of his presidency, something totally out of kilter with what the Nobel Prize for Peace is about. I have previously covered what the Nobel Peace Prize was meant to be about but hasn’t been, e.g. https://www.innatenonviolence.org/billyking/bk206.shtml However Trump’s response to some intemperate comments from a prominent Russian political figure was to send two nuclear submarines across the Atlantic and in my book that should automatically exclude him. But he continues to try to prise a Prize from the Nobel committee when his due is more a Nobel Piece of Rubbish Prize.

Trump’s UN claim to have ended seven conflicts is examined in more detail by different sources, e.g. https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2025/sep/23/donald-trump/trump-ended-seven-wars-un-general-assembly/ which concludes “The status of the seven conflicts — and the nature of Trump’s role in easing them — are more varied and tenuous than his statement portrays. We rate it Mostly False.” It is not that he and his administration have done nothing but that in none of these has he ended ‘unendable’ wars. We note that the USA uses its military muscle – with the best part of a thousand military bases around the world including, de facto, Shannon Airport – primarily for its own ends. But can he stop or will he start a very uncivil civil war in the USA?

Oul books: Patriarchy in Ire-land

One of the features of being old, not necessarily a unique feature however, is that you may possess lots of books which are also oul – read, unread, half read, dog-eared, or even in pristine condition, and ranging from much treasured volumes through to those which raise questions about your state of mind at the time of purchase. Even occasional purges of those you definitely don’t want to keep, to the hoped for benefit of a local charity shop, doesn’t seem to do the trick in keeping them under control. And we all want, but seldom, achieve, Control.

Anyway, I thought it might be illuminating in this column – for me anyway [ !!!! – Ed] – to occasionally explore some of the oul books I have hanging about. The first to hand is Mary Condren’s “The Serpent and the Goddess: Women, Religion and Power in Celtic Ireland” first published in 1989 and then in Ireland in 2002 by New Island Books and this had a lengthy new introduction. The book is a wide-ranging dissection of religion, culture and patriarchy in Ireland – with wider significance I could add.

When I hear the term ‘patriarchy’ I think of many things, including numerous different aspects of violence and it is this that is the most relevant in the pages of Nonviolent News and which I will concentrate on here. But I also think of ‘paytriarchy’ as in “Remember the Golden Rule – He who has the gold makes the rules.” The victims of patriarchy are primarily women but, and to a much lesser extent and in a different way, men are denied or deny becoming the whole people that they could be. But on to Mary Condren’s book which is a study in partriarchalisation [Is that another of your made up words? – Ed] [Maybe, but you know what I mean so it’s a viable word – Billy].

The story about St Patrick banishing snakes from Ireland is an interesting one because Mary Condren shows ‘the serpent’ as a symbol of old matriarchal and pre-monotheistic religions. The story is thus not just one of Patrick performing a miracle in banishing animals who weren’t here anyway but in banishing old pagan religions. Christianity was stamping its mark and stamping out snakes. But – snakes alive?! There are also some illuminating insights on Brigid, goddess and saint (both of these).

I am now going to be give a few quotes, to some extent out of context, which talk about patriarchy and militarism, and this piece is not a review of the book, merely picking up some points made on the themes involved. You can search out the original for the full meaning and context.

“Contact with women could weaken men’s potency when engaging in their two most powerful activities – hearing the word of God or going to war. In this we can see a very clear connection between the development of a militaristic culture and the development of a new male identity independent of the world of women or the world women had represented.” (page 18, 2002 edition).

Quoting some of Kuno Meyer’s writing on Adamnán makes a fascinating sub-text to the Law of the Innocents (page 52 and following). The mythology involved is too complex and long to include here but Mary Condren concludes “The story reflects a time when Irish women were greatly oppressed by the warrior elitist society. Christianity had come, yet obviously the priests, like Adamnán, needed drastic measures of persuasion before being prevailed upon to confront the ruling classes….”

In a chapter on clerical celibacy, she writes (page 145) “In the more stable from of politics, singular heroic acts would not be enough to support an ongoing kingly reign. What was needed was a much more reliable marriage of politics and religion that could be called upon at a moment’s notice. Standing armies would be one way of solving the political problem, but in the new arrangements between church and state, and with a church hierarchical structure based upon a military model, more symbolic changes would be needed……The priests, in effect, became the new heroes of the society. Previously their “heroic deeds” in the service of God simply would have been proof of great holiness. Now their great power enabled them to confer religious authority upon the kings…..male priests….became a permanent caste of heroes with a monopoly on religious power.”

And one of Mary Condren’s conclusions (page 198) is that “Instead of monotheism, we now have the working strategy of unquestioning obedience to military authority, which continues to sustain various forms of patriarchal power….Those soldiers willing to sacrifice their lives confer upon the military-industrial complex a new kind of theological status, that which represents the “whole” now that traditional religion seldom serves this purpose. Indeed, the inroads of secularism may have occasioned a “sacrificial crisis” or a “collapse of the sacrificial economy” in which the search for political absolutes now becomes dominant.” Seem familiar????

Anyway, the book is an oldie but a goldie and worth seeking out if you are interested in the themes explored – in great detail.

But I have a final thought arising from the book, and that is how the powers that be can dissemble and deceive. St Brigid’s Day has, for the last few years, been declared a public holiday in the Re:Public, the first named after/connected with a woman. Oh, how progressive! But does the Irish government pay one jot of attention to, let alone follow, what St Brigid was about? Peace, protection, mediation, welcoming, women’s assertiveness, all would be associated with Brigid. And what is Ireland doing? Cosying up to the Big Boys of militarism and power in NATO and EU militarisation, and doing less than the minimum for asylum seekers. So it is “Oh, how sad!” rather than “Oh, how progressive!”.

The wizard of ID

It takes some doing to get all the parties in de Nort agreed on anything but all seemed to support the idea that Keir Starmer’s proposed UK digital identity card, even if for a mobile phone, is a Bad Idea. And even if this ‘BritCard’ was slightly hidden and you only needed to have it with you for certain occasions or services, listing your nationality – Irish, British, Klingon – is Not A Good Idea in a contested-identity region like Northern Ireland. Commentators pointed to the difficulty for cross-border workers. And unionists felt it would make no difference to immigration anyway – which, as you may know, is tiny in the North compared to the Republic or Britain and most other European countries/areas, despite the noise some of the right try to make to exploit the issue. However another unionist commentator said it was a mistake to reject the idea and playing into nationalist hands, presumably on the rationale that forcing people to have and/or carry British identification that they rejected was Good For The Union.

Identity cards have a chequered history in general. The public services card in the Re:Public might have been pushed further as a more general id card if people hadn’t pushed back against the Irish government’s moves on this. But in a society like Northern Ireland where the need is not to abolish people’s chosen identities but make those of less consequence than common humanity and mutual acceptance, it is a step backwards. Cue pictures of someone on a backstreet in the dark stopped by vigilantes or paramilitaries and asked to produce their id card. How it would actually be operationalised in Northern Ireland would be a nightmare but it would also be strange to leave the North out from an otherwise UK-wide scheme – but whether it will be identical remains to be seen.

We will wait and see what develops or founders on this, and opposition in Britain has been building. I pity any poor public servants tasked with introducing this in Northern Ireland, they would have a lot of sleepless nights on their hands; it is on the cards that it would not be very successful and any success that will be achieved will be hard won.

On another note about the UK, in a voting intentions survey or poll published in the 30/8/25 edition of the “i” newspaper, Nigel Farage’s Reform party had a 15% lead over Labour (35% to 20%) with the Conservatives on 17%; if replicated in four years time, the inequitable UK ‘first past the post’ voting system would give Reform a whopping majority… This might be welcomed by some Irish nationalists as likely leading to a united Ireland (it might) but it would actually be very bad news for the people of Norn Iron and Ireland as a whole with the likelihood of instability and chaos, whatever happened, with a far right English nationalist party in power in the UK. Any resultant transition to a united Ireland – and that couldn’t be assumed either – would be disorderly to say the least.

