All posts by Rob Fairmichael

Eco-Awareness with Larry Speight: Water, uisce, agua, eau, voda, maji, ma’a

Eco-Awareness, Nonviolent News,

Larry Speight brings us his monthly column –

Wherever we go in the world a word we will quickly learn to speak in the language of our host country after hello, good-bye, please and thank you is water.

As we can’t live more than three or four days without fresh water one would think that we would take better care of what globally is a scarce resource and locally can swiftly become one. As an island people who are surrounded by water, whose terra firma has ample lakes and rivers and where we expect it to rain at almost any time to think of fresh water as scarce is counter-intuitive.

The facts speak for themselves which is that most of the world’s water is undrinkable without expensive technological intervention. This is because 96.5% of water is sea water and much of the remaining 3.5% of nominally fresh water as found in rivers and lakes is immediately unusable as we have poisoned it. Aquifers contain approximately 33% of fresh water of which, according to the Stockholm International Water Institute, a third are depleted and according to the UNEP a high proportion are severely polluted.

The cryosphere, which are glaciers, ice caps and permafrost, hold 70% of the Earth’s fresh water. While relatively unpolluted the cryosphere is rapidly melting because of global warming.

Although the human body is commonly thought to be composed of flesh and bones, 60% of our physique is water. Another interesting thing about this solvent is the first forms of life originated and evolved in water. We, like so many other life-forms, are water-infused.

Given that we are largely composed of water, are physically sustained by water, emerged from water and depend on it for a wide variety of activities including washing ourselves, our clothes, cleaning our homes and growing food it is not surprising that in ancient Ireland bodies of water were thought to have a divine origin and were regarded as sacred.

Lough Erne for instance, which is the fourth largest body of water in Ireland, is named after a woman called Érann. In Irish mythology there are three stories about the lough’s origin. One, which resonates with other mythological stories about the origins of Irish rivers and lakes, is that a mythical woman named Erne, who was Queen Meabh’s lady in-waiting, fled with two other women from Cruachan, County Roscommon in fear of a fearsome giant and on drowning their bodies dissolved to become Lough Erne.

The Rivers Bann, Boyne and Shannon are other bodies of water reputed in Irish mythology to have their origin in drowned mythical women signifying their divinity. In spite of the mythology attached to our waterways, and our dependence upon them, we treat them as open sewers. Northern Ireland Water (NI Water) certainly does by the regular release of sewage into them as we know to be the case with Lough Erne, Lough Neagh and Strangford Lough.

NI Water are thought to be responsible for 24% of water pollution, agriculture 62% and septic tanks 12%. Another source of pollution is run-off from roads. As NI Water is a government owned company we the tax payers are the shareholders and can lobby our politicians to ensure that it treats our waterways in a way that enhances their ecological health which means not treating them as part of the sewage network. To do this it needs adequate funding which means that the public should be asked to pay the money required. The payment would not be a give-away but an investment in our wellbeing, that of our offspring and our entire bioregion.

This idea of paying more for our water is supported by the independent watchdog the Northern Ireland Fiscal Council, which in a report in early June said that “The fundamental constraint on NI Water is a budgetary one”. In wanting to retain favour with the electorate the two major political parties in the Executive are opposed to direct water charges.

A similar situation exists in the Republic of Ireland where the water authority, Uisce Eireann, is a public body and the government plans to charge households only for excessive use which is 1.7 % above the average household amount of 125,000 litres.

In both jurisdictions, where the major source of water pollution is agriculture, the farming community, as represented by their unions, is dead-set against making the types of changes that will result in the elimination of nutrients and chemicals that are harmful to aquatic life. These include reducing the size of the dairy herd, better slurry management, creating buffer zones around waterways, planting native trees to prevent soil erosion and ensuring medicines given to animals don’t enter the water system.

To this end governments need to ensure that farms are economically viable.

It is a case of the authorities joining the dots and recognising that clean water is the basis of a healthy ecosystem, thriving and ecologically sustainable farms, is essential to building new homes and providing jobs across the economy including in outdoor pursuits which enhance physical and mental wellbeing.

There is a need for close cross-border cooperation on water quality and other eco-issues as we live a single bioregion with many bodies of water straddling the political border. Lough Melvin with its waters at one and the same time in County Fermanagh and County Leitrim is an example of this. The bio-rich waters of Lough Erne flow through County Fermanagh and into the sea at Ballyshannon in County Donegal.

The fact that farming families have an invested interest in passing on ecologically viable farms to their descendants gives us hope that regenerative farming will be embraced. A delay in doing so serves no one’s interests.

To treat our bodies of water with the respect they deserve, as something precious, would be in keeping with the ancient belief that water is sacred. For us in our homes and places of work this means not letting the tap run, reporting leaks and not flushing sanitary products down the toilet.

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The Peace Line with Kate Laverty: The Violence of Language – Microaggressions, Tone, and Dismissal

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We are delighted that Kate Laverty will be joining us as a regular columnist under the title ‘The Peace Line’ – this among other things relates or refers to the geographical location of her work based in Belfast. Welcome, Kate – Ed.

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Forgiveness is one of the most underappreciated forms of social glue — a quiet, resilient bond that holds relationships together in the face of rupture. This month, I was reminded that in youth work, our most dangerous moments are not always defined by obvious conflict or visible harm, but by the subtle and insidious violence we can do with our words.

In a moment of frustration, I spoke too quickly and with too much authority. I corrected before I connected. I forgot that the space I was in — the youth centre — belongs to the young people first. My presence there is not a right, but a privilege, one that must be exercised with humility and awareness.

This moment invited me to reflect on how language, though often taken for granted, can be a site of harm. As practitioners committed to nonviolence, we often focus on physical acts — what we do or do not do. But language, too, can wound. Microaggressions, dismissive tones, or the casual erosion of someone’s agency through a poorly chosen word — these are forms of violence that cannot be undone with good intentions alone.

Philosopher Judith Butler reminds us that “language sustains the body, but it can also threaten its life” (Excitable Speech, 1997). Words can be acts — performative in their consequences — especially when spoken from a position of authority. In youth work, the harm of language lies not only in what is said but in who is speaking and how power flows in that interaction.

