Category Archives: Nonviolent News

Only issues of ‘Nonviolent News’ from 2021 onwards are accessible here. For older issues please click on the “Go to our pre-2021 Archive Website’ tag on the right of this page.

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….).

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]

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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.

– – – – – –

Billy King: Rites Again, 338

April 1, 2026Billy King, Nonviolent News2026, Billy King, Ireland, Peace commentRob Fairmichael

Billy King shares his monthly thoughts

Well, it is back again to war, death, environmental destruction on a MAGA scale, and potential world recession thanks to POTUS. I do believe Donald Trump is very keen on getting awards for his (dire) contributions to humanity and human history. I apologise if I don’t have a golden eagle to give him, at golf he probably cheats to get an eagle anyway. However I can proudly announce that the inaugural Billy King Award (First Class) for Sociopathetic Dangerous Eejit is hereby awarded to Donald John Trump.

I was going to substitute the work ‘Chump’ for ‘Trump’ but that did not seem appropriate given his victim count is growing all the time – and he knows what he is doing but is devoid of empathy, it is a concept unknown to him. It is all so sad and so very, very, unnecessary and unwarranted.

On another note, the news section mentions a video on French/NATO warships in Cork. There are lots of things I don’t get but ‘friendly’ visits by warships is beyond me. How is a visit by warships ‘friendly’? They are not designed to be friendly. If you want to be friendly, please send a mobile patisserie or an exhibition of your best contemporary artists. Warships have a different purpose altogether.

Fear and consternation

The more I look at it, the more amazed I am at it as a photo. It was used as the visual for INNATE’s online session entitled “Was nonviolence an option in 1969?” as part of the Imagine! Festival in Belfast. The photo is by (Nonviolent News columnist) Larry Speight and shows two soldiers in Castle Street, Belfast, in autumn 1972. It clearly shows the fear and consternation in their eyes. And we more typically get the fear and consternation in the eyes of civilians, or children, so seeing it in soldiers can be somewhat unusual, maybe even powerful or is it them powerless to cope with the situation they have been dumped in.

www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/18063000674/in/album-72157614893100575

British soldiers were thrown into a situation in the Troubles which, largely speaking, they were not trained or properly trained for, and they were certainly at risk. That in no way excuses military policies and ill treatment by soldiers, nor should it be used as a ‘keep out of jail’ card as veteran and pro-military parties in Britain wish to do. You would expect ‘state-sponsored’ soldiers to act in a more responsible and accountable manner than non-state paramilitaries. But it should raise questions about what these soldiers were tasked to do by their political masters.

Fear and consternation. Bitterness. Hatred. Revenge. All these are words associated with violence and war. But we do well to remember that on all sides in war there are human beings, most of of whom find themselves in situations they would have wished to avoid. Northern Ireland has moved past the Troubles but not yet ‘beyond’. And if this was the result in a little war with a few thousand deaths over thirty years, it is difficult to imagine what it is like when that many are killed in a much more violent situation over a day or a couple of weeks.

War is a crime against humanity.

People with greenhouses shouldn’t throw scones

With an average suburban garden I was wondering whether to get a moderate sized greenhouse both to grow a bit of summer veg and bring on little seedlings, mainly summer flowers but some herbs as well. I was hoping to buy local but in the end I decided just to get a modest (1.8m square) lean-to greenhouse for against a wall only just taller than that – you don’t enter it at all, it is only half a metre deep. And to acquire that I had to go online. Maybe I shouldn’t have been swayed by aesthetics (ascetics?) but I decided a larger, freestanding one would ‘take over’ the space in our back garden. It was all pondered long, and at my age I wondered in the expense was worth it.

As I have written here before, I grow herbs in tubs or window boxes outside, most of the ones we might want at least as far as fresh ones growable here go; parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, chives including an early and later variety, garlic chives, Welsh onions (like a larger chive with stems like scallions), red veined sorrel and a bit of wall rocket, if they counts as herbs, oregano, tarragon, mint. With the greenhouse I hope to grow basil there – to date it has had to be indoors as slugs liked it as much as myself when grown outdoors. Maybe coriander will be an option in the greenhouse, it just went to seed before when I tried it outdoors.

