Tag Archives: Ireland

News, July 2025

Nonviolent News, ,

Invest NI funds arms production including F-35s….as used in Gaza

This detailed and shocking 30-page report by Act Now on ‘Invest NI, F-35s and Israel: Public Money for War Crimes?’ is available at https://www.actnowni.org/invest-ni-f-35s-and-israel-public-money-for-war-crimes-report As the report states “Invest NI used nearly £20 million of public money to fund four NI-based companies who produce components for the F-35 programme…….F-35s are being used by Israel to bomb and massacre Palestinians in Gaza.” The report includes looking at Invest NI’s lack of accountability and transparency, the firms involved, and concludes by mentioning a forthcoming judicial review brought by a member of Cairde Palestine.

Deirdre Duffy the new CEO for FOE

Irish Friends of the Earth has a new CEO, Deirdre Duffy, who will take up the post in late August, replacing Oisin Coghlan who moved on from the post earlier this year. Deirdre Duffy is currently Director of Impact, Grants and Donor Care at Community Foundation Ireland; she was also Campaign Manager for Together for Yes, which successfully worked for the Repeal of the 8th amendment, and she also held senior roles in the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, drawing on her background as a civil rights lawyer.   An interview with her appears on the FOE website at https://www.friendsoftheearth.ie/news/an-interview-with-our-new-ceo/

World Peace Gathering in Dripsey, Cork

From 18 – 20 July there is a 3 day gathering “uniting global voices for peace, healing, cultural exchange, and Indigenous wisdom” taking place at Dripsey Castle, Co Cork. It will feature indigenous leaders from the Americas and elsewhere “all joining with the Indigenous People of Ireland and European communities to walk a path of healing, solidarity, and shared purpose” and be “a call for Ireland to rise as a bridge between worlds, cultures, and peoples”. Further details at https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/world-peace-gathering-2025-tickets-1236838038869 As this approach is different to what most peace activists are familiar with, we asked Helen Henderson (not involved in organising the above) to write something about her approach in this area and her article, Duchas, appears in the email and web editions of this issue.

Corrymeela 60

Corrymeela has been planning a variety of events to mark its 60th anniversary – it was founded in 1965 and the only ‘pre-Troubles’ peace and reconciliation group in the North. There will be a residential reunion in late August for those who have been part of the Corrymeela story over the years, a special service in the Croi on 30th October, Dublin programme on 1st and 2nd November (held jointly with Glencree for their 50th anniversary and Dublin north inner city community). On Saturday 22nd November there will be a ‘Sounds Connected’ Fundraiser Concert featuring the premiere of ‘A Season to Sing’ in Belfast Cathedral. Look out for more details and you can sign up to receive the monthly Corrymeela newsletter on their website at https://www.corrymeela.org/

Amnesty International report on threats to journalists in NI

Northern Ireland is the most dangerous place in the UK to be a journalist and AI’s recent report “Occupational Hazard? Threats and violence against journalists in Northern Ireland” https://www.amnesty.org.uk/resources/occupational-hazard-protect-journalists-northern-ireland-report gives the details. The threats are from paramilitaries and organised crime groups. Research for the report revealed 71 incidents of threats or attacks on journalists in Northern Ireland since the start of 2019 – but that is only part of the picture. Recommendations in the report include coordination of state responses, effective investigations and prosecutions, home protection and police training.

AVP Ireland: 50 years of AVP internationally

Three members (Charming Claire, Dazzle Donna, and Gentle Jenny in the adjective naming style of AVP) represented AVP Ireland at the AVP 50th Anniversary Gathering in New York in May. “Over five inspiring days, they joined AVP facilitators from around the world to exchange best practices, reflect on AVP’s past, present, and future, and explore the evolving role of AVP International.” As Dazzle Donna reported “What stood out most were the testimonies of how AVP workshops have been adapted and delivered in a wide range of communities (prisons, youth, migrants, communities, justice systems) with each having their own unique challenges and strength. What unites all of these different settings is the belief in the power of experiential learning, deep listening and nonviolent communication to unlock empathy and change.” Meanwhile at home there have been over 180 participants workshops this year, and in the last quarter three Training for Facilitators workshops. Enquiries about volunteering with AVP welcome, see the website https://www.avpireland.ie/ or email info@avpireland.ie and there is a link to make financial donations to support the work on the website.

Equality Coalition report on local councils and equality in NI

“Screened Out Without Mitigation – Returning Equality in Northern Ireland to the Margins” is a new report, written by Robbie McVeigh, from the Equality Coalition in Northern Ireland critically examines how Northern Ireland’s 11 local councils implement their statutory equality duties nearly three decades after the Good Friday Agreement and highlights serious gaps between equality obligations on paper and actual outcomes on the ground. Findings include persistent inequalities in workforces, equality screening failures, misuse of equality mechanisms, and weak oversight. Recommendations are made on a centralised database, screening and reforming the interpretation of “good relations” to ensure it does not override equality obligations, among other points. See https://caj.org.uk/publications/reports/screened-out-without-mitigation-returning-equality-in-northern-ireland-back-to-the-margins/ The Equality Coalition is a civil society body with over a hundred NGO and trade union members. https://www.equalitycoalition.net/

CGE podcast: Joe Murray on peace, justice, demilitarisation

The Centre for Global Education’s ‘Reimagining Development’ podcast series includes one with Joe Murray, former coordinator of Afri, as he reflects on his career as an educator, activist and campaigner for social justice, peace and sustainability.  https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/cge-belfast/episodes/Peace–Justice-and-Demilitarisation-with-Joe-Murray-e31mjmo and CGE is at https://www.centreforglobaleducation.com/

Glencree

Glencree CEO Naoimh McNamee and Community & Political Dialogue Manager Pat Hynes were were in Zagreb in May invited by the Croatian Foreign Ministry to discuss issues arising after 30 years since the Dayton Accords that ended the Balkan wars. The team also shared Glencree’s experience of the Northern Irish peace process and implementation of the Belfast / Good Friday Agreement. Meanwhile Glencree’s podcast on their dynamic dialogue approach is available on their website at https://glencree.ie/resources/podcast-3/ where Barbara Walshe talks to Ian White, Geoffrey Corry and Pat Hynes abut this approach and its use in their work.