Microaggressions are often unintentional, but their impact is cumulative. They function as small, repeated reminders of hierarchy, exclusion, or disrespect. A raised voice. A sarcastic tone. A public correction that ignores context. These subtle cues can strip young people of dignity, agency, and trust — even if spoken with the best of intentions. Derald Wing Sue, who has written extensively on microaggressions, emphasises their “invisibility” to the perpetrator and their emotional toxicity to the recipient. When repeated, they shape environments where young people feel diminished rather than empowered.

What I experienced was not a breakdown in behaviour, but a breakdown in presence. I forgot to listen before I spoke. I forgot to pause. And I forgot that leadership in youth work is not about control — it’s about invitation. It’s about standing with, not speaking over. As Marshall Rosenberg argues in his work on Nonviolent Communication (2003), we must distinguish between language that is life-alienating and that which is life-affirming. Language that diagnoses, demands, or labels can sever connection; language that listens, names needs, and offers presence can restore it.

In Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970), he describes the act of speaking with — rather than speaking to or about — as a form of liberation. Nonviolence, then, is not just a political principle; it is a relational discipline. It calls us to examine how our tone, timing, and temperament communicate either power or partnership. Language can either extend dignity or withdraw it. It can close down conversations or open up space for transformation.

In youth work, as in all human relationships, there is a sacred responsibility to speak with care. Our words must be guided by empathy, not ego. We must remain vigilant about how easily the tools of language — when untethered from reflection — can become instruments of harm.

This experience humbled me. But it also reminded me that language, like youth work itself, is never neutral. It either honours the humanity in the room or diminishes it. The true work of peace begins with how we speak, and whether our speech makes space for others to be fully seen. – – – – –

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Duchas by Helen Henderson

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Duchas (Irish Gaelic) Duthchas (Scots Gaelic) : identity, being and belonging in nature or place. A sense of origin, relations, interconnectedness, heritage, tradition and identity.

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I am inviting you to come with me, on a Turas, a journey, from disconnection to connection, from exile to belonging, from extraction to restoration, from decolonising to re-indigenising,

We all come from somewhere, we all have ancestors, we all are sustained by the eco-systems that provide us with air, water, food and ground to stand on.

Imagine a jigsaw puzzle on a large table, depicting a detailed picture made up of thousands of small pieces. It is as if this puzzle was thrown up in the air, falling, fragmented all over the floor, like a trauma memory. No sense of chronology or story. In many ways, trying to understand our history here on this island is like trying to put the pieces of this jigsaw back together to make sense of what happened to this place and people. Why do we not have the full story?

Is mise Helen agus is as Doire me. I was born and raised in Doire-Derry-the Oak Grove in what would be perceived as a Protestant-Unionist-Loyalist cultural background. Originally, I viewed history as the problem, the reason that we are still stuck, and I had no appreciation of how history is re-lived every day in the place that I come from. When I started working in youth and community work, we focused on promoting ‘good relations’ to foster trust between the two main communities in Northern Ireland. I had no knowledge of the colonial and imperial project that was Ireland for hundreds of years, and ultimately still is Ireland today. Good relations work was not interested in the root causes of the most recent conflict in the North and seemed to place all the blame for ‘our troubles’ on the working class communities that were most impacted by the violence.

I later moved into ‘Global Education’ where we educated teachers about the structural causes of poverty and inequality across the globe and the damage caused by our capitalist and extractive systems. Here, I learned more about colonisation across the world and the impact of that in ‘developing countries’ but the local conflict and context seemed to be invisible. This illuminated the fact that our capitalist system is built on an invisible foundation of racism, white supremacy and slavery and this is still very much the case today. Slavery has not gone away, it is just well hidden. Trade, Aid, Debt continue to be used to maintain a status quo and ultimately keep poor countries poor and condense the wealth within a few powerful hands and corporations. The issue of decolonisation was pursued in an academic, conceptual, ‘heady’ way but seemed to be hard to put into practice or a real life local context.

As I started digging, a book called ‘The Ghost Limb’ written by Claire Mitchell resonated with me, as she explained her feeling of being detached from her Irish identity as a Protestant from the North. She had a sense that key parts of her identity were severed, but still haunted her as a wound or a longing. She connects with the story of the United Irishmen and the Rebellion in 1798 as a pivotal moment in history where Protestants and Catholics united against the British Imperial Powers and suffered one of the most brutal crackdowns and slaughter. Without going into a full essay on Irish history, the learning for me was about one of the most effective tools of colonisation: Divide and Conquer. I could see the ‘Protestant-Catholic-Sectarian’ story in a systemic light and see that this was not purely a good relations issue between two groups of people who just couldn’t get along. I embarked on a personal reckoning about what this meant for me, my ancestry and my role going forward as an ‘alternative’ protestant.

I embarked on a Triscele place based mentoring programme developed by 3 sports practitioners that sent me on an ever deepening pattern of three spirals: 1. The sacred nature connection 2. Ancestry and power 3. The stories we create through culture. Over the next few years I had the privilege to meet folk from across the world including Maori, Native Hawaiian, Menominee, Lakota and Inupiat. These folk were encouraging and supportive and advised that we have a responsibility to find out more about our own Ancestors, restore our connection to Land and Nature, and to learn the language of the Land. The way back to healing, peace and well-being was through the process of re-indigenising ourselves to our place, traditions and eco-systems. We needed to do our own digging.

There are shared values across many of the Indigenous Nations including: Nature as teacher and expert, Nature connection as sacred, Welcoming and hosting, sharing and collective care, honouring the Ancestors, gratitude practice, reciprocity and the inherent appreciation for the interdependence of all living things. These values are obvious and evident in Indigenous world-view and practices. Whilst there is a lot of work needed to push back against the pervasive individualism and disconnection in our communities, I believe that these indigenous values are evident here on this island. We just need to know where to look and how to practise them.

People can know things in different ways including an embodied way, an ancestral way, a spiritual way and the intellectual way of knowing is overly dominant in heavily colonised western societies. During the lockdown, I was delivering trauma training and was teaching folk about how every single human being has a reptilian, mammalian and human set of wiring and the rational brain is the most recent part of our ‘human’ wiring. We take the world in through our senses as raw data, which is passed through the reptilian brain, then the mammalian, and eventually the human brain gets the information and makes up a story to explain it all. It is a lot more complex than this, but this transformed the way that I worked as an educator, inviting people to build a relationship with their body, their felt sense and trust the knowledge that comes from attunement to the natural world. Our bodies are a wonderful tool for re-indigenising and this is a practice that deepens our sense of connection and empathy for all living beings. To notice is to honour.