Clearly I have personally gone to seed. Though constructing a kit greenhouse, even a small one, has been a challenge, I hope the rewards will be worth it. I did build a large cloche, the clochasaurus as I called it, from scrap wood years ago, that in due course rotted and fell to bits and that is a Bargain Solution if you fancy doing it. This one is metal, mainly aluminium, and will see me out. It is beside our picnic table so I would hope to have the odd scone there or cup of tea and enjoy watching nature at work. People who have greenhouses shouldn’t throw scones, they should sit down in our beautiful warm weather [What country are you in? – Ed] [Sarcasm seems to pass you by – Billy] to take a break and eat one.

The devil’s buttermilk

I am not the only commentator to note the DUP’s opposition to minimum pricing on alcohol in the North (e.g. John Manley in the Irish News 25/3/26), particularly in relation, and contrast, to their founder’s (who later foundered or was foundered out of the church he founded) opposition to “the devil’s buttermilk” (alcoholic beverages). Not many people drink buttermilk now so the phrase is totally archaic, it even was in Ian Paisley Snr’s time but he had a clever and nifty if often brutal turn of phrase.

Anyway, the DUP stand is totally illogical. Spokespeople for the party point to minimum pricing being only one part of an appropriate response to alcohol abuse but don’t go on to say “but one part is better than none”. They also point to more research being needed whereas research from as close as across the nearest water shows it can have a positive effect. With deaths attributed to alcohol rising in the North surely it would be better to act now and review the matter, if required, at a later time. Minimum Unit Pricing exists in the Republic and in Britain.

Speaking of buttermilk and its origin in the dairy industry, and pollution arising from agriculture including the devastation of Lough Neagh (“Say Neagh to pollution”) it is fascinating that the DUP has also been responsible for the failure to have an independent environmental protection agency in the wee North. Whether in both cases, alcohol and pollution, change is held up by DUP pandering to its supporters plus the farmers’ lobby and the alcohol industry, well, I couldn’t possibly comment but if I did I would say ‘quite possibly yes’. However all the larger parties in Norn Iron backed intensive farming previously so they have company, or did, on that or a closely related issue.

None of this reflects well on Storm-ont’s atrocious reputation in failing to make effective decisions on issues that matter.

Corrymeela 60+

There is only one peace and reconciliation group in the North which predates the Troubles, and still is going strong, and that is Corrymeela, founded 1965. One fact it is also notable for is that ‘the founder’, Ray Davey, and many of the early members and supporters were Presbyterian. The Presbyterian Church in Ireland has been in the news for all the wrong reasons of late but there have always been progressives in its ranks though, it would seem, their number has been depleted in recent years.

Ray Davey developed his thinking on community and had a commitment to reconciliation growing from his experience as a prisoner of war in Dresden (including during the bombing) in the Second World War (see e.g. https://innatenonviolence.org/readings/2015_09.shtml ). A community grew around him as Presbyterian chaplain at Queen’s and a slightly ramshackle former holiday centre on a small cliff edge outside dulse and yellowman Ballycastle (Co Antrim) was purchased; cue the old joke about early visitors who were staying there being told they would have to make their own beds….and being handed a hammer, nails and wood.

Anyone who was even of student age in 1965 would be at least around the 80 years old mark now so many of those people involved from those times are, sadly, dying. But Corrymeela has been pro-active in recording and archiving its story and the story of those involved. You can find out about current work at www.corrymeela.org and there will be an exhibition on the Corrymeela story in the vertical gallery in the Linen Hall Library in Belfast running until mid-May (see news section this issue). A publicly accessible archive on Corrymeela can be found at https://corrydocs.028ni.org.uk/index.php/documents but serious researchers would need to get accredited for documents mainly available to Corrymeela members. And a short history of Corrymeela House in Belfast appears in these pages at https://innatenonviolence.org/readings/2014_11.shtml with our photo album on Corrymeela being at https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/albums/72157654407818544/

Anyway congratulations to Corrymeela on being over 60 years young and all the best for the next 60……I look forward to visiting the exhibition at the Linen Hall Library.