Speaking of the Wizard of Id, in the cartoons of that name my favourite is probably the one where the king is showing a visiting dignitary or neighbouring royalty around the kingdom. The visitor asks a peasant how they are doing and the peasant replies “I can’t complain.” A further question from the visitor about why they say that elicits the response – “It’s not allowed.” There are many dangers on this island and we are not at that stage but in many countries internationally authoritarianism is in the ascendant.

–

Well, that’s me for now as winter weather is ready to kick in. September wasn’t too bad but we didn’t get a summer-like ’Indian summer’, unfortunately, that sometimes comes in the earlier part of that month. The shops are now displaying their Christmas tat, sorry, wares, so the year moves on, and I will see you again soon. There will be a new president-elect in the Re-Public before I write again but I have already had my say on that, Billy.

News, September 2025

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Irish Network of Legal Observers

This network is an initiative led by ICCL/Irish Council for Civil Liberties and the University of Galway; it is a group of people who have been trained to carry out legal observing of protests in Ireland. The Irish Network of Legal Observers is overseen by a Steering Committee comprised of international experts and academics working in the area of protest, public order policing, civic space and human rights. Legal observers are trained to monitor the policing of protest to ensure that Gardaí are operating within the law. Legal observers work to strengthen existing accountability mechanisms by having a visible presence at protests and monitoring, documenting, and filming actions of Gardaí and private security.  

Legal observers are recognised human rights defenders according to the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and the UN Human Rights Committee. There is an international obligation to permit legal observers to fulfil their role unhindered. Legal observers are independent and do not take part in the protest or in the organisation of the protest. Legal observers focus on the protest rights of those involved, rather than the issue that is being protested.

ICCL conducts legal observer trainings on a quarterly basis. Anyone who attends one of the trainings (three to four hours long held in different parts of the country), and upholds the terms of participation can be a legal observer; the next training is on 2nd October in Dublin. If interested in attending training contact Emily Williams of ICCL emily.williams@iccl.ie – she is also an organiser of the Network along with Dr Illan Wall, Irish Centre for Human Rights and School of Law, University of Galway, illan.wall@universityofgalway.ie  if you want to request legal observers for a protest. For more info see https://www.iccl.ie/iccl-irish-network-of-legal-observers/

Corrymeela 60 autumn events

There are a variety of events in different places commemorating the 60th anniversary of the founding of Corrymeela in 1965, making it the only peace and reconciliation group to pre-date the Troubles in Northern Ireland – and still going strong. Thursday 30th October: Luncheon at the Centre followed by An Anniversary Celebration in the Croí with Readings & Songs reflecting 60 years of Corrymeela. 1-2 Nov 2025: Shelter in the Storms Dublin programme in a collaborative learning experience for Corrymeela’s 60th, Glencree’s 50th, and Dublin’s North inner city community. Saturday 22nd November: Sounds Connected Fundraiser Concert featuring the premiere of ‘A Season to Sing’, a choral reimagining of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons in Belfast Cathedral https://www.corrymeela.org/news/263/spectacular-choral-concert-a-season. Meanwhile Corrymeela has a summer fundraising appeal marking the 60th anniversary https://www.corrymeela.org/donate/donate-to-our-summer-2025-appeal You can also sign up on the website to receive Corrymeela’s monthly Community News with reports and news of upcoming events – and/or visit the website to find out more.

Adi Roche at Hiroshima commemoration

Commemorations of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings were held in Dublin, Galway and Tralee, see https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/54704583635/in/dateposted/ and another six photos beside that. The keynote speaker at the Dublin event was Adi Roche, Voluntary CEO of Chernobyl Children International https://www.chernobyl-international.com/ Included in a wide ranging talk she said “Current tensions around the globe show us that nuclear escalation is not a relic of the Cold War, but an increasing clear and present danger. Recent attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities is a very real example of such danger. We are regressing into a world in which the ‘rule of law’ is replaced by the ‘rule of power,’ with a destabilising new nuclear arms race. There can be no compromise on the issue of nuclear weapons…we either put an end to nuclear weapons, or they will put an end to us……Let us say loudly today on this 80th anniversary: ‘No to War! No to Nuclear Weapons! And Yes to Peace! Yes to Disarmament. Today we are taking a side. For we declare today we are taking the side of peace. No more Hiroshima’s! No more Nagasaki’s!” https://irishcnd.blogspot.com/

Amnesty International NI on criminalisation of peacful protest

In mid-August, Amnesty International (AI) NI director Patrick Corrigan said “The PSNI must uphold people’s right to protest against the genocide being perpetrated in Gaza.The police must be clear that they have obligations under the Human Rights Act and international law to facilitate the right to peaceful protest. Carrying out arrests for peaceful expression on this issue would be a violation of international human rights law. Instead of criminalising peaceful demonstrators, the UK Government should be focusing on taking immediate action to put a stop to Israel’s genocide.”   This followed the arrest of a woman in Belfast for supposedly supporting UK terror law banned Palestine Action. https://www.amnesty.org.uk/issues/Northern-Ireland AI subsequently launched a global ‘urgent action’ to protect the right to protest of over 700 people arrested for peacefully protesting in the UK in support of Palestine Action.

Manifesto for Peace and Recognition for Palestine

The European Peace Project (EPP), a loose network of groups and individuals, is organising a Manifesto for Peace and Recognition for Palestine to be read or declared across Europe at 5.00 p.m. on the 3rd of October.  Again, Lex Innocentium will arrange a public event to read this manifesto (as it did with the Declaration of a Manifesto for Peace in Europe on 8th May). See https://europeanpeaceproject.eu and you can contact Lex Innocentium 21st Century at lexinnocentium21@gmail.com

Ireland must join the Hague group – Afri and Comhlámh

Afri and Comhlámh are asking all civil society organisations to sign up to an urgent open letter to TDs and Senators calling on Ireland to join the Hague Group to end complicity in the genocide of the Palestinian People. A coalition of nations, the Hague Group led by South Africa and Colombia, has pledged to take concrete steps to end complicity in genocide and uphold international law, with specific concrete steps to end arms transfers, stop military transit, enforce shipping control, cut state support for occupation, pursue justice and enable domestic prosecutions. Thirteen countries have already signed up. Your organisation can sign the letter before 10th September with 20th September a deadine for Ireland to join. Go to https://www.afri.ie/ and then to ‘News and events’ on the home page, or go to https://comhlamh.org/ and scroll down to ‘News’.

Foreign military bases are spreading – as is resistance to them

World Beyond War (WBW) has issued a new report on foreign military bases https://worldbeyondwar.org/basesreport2025/ “While U.S. bases are in 95 foreign countries all over the globe and virtually encircling the borders of Russia and China, the nation with the second-most foreign bases, Türkiye, has them all near Türkiye, with the exception of one base in Somalia, and the majority of them in Syria and Iraq where Türkiye has been waging wars. During U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States added, and later closed, hundreds of bases. Türkiye and the U.S. are allied members of NATO and weapons traders, and the United States maintains a military presence at nine bases within Türkiye, at one of which it keeps nuclear weapons. The only other nation on Earth with even a tenth as many foreign military bases as the United States is the United States’ very closest military ally, the United Kingdom, some of whose bases are joint U.S.-UK operations. The combined foreign military bases of the top three nations on the list, NATO members all, total 1,127. The fourth nation on the list, NATO’s raison d’être, Russia, has 29 foreign military bases. These are all found in 10 countries, all of which are near Russia, apart from one base in Sudan.”

As WBW states “Bases are often on stolen land and often perpetuate systems of segregation and colonialism. They do incredible environmental damage, tend to increase sexual violence and drunkenness, cost a financial fortune, prop up brutal governments, and facilitate drone attacks and wars.“ The full report is available at the above link, with other news on their website including their #NoWar2025 conference, 24th-26th October on Zoom, exploring abolition movements.

