All posts by Rob Fairmichael

NATO and the USA by Edward Horgan

May 1, 2026Nonviolent News, ReadingsEdward Horgan, NATO, Trump, USARob Fairmichael

Introduction: Edward Horgan is an inveterate letter writer and part of the art of letter writing is being succinct and on the ball. We carry here a letter written, and published, in early April concerning NATO:

“It would benefit humanity if Trump were to pull out of NATO.

US President Trump has threatened to pull the US out of NATO. If he does so, this will be one of his very few actions as President that would benefit humanity. However, he is unlikely to follow through on this threat, and his successor would likely reverse any such decision. NATO should have been disbanded shortly after the Warsaw Pact ceased to exist in 1991. NATO was founded in 1949 the same year that the USSR developed its first nuclear weapon, and it claims that it defended western Europe during the Cold War. Nuclear weapons have terrorised all of humanity since the US first used them in its double-tap war crime nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. With the increasing proliferation of nuclear weapons, humanity has never been more threatened with extinction.

In the meantime, the US has misused NATO as the equivalent of a global criminal protection racket in its series of resource wars of aggression, beginning with the NATO attack on Serbia in 1999 in contravention of the UN Charter and of NATO’s own Charter. These wars have killed millions of people, especially women and children, wreaked havoc with the environment and left multiple countries in chaos.

Trump is now accusing his erstwhile ‘allies’ of failing to support the illegal US/Israeli attacks on Iran and elsewhere, while at the same time threatening to annex NATO member Canada and Denmark’s Greenland territory. Trump is annoyed because three large NATO members, France, Spain and Italy have imposed severe restrictions on US military use of their airports or overfly their territories. Neutral Switzerland and Austria have done likewise.

Our Irish Government, while claiming to be neutral, is recklessly allowing aircraft associated with the US military to use Shannon airport and fly through Irish airspace, thereby being complicit in genocide and war crimes. It is failing to support the UN and the proper rule of international laws. Basic morality should ensure that preventing the killing of hundreds of thousands of children is prioritised over Irish economic interests.”

Workshop and training materials: Tic-tac-toe the line

May 1, 2026Nonviolent News, ReadingsExploration, Game, Noughts and crosses, Power, Privilege, Tic-tac-toe the lineRob Fairmichael

INNATE has a wide variety of training and exploratory materials online concerning nonviolence, nonviolent tactics, conflict, group dynamics and group working and decision making. These are in the Workshops and nonviolence training section of the website https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/workshops/ There are also links there to the WRI manual on nonviolent campaigning and the Mari Fitzduff and Sue Williams manual “Dialogue in Divided Societies: Skills for Working with Groups in Conflict” which are important resources in the field.

We have more material which we will be adding to the website over the next period and will carry some of this in, or with Nonviolent News (perhaps also as a separate attachment for email recipients). Here is the first addition, a short exploration of power and privilege –

A short game exploring power and privilege

Tic-tac-toe (the usual US English name) is more usually known in European English as ‘noughts and crosses’. It is a simple game played by two people involving a 3 x 3, 9-space square with the aim being to get three in a row of your symbol (an ‘X’ or a ‘0’ – hence ‘noughts and crosses) vertically, horizontally or diagonally. The box is easily made by two vertical and two horizontal lines –

Players choose whether their symbol will be an X or a 0 and one starts by placing their symbol in a space. The second person counters by trying to get their three in a row but the person starting has an advantage so the second person may find themselves blocking the possibility of three in a row for the other. Someone may win or it may be a draw where no one can get three in a row in the nine spaces. Players take turns to start.

This game is well known to many who have played it in childhood but it is not known in some cultures. So you can get participants in a workshop to pair off and play a few games ‘normally’ until everyone feels familiar with it – and even those who know it may not have played it for years. Ensure people have paper and writing implements.

Then get the pairs to have a few games where one person starts each time but gets two goes before the other person has a go. After a few games swap around the person who has two goes at the start.

This is an exploration of built in power and privilege. If you have two goes at the start it is very difficult to lose and very difficult for your opponent to win though it may still be a draw.

At the end of a few games like this, allow people to share on how it felt having two goes at the start – or your opponent doing so. It is a very simple illustration of built in bias in a system. You can invite the sharing of comparisons in participants’ lives and in society if you wish to take it further and have the time to do so.

There is plenty of further information about the game online but the ‘power tweak’ of two goes for the person starting is definitely not part of the game as normally played.

Billy King: Rites Again, 339

May 1, 2026Billy King, Nonviolent News2026, Billy King, Messiahs, Nukes, TrumpRob Fairmichael

Billy King shares his monthly thoughts

As more and more US citizens try to acquire European citizenship, with Ireland certainly well up in the list, isn’t it heartening to know that for the 250^th anniversary of the USA if you are a citizen you will be able to purchase a commemorative passport which includes a page with a picture of President Trump. In other words on the cover the eagle has landed whereas inside the ego has landed. And Ireland, Republic and North, in the shape of Shannon and Aldergrove airports, continues to facilitate the US military machine and its warmaking. Blessed be the US$. Speaking of which, the Iran war has reputedly cost the US state $25 billion to date; what an obscene and abhorrent use of such a sum of money..

On another matter, it is good to see Ireland will be co-hosting, with Tuvalu, the second meeting of the ‘coalition of the willing’ 60 or so countries working apart from the COP process on fossil fuel phasing out. This will be early next year and a follow up to the first meeting, with petrostates absent, in Colombia which has just finished. Ireland has talked the talk all right but it hasn’t yet walked the walk; let’s see some serious action that the government can brag about at the start of next year.

Don’t mess with messiahs

OK, OK, a million and one people have already reflected in all sorts of media on D Trump’s brush with messiahdom in the shape of a traditional-image picture of him as Jesus healing the sick …with various other things going down in the background. When the reaction to that got too much he then shared a best buddy picture of Jesus giving him a cuddle; more than the best of mates then. His excuse for the first, that he thought it made him look like a doctor, was so lame that that in turn caused all sorts of cartoons and other comparisons or memes of doctors and messiahs. There is of course a 0.01% chance that he believed it made him look like a doctor, that is if he is the most visually illiterate person in the western hemisphere….oh, on second thoughts, given his extreme kitschy tastes, increase the chances there incrementally…

But, while I am not a psychologist [You don’t need to tell us, it’s pretty obvious but that won’t stop you going on to psychologise – Ed] I did want to explore messiahdom a bit. There are many kinds of messiahs. You don’t have to think you are Jesus to ‘be’ a messiah and other religious backgrounds than Christian get it too. I don’t think Trump thought he was Jesus, rather ‘just’ (!) like Jesus in being divinely appointed and infallible despite continuous failures. The second picture he posted, of Jesus giving him a cuddle, is probably closer to his thinking even though he may see himself as a healer of the sick – and how ironic is that when he is busy cutting rights to medical care and funding for medical research. In my barometer for measuring D Trump’s compatibility with Christian thinking he gets approximately 0 out of 10.

Messiahdom is probably more common than you think. I have talked before [Often – Ed] about meeting three people in Norn Iron, from outside, who thought they were ‘a’ messiah – though one of these saw himself as the father of the messiah…… However feeling you are a ‘chosen people’ has a messianic aspect to it, and the ‘manifest destiny’ beliefs of the USA, and the puritan founding fathers (sic) approach to things has led to the USA seeing itself as ‘chosen’ – e.g. as the world’s ‘policeman’ (= military bully in other people’s thinking). So the USA and Israel under a right-wing government, where the leaders of the latter believe they have a divine right to take all the territory around them that they want, are a perfect match – a perfect match made in hell that is.

While ‘Manifest Destiny’ is thought of as a 19^th century US expansionist ideology, it has never gone away. The Monroe Doctrine of 1823 – opposing European intervention in the Americas – was an anti-imperialist statement but it was also part of an imperialist statement that ‘the Americas’ essentially belong to the USA, and of course the USA’s westward and southward expansion was itself imperialist. The term ‘manifest destiny’ may not have been used in the 20^th century but US official thinking largely remained the same despite some variations. Amazingly – or not considering his outspokenness – Donald Trump used the term in his inaugural address in 2025. US imperialism is not just living it is, tragically, thriving even if the result of US intervention in Iran has been to make the situation far worse for Iran, the USA itself and the world.

So when you have a narcissistic megalomanic like Trump as president of the USA it is a lethal combination of a fatally flawed individual and a fatally flawed national consciousness (there are of course many people in the USA who totally and actively reject this thinking and are working away for peace and justice so it is not a ‘national’ national consciousness) with the two reinforcing each other. And we are all suffering from that but the real victims have been the Palestinians, especially Gazans, and the peoples of Iran and Lebanon. Yes, the attacks on Lebanon have been the doing of Israel but one word from the USA could have stopped them before they started (that word was ‘no’ – “No more support of any kind if you attack Lebanon”).

Nuke them

Numerous commentators have pointed out that if Iran hadn’t been trying too hard to get nuclear weapons before the current USA-Israeli onslaught that they sure as hell (sic) would in future, this would be on the same basis that the North Korean regime has nukes as an insurance policy against attack. Moving beyond the MADness of nuclear weapons has become much more difficult in our current belligerent world.