Divis-ion

You’ve heard this one before from me but given the news item in this issue about the exhibition in the former St Comgall’s in Divis Street, Belfast, I’ll repeat it. The reason is the location of the story was outside the school in 1980 in an interaction with a school crossing warden in this inner city Catholic neighbourhood. A group of Buddhist monks (and one nun) came to Ireland on a peace pilgrimage https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/19216126103/in/photolist-vh4EP2 and while their visit in the context of Norn Iron was focussed on reconciliation, more generally they addressed issues of nuclear weapons and uranium mining (which was a possibility in Donegal at the time).

I borrowed a book from the monks at their Belfast meeting, some of the attendees are pictured in the link above, as there was a Hiroshima illustration I wanted to copy it professionally for possible use as a poster. I said I would return it to them the next day when they were doing a walkabout in north-west Belfast. However I couldn’t find them on either side of the divides; I hadn’t allowed for them taking a sandwich break in Woodvale Park which I hadn’t ventured into. Anyway, frustrated at not finding them I was on the (old unreconstructed) Divis Street and stopped to ask a school crossing warden. As Buddhist monks wandering about the place were not that common in Belfast I hastened to add to my enquiry that the monks were dressed in orange robes. Quick as a flash, with dead pan humour and inwardly smiling but with little hint of an outward smile, he replied “It’s the wrong road for orange men!”.

–

Meanwhile the issue of the terrible level of femicide has been aired in relation to the North with judgement in the Natalie McNally trial and around the same time the killing of Amy Doherty in Derry. It is not just at the societal or international level that us humans have problems with violence. Most women in our society who are murdered are killed by someone known to them, even their partner as in the Natalie McNally case. We have a long way to travel in relation to violence at all levels of life – and us men in particular have the furthest journey to make.

Well, that’s me for another month, we are now into Summer Time and the brighter half of the year, past the spring equinox. Long brighter evenings beckon even if we cannot say they will be warm or dry. And for another change I wish the world some peace, not very likely, but more likely if we hold to our principles and our struggles for dealing with conflict in a humane manner and not beating the tripe out of other humans and the environment. C u soon, Billy.

News, March 2026

March 2, 2026Nonviolent NewsIreland, Peace news, Triple lockRob Fairmichael

Local councils including Galway support Triple Lock retention

While at a government level Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael remain determined to remove the Triple Lock on the deployment of Irish troops overseas, at a local level grassroots democracy is more at work and a number of local councils, a dozen or so, have backed its retention. This includes Galway City Council which initially refused to even discuss the matter until GAAW/Galway Alliance Against War mobilised and campaigned on the issue and achieved a ‘retain’ vote in February with one councillor from both FF and FG having the courage to vote against the party line. https://www.facebook.com/groups/312442090965/ Councils who have supported the retention of the Triple Lock are Cavan, Clare, Derry & Strabane, Donegal, Dublin South, Galway City, Galway County, Louth, Mayo, Mid Ulster, Waterford, and Wexford. Limerick and Dublin City are still considering/voting. Standing orders have precluded, or been used to prevent, some councils from considering the matter, e.g. Kildare.

l A poll in the Irish Times 7/2/26 showed 71% of citizens in the Republic back a guarantee of neutrality being added to the Constitution (only 18% against); 45% wanted the Triple Lock retained, 35% removed, 21% don’t know/no opinion. See https://tinyurl.com/p8ewrrfw (pay wall) Note they didn’t headline the remarkable 71%…..

l Particularly with the Irish government move to abolish the Triple Lock being around for so long – partly because of citizens’ resistance – there can be confusion on the process. See PANA website https://www.pana.ie/posts/what-is-the-legislative-process-to-pass-the-changes-to-the-triple-lock for the legislative process.