Tools for Solidarity: In the van-guard

Global solidarity organisation Tools for Solidarity is crowd-funding to acquire a new electric van as they use a van for ‘everything’ and their old one’s durability has van-ished. Tools for Solidarity is a not for profit voluntary charitable organisation based in Belfast and relies on donations of tools, sewing machines and volunteers to sustain the work of supporting artisans in sub Sahara Africa to increase their income generation and improve the quality of their lives and that of their communities. They are also involved in other work locally. See https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/tools-for-solidarity-3

FOE UK: Planet Protectors pack for children

Friends of the Earth UK has a Planet Protectors Pack for children with activities, games and stickers, and plastic free. It is available for a donation at https://friendsoftheearth.uk/donate/have-fun-together-get-your-planet-protectors-pack-today?dm_i=78W4,2O2ZK,1RRHI4,7BK2U,1 and any profits go to FOE work. If ordering from outside the UK postal area please be aware of high UK international postage charges, or enquire about postage.

PCI: Materials on the conflict in Sudan and role of women

The conflict and war in Sudan with its huge and devastating effects trundles on, mainly unreported in the media, mainstream or social. Materials from Pax Christi International programme about the situation, “Sudan Speaks: Voices from a Forgotten Crisis and Hopes for Peace” can be found on the Pax Christi International website with video and downloadable slides; the final webinar of the series of three is on 22nd September. Go to https://paxchristi.net/webinars-sudan-speaks The Pax Christi annual report for 2024 is also available on their website at https://paxchristi.net/2024-annual-report-standing-together-for-nonviolence-and-just-peace/ while you can also read about the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative by clicking that title on the menu bar of the home page.

FOE NI: A5, Lough Neagh

Friends of the Earth in Northern Ireland welcomed the court judgement on the A5 upgrade and argue that “Nearly £2 billion is far too much money to waste on one new road project. That money should be used in a more clever and strategic way. Around £1 billion can fund better transport. Firstly to upgrade the existing A5 and secondly to open up new rail and bus services to connections to the west of Northern Ireland.” The dire state of Lough Neagh and political ineffectiveness in dealing with the issue is the subject of a petition to the First Minister and Deputy First Minister demanding community ownership and real protection and restoration https://action.friendsoftheearth.uk/petition/help-save-uks-largest-lake-lough-neagh?dm_i=78W4,2O4TS,1RRHI4,7BQX5,1 And see https://friendsoftheearth.uk/northern-ireland

Neutrality and Triple Lock session at Desmond Greaves

The Desmond Greaves weekend summer school in central Dublin, 5th – 7th September, sees the session on Saturday afternoon, 6th September at 2.30pm, on the future of Irish neutrality with representatives of political parties opposing the abolition of the Triple Lock, and the chair for the session will be Stephen Kelly, chair of PANA/Peace And Neutrality Alliance. Individual sessions are €10, concessions half price. See https://www.greavesschool.ie/ for details.

CRIS fun and fundraiser

CRIS/Community Relations in Schools has a fundraiser at the Balmoral Hotel, Belfast on Friday 17th October with a fancy dress quiz and disco and night of trivia, dancing, themed decor, treats and prizes; proceeds will support CRIS’ ongoing peacebuilding work. See https://www.tickettailor.com/events/communityrelationsinschools/1826574 and the CRIS website is at https://www.crisni.org/

Editorial: Inaction on racism is not an option

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The forces of racism are organising and waiting to pounce, that should be obvious (Northern Ireland figures show a considerable rise in reported racist crimes and incidents). Right wing ideology seeks to exploit any incidence, real or imagined, of wrongdoing by migrants, people who have come here from elsewhere seeking to make a better life – like Irish emigrants have done for many generations elsewhere – possibly escaping from terrible conditions and threats of injury or death in their home countries. The right wing may seek to crack down on crime but they don’t single out the fact that the vast majority of crime on this island is committed by indigenous Irish/Northern Irish people; that doesn’t suit their agenda which is scapegoating, creating fear, and seeking to win support by that means.

Racism is inherently violent because it portrays other people as less human, less capable, less moral, less caring than ourselves. This has direct implications and effects. The ‘others’, the scapegoated ones, don’t matter and therefore they can be abused, verbally or physically, and assaulted, even injured or killed and it doesn’t matter because ‘they’ don’t count. They are, in effect, sub-human, ‘Untermensch‘. They have no rights and should be expelled.

There is only one race, the human race, and diversity is something for celebration and a beautiful aspect of our humanity. Of course we can celebrate ‘our’ culture and invite others to join us and enjoy it too. ‘Our’ culture may be fantastic in many regards but it may also have dark and negative aspects to it in the present – and we know that there have been many such features in the recent past in all parts of Ireland.

There are issues where we cannot remain on the sidelines, as a hurler on the ditch. However we, like or unlike a hurler on the ditch, can take verbal action in objecting to the use of racist terminology. We can, and should, intervene immediately and directly if there is a use of racist language or put down so that the speaker is challenged; it might be they are deliberately being racist in which case they know they are being challenged, or they may be unthinkingly using racist language in which case they may be more careful next time.

There are many ways we can be actively anti-racist and this may or may not involve being involved in an avowedly anti-racist group or organisation such as City of Sanctuary or other solidarity groups. Being open to others on a day to day basis and being willing to help others that we come across, whoever and whatever they are, if we can is an important approach. An approach to inclusiveness that welcomes people that are different – not just in terms of origin but in ability and demeanour – is what is needed. We can all make our sporting, cultural, special interest and political groupings and work places welcoming for all; this is in our own interests too, to bring in new people. There are a huge number of positive examples of this right around the island of Ireland – and wherever you are you probably know of good examples of groups being inclusive.

From a specifically nonviolent point of view, beyond civic and civil society mindedness, there are a variety of possibilities which can be explored and built on. In situations of threat, monitoring and accompaniment models can be developed which can help to prevent racist attacks and protect individuals or groups. Of course racist attacks can happen anywhere and monitors and accompaniers cannot be everywhere. But providing accompaniment to people already threatened or attacked can help provide some measure of reassurance; however the role provided needs to be carefully explained and agreed to by those under threat, and there may not be an understanding of what is being offered.

Beyond monitoring and accompaniment there is the possibility of nonviolent protective lines and the like in situations of racist-based attacks – basically that would be attackers have to attack native-born people before attacking those they see as ‘other’. This is obviously a high risk strategy and one which would in most situations require at least passive acceptance by police that the nonviolent activists would not be interfering with police action and responsibilities, or where police are not present. In this situation nonviolent activists could obviously themselves become targets. But we also know – and more intelligent racists will know – that attacking native-born people is not a way to win friends and is indeed a way to alienate those from whom they would seek to receive support. But racists in a physical conflict are unlikely to be thinking too rationally so such action would be high risk for nonviolent activists – but fast and careful on the ground analysis could justify the risk.

Of course racists should be challenged at a political level but we do need careful consideration of whether counter-demonstrations are a good way to do this. They may or may not. Organising a multicultural celebration away from a racist demonstration, but stating it to be your answer to their racism, is an option. Having more people at ‘your’ anti-racist demo can of course make the point that more people locally support anti-racism than racism, but the dynamics of crowds are difficult and creating ‘us’ and ‘them’ friction may not be the best way to go and may reinforce in the minds of borderline racists that ‘society’ is out to get ‘them’ and has sold out to the ‘others’.

Ireland has the ‘advantage’ in relation to anti-racism of having been on the receiving end of racism and forced emigration through colonialism and poverty – this applies to the Ulster Scots who were relatively early migrants to North America as well as 19th and 20th century migrants. Those who ignore that experience ignore Irish history and refuse to learn from it, with racists preferring to adopt a superior attitude to others which is itself in tune with colonialism. How ironic it is that anyone on the island of Ireland should adopt racism as a creed, even lightly disguised racism through claiming “Ireland is full” when it still has rather less people than 1846 and is infinitely wealthier today. Successive waves of migration to Ireland, some of oppressed groups like the Huguenots, have contributed to the fabric of Irish life and made us what we are, and whatever our origin our ancestors all came from somewhere else originally.

Of course there are issues of concern such as the housing crisis, particularly in the Dublin area. The blame for that lies with the government and our capitalist system rather than people at the bottom of the pile who need somewhere basic to live. And it is economic prosperity, and workers needed for the companies which have helped create that, which has contributed to housing pressures – but no one is saying ‘end prosperity’.

