Triple Lock and the election
With a general election happening in the Republic, there are many issues on which citizens will try to get commitments from prospective politicians. One such is the Triple Lock which the outgoing government, and in particular Micheál Martin, have been trying to ditch but which is a guarantee that Ireland will not get mixed up in wars fought by NATO or, forthcoming, the EU. See the StoP website at https://swordstoploughsharesireland.org/
Nonviolence and empowerment, nonviolence and democracy
Iranian-Canadian political philosopher Ramin Jahanbegloo will be visiting Northern Ireland in late November and providing programme for different organisations, including INNATE. Ramin Jahanbegloo has written many books including a number on Gandhi and on nonviolence (a word search will show up bio details and YouTube interviews).
On Thursday 28th November at 3pm he will speak on ‘Nonviolence and empowerment’ at a meeting in Belfast, venue to be finalised, sponsored by Conflict Textiles, the Hume O’Neill Chair in Peace (Ulster University), and INNATE. Bookings to https://tinyurl.com/raminnonviolence and the INNATE website will have the venue as soon as it is finalised. The same evening, at 7.30pm on 28th November he will contribute to an online webinar on ‘Nonviolence and democracy building’; this is open to anyone interested, anywhere, and bookings should come to the INNATE email address, innate@ntlworld.com with the subject heading ‘Ramin Jahanbegloo webinar’. PDF flyers with more info sent out with email edition of Nonviolent News and are on the website.
Corrymeela
The Corrymeela website at https://www.corrymeela.org/ has a full listing of upcoming open events as well as full information on programmes (sectarianism, public theology, nurturing hope, marginalisation, legacies of conflict). On Saturday 30th* November from 1 – 4 pm there is a Christmas open day with Santa, refreshments, crafts, story time, movies, and stalls. [Please note this is a change from Corrymeela’s previous notice of it happening the following day, 1st December. Admission free] The next Dialogue for Peaceful Change (DpC) training is from 24th – 28th March; this is a four–day immersive experience designed to provide participants with practical tools for managing and transforming conflict. Details on the website at https://www.corrymeela.org/events/255/dialogue-for-peaceful-change-training
Sign up to Lex Innocentium 21st Century
Lex Innocentium 21st Century, a modern take on Adomnán’s 697 CE ‘Law of the Innocents’, is now taking online signatures at https://lexinnocentium21.ie/ and there is full information there. Lex Innocentium, 21st Century states itself to be “a bottom-up, soft-power, moral people’s law that declares that War is a Crime against Humanity, War is a Crime against the Earth, War is a Crime against the Future”. As well as a general video of the day, the talks and messages from the launch are available, see under ‘About us’ on the website.
CAJ: Hiring communications officer, report on policing of protest
CAJ, the Committee on the Administration of Justice, is hiring a communications officer to co-ordinate communications, promotional and PR activity for CAJ, including related stakeholder engagement, CAJ’s online presence, publications, events and other products; they will join the current team of seven. Deadline is 8th November. https://caj.org.uk/latest/caj-is-recruiting-2/ Meanwhile a short report on the CAJ and ICCL joint conference last March on “The Policing of Protest: A Shifting Landscape?” is available via https://caj.org.uk/publications/reports/the-policing-of-protest-a-shifting-landscape/ This concludes that “there is much work to be done to ensure that the PSNI and An Garda Síochána fully protect, respect and fulfil the right to protest on an equal basis for all protesters. Perceptions of uneven and biased responses to protest are strong and undermine public trust and public confidence in both services.”