Can Ireland remain neutral? Ireland’s place in a troubled world

This is a major conference on Saturday 7^th March in Dublin organised by Lex Innocentium 21^stC. Details at https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Lex-Innocentium-event-March-7-2026-flyer.pdf and the Lex website is at https://lexinnocentium21.ie/ (no booking required). The conference is in Wynn’s Hotel, Abbey Street, Dublin 1 and runs from 10am to 3.30pm. People providing input or chairing include John Maguire, Patrick Bresnihan, Rory Rowan, Carol Fox, Patricia McKenna, Eamon O Cuiv and Sean English, and there is also video input. An after lunch session focuses on “Exploration of options and strategies for saving the Triple Lock and Irish Neutrality”.

Corrymeela 60 exhibition at Linen Hall Library

The Corrymeela Community in collaboration with its archive partners The Linen Hall Library in Belfast will celebrate 60 years of the Corrymeela Community with a free exhibition, “An Unfinished Journey Towards Peace” at their Vertical Gallery between 1st April and 15th May. The exhibition will highlight the continuing need and work of the Community towards peace and reconciliation both here and abroad. It will also showcase the other organisations that have arisen through and out of Corrymeela’s work of peacebuilding and reconciliation over the past 60 years. There will be a series of events from 1^st April to 15^th May (launch on 10^th April) details later on Corrymeela website https://www.corrymeela.org/ or next issue of Nonviolent News.

Northern Ireland: Was nonviolence an option in 1969?

One of the issues regarding the start of the Troubles in Northern Ireland in the period from 1969 is the simple one of why violence escalated and whether nonviolence was an option, at least theoretically. Involved in an online discussion on Zoom, “Was nonviolence an option in 1969?” will be veteran activists Felicity McCartney, Mairead McKeown and Rob Fairmichael, with the questions asked by Stefania Gualberti. It is organised by INNATE at 7.30pm on Wednesday 25^th March as part of the Imagine! Belfast Festival of Ideas and Politics. See https://imaginebelfast.com/event/was-nonviolence-an-option-in-1969/ (book through there) with the whole programme available at https://imaginebelfast.com/2026-events-at-a-glance/ It will be recorded.

International Criminal Court summer school

The 26th annual Summer School on the International Criminal Court, hosted online by the Irish Centre for Human Rights (ICHR), will take place from 8-11 June 2026. This is the premier summer school specialising on the International Criminal Court. Participants follow a series of lectures given by leading academics, as well as by legal professionals, including those working at the International Criminal Court. The interactive course is suited to postgraduate students, legal professionals, scholars and those working for non-governmental and intergovernmental organisation. It will take place online and the 2026 programme will be announced in March; see https://universityofgalwayichr.clr.events/event/139679 with lots more info about ICHR events and study options on the website.

ICCL 50, action on ‘digital wallet’, legal observers

President Connolly spoke at an event celebrating 50 years work by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties on 25^th February where she congratulated them “for their courageous hard work over five decades, for their advocacy as a constant defender of human rights and for speaking truth to power without fear or favour.” www.iccl.ie/news/iccl-50th-anniversary-event/ (her speech is also on the website). ICCL has been active in relation to the Irish government’s proposed ‘digital wallet’ for accessing social media on various grounds including pointing out that “The real harms children face online aren’t caused by anonymity, but by the business models of Big Tech.” See e.g. https://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/commentanalysis/arid-41782544.html Meanwhile those interested in protest and public order policing can find out more about becoming a legal observer with the Irish Network of Legal Observers at https://www.iccl.ie/iccl-irish-network-of-legal-observers/

WRI online course: Disarming the climate crisis

From April to July WRI/War Resisters’ International is organising an online Disarming the Climate Crisis training programme. In eight online sessions, activists, researchers and organisers from around the world will share their experience and knowledge of taking action at the intersection of militarism and the climate crisis. It is an opportunity to extend knowledge and understanding of the relationship between militarism and the climate crisis, confidence in taking action on these complex issues, and contribute to building solidarity networks internationally. It will run fortnightly from Tuesday 21st April to 28th July, at 1:00-2:30pm UTC (= Irish time). See https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2026/disarming-climate-crisis-militarism-and-climate-justice-training for further info and registration; participation free, donation invited.

l An updated briefing from TNI/Transnational Institute on the impact of the military on climate change is at https://www.tni.org/en/publication/climate-collateral-2pagebriefing

Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns from WRI

The very useful and relatively comprehensive second edition of the “Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns” published by War Resisters’ International (WRI) in 2014 had a layout makeover in 2025 and is available for downloading at https://wri-irg.org/en/node/42811 where you can also find the link for ordering a paper copy (UK£12 though postage will add to this, particularly outside of the UK postage area). This is the only currently available, comprehensive manual of its kind that INNATE knows about, weighing in at 233 pages A5.