Whether actively involved in avowedly anti-racist activities or not, we all need ‘racism awareness’ and commitment to follow up on what we need to do and can do in our lives and our localities. Our humanity demands no less.

ECO-AWARENESS with Larry Speight:   A life-affirming funeral

Eco-Awareness, Nonviolent News, , , ,

On the occasions you are able to extract yourself from the bedlam of everyday life and immerse yourself in woodland or bracken-covered hills far from the sound of motor vehicles and blipping phones you will, if mindful of what is going on around you, likely notice that nonhuman life goes on without regard to human beings.

If in a woodland you will notice that the nectar seeking insects are self-intent and have no regard for you. The trees that have grown from seeds into tall, multi-branched, wide girth majestic beings will one day fall to the ground where they will decay and become part of the soil which sustains life. Visit an ancient woodland, even a moderately old one, and you will see flora in various stages of the life cycle all around you. The fallen, moss covered tree you happen to be sitting on might well have saplings growing out of it. By way of contrast humans are the only species who in death take from the earth and harm it rather than enrich it and thereby sustain life. We are the bio-world’s vandals and wreckers.

Take the average Irish funeral. When a person dies their body is injected with formaldehyde, a toxic chemical, in order to make them look as if they were not dead. They will be dressed in toxic clothes, placed in a brass handled, polyester-lined wood coffin with no inquiry likely made about where the wood and brass were sourced or where the coffin was manufactured. The deceased will have a religious service, perhaps attended by hundreds of people who will arrive and depart in their fossil fuel driven vehicles. Many will then drive to the place of burial which will once have been home to millions of microorganisms and part of a wider habitat. It will now be the site of life-killing leakages over a prolonged period of time. Marble headstone and curbs, transported by fossil fuel powered ships and lorries, will mark the grave upon which it is common for the grieving to lay artificial grass and flowers. These will have been made in a carbon-intensive manner, most likely in China, and transported by CO2 emitting vehicles.

Even if the dead are cremated there will be negative ecological consequences with the release of global warming gases and other pollutants which have a serious adverse effect upon the climate and biosphere. The mercury in dental fillings will be sent into the atmosphere and from there find their way into the food chain.

This is not the full tally of the ecological cost of the average Irish funeral. It is common that after the burial or cremation the mourners will gather in a community hall where lunch will be served which is usually sandwiches, cakes and biscuits along with a choice of tea, coffee or a sweet drink. Inevitably meat and diary produce will be an integral part of the lunch which could well be accompanied by a supply of plastic utensils. The production of meat and dairy is a significant source of global warming emissions, water pollution, loss of biodiversity and in some cases animal suffering.

Whilst death in nonhuman nature brings forth life, as in the Thunderbird or Phoenix of the mythology of indigenous North American people, the modern-day funeral brings death to other life forms and through degrading the biosphere harms human life itself.

Part of the irony of this lies in that the average Irish funeral is a profound religious event. Before death the hope of the deceased will likely have been that when they die they will be welcomed into Heaven where they will reside for eternity in the presence of God and family and friends who died before them. In the light of how most funerals are conducted this is akin to wanting to be invited to a garden party after you have trashed the host’s garden and smashed up their much-loved vintage car.

The expectation of being welcomed by the Creator after trashing their handiwork highlights the monumental disconnect between human society and the natural world we are a part of. If we foresee ourselves having a modern Irish funeral then our death will diminish the effectiveness of the processes that sustain life.

Fortunately cultural traditions change, even the most hallowed ones, such as how the dead are treated and funerals conducted. To avoid our death begetting death we can leave written instructions asking that our remains not be injected with formaldehyde, that we be dressed in worn clothes made of natural fibers. If there are none in your wardrobe they can be purchased for a reasonable price from a charity shop.

We are not obliged to be put in a wood coffin, or a coffin at all. We can simply be wrapped in a shroud; a well-worn cotton bedsheet would do. After we have been lowered into the ground there is no need to enclose the site with marble curbs and a headstone and the enclosure filled with decorative stones or adorned with artificial grass. A fruit tree can mark the site instead.

Those wishing to attend the funeral can be asked to car share, travel by bus, cycle or walk. The lunch in the community hall can be vegan, free of plastic utensils and paper napkins. The life of a tree can be saved, along with all the creatures that depend on it, through pinning the order of service on a notice board and writing the memorial on the back of used paper.

A life-affirming funeral rather that the dominant mode of present-day funerals is the one that is more rooted in tradition. A hundred years ago there would for instance have been no plastic utensils, paper napkins, individual order of service cards and very few of the mourners would have had a car to travel to and from a funeral. Further, a life-affirming funeral is by far the least expensive and therefore could be your last act of love for your next of kin.

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The Peace Line with Kate Laverty: Atonement in Practice

Nonviolent News, Readings, , ,

I listened to a mother tell her child he was being punished for failing to attend to her ‘because that’s what happens…’. It made me think of the retributive logic in society: punishment as justice, revenge as moral balance. And I wondered where it had come from. Why can’t we simply forgive? This was how I found myself studying atonement theology.

At the heart of nonviolent atonement theology lies a simple but revolutionary claim: God is not the author of violence, but its victim and healer. The cross is about exposing human violence, forgiving it, and transforming it through love. This view invites us into the presence of a God who refuses to return harm for harm.

As J. Denny Weaver puts it: “The narrative of Jesus does not depict God as a God of violence, but rather as a God who overcomes violence through suffering love.” The cross, then, is not the site of divine punishment, but divine solidarity—Jesus identifying fully with those crushed by injustice and inviting us to do the same. In this light, Jesus’ death is not payment demanded by God, but the consequence of human fear. What is revealed on the cross is not divine anger, but the depth of human violence—and the unshakable mercy of a God who forgives even while dying at our hands.

This understanding resonates deeply with the founding vision of Forthspring, born in west Belfast out of a longing for healing between communities scarred by sectarian violence. Forthspring’s mission—to bring Catholics and Protestants, families and youth, together across lines of suspicion—mirrors the essence of nonviolent atonement: not the erasure of difference, but the refusal to let difference justify violence.

These theological insights do not stand alone within Christianity. They resonate deeply with the wisdom of Islam, which frames God primarily as Ar-Rahman, Ar-Rahim—The Most Merciful, The Most Compassionate. “My mercy encompasses all things,” says God in the Qur’an (7:156). It is a view that calls both Muslims and Christians to reflect God’s mercy in the world—to build societies where justice heals rather than punishes.

While Buddhism has no doctrine of atonement, the Dhammapada teaches: “Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal law” (verse 5). This is similar to Jesus’ prayer on the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Both voices—Jesus and the Buddha—refuse the logic of vengeance and instead offer a way to break the cycle of suffering.

Forthspring, working in a context of interreligious and intercommunity tension, offers space for these shared values to take root. Our work is not about denying religious difference, but harnessing the spiritual common ground that refuses violence in the name of God.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. envisioned a world healed by love, not domination. His concept of the Beloved Community is where nonviolent atonement comes to life: a world where justice and mercy meet, where former enemies share tables, and where systems of harm are transformed into spaces of healing.

As King wrote, “At the centre of nonviolence stands the principle of love.” That love is not sentimental—it is courageous, rooted in the conviction that every person has inherent dignity, even the wrongdoer.

For those of us working in community, especially with youth affected by violence, the implications are urgent. At Forthspring, children are not taught to carry the burdens of the past, but to question them, transform them, and lay them down; adults model restorative justice rather than retribution; diverse faiths sit together in the shared conviction that peace is sacred, and violence is not inevitable.

AVP at 50: A Global Gathering of Peacebuilders

Nonviolent News, Readings, , , , ,

by Lisa Oelschlegel

This year, the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) marked its 50th anniversary with an international gathering in New York, bringing together hundreds of facilitators from around the world to celebrate and commemorate our shared journey and look towards the future.

AVP is a grassroots movement active in more than 60 countries, including Ireland, where it has been running for over 30 years. In Ireland, we deliver transformative, experiential workshops across 11 prisons. Each workshop is co-facilitated by trained incarcerated facilitators alongside volunteers from the wider community. Together, we create spaces of genuine human connection, spaces where a sense of belonging can take root and where moments of real change emerge, often quietly and unexpectedly. Our workshops help participants develop conflict transformation skills and tools to build healthy, trusting relationships. They foster collaboration, open dialogue, and a shared commitment to non-violence.