80 years since Hiroshima and Nagasaki: PCI webinar

A recording of the recent Pax Christi International webinar marking 80 years since the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and looking at the commitment to nuclear disarmament and lasting peace, is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcaxUQkgoWE and runs for 99 minutes with speakers from different Pax Christi sections and from ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons). https://paxchristi.net/ https://www.icanw.org/

FOE continue data centres campaign

Irish Friends of the Earth are continuing their data centres campaign with astounding figures about data centre electricity, water and land use. They report that “With over 80 data centres currently, Ireland now accounts for 25% of the European data centre market. Data centres use a whopping 21 per cent of Irish electricity compared to an EU average of around 2 per cent (the next highest country is the Netherlands at 5 per cent).” This is more than all urban homes in the country and is forecast to grow to 30% by 2030; it also puts a huge demand on an area’s water supply. Half their energy comes from fossil fuels but they also gobble up renewable energy – “One data centre in Wicklow, Echelon, which is positioning itself to plug into the Arklow bank wind farm, is estimated to use 50% of all the renewables produced there.” Friends of the Earth is calling for a moratorium on new data centre developments and expansion until data centres can operate within climate limits, and wants strict limits on electricity consumption used by existing centres, not only new connections. Go to https://www.friendsoftheearth.ie/act/data-centres/ for more info.

The website of FOE in the North is at https://friendsoftheearth.uk/northern-ireland

All Island of Ireland Interfaith Gathering for Peace

This inclusive online gathering, organised by Dublin City Interfaith Forum and the Northern Ireland Interfaith Forum, takes place on Tuesday 16th September from 7.00 – 8.30pm. Facilitators are Adrian Cristea, Edwin Graham and Lynda Morissey. Details at https://tinyurl.com/3mkezh3s Source: Eco Congregation Ireland https://www.ecocongregationireland.com/

Input to Dáil Joint Committee on Defence and National Security

Input by Karen Devine, John Maguire, and Ray Murphy to the above committee and its pre-legislative scrutiny of the Defence Amendment Bill 2025 – intended by the government to remove the Triple Lock on deployment of Irish troops overseas, can be found at https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/joint_committee_on_defence_and_national_security/2025-06-12/ and go to 27 minutes in.

l A letter from 409 academics to the Taoiseach, written in March this year, urging the retention of the Triple Lock can be read on the PANA website at https://www.pana.ie/posts/open-letter-from-irish-academics-on-triple-lock

Death of Sunny Jacobs

We regret to record the death of Sunny Jacobs and her carer, Kevin Kelly, in a house fire in Co Galway on 3rd June. Sunny was a well known humanitarian and human rights activist. See more at https://www.afri.ie/category/tribute-to-sunny-jacobs/ and through an online search.

INNATE’s posters on peace, green issues and human rights

A new A4 size mini-poster on the economic cost of militarism has been issued by INNATE; go to https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Cake-anti-militarist.pdf This is one in a set of over 120 mini-posters which are intended for home, school/college and office use and can easily be run off on a computer printer. https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/posters/

Billy King: Rites Again, 331

Billy King, Nonviolent News, , , , ,

Billy King shares his monthly thoughts

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

The luxury of pacifism

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

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

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

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

Modern research (e.g. Chenoweth and Stephan) show nonviolent resistance to injustice to be more effective, in a variety of ways, than violence. I stand with Mohandas Gandhi when he said “We are constantly being astonished these days at the amazing discoveries in the field of violence. But I maintain that far more undreamt of and seemingly impossible discoveries will be made in the field of nonviolence.” That Gandhi quote is available as a mini-poster on the INNATE website https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/posters/

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

Capping Kneecap

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

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

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

The House of Orange

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

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

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

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

Unification

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

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

Leafing through the Golden/Yellow Pages

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

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

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

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

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

–

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

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

–

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

News, June 2025

Nonviolent News, ,

Why riot? Report on youth violence and change

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

Neutrality Roadshow nearing final destinations, neutrality demo

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

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

Good Relations Week in NI

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

Peace manifesto launch on Europe Day by Lex Innocentium 21stC

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

Racism, the far right, and social media

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

MNI mediation courses

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

CGE: Development education and class

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

ICCL on repeal of Offences Against the State Acts

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

Feeding ourselves – Strengthening local food economies

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

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

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

Intergenerational trauma webinars

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

De Borda: Inclusive decision making in Mongolia

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

World Beyond War: Mapping militarism

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

Global March to Gaza endorsed by Mairead Maguire

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

Complicity – not in my name

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

Editorial: Courage, compassion – and subservience

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

News, May 2025

Nonviolent News,

Afri Doolough Famine Walk: Remembrance and Solidarity

The annual – since 1988 – Doolough Famine Walk in Co Mayo organised by Afri takes place on Saturday 17th May with the theme ‘Sowing Seeds of Change: In Remembrance and Solidarity’. The walk brochure states that the theme “calls on us to honour the lives needlessly lost during An Gorta Mór—the Great Hunger—by confronting the enduring injustices of our time in solidarity with communities affected today.” Walk leaders are Clare O’Grady Walshe, Paul Laverty, Eman Mohammed and music is by Farah Elle. The Walk just goes one way Doolough-Louisburgh (17 km) compared to the 1849 famine walk when people died by the score going to Doolough from Louisburgh looking for relief from the Poor Law Commissioners, being refused, and attempting to return. The participation fee, including bus to Doolough from Louisburgh, is €30, €20 concessions, and registration is from 11am in Louisburgh and the opening ceremony takes place at 12 noon. More information and booking at https://tinyurl.com/mvsk6ppn and the Afri website is at www.afri.ie

The Legacy Of Frank Aiken – and the role of small countries

An hour long video of the inputs at the Dublin seminar on ‘The Legacy of Frank Aiken and the role of small countries in times of danger and uncertainty’, which took place on 2nd April 2025, organised by Lex Innocentium and the Irish School of Ecumenics, is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0HP1qNtUSg The talks are by Dr. Stephen Kelly (Liverpool Hope University), Dr. Patrick Bresnihan (Maynooth University) and Dr. John Maguire, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at University College Cork and provide a valuable input on Ireland’s non-aligned and peacemaking past and compares it with the current attempt to fully integrate Ireland into an EU-NATO militarist alliance.