Insights on tackling hate and extremism

It is easy to get discouraged, in both jurisdictions in Ireland, about the rise of far-right linked racism. Useful – and often hopeful – insights from a visiting US civil rights activist, Eric Ward, appear on the SCI/Social Change Initiative website at https://tinyurl.com/9fzb6yf4 and the SCI home page is at https://www.socialchangeinitiative.com/

PCI statement on Iran

While it might seem irrelevant with war ongoing, a statement from Pax Christi International on 11^th February 2026 sets out important principles. https://paxchristi.net/pax-christi-international-declaration-on-iran/

CCI on 4^th anniversary of Ukraine invasion by Russia

“On the 4^th anniversary of the illegal invasion of Ukraine, via the toxic ‘Chornobyl/Chernobyl Exclusion Zone’, Chernobyl Children International (CCI) has called for renewed international solidarity with children and families living through ongoing conflict, displacement, and deepening humanitarian uncertainty, as the world approaches the 40th anniversary of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster.” Also “Since the beginning of the war and the invasion of the Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plants, CCI have been advocating for all nuclear facilities be deemed a ‘No War Zone’ and for World Leaders to invoke the Hague Convention which defines any attack on a nuclear facility to be a ‘war crime’.” See https://tinyurl.com/yxm62mr7 and home page https://www.chernobyl-international.com/

Edward Horgan compilation: Righting the wrongs of human rights

Edward Horgan is a redoubtable campaigner for peace and an inveterate letter and article writer. This book, “Righting the wrongs of human rights”, is a compilation of published letters and articles weighing in at 358 pages. Independently published, €13.20, available online.

FOE: Day of Action on data centres, LNG submission

Friends of the Earth has a Day of Action on 11^th March on data centres including the Private Wires bill which would allow data centres build their own electricity networks; in a survey last autumn, 86% of people felt new data centres should only be permitted if powered by renewable energy. See https://www.friendsoftheearth.ie/events/stop-the-power-grab-join-our-day-of-action-on-march-11th/ FOE’s submission on the proposed Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Bill for a gas terminal in Clare – much of which would presumably be supplied with fracked gas from the USA – is available at https://www.friendsoftheearth.ie/publications/our-submission-on-the-pre-legislative-scrutiny-of-the-propos/

Feasta job for major conference and project

Feasta is hiring a project and event coordinator, hours vary and the job runs to the end of 2027, in cooperation with a variety of other groups and partly in relation to a major conference to take place in Cork in August 2027. “This project’s objective is to clarify and publicise environmental democracy’s governance role in a ‘wellbeing economy’ that supports sustainable and inclusive wellbeing and intergenerational fairness.“ Details at https://www.feasta.org/2026/02/23/feasta-is-recruiting-a-project-and-event-coordinator/ and the closing date is 16^th March.

Militarisation and difficulties for COs in Belarus

A new report from Our House speaks of “How military logic in Belarus becomes a social norm from early childhood, displacing the right to refuse service” and is at https://tinyurl.com/3mwct69f and https://ndbelarus.com/

Ongoing threat to Yurii Sheliazhenko

At the end of January a wide variety of organisations issued a statement of support for Yurii Sheliazhenko of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement following threats to him, a CO/Conscientious Objector, from the state saying there was no right to conscientious objection in war and threatening him with arrest and conscription. The right to conscientious objection applies in international law in any situation. See https://tinyurl.com/2vvpmuur and elsewhere.