In May, our long-standing AVP facilitators Claire, Donna, and AVP co-founder Jenny travelled across the Atlantic to represent AVP Ireland, carrying with them the voices, creativity, and contributions of many others who could not attend in person but who have been integral to this journey for many years.

At the gathering, they shared stories, artwork, and poetry created by incarcerated facilitators in Ireland – powerful glimpses of what AVP means to those whose lives it has touched. They also reflected on recent developments in Ireland, including work on community building, consensus-based decision-making, and nurturing strong relationships through open communication. Claire and Donna led a particularly impactful breakout session on AVP workshops that explored the links between gender and violence, sparking rich discussions about gender, identity, power, and personal transformation.

The international gathering was moving in ways that are hard to put into words: breakout sessions, stories of change, cultural exchanges, and a visit to Green Haven Prison, where AVP first began in 1975. One participant summed it up beautifully: “We all felt it—whether separated by distance or by walls, we are one family.”

We also learnt about how outside of Ireland, AVP has found its way into many other places too: schools, refugee camps, and community centres around the world. The New York event was not only a moment to reflect on the past and present, but also an opportunity to look forward: expanding youth engagement, strengthening trauma-informed practices, supporting prison re-entry programmes, and reimagining how AVP shares its message more widely. Whether through work with young people, in prisons, in communities, or with those returning from prison, AVP continues to grow in relevance, reach, and hope.

If you would like to learn more about AVP or become part of this journey, we would love to hear from you!

Website: www.avpireland.ie
Email: info@avpireland.ie
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– The INNATE photo album on AVP is at https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/albums/72157645765804171/

Pope Francis and nonviolence: Let’s move towards a “Nonviolent Culture”, an “Other Way”

Nonviolent News, Readings, , , , , ,

by Sylvia Thompson, Tralee

On the death of Pope Francis, on Easter Monday 21 April 2025 an email came from Pax Christi International with the following: “A Compendium of Pope Francis’ Use of The Term “Nonviolence” in Statements, Interviews, or Other Papal-Related Texts in English: 2013-2025” https://paxchristi.net/a-compendium-of-pope-francis-use-of-the-term-nonviolence/

The Compendium was drawn up by Ken Butigan, Executive Committee Member of Pax Christi International’s Catholic Nonviolence Initiative and Coordinating Committee Member of The Catholic Institute for Nonviolence. Butigan wrote that, in a series of books, presentations, statements, and interviews, Pope Francis called us to this “other way”: active nonviolence, a core Gospel value that combines the rejection of violence with the power of love and reconciliation in action.

I found it compelling reading and will share some favourite texts and quotes from it and may this inspire you to consult it for reference, read it in full or better still, try to ensure that this legacy is not only treasured but acted on.

“Let us make nonviolence a guide for our actions both in daily life and in international relations. And let us pray for a more widespread culture of nonviolence that will progress when countries and citizens alike resort less and less to the use of arms.” – Pope Francis April prayer intention: ‘For a nonviolent culture.’ 2023.

Amid the enormous violence and injustice our world faces—what the Holy Father has called “a third world war fought piecemeal,” there is …a “global culture of violence including permanent war, growing poverty, threats to civil liberties, ecological devastation, the enduring terror of nuclear weapons, and the scourge of the structural violence of racism, sexism, and economic injustice and other forms of systemic injustice “ – Ken Butigan Pope Francis urged the world to confront this catastrophic suffering, not with more violence, but with a nonviolent revolution of tenderness and again to confront the reality of violence with active and transformative Gospel nonviolence.

This “other way” is not avoidance, or appeasement, or aggression, or attack. It is a dramatically different way of being in the world, of working for peace, of building movements and systems, and of being faithful to the vision of Jesus – a recognition of the primacy of diplomacy over the noise of arms.

“Living, speaking, and acting without violence is not surrendering, losing or giving up anything, but aspiring to everything.”

“This is not the same as weakness or passivity; rather it presupposes firmness, courage and the ability to face issues and conflicts with intellectual honesty, truly seeking the common good over and above all partisan interest, be it ideological, economic or political.”

“To be true followers of Jesus today…includes embracing his teaching about nonviolence”, “In the most local and ordinary situations and in the international order, may nonviolence become the hallmark of our decisions, our relationships and our actions, and indeed of political life in all its forms,” and may we “make active nonviolence our way of life.” – Pope Francis, Message, for the Celebration of the Fiftieth World Day of Peace, 1 January 2017, “Nonviolence: A Style of Politics for Peace”

“…I think of nonviolence as a perspective and way of understanding the world, to which theology must look as one of its constitutive elements.”

“Before the scandal of war, in the first place, our concern must not be for talking and discussing, but for weeping, for helping others and for experiencing conversion ourselves. We need to weep for the victims and the overwhelming bloodshed, the deaths of so many innocent people, the trauma inflicted on families, cities, and an entire people. …But we also need to experience conversion, and to recognize that armed conquest, expansionism, and imperialism have nothing to do with the Kingdom that Jesus proclaimed. Nothing to do with the Risen Lord, who in Gethsemane told his disciples to reject violence, to put the sword back in its place, since those who live by the sword will die by the sword (Mt 26:52), and who, cutting short every objection, simply said: “Enough!” (cf. Lk 22:51). – Vatican News, June 30, 2022:

“In our complex and violent world, it is truly a formidable undertaking to work for peace by living the practice of non-violence!” – World Day of Peace: Nonviolence: A Style of Politics for Peace, 2017

Speaking to all religious leaders in 2017, in ‘Pathways to Peace’, he said “we also have a special responsibility to be and to live as people of peace, bearing insistent witness that God detests war, that war is never holy, and that violence can never be perpetrated or justified in the name of God. We are likewise called to trouble consciences, to spread hope, to encourage and support peacemakers everywhere. –

Francis does not let anyone off the call – older age included:

“Old age is no time to give up and lower the sails, but a season of enduring fruitfulness: a new mission awaits us and bids us look to the future.” Message of the Holy Father Francis for the Second World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly (24 July 2022).

Pope Francis launched an impassioned plea for nations to set aside war and the threat of nuclear destruction. “…there is no occasion in which a war can be considered just. There is never a place for the barbarism of war, especially not when contention acquires one of its most unjust faces: that of so called ‘preventive wars.’” The choice to follow the path of nonviolence and continued existence, concluded Pope Francis, lies with us.

When asked about an encyclical on nonviolence, Pope Francis replied” “Yes, the plan exists, but the next Pope will do it… There are other projects on the back burner. One of them is on peace. It’s maturing. I feel I will do it when the time comes. …I don’t feel ready yet to write an encyclical on non-violence, I have to pray a lot and find the way.”

So now we wait or rather call on Pope Leo and I don’t think he needs much encouragement judging by his first words on being elected “Peace be with you all”.

On May 30, 2025, Pope Leo XIV issued a powerful call for nonviolence as a way of life, urging individuals and communities to resist the global surge of hostility. Addressing over 300 peace movement representatives gathered in the Vatican, the Pope declared that “nonviolence, as a method and a style, must characterise our decisions, our relationships, our actions.” This audience marked the one-year anniversary of the “Arena of Peace” gathering in Verona, where Pope Francis met with these same groups in May 2024.

Building on that momentum, Leo XIV, already known for his pastoral clarity and cultural sensitivity, offered a deeply human reflection on the moral imperative of peace: “There is too much violence in the world, too much violence in our societies,” he said, listing war, terrorism, human trafficking, and a broader “culture of aggression” that permeates daily life. In contrast, he stressed that children and young people “need experiences that teach them the value of life, dialogue, and mutual respect.”

In his remarks, the Pontiff elevated those who suffer injustice yet refuse vengeance. These witnesses, he said, are “the most credible protagonists of nonviolent peace-building.” He emphasised the need for “a different way of life — nonviolent at its core,” and challenged attendees to embody that in everyday choices.