European Peace Project launch 80 years after Europe war end

9th May sees the launch of a European Peace Project including the declaration “We are ashamed of our governments and the EU, which have not learned the lessons of the 20th century. The EU, once conceived as a peace project, has been perverted and has thus betrayed the essence of Europe! We, the citizens of Europe, are therefore taking our destiny and our history into our own hands today, on May 9. We declare the EU a failure. We start with citizen diplomacy and refuse the planned war against Russia! We recognize the co-responsibility of the “West”, the European governments and the EU in this conflict.” https://europeanpeaceproject.eu/ Lex Innocentium 21st Century is backing this and will launch an Irish manifesto at the GPO in Dublin at 4pm Irish time on 9th May while other readings of the manifesto may take place, e.g. Newbridge (Co Kildare) and Galway. https://lexinnocentium21.ie/

AVP/Alternatives on Violence Project: 50, 30

This year AVP celebrates 50 years of work internationally – and has been running in Ireland for over 30 years (in the Republic – sadly attempts to get it going in the North have not come to fruition). It is defined as is a network of volunteers running workshops for anyone who wants to find ways of resolving conflict without resorting to violence. Workshops explore the underlying causes of anger and violence with empathy and are experiential, creating a safe space for sharing; they take place both in prisons and the community. In the first quarter of the year AVP Ireland ran 8 workshops with over 70 participants. The AVP Ireland website at https://avpireland.ie/ gives much more information including portraits of the board members, information on volunteering and contacts. The email address is info@avpireland.ie You can also support the work financially at https://donate.stripe.com/14kaFy5l15GH70QdQQ

ICCL: New director, know your rights on protest

The new executive director of ICCL, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, is Joe O’Brien who has a wide variety of experience in the community and voluntary sector for over twenty years. He is a former Green TD and Minister for State. The upcoming conference on policing on 19th May in Dublin looks at Policing Far-Right Intimidation in the Republic of Ireland and includes contributions from CAJ and the North; details on www.iccl.ie Meanwhile in the current environment ICCL has been publicising its Know Your Rights – The Right to Protest (2019) https://www.iccl.ie/your-rights/#protest Points they give include that you can film interactions with Gardaí, that is allowed, and that you can’t be moved on without reason – Gardaí must give you a reason when asking you to move.

l The Know Your Rights to Protest guide for Northern Ireland is available to download at https://caj.org.uk/publications/submissions-and-briefings/know-your-rights-the-right-to-protest/ It is produced by CAJ (Committee on the Administration of Justice), Public Interest Litigation Support (PILS), Environmental Justice Network Ireland (EJNI) and Friends of the Earth (FoE) .

Roger Cole retires as PANA chair

Roger Cole, veteran campaigner for Irish neutrality, recently retired as the Chairperson of the Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA). Roger co-founded PANA in 1996 with peace campaigner Carol Fox, who originally thought it was to be a Neutrality/peace study group! However, Roger had plans for a more activist peace organisation and for nearly thirty years he has overseen the development of PANA into one of the main anti-war groups in Ireland, with membership and affiliation across the island. However Roger has now stepped down and the new elected Chairperson will be announced in June.

PANA has been highlighting the value of Ireland’s neutrality, our role as UN peacekeepers, and our history as initiators and supporters of various arms control and disarmament treaties. The threats posed to neutrality by the ongoing militarisation of the European Union have been a major focus of PANA’s campaigning and the group vigorously opposed both the Nice and Lisbon Treaties, helping to ensure their defeat and the need for the Government to rerun the referendums with assurances attached to address the Irish voters concerns about neutrality being compromised. PANA also helped organise opposition to the Iraq and Afghan wars and is currently campaigning on both Ukraine and Gaza. The issue of Shannon Airport’s use by the US military has been constantly highlighted, exposed and opposed, and the war in Gaza has witnessed the transport of US weapons to Israel through Shannon and through Irish airspace.

Currently the Irish Government is intending to eliminate Ireland’s Triple Lock (Roger Cole authored a campaigning leaflet on the TL), which ensures that Irish troops serving abroad must have a UN mandate as well as Government and Dail approval. This is being done in order to facilitate Irish involvement in evolving EU military initiatives, including full participation in EU Battlegroups. The Government is refusing to have a plebiscite/referendum on this important policy change and also refused to have a People’s Assembly (a procedure it has used successfully with other important public issues) to discuss its implications. Instead, a Consultative Forum on International Security Policy was established in 2023 to address such issues as neutrality, cyber security, relations with NATO and the triple lock. There were a number of panel discussions across the country with Questions and Answers sessions. The panels were heavily biased and PANA’s Roger Cole was one of the few pro-neutrality speakers. The Government now points to this ‘consultative’ process as supporting the elimination of the Triple Lock.

The Government knows from constant public opinion polls (some commissioned by PANA) that neutrality is strongly supported by the Irish people (over 70%). And PANA will continue its strong campaigning work to hold the Government to account on this issue. Roger has left a strong legacy in his retirement and we’re sure PANA will continue to promote the anti-war message.