But a balance of terror is no way to run a world. It is not just a question of living in fear and wasteful expense it is is also a question of when something will go wrong. Gradually, gradually, more countries will seek to join the nuclear club and that increases the risks which are already astronomical. It is only through a combination of good luck and occasional humanity that we have not already faced nuclear armageddon and a possible (in that case probable) nuclear winter. How ironic that would be! A world facing global heating meltdown and food shortages due to lack of water through humanity’s stupidity instead freezes and most people die of starvation through cold and an inability to grow crops.

There are those who say the nuclear standoff in the Cold War prevented war. That is nonsense; there were lots of wars and proxy wars but they weren’t in Europe. We now have war in Europe again, currently in Ukraine, occasioned partly by the expansion of that western military alliance, NATO, and nuclear weapons did nothing to prevent that. Far from preventing war, NATO’s policy contributed significantly to the Russian invasion. It has been pointed out numerous times in these pages that the USA and NATO were expecting Russia to accept a situation which was intolerable for the USA. The USA threatened nuclear war in 1962 over Russian missiles in its neighbouring island, Cuba. Yet the USA and NATO expected Russia to accept NATO weapons and missiles in Ukraine, an immediate Russian neighbour with historically extremely close links. This was crass stupidity and there is ongoing crass stupidity in the USA and European countries not acknowledging their role in the tragic debacle that has led to the Ukraine war.

It is not long ago, 2017, that ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, https://www.icanw.org/ received the Nobel Peace Prize. But psychologically, and very sadly, it feels a long, long time ago given the direction things have taken since then. Even the January 2021 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), making nuclear weapons illegal, feels a long time ago.

Not for the first time I have spoken about valuable coverage of issues by the New Internationalist. https://newint.org/ The main feature in their January-February 2026 issue is on ‘The new nuclear arms race’ and there is a good run down on the situation regarding this both globally and in relation to individual situations. It covers South Africa being the only country to develop its own nuclear weapons and then dismantle them; “Under Mandela, Pretoria championed non-proliferation and the once pariah state became viewed by many as a pillar of peace.” Regarding British surveillance of activists, the CND solicitor to the ‘Spycops’ tribunal, Paul Heron, makes the cutting point that “…we are told we live in a democracy, and the people shape how society should be. [But] when people build mass movements the state treats them as a threat.”

Getting rid of nuclear weapons is an essential part of building a peaceful world – indeed this is impossible without their removal. Building collective peaceful security is possible but the lack of imagination involved in politicians’ militarist thinking makes it brutally hard to imagine let alone bring it about. And that is where those mass, popular movements are essential – and mass movements grow from the work and actions of concerned individuals building and building on the zeitgeist.

Arms trade ding dong in the North

The ‘agin-us’ nature of politics in the North (nothing to do with going for a pint of a well known brew…) is nowhere better illustrated than by recent ding-dongs about developing the arms trade in Norn Iron. Oh, if we could make money from irony, the people of the North would be all millionaires; going from a society where people were killing one another, well some people were killing some other people, to making money from weapons to kill people elsewhere, you couldn’t make it up.

Anyway, just one aspect of this is that the British government wants to develop the arms industry in the North – in a similar but different way to what the Irish government wants to do in the Republic – in the Northern case with a well funded ‘Defence Growth Deal’, which I would consider sick and obscene. I have no proof but I suspect that for the British government, investing in and promoting the arms industry in Northern Ireland has the perceived bonus of helping to keep unionists sweet (and binding it tighter to the British economy). If the total pot for this deal is, as reported, £250 million for the whole UK, Northern Ireland‘s take of £50 million is 20% of the total for a Norn Iron population my calculations say is 2.7% of the total UK population. Something strange there.

And unionists welcomed this deal, e.g. Emma Little-Pengelly, the Deputy First Minister who proudly said “Sector turnover has more than doubled over the past decade, rising from £1 billion in 2013 to £2.2 billion in 2023.” Sinn Féin ministers did not attend the launch, however, which omission was then criticised by unionists. Michelle O’Neill then came out saying she did not support the militarisation agenda and the money could have been better used in areas that really needed it. And that in turn led to further criticism of the Sinners by unionists. The fact that Sinn Féin can be considered the ‘peace party’ in this might be considered ironic in relation to the history of the second half of the 20^th century – but realities change.

Unionists seldom miss a chance to castigate Irish neutrality and the broken CD from there and many sources on the right in Europe about Ireland not doing its bit for ‘European’ defence is grating. It could be countered that the UK and EU are not doing their bit for demilitarisation…..but then M Martin’s Fianna Fáil is not doing very much for that either. DUP leader Gavin Robinson said “that the sector in 2026 “isn’t all about bullets and tanks” but also about advanced manufacturing and cyber-security, which he said will “undoubtedly help cover the gaping hole in Europe’s defence that is the Republic of Ireland”. (News Letter 25/4/26) Norn Iron Secretary of State Hilary Benn weighed in on the militarist side – it is his government’s spending – speaking about the first duty of the government being to secure the safety of the nation. Of course such funding does no such thing.

However in this ding dong there is the danger that it is seen simply as a case of unionists-for-arms-production and republicans-against-arms-production. There are other kinds of people too and some of us others are appalled. The term ‘making a killing’ has never been so apt.

Consensus….against consensus

An article by Peter Emerson of the de Borda institute www.deborda.org in the April issue of the CRC/Community Relations Council monthly publication https://mailchi.mp/nicrc.org.uk/crc-ebulletin-april-2026?e=dc08e218e6 ends with a nice or not-so-nice story about Belfast City Council: “Well, in 2004, I managed to get a consensus in Belfast City Council. The question was, would these’uns like to adopt a methodology which would facilitate consensus decision-making with those’uns. And, yes, I achieved what some might have thought was impossible, a consensus. Neither side wanted to be in consensus with the other side, so there was a consensus… against consensus.” Oh well….

You can sign up to receive the CRC digital monthly news bulletin at https://www.community-relations.org.uk/publications/e-bulletin-e-news

McKeown and I

I sometimes wonder what makes a ‘good song’ and why some amazing songs, and others that are not so amazing, take off while others are left in the shadows. In terms of the construction of songs, one Irish song that stands out for me is McKeown and I by Mickey and Cormac MacConnell. Mickey MacConnell is best known for his song ‘Only our rivers run free’ which was written when he was 17 and he said about it that “It was never a republican song per se but a song about the love of one’s country.” McKeown and I is on an oul CD I have of Mickey MacConnell’s, ‘Peter Pan and me’ (Spring Records) and you can find different versions online. Mickey MacConnell died in July 2025.

The chorus is fascinating in that it has in summary form the story told in the three verses:

We’re men of straw

We’re men of sand,

Our castles crumble,

Never meant to stand

We’re two born losers,

Sure to failure we’ve begun,

We’re snowmen built

For melting in the sun.

The ‘I’ of the story is accompanied by McKeown in the first and third verses but ‘O’Neill’ in the second. Kids from a deprived urban environment, in the first verse they build a sandcastle on a day at the beach – this is then washed away by the tide. In the second verse they build a scarecrow in the farm of the reformatory where they are incarcerated which the wind then blows away. In the final verse they build a snowman in the prison yard where the year before the judge has told them “Rot in a cell / Until you’re dead” – and they dread seeing the snowman melt away.

We don’t know what ‘I’, McKeown and O’Neill have got up to apart from where they are placed and the judge’s sentence. But the power of the song is in the imagery and the contrast between ‘society’ judging they should be locked up (and the key thrown away) and the innocence of them building a sandcastle, a scarecrow and a snowman. Very affective and effective imagery I think and an amazingly well constructed song.

–

I was in the wrong part of the country to join in with Lelia Doolan’s walk at 91 years young (News, NN 338) but it was demonstrably a great occasion and joyous arrival in Dublin at the end of the long traipse from Shannon for peace. See e.g. https://www.instagram.com/walkwithlelia?igsh=eGlveXczdGFnYWVx It just shows you are never too old – or too young – to do something meaningful. That meaningful act might not be getting your walking boots on, it might be something else entirely. Anyway, for now, I remain, Billy (the kid, I am not quite 91 yet….).

Major neutrality demonstration, Dublin 18th April

April 16, 2026Latest NewsApril 2026, Demonstration, Dublin, NeautralityRob Fairmichael

A major demonstration supporting neutrality takes place on Saturday 18th April starting at 1pm in Parnell Square/Garden of Remembrance, Dublin: “No war and genocide – Protect our neutrality!”. It is organised by the Irish Neutrality League/INL and backed by a wide variety of other groups. https://neutrality.ie/

Amhrán Lelia / Lelia’s Song

April 11, 2026Latest NewsRob Fairmichael

Marking Lelia Doolan’s walk for peace from Shannon to Dublin, John Maguire wrote this song –

MÚSCAIL DO NEODRACHT, A BHANBA!

AMHRÁN LELIA ( Fonn: ‘Trasna na dTonnta’)

Curfá:
Trasna na tíre ’tá Lelia ag siúl,
Saying ‘Farewell to fear, we’ll no longer be fooled;
Bunreacht na hÉireann is our golden rule:
Múscail do Neodracht, a Bhanba!’