Quoting his predecessor Francis, Leo XIV noted that peace begins by “standing with the victims and seeing from their perspective.” This outlook, he said, can disarm hearts, change minds, and expose the injustices of systems “that kill and are built on a throwaway culture.”

He also invoked St. John Paul II’s teaching that peace “is an indivisible good: it is either for everyone, or for no one,” highlighting the communal dimension of true peace. Acknowledging the long road peace requires, Leo XIV added that conflicts should not be ignored or erased, but rather “recognised, embraced, and endured together.”

The pope’s vision, grounded in Catholic Social Teaching, reaches beyond the Church’s walls. “The Gospel and the Church’s social doctrine can serve as a meaningful compass for everyone — believers and non-believers alike.” Seven Themes of Catholic Social Teaching | USCCB

The most poignant moment came when Leo XIV honoured two audience members: Maoz Inon, an Israeli whose parents were killed in the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, and Aziz Sarah, a Palestinian whose brother was killed by the Israeli military. The Pope recalled their public embrace in Verona — a gesture of courage and reconciliation that moved the crowd to applause. “That moment remains a sign of hope,” he said. In a world overwhelmed by conflict, Pope Leo XIV offers a counter current — rooted in dignity, courage, and the conviction that peace is a disciplined act of love.

And finally in July 2025 in a message to participants in Pax Christi USA’s annual National Assembly, a conference focused on “Reclaiming the power of nonviolence in a broken world”, Pope Leo says “efforts to promote nonviolence are all the more necessary” in a world facing the challenges including war, division, and forced migration.

“In the midst of the many challenges facing our world at this time, including widespread armed conflict, division among peoples, and the challenges of forced migration, efforts to promote nonviolence are all the more necessary. Pope Leo invited participants to recall that “after the violence of the Crucifixion, the Risen Christ’s first words to the Apostles offered peace,” a peace that is “unarmed and disarming, humble and persevering”.

“Jesus continues to send His followers into the world to become creators of peace in their daily lives”. Therefore “it is all the more important for a Church capable of reconciliation to be present and visible” in parishes, neighbourhoods, and especially on the peripheries of society. Pope Leo expressed his hope that the National Conference would inspire members of Pax Christi USA to work to make their local communities “‘houses of peace’ where one learns how to defuse hostility through dialogue, where justice is practiced and forgiveness is cherished”.

By doing so, he said, “you will enable many more people to embrace Saint Paul’s invitation to live at peace with their brothers and sisters”.

So now we call on Pope Leo to issue a much needed and urgent encyclical on nonviolence, maybe it is already in preparation!

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INNATE is pleased to publish input on nonviolence from religious or secular viewpoints and contributions have included reflections from Buddhist and Jain perspectives. This valuable contribution on nonviolence in the Catholic tradition, with relevance to others, is from long time peace and green activist Sylvia Thompson in Co Kerry.

Children’s rights in Ireland

Nonviolent News, Readings, , ,

Note of Panel Discussion held in Birr Library, 16th August 2025:

From Cáin Adomnáin to Today – Exploring the Evolution of Children’s Rights in Ireland

by Caroline Hurley

Background

For Heritage Week 2025, the Museum of Childhood Ireland/Músaem Óige na Éireann, teamed up with Birr Library to create a series of exhibitions, workshops and a panel discussion. Entitled Seen And Heard, under the theme, Exploring Our Foundations, the project traced the story of children’s rights in Ireland from Cáin Adomnáin to the present day.

Key among the activities hosted was the Seen and Heard Panel Discussion, ‘From Cáin Adomnáin to Today – Exploring the Evolution of Children’s Rights in Ireland’, from 1.30 to 3.00pm Saturday 16 August 2025. The panel consisted of historians and children’s rights advocates describing and discussing children’s rights from early Irish law to present day protections and future ambitions.

Location choice was not accidental. Birr, Co Offaly became the birthplace of one of the world’s earliest child protection (and international humanitarian) laws – the fascinating Cáin Adomnáin, written in 679 AD. Also known as the Lex Innocentium (Law of Innocents*), Cain Adomnáin dates back to the Synod of Birr in 697 AD. The law gave protection to women, children, clerics and other non-arms-bearing people in time of strife, and was the first such known law in the history of Western Europe, if not the world. A copy of the book, Cáin Adomnáin, illustrated by artist Caroline Conway, is on permanent display in Birr Library.

The event was filmed, for viewing soon on the museum’s website. Irish Sign Language interpreters accompanied speakers. The panel was co-chaired by Eoin Murphy, youth rights citizen advocate; and Marie Baker, former Supreme Court judge with experience in Constitutional law relating to children, now Electoral Commission Chair.

Four panellists took part. Based in Birr, Dr James W. Houlihan is a retired solicitor and historian whose doctoral research culminated in the critically-acclaimed book, Adomnán’s Lex Innocentium and the Laws of War (Four Courts Press, 2020), a detailed exploration of Adomnán’s Text (currently out of print but queued for reprint.) Combining his legal expertise with rigorous historical scholarship, Houlihan situates this early medieval Irish code within the broader evolution of children’s rights.

Donnah Sibanda Vuma works for Limerick based NGO, Doras; supporting and promoting the rights of migrants in Ireland, and has particular concerns about the direct provision system. Donnah is currently undertaking a Masters in Peace and Development Studies.

Eamonn Carroll has practised as a family lawyer for over 30 years, championing child rights in the courts. A longtime family mediator, he spearheaded the establishment of Collaborative Practice for family law in Ireland.

Formerly of the Migrant Rights Center Ireland who organised Young, Paperless and Powerful, a creative youth project for undocumented young people, Mairéad McDevitt is a Dublin based Youth & Community worker and youth migrant rights consultant, focusing on those impacted by immigration policies.

Panel Presentations

Chairperson of Museum of Childhood Ireland, Majella McAllister opened the event, thanking about thirty people present for coming. She outlined elements and goals of ‘Seen and Heard’; the first event on Birr’s Heritage Week programme; fittingly, given the town as birthplace of Cáin Adomnáin/Lex Innocentium. She outlined objectives of the Museum of Childhood Ireland, designed according to United Nations principles, open to citizen participation, and putting into practice the ideal of cherishing all equally. The Museum serves both Irish people and the diaspora. She conveyed apologies from former children’s ombudsman and museum board member, Emily Logan.

Chair Marie Baker introduced James W. Houlihan, world expert and author on the Cáin Adomnáin text, whose subject matter of noncombatant rights and protections during war was not really formally developed again until the twentieth century.

James welcomed everyone to Birr. He framed Cáin Adomnán, translated as the Law of Adomnán, known also as Lex Innocentium, as a child protection measure introduced thirteen centuries ago. Contemporaneous Irish Annals refer to the text and enrolment ceremony. From Donegal, Adomnán was the ninth abbot of Iona, after St. Columba who founded the monastery there. Adomnán used his influence to persuade church and lay leaders to come to Birr to agree his inspired law on the glorious occasion of the 697 Synod convened by him.

The list of guarantors , all of whom probably attended, survives. At the top of the secular list is then Irish High King, Loingsech mac Óengusso, followed by 50 lesser kings. Bishop of Armagh, Fland Feblae mac Scandlin, heads up the list of 40 ecclesiastic leaders. These luminaries, about one hundred, are presumed to have gathered at the gates of St. Brendan’s Monastery, (now in ruins) bordering Emmett Square near Birr library. Remarkable in intent, substance, and delivery, the law was conceived to defend the defenceless, the non-arm-bearing non-combatants; to assure immunity to the harmless and innocent. Relevance to the current moment, in Gaza, Ukraine etc. is glaringly obvious.

Mankind’s humanity was now being commemorated, particularly relating to children, because Adomnán took a radical initiative in what was then an incredibly inegalitarian and hierarchical society where authoritarian kings were unquestioningly obeyed. Dr. Houlihan sketched the social and legal situation in 7th century Ireland. The Brehon Laws applied, with inequitable rules and restitutions linked to status, except when it came to children up to seven years old, who, whether progeny of king or commoner, received equal legal protection.