Contacts: +353 87 2611597 +353 87 2937558 contactpana3@gmail.com or info@pana.ie website www.pana.ie

Creativity in cultural peace work, Feminists and military power

Upcoming sessions run by the Mitchell Institute at QUB, Belfast, include 1) ‘Creativity in Cultural Peace Work: Opportunities and Challenges’ from 12 noon to 4pm on 15th May; this workshop aims to bring together various people to examine the significant relationship between creativity, culture and peace in Northern Ireland. https://tinyurl.com/2pkmupy5 2) On 17th June from 6.00 – 7.30 pm there is a lecture on ‘What feminists reveal when they investigate masculinities: the case of military ‘manpower’ ’ with Prof Cynthia Enloe as speaker; this “will explore how and why military recruiters – in Myanmar, Fiji, UK, Russia, Ukraine, US – wield popular hopes and anxieties about “manliness” to build their forces.  Feminists have shown that governments depend on (and worry about!)  women in their often-failed efforts.” https://tinyurl.com/5cdfdrww

VSI: Summer opportunities, volunteer positions

For 2025, VSI/Voluntary Service International has over 200 short-term volunteer projects happening across Europe including promoting nonviolence and veganism in Finland with Food Not Bombs, running activities for children in Poland, or helping preserve Ireland’s native woodlands in Killarney National Park. These short term projects are usually two weeks and an opportunity to see and learn about places while contributing in a very different way to being a tourist. See https://www.vsi.ie/latest/volunteer-for-peace-with-voluntary-service-international-in/ for more details. VSI have many other opportunities including longer term volunteer projects in Europe and the Global South and global citizenship activities.  

lMeanwhile VSI are seeking two full-time volunteers for funded positions on its staff team for one year, a Programmes Officer and a Marketing and Communications Officer. Applications can only be accepted from residents in the Republic (because of the funding) aged 18 – 30. See https://www.vsi.ie/latest/join-the-vsi-team-as-an-esc-volunteer-two-roles-available/ and closing date is 5th May.

FOE Youth Climate Gathering

Friends of the Earth Ireland is hosting a Youth Climate Gathering from Friday 18th  July to Sunday  20th  July 2025 at Brú Moytura Eco Lodge, County Sligo. It is open to people aged 18 – 30 and the aim is to swap campaign tips and sharpen organising skills. More info at https://www.friendsoftheearth.ie/events/youth-climate-gathering/

Rochtain workshops; Lobbying, political structures, communication

ICCL’s Rochtain training programme has different online workshops coming up. 1) Thursday May 8th 11:00-12:30 Understanding Your Obligations Under the 2015 Lobbying Act – Training Being Delivered by the Standards in Public Office Commission. https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_jezGD5zBQoWWi872vkr47Q 2) Thursday May 29th 11:00-13:00 The “New” Oireachtas, Understanding Irish Political Structures and Where to find Information
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wil0cb7RSTWLArldh7yD3Q 3) Wednesday June 4th 11:00- 13:00 Effective Political Communications for NGOs https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_xeq5c4INQ3q2qkQuKfdrIw See also https://www.iccl.ie/activism-protest/rochtain/

Pope Francis on nonviolence

A 73-page compilation or compendium of the thoughts and writings of Pope Francis on nonviolence, compiled by Ken Butigan, appears on the Pax Christi International website at https://paxchristi.net/thank-you-your-holiness/ (scroll down to “Pope Francis’ Legacy on Nonviolence”). This includes statements, references and full documents on or referring to the topic and is a valuable resource both for Christians and in general.

Sudanese work for peace

An account by a Sudanese peace activist, Mamoun, of work for peace in the incredibly difficult situation there appears on the WRI/War Resisters’ International website at https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2025/resilience-times-war-how-wri-members-sudan-are-sustaining-their-work-peace

EU rampant rearmament

For a quick run down on further militarisation efforts by the EU, see page 10 of the QCEA/Quaker Council for European Affairs publication ‘Around Europe’ for March, download at https://www.qcea.org/ See also ENAAT/European Network Against Arms trade at https://enaat.org/

Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance: Past….and future?

Marking UN Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day on 26th April, Chernobyl Children International and its voluntary CEO Adi Roche issued a statement on current dangers there: “…on St Valentine’s Day 2025, the world woke up to news that Chernobyl had been attacked and the sarcophagus that is meant to protect humanity – once deemed impregnable – was breached.  This emboldened act heightens the risk of another devastating nuclear catastrophe demonstrating that nuclear facilities, once considered off-limits, are now pawns in geopolitical warfare……Since the beginning of the war and the invasion of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in February 2022, 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’.  However, with the weaponising of nuclear power at Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia, the country falls further and further away from the confines of safety……” https://www.chernobyl-international.com/

News, April 2025

Nonviolent News, ,

Forthspring plan Belfast-based Institute for Nonviolence

Forthspring https://www.forthspring.org/, a cross-community centre at the Catholic-Protestant interface on the Springfield Road, Belfast, is transforming to an Institute for Nonviolence.  New Director, Dr Kate Laverty, is bringing to the fore her work with the Martin Luther King Institute for Nonviolence in the USA https://www.nonviolenceinstitute.org/ Her experience in promoting nonviolence principles in her youth work practice will serve as a springboard to launch the new methodology in Forthspring as it enters its 30th year later in 2025. For anyone interested in being part of this evolution, get in touch. Contact: Dr Kate Laverty, Director, 07746984833, director@forthspring.com     See also article by Kate Laverty in email and web editions of this issue.

Resistance continues to Triple Lock axe

The ‘Save Irish Neutrality, Save the Triple Lock’ campaign involving a wide variety of groups continues to work in opposition to Irish government plans to axe it. While a Social Democrat motion in the Dáil to hold a plebiscite/referendum on the issue was voted down through a government counter-motion, the government plans to move legislation through the committee stage so there is still time for citizen pressure to work. A comprehensive rebuttal of government arguments is made in various resources including the August 2024 document from the Transnational Institute https://www.tni.org/en/publication/saving-the-triple-lock

Mothers Against Genocide manhandled at Dáil

There were eleven arrests and three legal charges, plus some police cautions, on 30th March at the end of a Mothers Against Genocide all night Mothers’ Day vigil on Palestine outside the Dáil in Dublin. The group had already announced their intention to leave a couple of hours later. What some found particularly distasteful was that photos of dead Palestinian children were treated like dirt by by the Gardaí. See coverage at https://www.facebook.com/search/posts/?q=mothers%20against%20genocide and other media.