Our Irish Peace Process was patiently built,
Hopefully helping out history tilt
Away from the cultures of hatred and guilt
Le casadh ó bhealach an díoltais.
Is Shannon a morally Duty Free Zone
For guns and rendition of ‘persons unknown’,
Where human compassion and conscience have flown?
Mo náire, mo náire, a Rialtais!

Curfá

Muintir na hÉireann, is leosan an cheist:
We’ve known occupation, and we’ve been oppressed.
Our way is not with the Big Guns of the West
Or with any who threaten and kill.
Idir Gaillimh is Gaza is láidir an téad;
Let our word be our bond, by refusing to trade
In goods by colonial settlers made:
It’s time for enacting that Bill!Curfá

We salute the Blue Helmets on Lelia’s Walk,
And we aren’t overwhelmed by deceptive war-talk;
Is coir é an cogadh, rud soiléir do chách –
A lesson our leaders aren’t learning!
They made us a promise at Lisbon and Nice;
Can they now take it from us, and paint war as peace?
Níl gá le foréigean, níl gá le faitíos –
And meanwhile our planet is burning!

Curfá

Written by John Maguire, March 2026

For coverage of Lelia Doolan’s walk, do a word search…….

News, April 2026

April 1, 2026Nonviolent News2026, Ireland, Peace newsRob Fairmichael

91-year old Lelia Doolan walks from Shannon to Dublin for peace

At 91 years, (national institution) Lelia Doolan has seen too much of the devastation caused by wars, apartheid and genocide and will walk for peace from Shannon to Dáil Éireann. She will be joined by community groups and peace activists along the old road to Dublin as they express the frustration, shame and anger felt by the many Irish stalwarts who have for over 30 years (since 1981), regularly protested at Shannon against the use of the airport by US military planes – whose personnel and cargos the Irish government refuses to inspect. Starting on March 31st from Shannon Airport, the walk should arrive in Dublin around April 14th/15th. This is a walk for peace, for closing Shannon Airport to US military planes and personnel, for passing the Occupied Territories Bill, and for protecting Irish neutrality from war mongers.

The route is Shannon – Cratloe – Limerick – Birdhill – Nenagh – Moneygall – Roscrea – Mountrath – Portlaoise – Monasterevin – Newbridge – Naas – Rathcoole – Dáil Éireann. All are welcome to join for a step, a mile, a song…. Email walkwithlelia@proton.me for a sign-up form; Follow the walk on socials @walkwithlelia Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/walkwithlelia?igsh=eGlveXczdGFnYWVx Upscrolled – https://share.upscrolled.com/en/user/d02bcbbf-48a9-4052-90f2-e24423a03d3c/

Vigils at Shannon & Aldergrove USA war supporting airports

Regular vigils take place to protest at US military use of Shannon Airport and Belfast International Airport at Aldergrove (15 miles west of Belfast) – and resultant complicity in war, death and destruction. Currently there is very significant US military traffic through Aldergrove with the supposition that to some extent Aldergrove is replacing Shannon – because of protests there – as a primary route for the US military (see e.g. Belfast Telegraph 27/3/26) with some planes heading on directly to the Gulf. lThe oldest vigil for peace is a Shannonwatch one at Shannon Airport on the second Sunday of the month from 2 – 3pm. www.shannonwatch.org (see also round up on Shannon court cases on this website). lAt the same time (2pm on second Sunday of the month) a vigil takes place at Aldergrove; about this you can contact +44 7766 168083 or email cairdepalestine@riseup.net lMeanwhile there is now a weekly vigil at Shannon organised by Shannon Vigil Group, 9.30am – noon except on the 2^nd Sunday of the month when the Shannonwatch one happens; you can join their WhatsApp group for this at https://chat.whatsapp.com/EdDacVu9s3e9Bmy3PkJSJe?mode=gi_t

l Look out for a national pro-neutrality demonstration in Dublin on 18^th April organised by the Irish Neutrality League.

Corrymeela An unfinished journey towards peace exhibition, Belfast

The Corrymeela Community has an exhibition (free entry) with the above title running at the Linen Hall Library, Vertical Gallery, in Belfast from 1^st April to 15^th May (open 9.30am – 5.30pm Monday – Friday). Corrymeela is the oldest peace and reconciliation body in Northern Ireland – 60 years old last year – and this exhibition explores Corrymeela’s six decades of quiet, sustained peacebuilding and reconciliation work — and poses a question that feels especially urgent in the current moment: who actually builds peace, and how? An Unfinished Journey Towards Peace traces the origins and founding vision of Corrymeela in 1965; the role of everyday peacebuilders alongside the formal political process; Corrymeela’s response to key moments in Northern Ireland’s history, from the Troubles to the peace process and beyond; and the challenges of peacebuilding today — including the rise of nationalism and authoritarianism globally, and how Corrymeela’s current programmes respond. The exhibition also foregrounds the voices and stories of young people and next-generation peacebuilders.

A variety of lunchtime supporting events take place (and one in the evening) – booking necessary. See https://linenhall.com/event/corrymeela-an-unfinished-journey-towards-peace-exhibition/ for more details and also on Corrymeela’s own website at www.corrymeela.org where you can also sign up to receive their monthly newsletter.

MNI & Glencree border training in mediation and conflict

Mediation Northern Ireland (MNI) and Glencree are working together on a Peaceplus funded programme in the border region. The project aims to build and sustain a regional network of diverse grassroots peacebuilders by delivering conflict resolution, mediation, restorative practice and dialogue training to marginalised communities across Northern Ireland and the six border counties of the Republic. Staff recruitment has been taking place (applications now closed). https://mediationni.org/ and https://glencree.ie/

l Glencree is recruiting a new CEO to replace Naoimh McNamee who has been in post for 8 years. Closing date for applications is 8^th April.

Report on protest policing in Republic

The Irish Network of Legal Observers has published its first annual report on the policing of protest in Ireland in 2025. The Network observed 70 protests around Ireland in 2025 [Quite some going – Ed]. While the report finds that most of the protests observed by the Network were policed in a human rights-compliant manner, it also identifies issues of concern which include excessive use of force, misuse of Section 8 of the Public Order Act and gardaí not wearing badge numbers when policing protest. “Protests observed outside Dublin were generally policed in a friendly, accommodating manner. However, observers reported more aggressive policing of protests at Shannon Airport…..In Dublin, while the majority of protests were facilitated without significant intervention, legal observers documented a higher tendency for gardaí to intervene and to use force……” The Irish Network of Legal Observers was established by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) and Dr Illan rua Wall of the Irish Centre for Human Rights, University of Galway, in late 2024. See https://www.iccl.ie/press-release/new-legal-observers-report-policing-of-protest-2025/ for the report and info about the network at https://www.iccl.ie/iccl-irish-network-of-legal-observers/

Falls Troubles exhibition

Falls Community Council has recently opened a new permanent exhibition entitled The Falls – Where The Troubles Began. It is located in St Comgall’s – Ionad Eileen Howell on Divis Street, a short distance from the city centre. This exhibition opens a unique window into one of the most pivotal chapters of Irish political history. It tells the story of the outbreak of the conflict on the streets that surrounded this old school from August 1969 to July 1970 when the area was devastated by destruction of homes and businesses, loss of life and military curfew. The exhibition also recounts the development of the peace process in the area. The exhibition can be booked through the website https://wherethetroublesbegan.com or through Visit Belfast or directly through St Comgall’s – Ionad Eileen Howell, Divis Street, Belfast BT12 4AQ.

Good Relations Awards 2026

The Community Relations Council (CRC) Good Relations Awards for Northern Ireland were announced at an event in late March. Community Relations Council Exceptional Achievement Award – Brian Dougherty; Volunteer of the Year – Jesus Castaneda; Good Relations Youth Award – Jordan Doran; Community Champion Award – Dr Marianne Doherty; Connecting Communities Award – Newry Mela 2025 (Newry Indian Arts Club); Sport for Good Award – TAMHI – Tackling Awareness of Mental Health Issues; Housing for All Award – Valerie Walker. Full details at https://www.community-relations.org.uk/news-centre/community-champions-recognised-good-relations-awards-2026

Earth Day 2026 is 18^th April

Earth Day is Saturday 18^th April and Friends of the Earth (FOE) is encouraging people to host a Cuppa for Climate around then, to talk about climate issues and fundraise and funds raised will go to “power work pushing for a fast and fair transition away from fossil fuels, challenging harmful data centre expansion, opposing LNG, and fighting for warm, affordable homes for all”. https://www.friendsoftheearth.ie/cuppa-for-climate/signup

Dichotomies and dualities in decision making

On Monday 13th April, at 4 pm, INCORE is hosting a talk by Peter Emerson of the de Borda Institute, online, on the theme: “Majority voting may be fair if, and only if, its dichotomy is a duality”. https://tinyurl.com/y2v95w8c “’Shall we drive on the left or the right?’ Is fine…..In contrast, “Do you support Yīn or Yáng?” would be just silly; the two are not a duality, more a unity…..Pluralism is possible. An egalitarian society needs an egalitarian voting procedure! And one was devised in 1770.” https://www.ulster.ac.uk/incore The de Borda Institute website is at http://www.deborda.org/