Also, when an adult female was killed, a significant penalty had to be paid, in contrast to all males over seven, requiring little or none. These rule outliers gave Adomnán enough to make the case that penalties should also be paid for boys killed until they reached manhood. He was able to convince prominent social figures, expected to hold entrenched views and enmities, to change their minds. Historical research confirms that this is the first such law of its kind, prefiguring the Geneva Convention, to be promulgated in Europe and perhaps in the world. As lawmakers flurry to revise shortcomings emerging in international law, the importance of Cáin Adomnáin grows even greater as a foundation stone to build on.

The chair then asked Eoin Carroll to sum up developments in children’s law. He expressed delight at being present, while starkly aware of the theme’s relevance to ongoing global conflicts. Progress had steadily been made away from harsh Victorian statutes, such as corporal punishment, especially with the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Having it written down makes a difference. Eventually Ireland began to draft parallel laws, such as the children’s rights referendum resulting in a 2012 Constitutional amendment prioritising children’s own voices and best interests.

Work in court had changed a lot. The Children’s Rights Alliance did great work. Judges and other parties were receiving appropriate training, resulting in better understandings and outcomes. Disputes about child custody heard in district courts were complex. Authority was giving way to flexibility and support. Court representation for children is now routine, although children in care, especially those with special needs, disabilities, and Travellers, are still often let down by inadequate services. Frequently, agencies have to be pressurised and cajoled into providing services children are entitled to. Accountability generally works, for example, when the court requires named service providers to appear in court. The problem now is not process but availability of resources, impeding implementation of rulings.

Next, the chair introduced Donnah Sibanda Vuma, child advocate who, after coming through Ireland’s international protection system with three children in 2014, brought first-hand knowledge to her role. She commended Ireland’s stance championing children’s rights; less so, failures to enact those rights. She warned that marginalised children were being excluded, and left behind which, in light of Ireland’s history of institutionalisation, was alarming. Would detention centres be condemned in future like Magdalene Laundries? To prevent this, she suggested being ambitious, going for true equality so that no child would ever face street or structural violence, and the most vulnerable would never be abandoned between child protection cracks, as happens to this day.

Mairéad McDevitt agreed that there was a disconnect between laws and process, and how they play out in children’s lives i.e. provisions fall short to address poverty, overcrowding, health needs etc, imperilling safe dignified existences. Today’s legal framework only covers some children. Citing migrants, she demonstrated that migration is very common. Nearly everyone does it at some point. A mindset conflating migration with impermanence leads to assumptions damaging for children, because residency status determines futures and ability to plan. Migrants, especially those undocumented, have fewer options, more obstacles. Destructive features of the family reunification policy ignore circumstances, hampering adjustment. Wealthy Ireland is not rushing to fix these issues. The EC legal framework adds to challenges by not accounting for socio-economic realities like homelessness, which leaves children in dangerous vulnerable places. Statutes are easy; incarnating them, not so much. Ramifications are very serious for children impacted.

The chair noted that the citizenship referendum set progress back, with paternalism remaining in the system, but in any case, the court could not be held responsible for all failures.

Panel Discussion & Close

A discussion then took place about what could be done to improve matters. Suggestions included: adopting the Lundy model, ensuring children have choices, agency, and spaces to play, listening that isn’t just a box-ticking exercise; informing and educating all parties and the public; instituting child and family approaches cross-departmentally for all policies; harnessing political will which not only drives narratives but determines systemic results; creating opportunities to talk and reduce hate; and service auditing, which proves effective.

The chair said that children need to know that rights come with obligations, for example, if the voting age was reduced to 16, a controversial topic open to political manipulation. The chair said the youth have been left a mess to clean up. At least reports of the Ombudsman show they were listening. and the role was advancing, including more recommendations on homelessness, IPAS (International Protection Accommodation Services), and other urgent hindrances. On that note of hope, the event was brought to a close.

Related Activities

Concomitantly in the library, a thought-provoking exhibition created by the Museum of Childhood Ireland, working with artist Fergal McCarthy, explored the history of children’s rights in Ireland. This work incorporated school visits with children in Birr and Dublin and workshops with local Birr groups Biorra le Gaeilge and Elm Grove House, IPAS Centre and was carried out using the Lundy Model of participation. Open to adults and children of all ages, the exhibition highlighted fascinating children’s rights milestones through imaginative and curiosity-sparking drawings by the artist and collaborating groups. Creative drop-in workshops with the artist were held through the week. A specially-created suitcase—filled with interactive games and hands-on activities about children’s rights— stayed with the exhibition in Birr Library until Saturday 23 August, offering ongoing opportunities for discovery and engagement throughout Heritage Week.

Endnotes

*On 21 September 2024, International Day of Peace, Lex Innocentium 21st Century was launched in Birr and Lorrha as a new people’s or popular law on war, based on the original 697 CE law enacted in Birr at the Synod instigated by Adomnán, abbot of Iona, as reported here – https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/2024/10/01/news-october-2024/

Author’s reflection: law and money only go so far. Auditing and accountability as mentioned engage commitment and action, while fairness and kindness improve everything making disappointments tolerable. Regaining humanity is the shared universal necessity.

Billy King: Rites Again, 332

Billy King, Nonviolent News, , , , ,

Billy King shares his monthly thoughts

Hello again, summer doesn’t be long in going in, and before you know it again it is autumn and those autumn schedules. Well, the mysteries of time have still to be properly unravelled and all we can do is make the most of the time it is and the time we have. But I hope you had a pleasant time of it and time out over the summer. And it’s time for my first Colm of the autumn….

All the presidents, men and women

The post of President of Ireland comes up for filling in November as Michael D finishes his second term – with a presidential election before then. Let’s hope we get someone at least half as good. It is a largely symbolic role but that symbolism took on a much more dynamic character under Mary Robinson, the first woman president, elected in 1990, and it was built on by Mary McAleese and Michael D Higgins himself (he who, when Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht was the subject of a Saw Doctors’ song “Michael D, Michael D, Up on your bikeldy, Michael D Higgins, Up in the Dáil…..”) While party political support has been important in the victory of the last three presidents, most voters have looked for more than that.

Prior to Mary Robinson the role of president was essentially for retired – and tired – political figures though the very first President, Douglas Hyde, was primarily an academic and Irish language advocate, and significantly, a Protestant (as was Erskine Childers, president from 1973 until be died in 1974). Eamon de Valera was president for two full terms (1959-73), way past when he was physically capable of playing the role – he was 90 and in very poor health for some time when he retired (the exiting Michael D is 84 but still energetic enough). The ‘Hernia’ satirical page at the back of ‘Hibernia’ magazine marked Dev’s 90th birthday with the headline “De Valera at 90” and below that “Vroom, vroom, vroom!”

As to who will emerge as next president, well, the game is quite open and many names are floated but with intense scrutiny of candidates these days, their deeds and misdeeds, and it being easy to slag someone off, it is a brave or foolhardy person to put their name forward (I put Michael Flatley and Conor McGregor in the latter category of ‘foolhardy’, both unlikely to get the necessary support to appear on the ballot paper, and McGregor a civil case defined rapist – no thank you to him even being on the ballot paper).

Heather Humphreys, a former Fine Gael TD and Minister, is emerging as the likely candidate from the Fine Gael stable and as a Monaghan Prod, her grandfather signed the 1912 Unionist Solemn League and Covenant, she would be an interesting choice and a conservative with relatively broad support. However from a progressive peace and neutrality point of view it would be impossible to beat the credentials and views of Catherine Connolly, Galway West TD, and a plain spoken supporter of equality, inclusion and both peace and neutrality and opposition to NATO. It is all to play for yet.

Discerning the truth got rather more difficult

Two British colonels were captured by the Russians while on the ground directing Ukrainian military operations. This story started circulating some weeks ago and names and a picture were provided. There was just one problem with this story. It wasn’t true and the picture was a poor AI generated image. The names provided didn’t appear anywhere on British military records.