Putting the two words of Indigenous and Ireland together in the same breathe creates all sorts of conversations. It is an invitation to dialogue about how we find our way home, back to the land and back to a way of being in the world that is not harmful, divisive and extractive. Some people don’t want the discomfort of the conversation and prefer to make a judgement. Historically, here in the North of the island, folk from very different sides of the conflict and world views sat around the table and talked, shared, cried, laughed and recognised the common humanity in each-other. We were able to move beyond the ‘Us’ and ‘Them’ and sit down with people who were labelled ‘dissident’ ‘terrorist’ or ‘sectarian’.

Our bodies, minds and communities are so hypercolonised that often we can’t even see it. The social programming that I received, through education, media, church and state were so strong and contained very clear messages about women, religion, the Global South, and was largely euro centric, individualistic and racist. It would be a miracle if I got to adulthood without some very challenging perceptions and ideas. We cannot ignore issues of power, patriarchy and privilege and in Ireland, and across the earth, the playing fields are not level. I believe that the process of decolonising involves as much painful unlearning of the social programming as it does learning. It also involves a collective process and dialogue in that we cannot ‘fix’ these issues in our heads or on our own, or by simply saying ‘Well, I am not racist/sexist/ablist’.

Our current media can offer a lot of posturing and virtue signalling about these issues but not much real life action or digging to the root causes. It is quick to point the finger and demonise and I am not sure if that is the long-term answer to our human race living peacefully and cooperatively together. Core values of equality, cooperation, compassion and collective care are what make us human and connect us through our common humanity. I don’t have any answers or solutions but I long to find a way back to our rightful place, as a flourishing part of this wonderful eco-system that we are blessed to know.

Divide and Conquer is still alive and well today, so let’s sit down and have a chat and a cup of tea.

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Helen Henderson has spent most of her working life in the third sector, and has a background in youth work, community development and peace building. She managed a community centre based in Derry/Londonderry, St Columb’s Park House, developing programmes promoting non-violent activism, participative democracy and compassionate leadership and also worked for an international NGO as a Global Education manager. Recently, Helen secured a Board appointment as a Commissioner for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and co-founded Indigenous Ireland https://indigenous.ie/ as a voluntary collective group of people and organisations who are committed to decolonising and re-indigenising minds, bodies, education and eco-systems. 

Billy King: Rites Again, 331

Billy King, Nonviolent News, , , , ,

Billy King shares his monthly thoughts

Hello again, unfortunately there is one installation just across the Irish Sea which keeps popping up, continuing to cause concern (and has done for many decades): Windscale/Sellafield. Clearing up the radioactive mess there is a nightmare https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jun/04/sellafield-nuclear-clean-up-mps-public-accounts-committee?CMP=share_btn_url The issue of what happens to nuclear waste – and the cost of dealing with it – which needs contained for 10,000 years or so – means nuclear power is neither cheap, green nor relatively carbon friendly. And it is highly dangerous at the best of times with additional dangers through rising sea levels and the odd natural disaster or tsunami (think Fukushima).

The luxury of pacifism

Ah, I am bathed in luxury. Not. Ruth Dudley Edwards writes a regular column in the Belfast News Letter which publication takes a very staunch unionist approach these days (it did have a more liberal phase a few decades ago) with the conservative politics which tends to go with that. She recently wrote that “I never had the luxury of being a pacifist.” I am afraid that old trope got my goat which is a bit strange as I don’t have a goat and if I did it would quickly decimate our average-sized suburban garden. There were other points I would dispute in the same article but I will stick to that sentence. It appeared in the News Letter of 19/6/25 but behind a paywall; it is however on Ruth Dudley Edwards’ website at https://www.ruthdudleyedwards.co.uk/2025/06/when-it-comes-to-war-i-never-had-the-luxury-of-being-a-pacifist/

The first thing I would say if that while I accept the label of being a pacifist it is not usually a term I use. I would call myself a believer in nonviolence or a nonviolent activist. ‘Pacifism’ has lots of negative connotations in popular usage and is too close sounding to ‘passivism’ to be comfortable. However for me being a nonviolent activist is the very opposite of ‘passivism’ and the idea that ‘pacifism’ is a luxury, presumably implying a failure to make hard decisions and acting on them, is totally false.

Meanwhile the Headitor responded to Ruth Dudley Edwards’ piece with a letter to the News Letter and it was published some days later. “Ruth Dudley Edwards (Opinion, 19th June) may consider it being a ‘luxury’ to be a pacifist but I can assure her it is anything but that.  Whether based on the teachings of Jesus, Buddhism, secular morality, pragmatism or whatever, taking a stand against all forms of violence is far from being a luxury and requires very considerable imaginative and creative thought and work  – and often putting up with simplistic rejection of nonviolent possibilities.

Those believing  in nonviolence reject sticking plaster approaches to violence and the causes of violence and work to deal with root causes while also seeking to ameliorate its effects. I am not a Quaker but just think of Quaker work during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Modern research (e.g. Chenoweth and Stephan) show nonviolent resistance to injustice to be more effective, in a variety of ways, than violence. I stand with Mohandas Gandhi when he said “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.” That Gandhi quote is available as a mini-poster on the INNATE website https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/posters/

Pacifism and nonviolence a luxury? If only. It is not an easy choice to make, I don’t mean ideologically, but because of the reaction from many people who feel it is simplistic. If that is the case then the probable majority of people on this island, still identifying as some form of Christian, are extremely simplistic too given what Jesus had to say about violence and peace. And seeking to remove the root causes of violence and injustice is hard work. Maybe I could do with a bit more luxury.

Capping Kneecap

It is blindingly obvious that the members of Kneecap haven’t done courses in nonviolent communication – or if they had (!) they were too busy preparing raps to pay attention. Pushing out fairly violent images or language and justifying it as a joke or irony is an old act – though it is one which they do in their own inimitable way. And obviously they do enjoy taking the piss out of a whole variety of people. That is their style and part of what makes them attractive as vibrant, alternative figures to many, especially young people.