Editorials: Iran war – the crazies are still in charge: Northern Ireland – United Kingdom or United Ireland?

March 2, 2026Editorials, Nonviolent NewsIran war, Northern Ireland, United Ireland, United Kingdrom, US presidents, WarRob Fairmichael

War on Iran

The crazies are still in charge

Donald Trump is just one of many US presidents to start wars that made little or no sense to anyone thinking rationally, let alone about peace or political progress. There is the old maxim that “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely” (attributed to Lord Acton late in the 19^th century) – however Donald Trump was already highly corrupt before he got one form of absolute power in becoming commander in chief of the USA armed forces when president. But think back to the Iraq war, the Afghan war, the Vietnam war (among others), all wars within living memory which US presidents have started and backed to the hilt – and all completely disastrous. There was no basis in international law for any of them but US presidents tend to think in terms of ‘US law’ – what they can so as the world’s No.1 superpower – rather than international law.

And clearly Trump is Bored of Peace as well as being, literally, the Board of Peace – and as a result around 150 children died in one school in Iran. Pax Christi International’s statement on the ‘Board of Peace’ is at https://paxchristi.net/pax-christi-international-updated-declaration-on-the-so-called-board-of-peace/

Joining with Israel to attack Iran is a nonsense and destabilising for the whole Middle East. Given that it is highly unlikely US boots will be committed to walk the ground in Iran, aerial attacks are extremely hit and miss. Military targetting may be much better than in the past, as shown by the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but trying to achieve regime change in Iran – if that is Trump’s aim – by aerial bombing is so blunt an instrument that it is likely to be useless. In the mean time many thousands will die, the plight of the Iranian people as a whole will become even more intolerable, and the regime may simply regroup and rebuild its power which had become much shakier after recent events and brutal repression within the country. For how long does the USA keep bombing?

We use the term ‘crazies’ in the title of this editorial in a very loose sense, not literally, but of people doing ‘crazy’, counterproductive things. Donald Trump may be a capricious, narcissistic, megalomaniac egotist but he is not insane. He does what he can get away with to assuage his ego and hunger for power, results and instant gratification. The political system in the USA, along with its culture of greed, brought him to the top; we are not saying the people who voted him in were necessarily voting out of greed, undoubtedly some were, but many more were voting for Trump because they suffered from the greed at the heart of the US system.

Bringing about change and some measure of democracy and human rights in an autocracy like Iran is not easy. Donald Trump is seeking easy and simplistic answers insofar as he might be thought to be seeking any kind of answers. Military power can destroy, it can sometimes force results, but it is difficult for it to build long lasting change. And defections from the military are much more likely to happen in a nonviolent campaign for change than in a war situation; this makes regime change unlikely under attack. And even totally destroying somewhere is not a guarantee of regime change – Israel’s annihilation of the infrastructure in Gaza and many of its people did not dint Hamas control there.

Cowardly European leaders have tended to call on Iran to stop its attacks while not saying ‘boo’ to the USA for instigating the war. Meanwhile, will we see the Irish government acting to end US military use of Shannon Airport? No. Micheál Martin has expressed “deep concern” about the attacks and said that “Ireland has always believed that conflict should be resolved through diplomacy and negotiation, in line with the principles of the UN Charter and international law.” If that is the case he has a strange way of showing it and should immediately put a stop to US military use of Shannon. He has neither the inclination nor the courage to do so. Thus the crazies and their violence are continuing to be supported by the Irish government.

Northern Ireland

United we stand?

– But in a United Kingdom with Northern Ireland as a member or in a united Ireland?

‘The facts speak for themselves’ is sometimes used when people are looking at a well defined issue and someone judges that ‘the facts’ clearly indicate one definite conclusion. But it is also true that even in a simple case, ‘the facts’ may mean something different to a person looking at the matter from a different perspective. And when it comes to a complex and contested issue like United Kingdom/United Ireland the facts can be interpreted in wildly different ways and through totally different tinted spectacles.