Missing Peace toolkit

The Glencree Centre for Peace & Reconciliation (Glencree), together with its consortium partners from five different countries in the Missing Peace project, have launched a new resource to help youth workers, educators and community practitioners engage young people in peacebuilding and reconciliation. The 68-page Missing Peace Project Toolkit, developed as part of the EU-funded Missing Peace project, provides 12 interactive activities designed to foster dialogue, critical thinking and conflict resolution skills. Further information and a link for downloading can be found at https://glencree.ie/homepage-highlight/missing-peace-toolkit/

Mairead Maguire in Gaza fast

Nobel Peace laureate Mairead Maguire is undertaking a 40 day liquids only fast for Gaza and the world’s children suffering from the violence of hunger and war. “Refuse to hate, refuse to kill each other and demand instead dialogue and negotiation.  Today in Gaza, the policy of starvation of 2.5 million people, by Israeli policies, is continuing and it is killing the children,  we see it and it is breaking our hearts!!!”. https://www.peacepeople.com/nobel-peace-laureate-maguire-starts-40-day-fast-for-gaza-and-the-worlds-children-for-peace/

Frank Aiken lectures

There has been a change of date for the Frank Aiken Evening previously announced (e.g. in last issue) to take place on 27th March. This will now take place on Wednesday 2nd April. “The Legacy of Frank Aiken – The Role of Small Countries in Times of Danger and Uncertainty” – An Evening of Talks and Discussion hosted by Lex Innocentium, 21st Century  and  the Irish School of Ecumenics now takes place on Wednesday, 2nd of April 2025, at 7.00 p.m. in Room G16, Loyola Building, Trinity College Dublin Speakers include Dr. Stephen Kelly, Dr. Patrick Bresnihan, and Dr. John Maguire. Lex Innocentium, 21st Century website is at https://lexinnocentium21.ie/

Thales to open third NI site

With war in Ukraine and rearmament in many countries, business and profits are booming for the lagest arms company on the island of Ireland, Thales. They have announced new investment and the intention to set up a third site in Northern Ireland, recruiting 200 more workers. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgl0z7gxpg2o See also Thales fact file in email and web editions of this issue.

Adi Roche on 14 years after Fukushima

Adi Roche, Voluntary CEO of Chernobyl Children International (CCI), in a statement issued for the 14th anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, said “It’s devastating to see that patterns laid down by Chernobyl are being mirrored now in Fukushima.  Any potential explosion or meltdown at any nuclear power plant, by accident or design, would cause irreversible damage to the environment and human life that will last for thousands of years. Though Fukushima happened because of a natural disaster, and Chernobyl was a man-made disaster, their long lasting impact are the same.  Now, recent attacks in Ukraine have shown us how little mankind have learned about the fragility of nuclear power and now innocent children are, once again, paying the highest price.” See https://www.chernobyl-international.com/fourteen-years-after-fukushima-the-unfolding-nuclear-nightmare-and-parallels-with-chernobyl/

lMeanwhile CCI reports that, not being the recipient of any state aid, they are unaffected by governmental aid cuts but that “However, in the communities where we work, the effects of these cuts are devastating and we anticipate that we will see a knock-on effect in the demand for our support over the coming months. “ https://www.chernobyl-international.com/

Good Relations Awards 2025

The Northern Ireland Good Relations Awards presentation event took place on 25th March at Shankill Shared Women’s Centre, Belfast. Here are the six award winners: CRC Exceptional Achievement Award – Kathy Wolff: Volunteer of the Year – Cooper McClure; Youth Award – Emma Baptista; Community Champion – Jonah Atos; Connecting Communities – Jubilee Community; Housing for All – Portstewart Community Association. Full details are available on the CRC website at https://www.community-relations.org.uk/news-centre/good-relations-awards-2025-winners-announced

ICCL petition on facial recognition use by Gardaí

ICCL/Irish Council for Civil Liberties have a petition opposing the Minister for Justice giving the Gardaí permission to use facial recognition technology (FRT). They state “FRT has been shown to exhibit significant racial bias leading to wrongful arrests, surveillance and discrimination. Studies have shown that these technologies are less accurate in identifying people of colour. This can result in severe consequences for innocent people. This is not just a technical issue but a systematic injustice built into these technologies that reinforce racial inequality. Recent developments in Hungary have also highlighted the dangers that FRT holds for minorities, where attempts are being made to ban pride events. FRT has been proposed to track members of the LGBTI+ community who gather publicly, which will also disproportionately affect racial minorities within that community.” See https://www.iccl.ie/i-do-not-consent-to-frt/

CAJ human rights news

You can catch up with valuable insights on various human rights issues in Northern Ireland with the March issue of the CAJ/Committee on the Administration of Justice newsletter Just News which is available at https://caj.org.uk/publication_type/our-newsletter/ (where you can also subscribe for updates). Issues covered include the Irish government and legacy issues, extremism, the ongoing effort to get the NI Executive going on an antipoverty strategy, racism and Sperrins goldmining.

Voters in Republic want more climate action

A poll taken in January shows a clear majority of voters in the Republic, 55%, want the government to take more action on climate change than the last government, compared to only 21% who want less action. This includes 59% of Fianna Fail voters and 55% of Fine Gael voters. Interestingly there was little difference between urban and rural voters; three in every four rural voters want the same or more climate action, 72%, compared to 81% of those living in cities. See https://www.friendsoftheearth.ie/news/new-poll-shows-fianna-fail-and-fine-gael-voters-want-more-cl/

Major German peace congress

A major online German-language peace congress takes place at Easter time. See https://friedenistmoeglich.de/ Entitled “Wie geht Frieden? “ (‘How does peace go?’) with a wide variety of speakers and activities…..as some of those involved speak in English (German subtitles added) those reading this but not speaking German may still view videos with interest. The Northern Ireland peace process, and history, feature along with a myriad of other situations.