Antimilitarist campaigning for younger people

WRI/War Resisters’ International is organising an online training in 8 participatory sessions from 15 April to 3 June 2026 for young activists (18–35) who want to strengthen their organising skills, connect with activists around the world, and take action for antimilitarism, for conscientious objection, and against the arms trade. Details at https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2026/third-cycle-antimilitarist-campaigning-lab-call-applications

Videos: Neutrality, Troubles violence, NATO warships in Cork

l A video of Lex Innocentium’s recent conference speakers on Irish neutrality with numerous excellent contributions is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEkw7PJ20Ug This includes a hugely important contribution by senior Fianna Fáil figure Éamon Ó Cuiv strongly backing neutrality and the Triple Lock – his talk has been pointedly ignored by the mass media….. 105 minutes. A second part will follow with more informal discussion from the conference.

lThe video of INNATE’s recent online discussion as part of the Imagine! Festival, “Was nonviolence an option in 1969?” regarding Northern Ireland, with Felicity McCartney and Niall Fitzduff, is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJsHwKvoR5I 73 minutes. This explores the situation at the start of the Troubles and what was lacking in nonviolence being effective as well as community and peace initiatives.

lFrench NATO warships in Cork, see 6 minute video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRf4YuPPUrI

Chernobyl is forever exhibition, Cork

Presented by Chernobyl Children International, this exhibition is a tribute to the strength of survivors and a reminder that the story of Chernobyl is not confined to the past… It is on at Cork City Library, 57 – 61 Grand Parade for the month of April, open 10.00 – 17.30. https://www.chernobyl-international.com/

Carnsore anti-nuclear festivals

Village magazine has recently published a report by Caroline Hurley on a sold-out event organised in the Project Arts Centre, Dublin, in March to mark free festivals protesting Irish government nuclear energy plans back in the late 70s. See https://villagemagazine.ie/back-to-the-point-of-carnsore/ An edited version of Simon Dalby’s account of the anti-nuclear movement of the time (referred to in Caroline Hurley’s text) is available in the pamphlet section of INNATE’s website https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/pamphlets/ and INNATE’s photo site has an album on the anti-nuclear power movement at https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/albums/72157607158367565/

Editorials: Shannon and Iran, Food security and sovereignty

April 1, 2026Editorials, Nonviolent NewsFood security, Food sovereignty, Ireland, Irish government, Neutrality, Shannon, USA, War on IranRob Fairmichael

Shannon Airport and Iran

Lies and excuses

Both the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Helen McEntee, have seen it necessary to state that Shannon Airport is not being used by the USA in relation to the USA and Israel’s war on Iran. Perhaps this is so. But we do not actually know since the Irish state refuses to search US planes at Shannon, accepting assurances from a state which is headed by a Liar in Chief. In any case Shannon is still being used as a de facto US military base and the USA in regard to its military policies is clearly a rogue state – especially so under President Trump but under most other presidents too. Ireland has not even had the courage of Spain – a NATO member – in banning US military flights and use of bases and this says something clear about Ireland’s supposed neutrality.

The Irish state is supporting a regime which kills – murders – with impunity. This is disgraceful from any moral or ethical standpoint and obviously a negation of neutrality. And still the state makes excuses and accepts lies, and lies itself. And the USA would not use Shannon unless it was advantageous to its enormous global military empire. Transporting troops is an essential part of any military engagement and the fact of whether there is or is not military equipment being transported as well does not take from the facilitation of war by allowing troops to pass through.

Government inaction is even more bizarre given Helen McEntee’s and Micheál Martin’s restrained but implicit criticism of US policies in the Middle East. Helen McEntee even stated that she agreed with President Connolly’s assessment of recent events in the Middle east as a breach of international law. She also stated “I am deeply concerned that the US and Israel have decided to launch widespread armed conflict against Iran at this time.” Micheál Martin said that Ireland always believed that conflict should be resolved through diplomacy and negotiation, in line with the UN Charter and international law. However it is cowardice that neither would explicitly say USA actions were illegal or take action over Shannon.

Helen McEntee has also said that the Government has “no reason to believe” the US is using Irish airspace as part of its operations linked to the war in Iran – something which they actually have no way of knowing. Micheál Martin said similar things to his Minister for Foreign Affairs but stated that false claims about Shannon would damage Shannon airport itself. This is incredible. His concern about damage to Shannon shows no concern about ‘damage’ – obliteration – to those on the receiving end of US warmaking. He did admit that it was difficult to investigate if the USA was breaking the rules – another incredible statement because if he and the government had the courage they could routinely search all planes at Shannon which might be carrying weaponry. This is aside from the fact that allowing the transmission of troops is also breaking Irish neutrality.

In relation to all of this Niamh Ní Bhriain, writing in the Irish Examiner, https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/commentanalysis/arid-41811128.html made the powerful point that “This failure to call out blatant violations of international law, and name those responsible for them, highlights precisely why we cannot trust the Government to decide on overseas troop deployment, and underscores why we must protect the Triple Lock. If the Government can’t say that a war is illegal, how can it decide whether to deploy troops to it?”

Meanwhile Belfast International Airport at Aldergrove (15 miles from Belfast to the west) is used freely by UK and US militaries with US flights refuelling there which go directly to the Gulf, presumably with war supplies. Aldergrove is thus directly complicit in the US-Israeli onslaught on Iran and the atrocities which have taken place as part of that. As the North is part of the United Kingdom which belongs to NATO, there are no legal grounds to object beyond facilitating wars illegal under international law – but there are huge ethical and moral grounds to do so.

In relation to the USA and Israeli war on Iran (and by the latter on Lebanon) more generally it is clear that US-Iranian negotiations were on the cusp of success, or at least a good chance of it, when Trump decided to bomb Iran into hell. International observers have stated as much. Presumably Trump, emboldened by his ‘success’ (from his point of view) in Venezuela, thought a couple of days bombing would overthrow the theocratic regime in Iran; he clearly wasn’t listening to advice, including from Gulf states. He knew best, as always. But military attacks tend to strengthen the regime in a country being attacked. Another factor is presumably that the US government decided to back Israeli bombing which was going to happen anyway. The environmental costs of war are also extremely severe, an issue of no concern to Trump but another nail in the coffin of a stable climate.

Whether Donald Trump will have a TACO moment (Trump Always Chickens Out) or will continue to exacerbate the complete mess he has got the region and the world into remains to be seen. Saving face may be his primary objective at this stage. The USA projects itself as a world peacekeeper when historically it has been a warmaker. Western states need to cotton on to this and no more so than a supposedly neutral state on the western extremity of the continent of Europe. Meanwhile everyone suffers from the economic fallout of the war, and poor people and countries most of all. The repercussions of this astoundingly stupid war have only just begun, most drastically for the families of those killed and for the displaced in Lebanon and Iran.

–

Food security and sovereignty

The related issues of food security and food sovereignty tend to trundle on in the background, raised and discussed by groups like Afri, Feasta and some organic growers or educators but never or seldom reaching mainstream concern, even when a war, such as the current USA-Israel onslaught on Iran, disrupts the global economy. However you do not need to be a doomsday merchant to have concern in this whole area. Food security is just that, being secure in your food supply with adequate quality and nutrition. Food sovereignty is having control of your food growing, supply and distribution and not being dependent on outside corporations or multinationals who can turn the screw on you as soon as bid you the time of day. While these are major issues in poor countries (seed sovereignty was saved in Kenya with a contribution to that made by Clare O’Grady Walshe) this is also an urgent issue for Ireland.

The world has – just – avoided nuclear war which would herald a nuclear winter and possibly the starvation of most of the people on the globe. If that particular apocalypse comes about we are pretty much all doomed. However there are all sorts of lesser scenarios where food chains are at risk. One of these is clearly regional warfare not escalating to nuclear but which nevertheless manages to cause major disruption – the Iran war is an example of the kind of thing possible. Global heating will affect many, primarily poor, countries in their food production and it is hard to know what the repercussions will be. There are all sorts of unexpected circumstances which can, and will, arise, including natural disasters which may affect our ‘bread’ basket. And given the likely food crisis arising from global heating, as crops become impossible to grow though excessive heat and insufficient moisture, it is incumbent on us to be proactive in providing more, varied, food ourselves in an ecological and sustainable way.

Ireland exports food but it is mainly meat and dairy products. We are highly dependent on food imports for much of our diet. We might be all right for a bacon and cabbage diet (and that bacon may come from intensive factory-farming) but for most of what we eat today we are dependent on international trade, and most of that on a ‘just in time’ basis – meaning there are no stocks to fall back on. It is also true that a vegan or vegetarian diet, or at least a low meat consumption one, is an important contribution to avoiding global heating. Of course it may be more efficient ecologically for some crops to be grown in warmer countries than Ireland but these are at risk in crisis situations, and the supply of local seasonal food for our diet is the most sensible option.