They are not likely to go away anytime soon. Their Irish language use and rapping is said to have done wonders for the attractiveness of the language among young Irish people. To target one of them with a court case in England over displaying a Hezbollah flag – which he was handed by a fan at a gig – is pretty ridiculous. I am certainly not the first commentator to say that if people in the whole of the UK were all prosecuted for being in possession of the flag of an illegal organisation then the courts in Norn Iron would be overwhelmed for years to come. Partly it is different rules for different parts of the UK and presumably also that the police in England felt that the had to act when there was such a spotlight (by rightwingers primarily which looks like it includes Keir Starmer in relation to his complaint about the inappropriateness of them playing at Glastonbury).

Of course for some people Kneecap’s strident criticism of Israel, and support for Palestine, is enough to give them a bashing. Favourable mention of drug use is another. But with popular opinion in Ireland being way ahead of many people around Europe on Palestine and Israeli state genocide in Gaza – and also in the West Bank – they are being judged for loose and sometimes violent language when their hearts are in the right place and their general judgement on this also. Trying to cap or contain Kneecap seems a pretty stupid exercise. However maybe they could do a course in nonviolent communication and still be abrasive, anticolonial commentators on the world today; now that would be an interesting challenge for them.

The House of Orange

There is a Orangefield area in Belfast but it has nothing to do with either the Orange Order or the fruit – it seems it was thus named from Huguenots who settled there who were from Orange in France. I do think Orangefield does have some Orange (Order) lodges however and it is that time of year in the North when marching around the place marking or claiming territory is part of culture for some Northern Protestants. The Twelfth July is a great family day out for those of that cultural-political and perhaps (for most of them) vaguely religious persuasion.

However Orangeism is based on exclusivity insofar as it is seeking to celebrate Protestantism and Britishness. The attempt to turn the Twelfth into ‘Orangefest’ and thus be more inclusive is on a hiding to nothing. How can celebrating victory in a battle of one ‘side’ over another ‘side’ be celebrated by the latter? I do go to the trouble of pointing out that if James won the Battle of the Boyne and ‘the war of the two kings’ then the boot would have been on the other foot and Prods would have been severely discriminated against instead of Taigs* – but that wasn’t what happened.

If you have never seen a Twelfth July parade in Norn Iron and you have the opportunity to do so, I would encourage you to take a look. You may not agree with the politics, brand of religion or frequent militarism represented but it is quite a spectacle and occasion and should form part of your political education on the North….and in any agreed solution in Ireland in the future those of an Orange persuasion have to be included. Being inclusive of exclusivism is a difficult act.

* I do use the usually extremely derogatory term ‘Taigs’ for Catholics in the North so long as I have the opportunity to explain its origin. It comes from the personal name Tadhg which means ‘poet’ and, not being of Catholic background myself – in fact I had an Orange Order grandfather – it is my attempt through using it and explaining its origin to ridicule its use. Abusing or attempting to abuse people by calling them a poet is simply laughable and not even poetic licence. Its origin lies in the once commonality of the name at the time and was a label which originated in the same way ‘Paddy’ or ‘Mick’ became labels for the Irish in Britain, common Irish male given names.

Unification

Everyone in the North may be for ‘unification’ but of who and what? In Norn Iron is it a United Kingdom or a United Ireland we want, or something different or inbetween? Often times people – us all – interpret statistics in a way that favours our point of view. Unionists often point to the fact that the proportion of ‘nationalist’ voters has not been increasing in recent elections in the North, which is true. However the Life and Times survey shows on the question of The Border that things are changing, especially among young people, in favour of a united Ireland, and a small but increasing number of Prods are also thinking about all-island unification. You can check out the sadistics for yourself at https://www.ark.ac.uk/nilt/2024/Political_Attitudes/REFUNIFY.html though that is just one poll.

However I would reiterate the line taken in this publication that it is incumbent on the Irish government to do more work in exploring what Irish unity might entail. People know what Norn Iron as part of the UK is like. People do not know what the parameters could or would be in the run up to, or in, a united Ireland. Rational decision making may not be what the people of the North are primarily known for but there should be as much encouragement of that rational decision making as possible. And that includes close examination of what a united Ireland might look like so people can make as informed a choice on their future as is possible. Nothing is decided and winds can change direction quickly. But the people of the North deserve the seriousness of looking at possibilities in detail.

Leafing through the Golden/Yellow Pages

You probably need to be approaching forty years old for this title to mean anything. The Golden Pages (Republic) and Yellow Pages (Norn Iron) were the commercial internet of their day but tailed off into oblivion once the internet took off and commercial firms had their own websites or were listed online under the service they provided. These large yellow paged books had entries for most commercial activities and you leafed through them to find a firm or firms to contact for the service or provision you sought. The simplest listing was just the name and phone number of the provider under the subject title; for additional fees to the company producing the book you could have a display advertisement.

About two decades ago the Golden/Yellow Pages briefly got smaller and then disappeared, to be followed in extinction by ‘ordinary’ phone books listing “everyone’s” number – unless you were in the exclusive category of ‘ex-directory’.

You may be surprised to learn that I still leaf through my Yellow Pages, not looking for a dry cleaners or a provider of legal services from a couple of decades ago but in search of flowers. “Flowers?” you may well ask. Yes. The size of the old Yellow Pages and the absorbency of the paper make them ideal for pressing flowers which, when dry, I use for making pressed flower cards. And the flowers aren’t arranged alphabetically so small ones I am searching for can be hard to find.

Technology has changed so many things in my lifetime. A duplicator was the go to machine for a considerable number of multiple copies in my young(er) days; this had an ink drum onto which you put a cut stencil, usually cut by typewriter keys without any ribbon. The quality was middling to atrocious and your hands usually ended up rather inky. Again these disappeared around three decades ago. For just two or three copies you might use carbon paper which was placed between the multiple layers of paper and with a manual typewriter you had to be sure to strike the keys hard. Photocopying quality was poor and expensive as well. Today you can photocopy for very little cost and even print multiple copies, and photocopy, with your home printer – unimagined luxuries in ‘my’ earlier days.