Let us take the simple fact that life expectancy in the Republic has outpaced the North over the last couple of decades to stand at up to two years higher. Fact. But what does this mean? Does this mean people in the Republic are overall healthier? Is it because they are wealthier? And then what is wealth in a high-wage, high-cost economy like the Republic? Who can actually afford what and where? What about the long shadow of the Troubles, in various effects, and its impact on life expectancy in the North? Is the health system working better for people in the Republic while the NHS in the North struggles, or are both struggling differently? Or are people south and west of the border choosing a healthier lifestyle which then makes them live longer – and people in the North could do the same? Would people in the North be happy to swap what they have, free at point of delivery for everyone (that is, if it delivers) for the system in the Republic?

Thus there can be no one firm conclusion drawn from a simple fact like the above when so many other issues are at play. Yes, we can make some limited conclusions and surmises but that is it. And when it comes to all the other issues in the two jurisdictions in Ireland, things get mighty complicated, and ethnic and national allegiances come to the fore. One recent fascinating attempt at demystifying issues and looking impartially at United Kingdom/United Ireland possibilities is the ARINS (Analysing and Researching Ireland, North and South) book by journalists Fintan O’Toole and Sam McBride, “For and against a united Ireland” where they both summon up their best arguments – for both sides. It is a brilliant concept and one which we can learn from. We all have a lot to learn and walking – or talking – in someone else’s shoes is a good way to do it.

INNATE works on an all-Ireland basis. While individual members would have their own views, the INNATE policy is to let people, both North and in the Republic, decide in an informed way – and that, given the prejudices and shibboleths which exist on all sides is a difficult task. The Good Friday Agreement is far from ideal in that it allows for a referendum to decide the issue on a simple 50% + 1 basis, that referendum to be called by the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland should they think there might be a simple majority for change.

It is unlikely that there will be agreement across the board to change this stipulation in the Good Friday Agreement and it is a simple, majoritarian decision. If the lead up to such a decision was inadequate, and the aftermath botched, the result could be disastrous whether it was a narrow majority for a united Ireland or a larger one. And if the decision was for the status quo, a close decision could also be problematic. It would have been much better if there had been a multi-option referendum but we are where we are.

And given that, there are processes which are needed at different stages – now, during the run up to any referendum, and afterwards. Society would need work like that done by Community Dialogue writ large; discussing the important issues in a supportive manner with clarity on issues and options. And in relation to that the Irish government should be now initiating discussions in the Republic about what proper engagement with this might entail rather than having some of the somewhat simplistic and blanketed reactions that exist currently among the citizenry.

Of course nothing is decided until everything is decided but the Irish government should be engaging with issues for a united Ireland such as welfare and pensions, flags and emblems, and devolved government (including but not exclusively whether there would still be a regional assembly at Stormont) as well of course human rights and cultural guarantees. This may not be done currently partly in deference to unionist susceptibilities but the thing is we know what the North looks like in a United Kingdom but very little about what a United Ireland would entail.

Part of prior decision making in regard to a referendum on a united Ireland should be a policy for the process afterwards, should there be a vote to change. A transition period of seven to ten years, a decade, seems a reasonable time frame for a transition. The vast majority of unionists and loyalists are currently unwilling to discuss issues to do with a united Ireland, even what guarantees they would want, because they regard that as antithetical to their cause, but if the writing is on the wall then that vast majority would certainly engage.

The Republic has been getting closer and closer to NATO and EU militarism over the last few decades so the assumption might be, or seems to be for many people, that a united Ireland would join NATO. However neutrality is popular with citizenry in the Republic and with nationalists in the North so it should not be assumed that there would be a further sell out to international militarism in a united Ireland. Of course citizens in a united Ireland should be free to go off and join the British armed forces if that was their choice – much as we would like to discourage it – but for the new state to fully join NATO – even as opposed to the fellow traveller nature of the relationship currently – would be a highly retrograde step. Currently the principles of neutrality are ignored and avoided by many in the Irish establishment and sometimes, as with US military use of Shannon Airport, there is a total failure of courage to stand up to the world’s No.1 economic and military power. But perhaps change can come and, once more, Ireland will be properly engaged with peacemaking on the international stage.

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