Church and Peace call on justice and peacebuilding

Church and Peace, the European church peace network, has called for an orientation to justice and peacebuilding in the current environment. Their statement includes “The European Union’s aim is to promote peace, its values and the welfare of its peoples. For that reason it is irresponsible, according to the Board of Church and Peace, to declare a ‘pre-war situation’ and so legitimize massive armament, especially as this might be a self-fulfilling prophecy.” https://www.church-and-peace.org/en/2025/03/in-view-of-current-developments-church-and-peace-calls-for-clear-orientation-to-justice-and-peace/

Inclusion in the Northern Ireland peace process

An academic article “Inclusion in the Northern Ireland Peace Process: A ‘History of the Present’ “ by Catherine Turner (Professor of Law at Durham University) is available at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/17502977.2024.2365512?needAccess=true appearing in the Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding. This 21 page article has some useful insights on the peace process, the resultant consociational form of government, the role of civil society, and how narratives have narrowed.

News, March 2025

Nonviolent News,

Government poised to end Triple Lock

With the Defence (Amendment) (No.2) Bill listed for the spring Dáil session, its purpose described as “To amend the Defence Acts to reform the existing provisions concerning the dispatch of members of the Defence Forces for service outside the State”, the Irish government, spearheaded (sic) by Micheál Martin, is set to remove one of the key features of Irish neutrality and its protection. Without the need for UN authorisation for sending more than 12 troops overseas, the government can commit the armed forces to engage in any actions or wars it sees fit. More info on Triple Lock at https://swordstoploughsharesireland.org/triple-lock/ and see also https://people.ie/english1.html A number of groups are working together and have adopted the slogan “Save our Neutrality; Save the Triple Lock “; contact any of StoP, PANA, Transnational Institute, World Beyond War, Action Against War (Cork), Afri, Uplift, Lex Innocentium.

lNow, immediately, is the time for residents of the 26 counties to contact their TDs demanding that they stand by the Triple Lock. See also editorial in this issue.

lInternational peace organisations CODEPINK, International Peace Bureau (IPB), Transnational Institute (TNI), Veterans For Peace and World BEYOND War have written a collective letter to the Taoiseach asking for the retention of the Triple Lock.

Frank Aiken and the Irish contribution to international peace

This event, ‘Frank Aiken and the Irish Contribution to International Peace in Times of Risk and Uncertainty’ takes place in Loyola Building, Trinity College Dublin on Thursday, 27th March 2025, at 7.00 p.m. to 8.30/9.00 p.m. with speakers Prof Patrick Bresnihan, Maynooth, Prof John Maguire, Professor Emeritus, UCC and one other speaker. Chair: Carol Fox. Organised by Lex Innocentium, 21st Century and hosted by Irish School of Ecumenics. https://lexinnocentium21.ie and https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61560485884212

The Irish government and legacy investigations

Legacy issues North of the border have obviously had centre stage in recent years but there are also significant questions about how the Irish government handles matters within its jurisdiction. CAJ/Committee on the Administration of Justice and ICCL/Irish Council for Civil liberties have published the report on a seminar in September 2024 looking at how the Irish government should deal with legacy investigations. The 24 page report can be accessed at https://caj.org.uk/publications/reports/policing-for-peace-commitment-to-repeal-and-replace-the-northern-ireland-legacy-act/ and https://www.iccl.ie/news/human-rights-groups-victims-and-families-call-on-government-to-investigate-historic-human-rights-violations/ The report states that “Victims and survivors of outstanding violations from conflict-related violence in the South, including the Dublin and Monaghan bombings (1974) and the Sallins train robbery (1976), have not been provided with a formal and systematised approach to investigations and accountability.” It also says “Various UN treaty bodies have highlighted the lack of accountability and transparency for violations in Ireland, including concerns regarding the independence and effectiveness of GSOC to investigate instances of torture and ill-treatment…..The roundtable discussions revealed a general consensus on the need for a new legacy mechanism(s), or combination thereof, to investigate State and non-State actors in conflict and non-conflict related historical cases, to be established in consultation with survivors and families.” Conclusions include the lack of political will to proceed and the untapped potential of the inquest model. It calls on the Irish government to establish a Historical Investigations Unit (HIU) to investigate unresolved deaths and incidents of torture and ill-treatment, including (but not limited to) cases related to the Troubles.

CCI on Chernobyl drone attack and 3 years of war

When Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was again attacked in February, Adi Roche, voluntary CEO of Chernobyl Children International (CCI), issued a statement which included “I appeal, on behalf of all humanity and as a first-step towards peace negotiations, that the deadly and toxic Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, with its thousands of tons and gallons of highly radioactive material, no longer be targeted, or used as an area of shelling, bombardment, and ground fighting under the Hague Convention. My worst nightmare in this conflict is that the tragedy of the Chernobyl disaster could be re-released on the world. I fear that this area…. could once again, have deadly radioactive contamination released which would spread everywhere, like a great and uncontrollable monster.” A further statement from Adi Roche came on 24th February for the third anniversary of the war; “The war in Ukraine and this recent attack on Chernobyl has highlighted the dire need to formally recognise ‘Ecocide’—the deliberate destruction of the environment—as a crime under the International Criminal Court (ICC)…….Ecocide is not collateral damage; it is a targeted and systematic weapon of war. The radioactive contamination unleashed by military activity in Chernobyl has already affected thousands, with rising levels of long-lived radionuclides detected on civilians, particularly children, in heavily populated areas. This environmental devastation will have consequences for generations, further underscoring the urgency of holding perpetrators accountable…..We urge the Irish Government to support Ukraine’s initiative in advocating for the recognition of ecocide as a war crime under the Hague Convention…..” https://www.chernobyl-international.com/

Central Bank of Ireland and Israeli war bonds

The Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) is acts as the regulator of Israel bonds in Europe, taking over that role from the UK after Brexit. These fund the Israeli Treasury and are now marketed as ‘war bonds’. World Beyond War Ireland states “By providing this gateway into Europe for Israel bonds, the CBI is making itself complicit in funding genocide and apartheid. Under EU law (Regulation 2017/18, Article 32), CBI has the power — and the responsibility — to refuse to validate Israel bonds on the grounds that the ICJ has found that Israel is plausibly committing genocide” (though a ceasefire began on 19th January). https://tinyurl.com/mvnkste7

lThe international report for World Beyond War/WBW for 2024 can be found at https://tinyurl.com/y558zdth

Terminal illness: LNG storage for Ireland?