Encouraging citizens to grow their own food is part of an appropriate response, and the 2024 law to have local councils provide community garden and allotment spaces in the Republic is a good one (all councils are obliged to be active in working on this and Ireland lags way behind other European countries in provision). The respective governments should be seeing what they can do to encourage responsible and diverse agriculture – not the intensive animal variety which has led, for example, to the destruction of Lough Neagh (still not being sorted out). But there could also be a lot more imagination applied, for example in public planting of trees to include a substantial number of fruit trees – birds and insects will benefit from these even if we humans do not. Education in sustainable and organic horticulture is never more needed,

This is all before we even broach the topic of Ultra Processed Foods, bad for us and often bad for the environment. Exercising food sovereignty and denying the power of large multinationals to control food and thereby control people’s (ill) health and livelihoods will be an ongoing struggle.

We live in a very uncertain world. We may wish for stability but we are unlikely to find it, and global heating will disrupt a huge amount of what we have previously taken for granted. We ain’t seen nuthin’ yet in terms of (forced) migration. We ain’t seen nuthin’ yet in terms of disruption to food production and food supplies. We would be wise to plan ahead while we can so that we are in a better place to ride out the coming storms – and not, as a rich country, be taking the food that belongs on poor people’s plates elsewhere if and when food supplies dry up.

Eco-Awareness with Larry Speight: The wisdom of the Pharaoh

April 1, 2026Eco-Awareness, Nonviolent News, UncategorizedBiodiversity, Consumerism, Ecology, Joseph, Larry Speight, Rainy dayRob Fairmichael

The idea of preparing for a rainy day, of having savings to pay for an unexpected setback such as repairing a much needed home appliance or buying your child a new pair of shoes is an intrinsic part of our culture. In fact, preparing for possible, if not inevitable, hard times seems to be a cross-cultural disposition. In Genesis chapter 41: 14 – 36, Joseph advises the Pharaoh to store surplus food during an expected seven years of plenty in preparation for seven years of famine that are thought will follow as foreseen in the Pharaoh’s dream.

The Pharaoh wisely took Joseph’s advice.

In a general sense people on this island, across Europe and most of the world have since the end of the second world war increasingly lived in an age of plenty, albeit with a terrible price paid by the biosphere in terms of loss of biodiversity, the rise in global temperature and pollution of soil, air and water. During these years of plenty and technological innovation governments have not acted with the wisdom of the Pharaoh and prepared their societies to cope with the predicted negative consequences of our irresponsible treatment of nonhuman nature.

There are, and have been, many Josephs who dedicated their lives to getting us to awaken to the folly of our consumer life-style. Among them are Rachel Carson (1907-1964) who is best known for her 1962 book Silent Spring, E.F. Schumacher (1911-1977) who crystalised his ideas of living within ecological limits in Small is Beautiful (1973). In our own time there is the Irish author and film maker Manchan Magan (1970 – 2025) who is perhaps best known for his book Thirty-Two Words for Field. A climate and human rights campaigner who is known internationally is Greta Thunberg who was Time magazine’s 2019 Person of the Year.

In addition to dedicated individuals there are organisations a plenty in Ireland and elsewhere who, on the basis of rigorous research and sound evidence, inform us that the rainy day we should have prepared for has arrived. We have been urged for decades to radically change our approach to organising the business of living whilst simultaneously preparing for the consequences of our historic abuse of the biosphere. The warnings have largely being ignored with tragic consequences in the form of life-inflicting and property destroying floods, droughts, storms, wild fires and the poisoning of waterways.

A major warning was given over 50 – years ago in the landmark report on the consequences of continuous economic growth titled The Limits To Growth (1972). It was produced by an international team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the think tank The Club of Rome. Thirty million copies were published and the report’s findings were widely debated but the transition to “a stable state society” was never undertaken.

An equally important warning was given in Our Common Future (1987), also known as The Brundtland Report, published by the UN. It had more success in getting society and governments to recognise the serious plight the biosphere was in due to our inconsiderate behaviour. It coined what is now a classic definition of sustainable development. This is: “development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.”

The report led to the first Earth Summit in Brazil in 1992 out of which came the Commission on Sustainable Development and in time the annual Conference of the Parties, better known as COPs, to address climate breakdown. They have been held annually since 1995. The most successful COP to date was the one held in Paris in 2015 in which agreement was reached by the governments of the world to limit global warming to 1.5 Celsius.

In spite of all the conferences, declarations, uncountable scientific reports on the ecological unsustainability of our economic order and the many successful nature conservation projects such as the RSPB’s Curlew protection programme on Upper and Lower Lough Erne, the protection of puffins on Rathlin Island and the Isle of Muck we are metaphorically clinging to the side of the life-boat.

Worryingly New Scientist, 14 March 2026, reports that the average global temperature is rising, sea levels are much higher than previously thought which if the trend continues will lead to the displacement of hundreds of millions of people, the loss of civil infrastructure, agricultural lands and habitat.

Just as disruptive, and unwelcomed by people who find prolonged cold weather insufferable, is the weakening of the ocean current which accounts for our mild climate. There has already been a measurable shift northward and as the New Scientist reports “any abrupt shift in the Gulf Stream could signal an imminent, catastrophic collapse in the ocean current.” If this were to happen the winter temperature in Ireland could at times drop to -20 Celsius.

Our ignoring the warnings of ecological catastrophe has led to the exceedingly poor ecological health of most lakes and rivers across the island including Lough Neagh, Lough Erne and Belfast Lough. The Guardian recently reported that genes capable of creating superbugs resistant to antibiotics have been detected in Lough Neagh and that a study found E coli bacteria in every sample of cattle manure tested in the Lough Neagh catchment area.

Genes capable of creating superbugs resistant to antibiotics could exist in other bodies of water. The existence of such genes is something the health and water authorities should take very seriously as the World Health Organisation describes antimicrobial resistance as “one of the most urgent, complex and frightening health challenges of our time”.

This situation alone highlights the case that if we value our health, which is not separate from the health of others, we need to embrace the credo of the likes of Rachel Carson, E.F. Schumacher and Manchan Magan and be cognisant that the technosphere is wholly dependent on the ecosphere and cease to be blasé about how we treat the only home we have.

The Peace Line with Kate Laverty: Online harassment, the manosphere, and nonviolent digital citizenship

April 1, 2026Nonviolent News, ReadingsKate Laverty, Manosphere, Nonviolent digital citizenship, Online harassment, SextortionRob Fairmichael

The rise of social media has transformed the public sphere, collapsing distance and amplifying voice in unprecedented ways. Platforms that promised connection, participation, and democratic engagement have also become sites of harassment, intimidation, and symbolic violence. Online abuse is often dismissed as trivial or inevitable, yet its impacts are real: silencing marginalised voices, intensifying polarisation, and normalising cruelty as a mode of public interaction. In this context, the concept of nonviolent digital citizenship offers a critical ethical framework for navigating contemporary online life.

Recent media attention on the so-called “manosphere”—a loose network of online communities promoting hyper-masculinity, resentment toward women, and rigid hierarchies of power—illustrates how digital cultures can both reflect and intensify social tensions. Documentaries and investigative reporting on these networks highlight how algorithmic ecosystems can draw young men into increasingly extreme spaces through recommendation systems designed to maximise engagement. What begins as self-help, fitness advice, or dating guidance can gradually shift toward narratives that frame gender relations as conflict, grievance, or domination.

These dynamics are not merely theoretical. In youth work and pastoral practice, practitioners increasingly encounter the real-world consequences of digital cultures that reward hostility and manipulation. Young people report experiences of sextortion, online grooming, and targeted harassment that move rapidly from private messaging to public humiliation. The psychological impact can be severe: fear, shame, social withdrawal, and the erosion of trust in both peers and institutions. Such cases illustrate that online abuse is not an abstract phenomenon but a lived reality for many young people navigating digital spaces without adequate protection or guidance.

These developments reveal how the architecture of digital platforms shapes not only what people see but how they understand the world. Algorithmic amplification rewards outrage, speed, and emotional intensity, privileging content that provokes strong reactions. In this “attention economy,” hostility and humiliation often travel further than nuance or reflection. As a result, antagonistic identities—whether gendered, political, or ideological—can become profitable forms of content production.

Within such an environment, harassment becomes less an aberration than a structural feature of platform design. Online hostility can function as a form of symbolic violence, relying on dehumanisation, anonymity, and asymmetrical power. Women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ people, journalists, and political activists remain disproportionately targeted, reflecting offline inequalities reproduced and intensified in digital spaces.

From a global perspective, digital hostility is increasingly weaponised within broader political and cultural struggles. Coordinated trolling campaigns, disinformation networks, and online intimidation now form part of contemporary conflict dynamics. The same infrastructures that allow communities to organise for justice also allow resentment and polarisation to scale rapidly across borders.

Nonviolent digital citizenship offers a counter-framework to these dynamics. Drawing on traditions of nonviolence articulated by figures such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., it reframes online engagement as a moral and civic practice grounded in dignity, restraint, and accountability. Applied digitally, nonviolence does not mean silence in the face of injustice. Rather, it calls for disciplined forms of resistance: challenging misinformation without humiliation, responding to hostility without escalation, and recognising when disengagement itself is an ethical act.