SCI: Changing perspectives in the North, and dealing with that
SCI/the Social Change Initiative has worked with a range of community leaders to delve into data emerging from the World Values Survey in Northern Ireland and a new 20 page report is available which draws on the lessons learned from the experience of supporting communities to use data to think about values and to unpack why people hold particular views. Using the WVS data, five segments of NI society were identified – disaffected pessimists, anti-establishment urbanities, comfortable progressives, moderate traditionalists and confident individualists (obviously this way beyond the usual and traditional NI designations). The report is available at https://issuu.com/sci_belfast/docs/sci_lessons_learned and may help thinking about how to move issues forward in the North. It states, for example, that “Although Northern Ireland remains a deeply divided society…there has in fact been considerable attitudinal, political and demographic change in the last 25 years. This shift is not always apparent in the public narrative, which often fails to reflect the plurality of perspectives and identities that exist…”
Cork: Strong support for closure of Collins Aerospace
30th October saw another strong demonstration at Collins Aerospace in Cork demanding its closure; it was organised by Action Against War, Cork Neutrality League and the Cork Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Collins Aerospace is a Cork subsidiary of RTX Corporation – formerly Raytheon, one of the world’s largest armaments manfacturers. Among other military entanglements Collins Aerospace has a role in the development of a new NATO helicopter. Contact: Dominic Carroll corkneutralityleague@gmail.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/action.against.war_/
Hate crime law passes Dáil
After various controversies and impasses, the Criminal Justice (Hate Offences) Bill 2022 passed all stages in the Oireachtas, meaning that it can now be signed into law; it will provide for increased prison sentences for certain crimes, where proven to be motivated by hatred, or where hatred is demonstrated. Hate speech elements were not included in the final legislation. Various groups have campaigned for hate crime laws for years. The Hate Crime Coalition previously stated “much more needs to be done in support of it, including enhanced training for criminal justice actors, improved reporting, better monitoring and data collection, enhanced victim supports, and public awareness campaigns on the legislation and the specific nature and impact of hate crime. Ultimately, we should all be working towards preventing hate crime from happening in the first place, including through education and awareness raising.” [Quote source; ICCL www.iccl.ie press release for Coalition Against Hate Crime]
Harland & Wolff: Green energy not battle ships?
A proposal has been made about iconic Belfast shipyard Harland & Wolff which went into administration in September. The Common Wealth think tank in Britain has proposed an arms length company be set up by the British government to buy the shipyard and re-orient towards offshore wind energy production. This proposal is part of Common Wealth’s “A Lucas Plan for the Twenty First Century” https://www.common-wealth.org/publications/a-lucas-plan-for-the-twenty-first-century-from-asset-manager-arsenal-to-green-industrial-strategy and see also https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/18/uk-should-repurpose-belfast-shipyard-to-make-green-infrastructure?CMP=share_btn_url
Quaker hub in Belfast
Frederick Street Friends Meeting House (FMH) in central Belfast is positioned in an emerging vibrant part of Belfast with Ulster University’s new main campus right beside. It is undergoing a major development including Quaker Service moving to be based there and the intention to make it a Quaker hub; there is a fundraising appeal for this, see https://quakers-in-ireland.ie/2024/10/10/appeal-for-frederick-street-quaker-hub/ for more information and contacts. See also Billy King item in email and web editions.
FOE: Climate justice day of action
Friends of the Earth Ireland has a Climate Justice Day of Action on Tuesday 12th November where they invite people to get out into their communities and talk to neighbours, friends, family or indeed local politicians about the most pressing climate justice issues of the day. See https://www.friendsoftheearth.ie/events/climate-justice-day-of-action/
Housmans Diary 2025
The end is nigh, of 2024 at least, and time for those who use a paper diary to consider what they want. For the peace activist, Housmans Peace Diary with its World Peace Directory is an obvious choice – handy if you find yourself in Armenia or Australia to only cover a couple of the ‘A’s, or you want contacts there. It has a week to a view, quotations, and dates for celebration or protest and in the directory over 1,400 peace, environmental and human rights groups around the world. UK£9.95 plus postage, discount on 10 or more in UK postal area. Order at https://housmans.com/peace-diary/
l A more extensive version of the World Peace Directory in the Diary is available online at http://www.housmans.info/wpd/ It is worth reading the background information on the site home page to get the best use out of it.
CCI: Continuing developments in its Chernobyl work
Chernobyl Children International (CCI) continually strives to improve the services it provides in Chernobyl affected regions, e.g. their Hospice and Community Care team partnered with their Nursing team for a specialised training, where they expanded their knowledge in therapeutic massage and physical therapy. A 5-minute video on Chernobyl and the work of CCI is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0MUmRcrDaY See also the CCI website at https://www.chernobyl-international.com/