Friends of the Earth/FOE are campaigning against a liquefied natural gas/LNG terminal for Ireland – LNG has been shown to be worse than coal burning for its carbon footprint by the time it is shipped here. FOE are organising email letters to the Taoiseach and Minister for Climate; they point out that the government plan to go ahead with an LNG terminal has not been backed up with analysis and it may be cosying up to President Trump. See https://www.friendsoftheearth.ie/act/make-sure-government-says-no-to-climate-wrecking-lng/

Race hate crimes in North hit high in summer 2024

Amnesty International has expressed concern at the level of racist hate crime in Northern Ireland, as new figures published show attacks hit an all-time high during summer 2024; these are in a report by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), which tracked recorded hate crimes and incidents for the twelve months to the end of December 2024. The report reveals that there were 1,777 racist incidents and 1,150 racist crimes recorded by the police during 2024. There were 454 more race incidents and 292 more race crimes recorded in 2024 than the previous year. Six of the eight highest monthly levels of race incidents since records began in 2004 were recorded between May and October 2024. Amnesty International Northern Ireland director Patrick Corrigan stated ““Tackling racism and hate crime in Northern Ireland will require not just a more consistent response from the police but unambiguous political leadership and effective strategies from the Executive, something which has hitherto been lacking.” See https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/northern-ireland-latest-police-figures-show-race-hate-crimes-hit-all-time-high which has a link to the report.

Introduction to Eco Congregation Ireland

Eco Congregation Ireland/ECI produces a valuable monthly round up of religious/church involvement in green issues in all parts of Ireland and you can subscribe to receive it on their website. https://www.ecocongregationireland.com/ They also have a new flyer introducing ECI. https://www.ecocongregationireland.com/2025/02/23/eci-flyer-available/ and the possibilities for local churches to go green.

ICC summer school at Irish Centre for Human Rights

2025 is the 25th year that the Irish Centre for Human Rights in Galway has run a summer school on the International Criminal Court; this year it runs from 9th – 13 June. 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 participation fee is €475 and further info is at https://universityofgalwayichr.clr.events/event/137231:summer-school-on-the-international-criminal-court-2025 The website also gives details of upcoming talks.

Uncertainty at Spirit AeroSystems, Belfast

What the implications are for jobs and involvement in military related production, including dual use, remains uncertain as Spirit AeroSystems (formerly Bombardier), Belfast’s largest private sector employer, faces the possibility of being broken up with Airbus purchasing the part of it producing its A220 aircraft wings while Boeing has been negotiating a takeover of Spirit AeroSystems. Wordsearch for further information.

Síolta Chroí programme

‘Tis the season to start growing again and the current programme at Síolta Chroí, Carrickmacross, Monaghan, includes a workshop on food growing with Joanne Butler on Saturday 24th March along with much else, e.g. a workshop on syntropic agriculture on 8th March. See https://sioltachroi.ie/

INNATE change of address

INNATE’s postal address is changing, with immediate effect, to 24 Broughton Park, Belfast BT6 0BD (from the previous long term address of 16 Ravensdene Park). Other contact details including the ‘landline’ (actually VOIP) phone number +44 28 90647106, web addresses and the email address innate@ntlworld.com will remain unchanged.

Editorials: Picking the Lock, Violence and nonviolence

Editorials, Nonviolent News, , ,

Picking the Lock

The term ‘to pick a lock’ means to open it without a key using a device to open it without breaking or cutting the lock. It is usually for underhand or nefarious purposes. This aptly describes what the Fianna Fáil government is doing to the Triple Lock in working to remove it and open the Irish army up to the service of EU and NATO militarism. Fianna Fáil were not even honest in their election manifesto when they promised ‘sensible reform’ of the Triple Lock since the only reform they will bring is its complete destruction.

Micheál Martin and Fianna Fáil have been the frontrunners on this for some years now and the whole purpose of the Consultative Forum on International Security Policy in 2023 was to provide an excuse to proceed. The fact that this ‘Forum’ did not work in the way it was intended was no deterrence to proceeding. It looked like the move might have happened before the election but now that Martin is ensconced again as Taoiseach means that a move is imminent. It is included in business for the spring session of the Dáil https://www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=https://assets.gov.ie/319531/3760a815-ee4f-49ea-ba3b-e42244711ea4.pdf#page=null (see page 4)

The Triple Lock https://swordstoploughsharesireland.org/triple-lock/ entails UN, government/cabinet and Dáil approval for deploying more than 12 members of the Irish military abroad – but the Irish establishment want to fully integrate with, and have the army fighting with, the EU army. And since the EU, which began as an economic-led peace project, is increasingly a military project and the European wing of NATO, not joining NATO – which the bulk of Irish citizens oppose – is immaterial. In any case the Irish army is already cooperating with NATO through membership of the misnamed NATO ‘Partnership for Peace’.

Removing the United Nations support as an obligatory part of the Irish army being sent overseas means the government – which by definition has Dáil support – has no hoops to go through in committing the Irish army to armed action anywhere and any time. As the western world gears up increasingly for war through increased spending on arms and armies this is a sickening thought. And the EU is shaping up to become yet another military power on the world stage; as everywhere, the rhetoric may be benign but the reality is different.

It is almost beyond irony that Fianna Fáil, the party of Eamonn de Valera and Frank Aiken, should be in the forefront of ditching Irish neutrality. It is also fundamentally dishonest since the Triple Lock was introduced to get the Nice and Lisbon treaties agreed by the citizens of Ireland in referendums. Because, also dishonestly, this was not done as a formal protocol, no referendum is required to undo it. The honest course of action would be to hold a referendum on the issue but that will not happen since, Irish neutrality being popular with citizens, a proposal to radically alter it would be defeated. An Irish Times/ARINS survey (Irish Times 8/2/25) showed that even in the event of Irish unification only 19% of citizens in the Republic felt Ireland should join NATO (7% definitely join, 12% join) whereas 24% said it shouldn’t join and 25% definitely not join. But the leaders are taking their own path to militarisation.