With AI enormous further strides are possible but AI also uses – relatively – a ginormous of power, and those data centres eat up one hell of a lot of electricity (metaphor deliberately chosen). FOE reports (see news item this issue) that a 100-word email generated by AI uses the equivalent of a 500 ml water bottle. And governments should act that only data centres providing all their power from additional green sources and additional water supply would be permitted, and that only on land which is not required for housing or agriculture. But the Irish government looks afraid to say boo to an AI or data firm goose with the country liable to turn into a data centre slum.

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Before ending, I wanted to mention an article about the struggle for peace and rationality in Norway. While Norway has not been neutral and has been in NATO, it has been regarded as relatively peace loving and progressive on international issues. Not any more as Glenn Diesen reveals https://tinyurl.com/2mkhbbfd (from World Beyond War and previously Substack). This is all very relevant to other countries especially another relatively small country like Ireland where the warmongers are advancing. Compare and contrast.

Something more to mention, among all the actions for Gaza and Palestine taking place around the country, is one from Monkstown, Co Dublin where a woman involved spoke about their weekly vigil for Palestine. “We do poetry, song, and link up with  local Palestinians  with updated reports of the savage cruelty being inflicted upon them, and most of all we meet recently arrived  families, who are here  for medical treatment. Amazing that the military elites have stooped so low, that it is only after your family have physical scars to show that they are allowed to leave the burning chaos of genocidal action, approved by the EU etc. A young girl of 7 years  recently arrived. She has only one eye and walks on her damaged left leg, after sick military cowards targeted her and her families in their tent.” This is where words fail me/you.

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Well, summer is here, in fact the summer solstice has already passed so it is downhill all the way to shorter days. [Always looking on the bright side, aren’t you? – Ed] I hope you get the break you need and at this time of year I usually quote the immortal words of Christy Moore in ‘Lisdoonvarna’ where he gave the best ever definition of summer holidays – “When summer comes around each year / They come here and we go there”. There you have it. I will return here at the start of September since there is only a news supplement in August. Until then, be good to yourself and be good to others, and I hope you will need that sun cream, Billy.

News, June 2025

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Why riot? Report on youth violence and change

An important new 55-page report, Why Riot? Addressing the ‘whys’ behind youth violence” is available at https://societal-challenges.open.ac.uk/media/projects/145_learningfromwhyriot-report-final-28-05-2025.pdf This is based on an 18-month action research project across different divides exploring how the free OpenLearn course Why Riot? could be adapted as an effective youth programme enabling marginalised young people to develop their skills as thinkers, peacebuilders and positive changemakers in contested spaces across Belfast. Stating that “These findings have implications for policy and practice beyond Northern Ireland” seems very accurate. The course itself is available at bit.ly/whyriot One final conclusion was that “The Northern Ireland Executive should enable and support the co-creation of a Northern Ireland Violence Reduction or Non-Violence Hub drawing on the Why Riot? models of co-creation.”

Neutrality Roadshow nearing final destinations, neutrality demo

The Neutrality Roadshow, which has been wending its way for the last month around the highways and byways of Ireland, completes its work shortly with the final destinations being Wexford on 3rd June, Lisnaskea/Fermanagh on 4th June, Derry on 5th June, Belfast on 6th June, and Dublin on 7th June – all evenings (7pm+) except for Dublin which will be 2 – 5pm. See https://keepirelandneutral.ie/ for details. The roadshow is headed by the indefatigable Niamh Ní Bhriain of the Transnational Institute and features guest speakers to create a space for open dialogue and discussion. All events free and open and the Roadshow takes place during the ongoing attempt at removal of the Triple Lock on the deployment of troops overseas by the Irish government. As the website says, “The world needs neutral peace-brokers now, more than ever and Ireland is in a very special position to help bring wars to an end.” However the government is working to get the committee stage scrutiny of its proposals to remove the Triple Lock completed before the Dáil breaks for the summer.

l Meanwhile a major demonstration, “Keep Ireland neutral! Keep the Triple Lock!” takes place on Saturday 14th June, 2pm, at the Garden of Remembrance, Dublin, organised primarily by the Irish Neutrality League.

Good Relations Week in NI

Coordinated by the Community Relations Council, Good Relations Week 2025 will run from Monday 13th to Sunday 19th October, with a likely programme of more than 200 cross-community and multicultural events taking place across all 11 local council areas of the North. This is always an opportunity for groups to showcase their work in the good/community relations area and the theme this year is ‘Connect – People, Planet, Posterity’. See https://goodrelationsweek.com/ for more info and registration.

Peace manifesto launch on Europe Day by Lex Innocentium 21stC

In line with the European Peace Project, Lex Innocentium 21st Century organised readings of the Manifesto for Peace at the GPO in Dublin, and in Newbridge, Co Kildare, on 9th of May, the 80th anniversary of the official end of World War II in Europe. Across Europe, people gathered together to read the Manifesto for Peace – to tell their governments that they do not want war and that they do not want to waste valuable resources on war and on the stockpiling of deadly weapons. To read the full proclamation – including a specifically Irish piece based on the format of the 1916 Rising proclamation – see https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Proclamation-of-Peace-25.05.pdf Lex Innocentirum 21stC is at https://lexinnocentium21.ie For pics see https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/54519849965/in/dateposted/ and the couple of entries beside that.

Racism, the far right, and social media

A report launched at the start of May commissioned by the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) with the support of the Equality Coalition, a network co-convened by CAJ and UNISON, has revealed the alarming role of social media in amplifying racial intimidation and far-right narratives in Northern Ireland. The report, which features a series of case studies on online activity linked to the discussion and promotion of anti-immigrant and racist incidents in Northern Ireland, finds that while such incidents occur locally, their reach and impact are being significantly amplified by far-right networks, particularly those based in Britain and the Republic. Dessie Donnelly, researcher and author of the report, said: “Local incidents of racial intimidation are not isolated; they are cynically amplified through a far-right online ecosystem that distorts public perception. Online community spaces that should foster genuine dialogue have instead become breeding grounds for toxic misinformation that directly endangers migrant and minority communities on the ground.” See https://caj.org.uk/latest/alarming-role-of-social-media-in-amplifying-racial-intimidation-and-far-right-narratives-in-ni/ for more info and link to the full 48-page report.