Education is crucial in this context. Young people often encounter complex digital ecosystems long before they possess the tools to understand algorithmic manipulation, ideological radicalisation, or the psychological dynamics of online conflict. Nonviolent digital literacy therefore extends beyond technical competence to include emotional regulation, critical media analysis, and ethical reflection. It asks who benefits from outrage, why certain narratives spread, and how individuals can participate in digital spaces without reproducing cycles of hostility.

Ultimately, the challenge posed by online harassment and polarised digital cultures is inseparable from the broader question of what kind of public sphere societies wish to cultivate. The emergence of communities such as those described in recent “manosphere” documentaries reminds us that digital environments are not neutral technologies but moral landscapes shaped by incentives, narratives, and power relations. Nonviolent digital citizenship insists that these spaces can still be shaped differently—through conscious norms, institutional accountability, and a renewed commitment to human dignity in both speech and interaction.

Readings in Nonviolence: ‘Christian’ ethics and modern warfare

April 1, 2026Nonviolent News, ReadingsChristian ethics, Conference, Just War theory, Modern warfare, Peace church approach, Queen's University Belfast, US military ethicsRob Fairmichael

Introduction

by Rob Fairmichael

The USA’s war on Iran had just started a few days previously. News came out about how some US military commanders were exhorting their troops to battle by, for example, urging non-commissioned officers ”to tell our troops that this was ‘all part of God’s divine plan” and specifically referencing “numerous citations out of the Book of Revelation referring to Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ…..” That admonition went on that ‘President Trump has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth”. (*a) Well, how would a Christian ethicist deal with that one?

This news appeared the day after I had attended a conference at Queen’s University Belfast under the aegis of its Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice (formerly the George Mitchell Institute) on Christian ethics and Peacebuilding in the Age of AI and Autonomous Weapons Systems. It was organised by our old friend Femi Omotoyinbo who we had worked with before. There were quite disparate inputs including ones by ethicists closely linked with US and UK militaries, academic inputs, a couple of feminist contributions, one or two miscellaneous, and a study of a couple of biblical passages inspired by Lanza del Vasto. There was certainly both chalk and cheese. Not all contributions were ‘Christian’ or overtly so though for some ‘natural law’ was presumably a secular synonym for ‘Christian ethics’. Some, such as the keynote address from a former British military chaplain, were very honest.

I am not going to try to summarise such a wide ranging conference with a dozen speakers. I am just going to deal with the two associated with the US military, one a serving officer working on a PhD, the other a former officer now a philosopher and ethicist at the US Naval Academy, who spoke second. His paper on the ethics of “Weaponized AI” started out with a conundrum, the Samurai’s Paradox (well, his version of it). This is as it was presented on a slide:

“By keeping his sword and refusing to pick up his rifle, the samurai risks his culture being conquered by some foreign adversary.

By putting down his sword and picking up his rifle to defend his culture, his very use of this new weapons technology seems to erode the very culture he is trying to defend.

Hence, whether he fights or doesn’t fight, he loses his culture nonetheless.”

This is an honest military ethicist’s formulation of the dilemma about a violent response. It may apply to a samurai, a trained warrior, but it is a false dilemma. There is such a thing as a nonviolent response, nonviolent struggle for justice, which evades the dilemma above. There is a third alternative to fight or flight but this may not be on a military ethicist’s list of possibilities. The resultant arguments and dilemmas (or lack of them) from having only two options fall apart.

That third possibility, a nonviolent response, is not necessarily easy but it certainly exists, with a great variety of possibilities for action. And a violent response is not guaranteed success either. The speaker did go on to deal with various dangers of AI weaponry and emphasise virtue over means and the retention of moral agency and ‘telos’ (the ultimate goal or purpose of human actions) with respect to AWS/autonomous weapons systems. He ended with the quote from Augustine, he of the formulation of the Just War Theory, about peace being the object and war only being undertaken as a necessity.

I would say that just one fundamental problem with the Just War Theory, which had non-Christian origins but in its Christian formulation sought to set strict conditions for ‘Christian’ warmaking, is that it has failed abysmally. Every army in Christian countries, every leader wanting to go to war, felt sure they fitted the criteria – and if not then that the results would retrospectively justify the warfare. As such it has probably done more to (seek to) justify warring rather than prevent it.

And the current US war on Iran probably fits none of the main six criteria; the ‘easiest’ one to fulfil is probably ‘declaration of war by a lawful authority’ but Donald Trump, as commander in chief, sent US forces to war without the authorisation of Congress which in US law is meant to authorise any war. Zero out of six? Pretty damn poor on the just-unjust war theory spectrum. And yet the supposedly ‘Christian’ or culturally Christian (= ‘superior’?) leaders of the USA spew hateful war rhetoric and sanction attacks which have included the wipeout of a children’s school – just a day or two before Melania Trump at the UN spoke about the sacredness of education….. My own paper to the conference, published below, fundamentally questions the Just War Theory.

The first US-military linked speaker spoke of murder always being wrong and of the combatants/non-combatants distinction and the need to avoid killing the latter. In relation to ‘just war’ thinking on this I don’t get this fair target/innocent distinction. Of course you shouldn’t kill civilians. Adamnán in 697 CE got that. But what I don’t get is why combatants are fair game just because they wear a uniform. What about conscripts – do they deserve the chance to be killed because the state forced them to join up? What about poor people and members of ethnic minorities who joined up to get a life (a lot of the Russian army, and others, would fit these two categories). Or indeed what about those who have the noble aim of defending their country from attack (e.g. Ukraine)? And what of those who are seduced by military propaganda of various sorts which states are so adept at producing, are they also cannon fodder? And what of soldiers who oppose a particular war but feel obliged to fight nonetheless? And, after the war, what of the PTSD suffered by many soldiers (a subject dealt with eloquently by the keynote speaker for the conference)?

The doctoral student’s input emphasised the importance of morally sound judgements in the use of weaponry. “Human beings making the decision to deploy lethal autonomous weapon systems must be practically wise – morally and intellectually virtuous” and that “The appropriate level of risk in any particular case is determined by the concrete targetting decision of a practically wise agent.” Maybe that is as it should be for a Christian ethicist operating within a military system but it is simply not going to happen. How could this be operationalised in a bomb-and-missile war like that unleashed on Iran by the USA (and Israel)? Impossible or highly unlikely, in any other war situation either. And while undoubtedly trying to be ethical ethicists themselves, these two speakers are employed by a government involved in an illegal and immoral war with no basis in just war theory.

The English Christian ethicist sitting beside me on the panel of speakers I was on said gently to me after my talk “It’s not as simple as that”. Maybe. Maybe not. I am an activist and not an ethicist, a theologian or a church historian. As I said in response to a question, if I woke up in September 1939 (implying a lack of existence before that) what would I have done – in relation to Nazism. I don’t know. I also indicated I wouldn’t condemn Dietrich Bonhoeffer for getting involved in a bomb plot to attempt to kill Adolf Hitler. As I quoted in relation to Gandhi, violent resistance is better than no resistance but nonviolence is the best response. I also indicated that the choices we make along the road will be judged and determined by the direction in which we travel. If we prepare for war then it is quite possible we will get it.

But I should point out that nonviolent resistance was important even in the Second World War. Gene Sharp documented the – successful – Norwegian teachers’ struggle against the nazification of education in the Quisling regime; “…the Norwegians were not pacifists and did not act out of a sure conviction about the way they had to go. Things happened in the way that they did because no other was was open…..” (*b) Disguised disobedience was also important; supply trains in Nazi occupied Europe ‘accidentally’ were sent in the opposite direction to which they were intended.

Captain Basil Liddell Hart was involved in the interrogation of German generals after the Nazi defeat. He wrote: “Their evidence tended to show that the violent forms of resistance had not been very effective and troublesome to them, except in wide spaces of mountainous area such as Russia and the Balkans, where topography favoured guerrilla action…….Their evidence also showed the effectiveness of non-violent resistance as practised in Denmark, Holland and Norway – and to some extent, in France and Belgium. Even clearer was their inability to cope with it. They were experts in violence….But other forms of resistance baffled them – and all the more in proportion as the methods were subtle and concealed…..” (*c)

A long time ago there was a 16-year old school boy who watched a British Army training film on hand-to-hand combat. This was as part of activities with the British Army cadet force which was an integral part of the school he attended in Northern Ireland. The film showed the moves to make in hand-to-hand combat; one side was the Brits, the other the Russkies, one side did all the winning, the other side all the losing and dying. But there was no blood and no guts. It was surreal. That 16-year old decided it was all crazy, handed back his uniform and started working against the cadet force and the military which later led the school principal to tell him, among other things, to “Shut up or get out”.

Undoubtedly that 16-year old was naive and precocious. He knew virtually nothing about the possibilities of nonviolence. His stand was considered an aberration but the problem was he had learnt his Christian and ethical lessons too well, all that stuff about loving your neighbours and peacemakers being blessed. The emperor of the empire of violence had been seen to have no clothes. A lifetime later that person shares their thoughts on the same area of concern in the paper below –

Footnotes to Introduction

(*a) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/03/us-israel-iran-war-christian-rhetoric

(*b) Originally in Peace News and a Peace News pamphlet, 1958; reproduced in “Gene Sharp – A life devoted to exploring nonviolent actions”, ed. Craig S Grown, Irene Publishing, 2024 (this is reviewed in Nonviolent News at https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/2024/12/02/readings-in-nonviolence-sharp-non-shooting-gene-sharp-book-review/

(*c) Chapter “Lessons from resistance movements – Guerrilla and non-violent” by B. H Liddell Hart, pages 239-240, in “Civilian resistance as a national defence – Non-violent action against aggression”, ed Adam Roberts, Penguin, 1969.