The first thing to say is that the story could have been true. What various western countries are doing to support Ukraine, beyond the obvious, is anybody’s guess. And if you look at what the British state got up to in Northern Ireland during the Troubles – within its own jurisdiction – then anything is possible; running a list of agents as long as a plethora of arms (or armaments?) with many of them recruited, presumably, through blackmail, even running a laundry, the Four Square Laundry, to gather intelligence when picking up and dropping off, and, handily, to be able to test clothes for any incriminating evidence; the Military Intelligence Museum website refers to it only covering ‘catholic’ areas. And to quote another account ““We were not there to act like an army unit, we were there to act like a terror group,” said one unidentified former member of the MRF* who didn’t disclose his name out of concerns for his safety.” https://www.coffeeordie.com/article/four-square-laundry-service *British Army unit the Military Reaction Force.

The old saying of truth being the first casualty in war is true as far as it goes but civilians including children are first, and probably last, casualties too. Propaganda is nothing new, e.g. at the start of the First World War stories about the Germans butchering Belgian babies (the label ‘Catholic’ added for Irish benefit) – there were German atrocities but magnified well beyond the truth by the Allies. But with social media just one person can start a lie/rumour and it can go viral very fast.

But let’s look at the above story about the colonels. Suppose there were British colonels captured by the Russians while fighting with Ukraine. Suppose they were secret agents who, while previously openly in the military had been ‘retired’ and given new identities. Suppose when they were captured the British secret services deliberately manufactured dodgy looking AI images of them so any discerning person would immediately assume the story was false. The possibilities are endless, particularly in the era of social media and AI.

We know some of the dastardly deeds that Russian forces and the Russian state get up to in Ukraine. But we also know that the Nord Stream gas pipelines sabotage in the Baltic in 2022, initially blamed on the Russians, was done by others (e.g. pro-Ukrainian). We simply don’t get to hear about all the activities the US, UK and NATO are doing to destabilise Russia, and you can be sure they are at it. We hear in the likes of the mainstream Irish media about the presence of dodgy Russian ships around the seas of Ireland – but not about dodgy NATO ones, here or around Russia We are fed only a fraction of the picture and propaganda gets more sophisticated all the time. And in some ways like in Russia, most people don’t read between the lines.

Discerning the truth has got more difficult and requires time, thought and investigation…but with social media a story like the British colonels one can get legs and be over the horizon before we have cottoned on that it is fake.

Unionist support for British militarism

I find it sad the way Northern unionists, the vast majority anyway, support British militarism without question. I know unionism tends to be right of centre but it seems obsessive to me. There are many positive British values that could be actively supported like Nye Bevan’s universal health service policy (not his anti-anti-nuclearism of 1957!) or some British policies and practice on multiculturalism (now seemingly in a sad state), and lots of British culture worth immersing in. Going back in time the DUP wanted Cruise missiles based in Norn Iron cos Britain was getting them. It all seems so sad in a society which suffered from armed conflict for three decades from around 1969 onwards – how can you wish what was inflicted on you on people in other countries and in much greater measure?

Unhelpfully in a variety of ways, it seems British politicians of all shades regularly use arms production in Northern Ireland as a means try to keep unionists sweet. For example, Ben Lowry reported, and commented on (News Letter online 16/8/25), a visit by Rachel Reeves, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, where she is quoted “Ms Reeves said: “Northern Ireland is brimming with talent and ambition, from cutting-edge film studios to world-class defence manufacturing.” She said that the investments she announced were a “turning point”, adding: “Every pound we invest here supports good jobs, strengthens our economy, and boosts the United Kingdom’s standing on the world stage, with Northern Ireland at its heart.”

Ben Lowry went on to say “Last year, the influential centre-right think tank, Policy Exchange which is based in Westminster, issue a report that said that Northern Ireland is key to addressing the UK’s security concerns. The document called for the UK government to expand its naval and air presence in NI for “maritime patrol missions against Russian intrusion”. It also urged the UK and its regional partners to unite and “up the ante” in pressing Dublin to do its “fair share for collective security”. The then prime minister Rishi Sunak said that he would be “delighted” to examine the report and added: “I have seen, with my own visits, the vital role that Northern Ireland is playing through the location of firms like Thales and Harland and Wolff.” “

Lowry went on, in the typical militarist and British right wing fashion, to accuse the Republic of “defence freeloading”. Yes, the Republic should be doing much more on international peace and security but certainly not by dishonestly ending the Triple Lock on deployment of troops and getting as close to NATO as it possible can. Ireland’s role is ( = should be) to be a peace builder and peace maker – not a bit part player in the militarisation games of NATO and the EU. Security for Ireland comes from building peace not upping the militarist ante. And there is such a thing, in military related terminology, as ‘non-offensive defence’, aside from the possibilities of civilian based defence and planned nonviolent resistance which the 2023 Irish state-run Consultative Forum on International Security Policy refused to examine.

Flegs again

Flags including national flags can mean many things. The feeling is very different between a flag placed outside a house in a Nordic country for someone’s birthday and a flag – mainly loyalist but to some extent republican* ones too, in Norn Iron. Being resident in Norn Iron I felt (uncomfortably) ‘right at home’ when visiting the West Bank/Palestine some years ago and seeing the Star of David flags of Israeli settlers. Both tend to be marking territory, or claiming territory, in a not too subtle way. * While Irish tricolour flags are used in Northern Ireland, also to claim territory and proclaim identity, there isn’t the same culture of blanket flag raising on the Catholic/Nationalist side of the house.

While we should all be internationalists first, and nationalists with a very small ‘n’ second, pride in one’s country can be a positive thing – pride in ‘our’ culture and traditions – though not all traditions are pride-worthy and we need to be critical where ‘our’ country falls short on equality, human rights and relating to the world. Right wing nationalism and ethno-nationalism have been making strides and not just in the West – think of Hindu ethno- or religious nationalism in India.

And now we have the Northern Irelandisation of England with Union and especially St George’s flegs going up in abundance. Of course this is denied to be a racist action, and for some people they may not see it that way, but the overall effect is certainly that – England for ‘the English’, and that defined in a narrow way. For the far right it is a way to move their agenda forward in a seemingly ‘acceptable’ way. The pictures make me feel it is just like the oppressiveness of Norn Iron political culture.

Meanwhile the report of a commission on ways forward on issues to do with flags, emblems, culture and tradition in the North, with some very sensible analysis, has sat firmly and securely on the shelf since its completion in 2019 and publication in 2021. See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-59266116 and https://www.executiveoffice-ni.gov.uk/publications/commission-flags-identity-culture-and-tradition-final-report It is another unfortunate illustration of the ineffectiveness of the Stormont Assembly on many issues where the 2+ sides can’t agree, and even some where they could if they faced reality (e.g. acting effectively to save Lough Neagh).

A flag on display is not a neutral object, it is an object that can be used in a thousand different ways. Overall I wish the support for fleg waving would flag. Some of the answers are blowing in the wind. But the issues involved, like flags left up for some time, leave society in the North ragged, torn and dishevelled, and stuck up a pole with difficulty in getting down.

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Well there we go, that’s me for now and I hope you are prepared physically and mentally for autumn and winter and whatever they throw at you, which I hope won’t be too much. And however mad Ireland is you can be sure there are at least as bizarre, or bizarrer [That’s not a word – Ed] [It is now, say it out loud cos it sounds a bit bizarre – Billy] things going on elsewhere, like the guy in England arrested for sporting a ‘Plasticine Action’ t-shirt after the banning of Palestine Action under terrorism legislation – doesn’t sound like the police were modelling very good behaviour……or shooting the messenger when D Trump fired the head of an official US statistics bureau when he didn’t like the job figures given…..there are lies, damn lies, and Donald Trump.

September can still be a very pleasant month, weatherwise, in our neck of the woods, and with global warming winters aren’t as cold as they use to be either. In the damp cold of an Irish winter you may not notice too much difference though. Anyway, it is only the start of autumn, and there is plenty of time for you can catch a falling leaf and put it in your pocket, save it for a rainy day (to marvel at its construction and the passing seasons). Meanwhile International Day of Peace comes up on 21st September and International Day of Nonviolence on 2nd October – a useful hook to hang an event on if you are thinking of anything. I’ll be back next month with another dose of thoughts, until then, Billy. l