MNI mediation courses

Upcoming courses from Mediation Northern Ireland include 1) An advanced 6-day Group & Systemic Mediation Practice course beginning 10th September, 2) Principled Negotiation 3-day course starting on 5th June, 3) Workplace Conflict Management 1-day online course on 25th June, 4) Mediation Theory & Practice, 8-day course, multiple dates and times. See Training section of the MNI website at https://mediationni.org/ for details. You have just missed the Managing Difficult Conversations 1-day course…….

CGE: Development education and class

The latest issue of the Belfast-based Centre for Global Education publication Policy & Practice is on Development education and class. See https://www.developmenteducationreview.com/ Meanwhile there are 6 new podcasts in their ‘Reimagining Development’ series. The joint CGE and Comhlámh online event on ‘Decolonising economic development: The role of the development sector’ on Tuesday 10th June is sold out. https://www.centreforglobaleducation.com/

ICCL on repeal of Offences Against the State Acts

While the Irish Council for Civil Liberties/ICCL has welcomed the news that the Minister for Justice intends to repeal the Offences Against the State Acts, they have expressed deep concern at the government’s plans to retain a permanent non-jury court.  Joe O’Brien, ICCL director, stated “…….What began as an emergency response has now operated longer in peacetime than it did during the Troubles………ICCL maintains that the right to a jury trial is a fundamental right and a central principle of the Irish criminal justice system…….One of the reasons often given for a non-jury court is the risk of jury tampering. Yet there are clear measures that can be taken to protect jurors including anonymous juries, screening juries from public view and using video links to juries in different locations…..” See https://www.iccl.ie/news/iccl-statement-on-repeal-of-offences-against-the-state-acts/

Feeding ourselves – Strengthening local food economies

This webinar, organised by Feasta and others, is intended primarily for local food producers, but open to anyone interested. It takes place on Tuesday 10th June from 8 – 9.30 pm. Jo Poulton of the Landworkers’ Alliance (UK) will share insights from the Basic Income for Farmers (BI4Farmers) campaign. See https://www.feasta.org/ for link.

VSI: Food not bombs, Say no to NATO, volunteers weekend

Two short term volunteer opportunities coming up through VSI/Voluntary Service International are a project in Finland working with Food Not Bombs (23rd June – 4th July) https://www.vsi.ie/latest/join-the-food-not-bombs-movement/ and working on the Say No to NATO counter-summit (to the NATO one) in Netherlands/The Hague (15th – 23rd June) https://www.vsi.ie/latest/say-no-to-nato/ Meanwhile the annual VSI volunteers weekend will take place from 20th – 22nd June, see https://www.vsi.ie

Intergenerational trauma webinars

The US based International Centre for MultiGenerational Trauma has many videos and webinars on its site including two on Intergenerational Reflections on Lessons Learned from the Dead of WW II; see Nos. 67 and 68 at https://icmglt.org/webinars/

De Borda: Inclusive decision making in Mongolia

While people can be afraid of inclusive decision making methodologies which they have not experienced, two recent National University of Mongolia seminars using the Modified Borda Count on (the dire issue of) “Pollution in Ulaanbaatar” ran smoothly and came to successful conclusions. And if they can do it in Mongolia……. See http://www.deborda.org/ See also article by Peter Emerson in email and web editions of this issue on “What is democracy?”

World Beyond War: Mapping militarism

World Beyond War’s 2025 edition of Mapping Militarism, which uses 24 interactive maps to highlight the state of war and peace on our planet, is available at https://tinyurl.com/47khs4va or find it on their website https://worldbeyondwar.org/ Did you know over 75% of President Trump’s budget is for the military and police?!

Global March to Gaza endorsed by Mairead Maguire

The 15th June ‘Global March to Gaza’, https://marchtogaza.net/ has been strongly endorsed by Irish Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire. An Irish delegation is planned, see website.

Complicity – not in my name

A petition on Uplift calls on Taoiseach Micheál Martin to walk the walk, not just talk the talk, to enact the Occupied Territories Bill, stop the sale of Israeli War Bonds ,stop the use of Shannon and Irish airspace by foreign military and stop the sale of dual-use products to Israel. https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/complicity-not-in-my-name

Editorial: Courage, compassion – and subservience

Editorials, Nonviolent News, , ,

What compassion Ireland has for people in dire situations internationally stems partly from the colonised experience of subservience. Of course Ireland’s experience of being colonised is not a simple one with some from all sides enthusiastically participating in British colonialism and the possibilities it brought; for others it might have been simply a means to survival and earn some sort of living – in the 19th century a third of the British army was composed of Irish men. And some who were from a privileged background, Protestant or Catholic, also rejected the subservience which was imposed on Ireland as an island. And north of what became the border some on all rejected false divisions and discrimination.

However patterns can repeat themselves and, for example, the tendency to ape a rich elite can be seen in the lifestyle of someone like the late Charles Haughey. An old joke about Charles Haughey – CJH (christened Cathal) – was, what is the difference between CJD (’mad cow disease’) and CJH? The answer was ‘You can catch CJD’. Once the revolutionary generation in independent Ireland had died, the morality they had, such as it was, to a considerable extent went with them. Self-enrichment through politics is less acceptable now before retirement from the political fray but the loss of critical, independent and courageous thinking is still a major factor.

Why does the current Irish government think that it should get as close to EU and NATO militarism as it can (get away with)? Why have they so little understanding of conflict? Why do they seek to fly in the face of more than half a century of Irish military peacekeeping to move to a belligerent NATO model? Why do they imagine Ireland is in danger from Russia? Why do they still see the USA (Trump not withstanding) and its economic and military prowess as a leader and feel in some way indebted to that? Why do they not see that major EU and NATO rearmament is a danger? Why can they not see the possibilities of conflict resolution?

And in the North why is it still acceptable to come at issues of concern, such as the health service or education, from unionist or nationalist perspectives rather than one of justice and equality? Why is there such a lack of vision from the political class about building unity among the people and overcoming existing barriers? Why is the existing community/good relations policy so minimalist? Surveys show that most young people don’t want to stay in the North – how can a society be built that young people actually want to stay in?