–

The current opportunity to overcome the perversion of Christianity –

Violence and nonviolence in Christian thinking

A paper by Rob Fairmichael given at the QUB Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice conference on Christian Ethics and Peacebuilding in the Age of AI and Autonomous Weapons Systems, 3^rd March 2026

This may count as the ‘graveyard slot’ in the conference but despite my age and white beard I am personally not quite ready for the graveyard yet…… I am an activist rather than an academic and have been involved in peace and politics with a small ‘p’ since I was 16, both on Northern Ireland and international issues. As such it seems somewhat strange to me to end up talking about the basics of Christianity.

Mohandas Gandhi said that “The only people on earth who do not see Christ and his teachings as nonviolent are Christians.” [*1] You may note I said ‘Mohandas’, his given name, rather than ‘Mahatma’, ‘great soul’, the attribution given to him, since while I regard the likes of Gandhi and M L King highly, we do well not to create nonviolent ‘saints’ because then we become ‘sinners’ who cannot emulate them. And certainly neither of them were perfect or easy to live with which should bolster our own self esteem.

The early Christian church was nonviolent. You could not be a soldier and a Christian for the first couple of hundred years. There is no record of Christian soldiers in the Roman army for 150 years and very few until 300 CE. [*2] So what happened? Basically the church sold out to power and the state around the time of Constantine with Christianity becoming the state religion. There were exceptions of some individuals and groups like the Franciscans and historic peace churches such as the Quakers and Mennonites. The excuse for selling out might be “Oh, we realised the end time wasn’t going to come immediately so we had to adjust” – I feel by ignoring Jesus’ life and teaching. I will turn to some of those teachings of Jesus shortly.

But as the early 20^th century Polish-German revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg also pointed out, the young Christian church was communist in consumption if not in production, sharing their goods and possessions. [*3] So what happened there? Greed, and lots of rich people making rather big needles for miniature camels to pass through, metaphorically at least, as the original Christian message was watered down, or simply ignored, to fit in with the powers that were and are.

Christianity has nose-dived in western European countries including Ireland, in both jurisdictions. This gives an opportunity to rethink the Christian message and look at some of the original teaching.

But does all this mean we roll over in the face of violence and aggression? Not at all. Nonviolent resistance is tailor made for a Christian approach to the world and dovetails exactly. Jesus throwing the moneylenders out of the temple in Jerusalem [*4] I would consider an excellent example of nonviolent direct action fuelled by righteous anger about people making money out of religion. That would never happen today, ho, ho, ho. Someone once said to me that Jesus shouldn’t have driven out the moneychangers as that gave Christians a bad name – but I consider that approach the mistaken, pietistic, quietistic ‘gentle Jesus meek and mild’ school of thinking, also known as the ‘holy huddle’ model of Christianity.

‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ [*5] is a core teaching of Christianity. Unless you want to do semantic somersaults I feel it is impossible to love someone and kill them. And Jesus also defines ‘neighbour’ to include perceived enemies [*6] The old adage, especially associated with the First World War, that “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down their life for their friends”, [*7] spoken by Jesus, doesn’t say anything about killing other people. And also in Jesus’ teaching it is “Blessed” or “How happy” “are the peacemakers” [*8] not “Blessed are those who arm themselves to the teeth for they shall be called God’s army and his children”. And there are a few other sayings of Jesus there about mercy and righteousness or justice.

It is clear Jesus rejected violence as part of the way that he was trying to demonstrate. Telling Peter to put away his sword after he had cut off the ear of a servant of the high priest in the Garden of Gethsemane, and then healing it, is a clear indication of this. [*9]

Walter Wink was a US Mennonite with an intriguing but detailed and well grounded take [*10 ] on three examples or words of advice given by Jesus in relation to injustice [*11]; turning the other cheek, giving your cloak as well as your coat, and going the extra mile. What Wink tries to show is that Jesus is not saying ‘Do not resist’ evil, he is saying ‘Resist – but do not resist violently’. I am going to give a very brief and simplified version here – apologies to those who know this like the back of their hand…..

‘Turning the other cheek’, Wink says is actually challenging the perpetrator who would have used the back of his right hand to strike the right cheek of the socially inferior recipient. ‘Turning the other’ cheek, the left, actually challenges the perpetrator because it unsettles them and they would have to shuffle their feet to strike again.

Giving your undergarment as well as your outer garment would have again challenged the person forcing the act since it would have left the previous garment wearer naked – and in Hebrew culture nakedness was more a sin for the person seeing them than for the naked person themselves – and this would have been the person forcing the other to give up their clothes, and not a good look for them, fully clothed after making another person naked.

As for going a second mile, it was the case that a Roman soldier could force a civilian to carry their load for one mile, and only one mile. Offering to do it for a second mile could have put the soldier in a quandary – normally the occupying force found a very reluctant civilian. What was this civilian up to? Were they trying to get them disciplined for forcing the civilian to carry the burden for further than was prescribed? Thus in Walter Wink’s interpretation all three cases show resistance to what is happening though there is far more detail if you read Wink’s analysis.

There are many many possibilities with nonviolence. To again quote Gandhi, “We are constantly being astonished these days at the amazing discoveries in the field of violence. But I maintain that far more undreamt of and seemingly impossible discoveries will be made in the field of nonviolence.” [*12]

Coming on to the so-called Just War Theory, at least in its Christian formulation, Richard McSorley who was a US Jesuit of, as his surname reveals, Irish extraction, amusingly and challengingly, outlined the possibility of a Just Adultery Theory before concluding “Absurd.” But he then goes on to say “Adultery is a personal act. It does not kill millions of people, or even one person. It does not have government support. It always allows for the possibility of repentance and reconciliation. On balance, the Just Adultery Theory has much more in its favor than the Just-Unjust War Theory.” [*13]

And if you actually adhere to the Just War theory, looking at its precepts, it is very difficult to justify any war. There is a cartoon showing God with a long white beard looking down on two armies going into battle and ‘He’ says quizzically – “Now which lot did I choose?”. The fact is both sides will have decided “God with us”, God is on ‘our’ side, probably assisted in Christian countries by chaplains in case individual Christians have any doubts about the righteousness of the cause.

Does the development of remote and AI weapons make any difference to our moral or Christian response to violence and the use of state violence? It shouldn’t but there is a practical difference. If we go back a century or so, advice to soldiers might have been not to shoot until they saw the whites of their advancing enemies’ eyes. Now soldiers are more likely to need gaming skills and not ever see the whites of their enemies’ eyes or even their enemies at all except on a screen, if that. This obviously makes it easier to kill – Rutger Bregman in his book ‘Humankind’ [*14] speaks of the extent to which armies have to train soldiers to kill and yet many soldiers in battle do not shoot to kill unless they are immediately threatened. And AI makes the risk to civilians, the percentage of civilian deaths, much higher. All of this makes the dangers we face even greater.

I am not a believer in a nonviolent approach simply because I identify as a Christian but because I am human and I see it as practical. [*15] Regarding the conflict in Northern Ireland, on 1^st April, April Fool’s Day,1994, the year of the ceasefires here I did get to read a press release I had written [*16] on a community radio station, probable listenership around three people. This story spoke about a secret interdisciplinary research project involving various departments of the universities here in Norn Iron looking into the origins of Catholics and Protestants in this part of the world. This top secret research had reached an important conclusion after their extensive research about their ethnic origins being much closer than thought; both Catholics and Protestants were members of the same species, homo sapiens, according to the research report. I might add here now that how ‘sapiens’ we are is open to debate but we certainly are all human.

Nonviolence is practical and efficient while the time frame involved may be different to using violence. Although this talk comes from a Christian standpoint, it is important to state that nonviolence can stand by itself as a pragmatic approach without any religious or philosophical backing. The research by Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan [*17] relates to intrastate conflicts but some of the 323 cases they studied are on the same scale as an international war. There is debate about their work but their analysis showed nonviolent campaigns twice as effective in reaching their goals as violent and with better outcomes regarding human rights. Even if their research is a bit skewed [*18] it would still show nonviolence coming out on top. Gene Sharp’s typology of 198 varieties of nonviolent action shares hundreds of concrete and effective historical examples, quite a few from Ireland. [*19 ]

As Kate Laverty has stated [*20], Martin Luther King “insisted that nonviolence seeks not the defeat of the opponent, but the transformation of the conflict” and obviously this is in accord with Christian thinking. And as US activist and feminist Barbara Deming stated, “A liberation movement that is nonviolent sets the oppressor free as well as the oppressed.” [*21]

One of the exciting developments in Christianity in the last while in thinking about violence and nonviolence has been statements by Popes Francis and Leo but especially the work of the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative begun by Pax Christi International which is “dedicated to promoting active nonviolence as a core principle of the Gospel. We believe that nonviolence is central to the teachings of Jesus and vital to the mission of the Catholic Church. [*22]

And as Martin McMullan says, “Despite the widely diverse viewpoints that interpretation of the Scriptures brings up, since the mid-twentieth century there have been numerous seminal works illuminating the nonviolence of Jesus, leaving little scholarly doubt that the message of nonviolence was a central part of Jesus’ teaching and life practice….” [23]

However it is true that for many in the West religion of any kind is no longer a major motivation. Mary Condren has said “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….” [*24] Thus militaristic sacrifice of people becomes a replacement for religion and justification for state action and further killing. But there are many who prefer to go with a ‘just in case’ version of God being on our side as an extra weapon in our armoury.

The decline in Christian belief and church power in our part of the world is an opportunity to rethink where Christians stand on a variety of questions not least violence and sharing in society and the world. If Jesus said and did what he did in Zero Century Palestine, what should that mean for Christians today? Not more of the same, thank you.

We need to break into history and cycles of violence to build a different future. The Second World War was a product of the First World War and that was the product of imperial rivalries stretching back many years previously. I should perhaps also state that in Gandhian thinking there is a hierarchy of responses against injustice; inactivity and passivity at the bottom, next a violent response, and then nonviolence as best.

That different future we need should question the involvement of us all either in or as fellow travellers with the military-industrial complex – as consumers, as tax payers, as voters, as academics here in this university or elsewhere doing research for or of use to the military, or as employees. Business at arms producer Thales in Castlereagh down the road and in Co Down, soon to have a third site, is booming, oh, but it is jobs they say, creating weapons to kill elsewhere, and we are in a society where people were killing each other not so long ago. There are many other ways in which we are complicit in a violent world.

Christians and Christian churches should be in the forefront of radical change at home and abroad and reject the long captivity of their faith by the state and by the powers that be, economic and political. The root of the word ‘radical’ is ‘root’ and if we look at the origins of Christianity without blinkers then we come up with something very different to what we are generally presented with as Christianity today, and aiming for a very different society to the one in which we live.

Is this all naive, what I am saying? One of the definitions of ‘naive’ is ‘simple and guileless’ and I can go with that if ‘simple’ is understood as ‘plain straightforwardness’ rather than stupidity. I believe that unrealistic and dangerous naivety belongs to those who think that building up weaponry makes them safe. The opposite is the case because the opposing side has the same thinking and then BOOM. Europe at the moment feels like the build up to the First World War but we have 21^st century weapons. Our leadership and society have an astounding lack of understanding about how conflict develops and overspills, and no thinking at all about how escalating conflict can be defused.

If you want a mix of cynicism and naivety just look south of the border in Ireland. The establishment – political and media – has created the image of a Russian bogeyman about to invade Ireland at any time, using this as a ruse to get the Republic to join the big guns of the West [*25] This is geo-political and military nonsense and very sad considering Irish neutrality and peacemaking efforts in past years. Of course there is a danger to Ireland from Russia but it is in the context of a European war and the Irish response should be concentrating on building a just peace and not an armed standoff. The Irish state has refused to look at options for non-offensive defence and nonviolent civilian defence [*26] or indeed to extend its neutral peacemaking.

AI weapons are simply the latest development in a long line of evil, yes, evil, whether you define evil through a moral or a religious lens. AI weapons are a new issue but nuclear weapons haven’t gone away, you know, and still threaten to either wipe us out or take us back to a far worse situation for the human survivors of nuclear war than the stone age. Reining in militarism is a monumental task but we have two feet or perhaps even a wheelchair to move forward, it is a task for us all, whatever our religious or secular beliefs.

Finally, expenditure on weapons, weapons research and an arms race is totally unChristian, not only in a grossly unequal world of great need, but also in the face of the ecological crisis which threatens us all in various ways including massive suffering and dislocation of peoples across our globe. Global heating is the biggest security issue we face and the military contribute massively to that looming disaster. [*27]

– – – – –

Footnotes

*1 Downloadable poster with this quote available at https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/posters/

*2 “New Testament basis of peacemaking” by Richard McSorley, Herald Press, 1979, chapter 4, “The First Three Centuries”, page 68 and following.

*3 On this topic see e.g. “Property and riches in the Early Church” by Martin Hengel, SCM Press, 1974. The Magnificat, Luke 1.52-53, is another indication of the radical nature of the Christian message.

*4 This features in all four Christian gospels including Matt. 21. 12-13.

*5 Mark 12.31.

*6 Luke chapter 10.

*7 John 15.13.

*8 Matt. 5.9.

*9 Luke 22:49-51, John 18:10-11, Matthew 26:51-52

*10 “Engaging the Powers – Discernment and resistance in a world of domination”, by Walter Wink, Fortress Press, 1992, Chapter 9, p. 175 and following, and coverage elsewhere including IFOR pamphlet “The Third Way – reclaiming Jesus’ nonviolent alternative”, mid-1990s. However ‘Engaging the Powers’ is by far the best in giving greater context.

*11 Matt 5.38-42.

*12 Downloadable poster with this quote available at https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/posters/

*13 McSorley, ibid., p.101.

*14 “Humankind” by Rutger Bregman, Bloomsbury, 2020.

*15 There are different publications or pamphlets looking at successful nonviolent actions e.g. “Victories without violence” compiled by A Ruth Fry, Ocean Tree Books, 1986. Gene Sharp’s typology in “The Politics of Nonviolent Action”, Part Two, “The Methods of Nonviolent Action”, Porter Sargent, 1972, gives extensive examples of nonviolent actions of which most but certainly not all were successful; a number of Irish examples are included.

*16 https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/52553781984/in/album-72157678685228508

*17 “Why civil resistance works – the strategic logic of nonviolent conflict” by Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan, Columbia University Press, 2011. There is also much online. For a review by Rob Fairmichael see https://www.innatenonviolence.org/readings/2020_03.shtml

*18 And if skewed this was not necessarily or always in favour of nonviolence. They judge the IRA violent campaign in the Troubles in Northern Ireland as a ‘partial success’ whereas I would certainly not agree and would go with the essence of Seamus Mallon’s judgement – patronising but I believe substantially correct – that the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 was “Sunningdale for slow learners”. However it should be pointed out the IRA had not bought in to the Sunningdale Agreement and nor did harder line unionists – and the DUP initially rejected the Good Friday Agreement, to which they have never formally signed up. The Sunningdale Agreement led to the brief powersharing government in Northern Ireland in 1974, brought down by a loyalist strike and stoppage.

*19 Gene Sharp, ibid. It could be 1,980 examples or even 19,800.

*20 https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/2026/02/02/the-peace-line-with-kate-laverty-reflections-on-m-l-king-day/

*21 Downloadable poster with this quote available at https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/posters/

Barbara Deming was not a Christian but this quote is highly compatible with the best of both humanism and Christianity.

*22 Pax Christi Catholic Nonviolence Initiative, https://paxchristi.net/cni-about-us/ ; “Choosing Peace – The Catholic Church Returns to Gospel Nonviolence”, ed. Marie Dennis, Orbis Books, 2018; “Advancing Nonviolence and Just Peace in the Church and the World”, Pax Christi International, 322 pages, 2020, ed. Rose Marie Berger, Ken Butigan, Judy Coode and Marie Dennis.

For a compendium of sayings and writings by Pope Francis on nonviolence, compiled by Ken Butigan see https://paxchristi.net/a-compendium-of-pope-francis-use-of-the-term-nonviolence/ and also a related piece by Sylvia Thompson at https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/2025/09/01/pope-francis-and-nonviolence-lets-move-towards-a-nonviolent-culture-an-other-way/

*23 “Christianity’s Missing Peace – Pope Francis, Gospel Nonviolence, and the Renewal of the Irish Church” by Martin McMullan, page 4, forward by Mairead Maguire, Wipf & Stock, 2025, 129 pages.

*24 The Serpent and the Goddess – Women, Religion and Power in Celtic Ireland”, by Mary Condren, 2002, New Island Books, page 198.

*25 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A87_exf8inQ shares a great song on the topic

*26 https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/53003786126/in/album-72177720309217408

says something about that refusal.

More generally regarding possibilities in this area see e.g. “Making Europe Unconquerable: the Potential of Civilian-based Deterrence and Defence”” by Gene Sharp, Taylor and Francis, 1985; “Pacifism Today: A Dialogue about Alternatives to War in Ukraine” by Majken Jul Sørensen, Irene Publishing, 2024; review of this at https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/2024/04/02/the-possibility-of-nonviolent-resistance-in-the-contemporary-world/ ; also see https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/2022/04/01/nonviolent-resistance-to-invasion-occupation-and-coups-detat/ which has more references on this area.

*27 This is increasingly recognised as a catastrophic problem not just by peace related groups https://www.tni.org/en/publication/climate-collateral-2pagebriefing but by scientists and science journals, see e.g. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/warfares-climate-emissions-are-huge-but-uncounted/

– Nonviolent News welcomes reflections on nonviolence from all standpoints whether they be religious of any origin, secular, philosophical or pragmatic.

– – – – – –