Compassion should not be confused with pity. Compassion is about empathy and solidarity, it is about wishing, wanting, and working for, others to have what they should have. But compassion without courage to bring about change is meaningless. In the 1960s in the North the people who got involved in the civil rights movement, Catholic and Protestant as well, realised that subservience of one sector of society was reprehensible and inimical to any kind of justice. And, in the words of Barbara Deming (available as a mini poster at https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/posters/ )

“A liberation movement that is nonviolent sets the oppressor free as well as the oppressed”.

Of course Northern Ireland descended into the violence and the thirty years little war of the Troubles. But that was not the fault of civil rights activists who were trying to achieve a more just and peaceful society. However the lessons of the Northern conflict have not been learnt by the British or Irish governments in relation to international issues, they have not made the obvious extrapolation, that it is inclusive talking – however difficult that might be – has the potential to solve conflicts, and that getting involved in an arms race frequently ends in war. Governments tend to look to arms and militarism as a way to solve conflicts. This is dangerous nonsense.

The inferiority complex which Ireland had through the colonial experience never totally went away. In the impoverished new Free State, accompanied by ongoing net migration until the 1960s, holding your head high was perhaps difficult. Some people managed to do it. But others wanted to imitate the richer, colonial or ex-colonial powers. This is still going on with Irish foreign policy today. The ruling politicians have bought in to an inferior model of international relations, one where power grows from the barrel of a gun, and the bigger the better. They are prepared to forget the positive stands Ireland has taken in disarmament and international relations over the years. And it is highly ironic that the charge to become a full part of the EU military elite should be led by the person at the head of the ‘Republican Party’, Fianna Fáil. Once more Ireland’s leaders are choosing subservience to our ‘elders and betters’ who are neither of those things.

Subservience can be forced or voluntary, or a mixture of these. While fear of being thought ‘soft’ on international issues of concern to the great powers (including the economic power of US businesses in Ireland) can be a factor, any subservience today is effectively voluntary. Cap tugging to the USA, especially over Shannon airport’s use by the US military, and a totally false concept of being ‘good (militarist) Europeans’ regarding the EU, is rife. Undoubtedly some really do believe in US and EU militarism but it would seem that more are afraid to stand up for what might be unpopular – and this is a form of subservience, not being true to the values which you know are worthwhile. Subservience means the negation of courage and compassion.

Ireland has had a little bit of courage in saying things about Palestine and Israel but little courage in actually putting those thoughts into action (e.g. the severe delay in passing an Occupied Territories Bill). Irish political leaders in working to destroy the Triple Lock on the deployment of Irish troops overseas are totally negating the popular demand for the continuation of Irish neutrality and pulling (a flock’s worth of) wool over people’s eyes, and acting in a sleeveen manner.

Ireland has a modicum of compassion. With a bit of courage to act imaginatively, and a rejection of subservience, we could be so much more.

Eco-Awareness 

Eco-Awareness, Nonviolent News, , , ,

Larry Speight brings us his monthly column –

Our cultural heat dome

We are inclined through habit, conditioning and inertia to live in the pond circumstances have placed us in and are reluctant to change one iota of the negative aspects of how we live even when advised to by a concerned professional such as a medical doctor, counselor or psychiatrist. Many of us are so habituated to how we live and the prism through which we make sense of the world that we put up with the restrictions, burdens, boredom and for some the nagging sense of a life unfulfilled because change takes effort and involves social, financial and self-esteem risks.

Our inclination to live as we have always done is the real impediment to whole-heartily addressing the ecological catastrophes and social justice issues that exist locally and globally. Ecologically these include the degradation of the life support systems we depend upon namely water, air, and in the case of organisms, their extinction. The latter includes not only birds and mammals but pollinators and the multitude of micro life-forms of which healthy soil is composed.

The most serious and prolific of social justice issues are those that are out of sight. Among these are the millions of underpaid and poorly treated workers shackled by overseers to workstations in China and countries in S.E. Asia who produce much of what people in Ireland regard as indispensable not least of which are clothes and digital devices.

Almost completely absent from our mental audit of the world is the human suffering and destruction to eco-systems caused by mining the raw materials that are used in the manufacture of these consumables as well as the ecological costs involved in the transportation, packaging, storage and eventual disposal of them. Few will be aware, as the thinktank Circle Economy tell us, that a colossal 106 billion tonnes of materials are used by the global economy every year. Much of this, even the things that can be resold, repaired and recycled, end up in landfill sites, and as has been well documented, in the marine environment.

Our complacency is such that instead of taking action to stop the bleeding of our living Earth we advocate that government and corporations increase the level of bleeding, deceiving ourselves of the reality of what we are doing. The euphemism for the butchering of our biosphere and the suffering it causes, especially to indigenous societies, is ‘economic growth’.

The idea that continual economic growth is an all-round good thing is so embedded in our psyche that the news presenters and commentators on media outlets that proudly claim to be impartial frame economic growth in celebratory terms and lament indicators of ‘economic stagnation’. This fossilised thinking is prevalent across our cultural firmament.

An illustrative example are the spring and summer weather forecasts. When this spring’s temperatures across our island reached 22 and 23 Celsius on a daily basis the weather presenters used cheery words when announcing the prospect of further dry days some going as far as encouraging their audience to light barbecues.

No mention is made of the fact that without regular rainfall the rivers, lakes, reservoirs and aquifers become depleted with the result that society suffers. This includes industry, agriculture, hospitals, schools, day centers and homes. Prolonged spells of high temperature cannot only cause inconvenience but they affect mortality rates. A study published in Nature reports that between June and September 2023 an estimated 47,690 people across Europe died from heat-related causes.

Climatologists describe extended hot dry periods as heat domes in which a large area of high pressure in the atmosphere traps hot air preventing it from escaping. It could be said that the predominate ideas concerning economics and what it means to live a meaningful life are trapped in a cultural heat dome. The dome is forged by the formal education system, religion, government policy, advertising and social media to the end of sustaining consumerism whose reason d’etre is not wellbeing but capital accumulation.

The expected outcome of the ideas trapped in our cultural heat dome is contained in the global warming statistics which indicate that the warming of the planet is on an upward trajectory and expected to reach between 2.5 and 2.9 Celsius above the pre-industrial level by the end of the century. This breaches the 2015 Paris Agreement’s 1.5 Celsius global warming threshold above which the edifice of global civilisation could well collapse.

A life-support system that shows every sign of functioning below the capacity required to sustain civilization is the collection of life forms known as biodiversity. Given that 75 % of global food crops are dependent on pollinators including bees, butterflies, bats and birds the rapid decline of these combined with the decrease of soil fertility could see the demise of the intensive agricultural system that has developed since the end of the Second World War.

In regard to this the International Trade Association informs us that 80% of the food eaten across the whole of our island is imported. This includes animal feed, fruit, nuts, vegetables as well as a wide range of processed foods. Our vulnerability, not only as an island people but as a global community, is compounded by the digitalisation of almost every sphere of our lives as well as our dependency on the complex, highly sensitised supply networks.

It is sobering to think that civilisation is the proverbial camel waiting for that last straw to be placed upon our back.

We, however, don’t have to accept the self-harming ideas trapped in our cultural heat dome. These include that nonhuman nature has no moral standing and there are no alternatives to continual economic growth and our highly circumscribed political democracy. These are not laws of nature. They are cultural, time specific, and can be changed through education. A good start would be for schools to teach the new generations how to process their emotions, critique ideas, make and repair, grow and preserve food in an ecologically friendly way and apply empathy in the nonviolent resolution of conflict.

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READINGS IN NONVIOLENCE

Nonviolent News, Readings, , ,

 

l ‘Readings in Nonviolence’ features extracts from our favourite books, pamphlets, articles or other material on nonviolence and related areas, or reviews of important works in the field (suggestions and contributions welcome)

N-E-U-T-R-A-L-I-T-Y

A song for our times by John Maguire

People are free to use this new song by wordsmith John Maguire as the struggle continues against the Irish government’s plans to ditch the Triple Lock on the deployment of Irish troops overseas and get even more involved with NATO and EU militarism –

John Maguire says – These are the words of a song that at least might lift the spirits a little in these troubled times.  It goes to the tune of ‘The Wearing of the Green’, which starts: 

Oh Paddy, dear, and did you hear the
News that’s going round?
The shamrock is by law forbid
To grow on Irish ground

–

The Government need all our help – they’re such a sorry band! –
So we’ve to spell out certain words that they don’t understand,
Or maybe they don’t want to hear, and simply won’t see why
Our policy’s N-E-U-T-R-A-L-I-T-Y!
We knew we weren’t the greatest, but we tried to do our best,
Until our leaders said: ‘Let’s join The Big Guns of the West!
Let’s throw our values overboard, let’s really clear the decks
And join the Milit’ry-Industrial C-O-M-P-L-E-X!’


CHORUS:
We won’t sell it out; we’ll spell it out, and tell the whole world why
We’re sticking with N-E-U-T-R-A-L-I-T-Y!

Some decades past, up in Belfast, our leaders worked for peace.
They used their wit, and did their bit to help the slaughter cease.
Then Tony said: ‘Peace has its price, and here’s ‘our Bill’, you see:
You’ll have to sign on the dotted line with NATO’s PfP.
We’re taking over the UN, we’ll use it when it suits,
But we’ll decide who’s wrong or right, and where we plant our boots.
Forget the UN Charter, we now make the rules, you see:
(Just not a word to Mairéad M-A-G-U-I-R-E!)’

CHORUS

We turned down Nice and Lisbon, and were told to vote again.
But  still we kept on questioning, so in desperation then
They swore to us ‘From the UN we’ll never turn away!
We’ll give you a T-R-I-P-L-E  L-O-C-K!’
That was their solemn promise, and they swore that it was sound.
Don’t let them take it from us: by their words they are still bound.
Let’s work to rescue the UN from NATO’s dire control
That’s the way to save our planet, that’s the way to save our souls!

CHORUS

Witness as a form of nonviolent resistance

Eco-Awareness, Readings, ,

by Kate Laverty

Witness is one of the quietest, yet most powerful forms of nonviolent resistance. To witness is to stand present—to injustice, to suffering, to oppression—and refuse to look away. It is an act of moral courage that declares: “I see, I will not be silent, and I will not allow harm to happen unnoticed.” In a world where denial and distraction often shield systems of power from accountability, the simple act of being present becomes radical.

Witnessing has deep roots in civil rights movements, truth commissions, and protest traditions. From the silent vigils of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina to those who document state violence and systemic racism, witness serves not only to expose truth but to humanize it. It resists the erasure of lived experience, especially of those most marginalized, and demands that we reckon with it.

As a practice, witness involves listening with empathy, showing up in solidarity, and holding space for stories that are too often ignored. It does not demand control or impose solutions, but rather insists on the dignity of those suffering and the responsibility of those who can act.

In Northern Ireland, the legacy of witness can be seen in peace trails, remembrance vigils, and community storytelling initiatives that bridge divides. It creates pathways for reconciliation by fostering empathy and shared truth. 

We’re beginning our own community storytelling work in Forthspring Intercommunity Group, building on the Five Decades Project. And I’m learning, witness is not passive.  It disrupts silence. It holds power to account. It reminds the world that someone is watching, someone cares, and someone will remember. And in that remembering, injustice begins to lose its grip.

As a form of nonviolence, witness teaches us that presence matters. That showing up, with compassion and conviction, is a force for change. It is the first step in transforming pain into peace.  In a world where denial and distraction often shield systems of power from accountability, the simple act of being present becomes radical.

Youth workers know this intimately. In the face of genocide in Palestine, our ability to act has often felt limited. Donations to provide aid or extract families are necessary but ad hoc; they respond to crisis but don’t shift the underlying structures. What remains, consistently and insistently, is our witness. Bearing witness—through protest, through vigil, through conversation with young people—is sometimes the only tool we have to resist, to raise awareness, and to show unwavering solidarity.

Events like the IPSC Barclays Belfast protest (Saturdays, 11:00–13:00) and the Aldergrove (Belfast International Airport) Peace Vigil (Second Sunday of each month, 14:00–15:00) are more than symbolic. They are anchoring points in a brutal news cycle—reminders of our collective commitment to justice. These acts of public witness keep me focused. They reaffirm that being seen, standing still, and refusing silence is a form of protest that honours our value of nonviolence.

–

Kate Laverty is director of Forthspring Intercommunity Group in Belfast. Contacts: director@forthspring.com and 07746984833

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