The move to abolish the Triple Lock is a negation of democracy and may help get Ireland fully integrated with European war machines but it will do nothing for peace, in fact the exact opposite. Peace and democracy activists have been mobilising to defend the Triple Lock but it has been hard to get the issue the attention it deserves, not least because of mass media apathy or active support for militarisation and a clever game by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in denying anything is happening. The government should hang it head in shame at abandoning Irish neutrality and refusing to consider how it, neutrality, could be developed as a real and active force for peace in the world.

Violence and nonviolence in an age of uncertainty

Change may be the only certainty in life but we, as a human species, are not always good at dealing within it. And our ‘common sense’ response to it may not be sensible at all. Thus with Russia’s war on Ukraine and President Trump’s bull-in-a-china-shop act in his second incumbency, we may react in ways which are not only unhelpful but actually detrimental to the cause of peace and justice.

The Western world is currently heading, in general, to the right and to increased militarism. More than one commentator has likened the situation to the lead up to First World War; then clashing imperialisms came to fight on the battlefield, and we already have the trench warfare in Ukraine, albeit with drones being a crucial weapon this time around.

The forces for peace can feel totally powerless when confronted with such massive pro-militarist action and propaganda. And such belligerence is backed by the mass media and some social media as well.

Powerlessness can be totally debilitating and push us into apathy. Instead we need to hold firm in our convictions and our work and be prepared so we can use any opportunities which present themselves to get or views across and to build the movement we need, in an alliance with other progressive forces, to bring transformation.

The forces of peace and nonviolence are not powerless, we should know that from Gene Sharp, Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan, among many othersi. But while we can make an impact with small numbers, to be successful we need to mobilise on a broad base and that requires cooperation across different sectors (trade unions, human rights, ecological, left of centre and so on), lots of preparatory work, a good tailwind, and seizing the moment when it comes. Awareness of the stages successful movements pass through (as with Bill Moyer’s Movement Action Plan) can help us plan and be prepared as well as perhaps avoiding depression when the going gets tough.

Billy King: Rites Again, 327

Billy King, Nonviolent News,

Billy King shares his monthly thoughts

You couldn’t make it up, explosive munitions at Lidl

https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/54351562097/in/dateposted/ and an iPhone dictation bug that replaced ‘Trump’ with ‘Racist’ https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/feb/26/apple-to-fix-iphone-dictation-bug-trump?CMP=share_btn_url ……..manys a true word that was spoken in jest tech.

Fierce and farce in Dublin

OK, one was fierce but not a farce, the other was a fierce farce. My visits to Doubling tend to be either social or movement related so it was great to have a cultural visit recently. The first part of the visit was to the Hugh Lane Gallery in Parnell Square to see Brian Maguire’s “La grande illusion” exhibition there. The second was to see the stage production of Dr Strangelove. Both would get excellent marks from me.

We didn’t have enough time at the Hugh Lane because we hadn’t banked on spending three-quarters of an hour watching a video interview with Brian Maguire. It is at the entrance to his exhibition but once we started watching then we couldn’t pull ourselves away. Intelligent, humane, personable, concerned with justice, these are just a few of the terms that come to mind in describing the gentle but strong man in question from watching the interview. His work in prisons, at home and around the world, is remarkable.

In the video he quotes Lara Marlowe as saying he worked like a journalist and you can see that clearly in the video and his work (he can do much work to access photos of scenes of death or violence). But he gives more than that, he gives imagination, depth and humanity – where appropriate – to his subjects. The coverage in this exhibition includes Mexico and the devastation on lives by the drugs trade there, Syria, and migrants to the USA who did not make it. Regarding the first, one work looked like a stone or rock from a distance only on examination to reveal a severed head; shocking but a humane treatment of the topic. And regarding Syria his treatment of a damaged and abandoned street in Aleppo evokes the life which it once had and its emptiness now, it is an image that has stayed with me – I think you might have the same experience with any of his images. War and human rights are integral subjects to this work.

Brian Maguire’s exhibition at the Hugh Lane has had its run extended to 18th May (2025) and I certainly recommend it – but leave time for that video interview.

Doing Dr Strangelove as a stage production might seem a strange choice but it actually worked very well in the Iannucci/Foley/Coogan presentation of Stanley Kubrick’s original, and the stagecraft was good. Steve Coogan was to play 4 roles when we were attending at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre – this compares to 3 roles played by Peter Sellers in the 1964 film – and obviously doing it on stage requires nifty timing and a bit of ingenuity (which mainly but not always worked in my opinion). Not performing due to laryngitis meant Coogan’s understudy, Ben Deery, had that challenge and managed it very well when I attended.

It is of course a sign of the times that Dr Strangelove is – tragically – as relevant today as when it was filmed in terms of actual and possible mass annihilation. The violent crazies and smooth talkers are running the shows and any interventions by people with a titter of wit may be ineffective. If we even consider nuclear accidents and near misses of various kinds we can shiver in fear. Add in further human error and possible malice and we are on the edge of the precipice or indeed various precipices.

One of the stand out lines in the play is where the US President advises the Soviet ambassador and a belligerent senior air force officer that there should be no fighting as “This is the War Room”! Sadly the world is still going in the direction of gross violence and pulling back from this requires the imaginative goodwill which many of our leaders lack. So we have to provide some sanity in these troubled times.

It’s a Doge’s life

I do believe there is such a thing as ‘evil’, but as it is such an absolute term it is one I rarely use to describe people or situations. I am usually moderate enough in how I express myself [Really? – Ed] however when I saw Elon Musk gloating on television news about the apocalyptic cuts to the USAid budget, and his proud claim to have put it through the shredder, I really felt I was looking at the face of evil, undiluted evil.

The USA spends far more money on its military – and 800 military bases around the world – than any other country, by far; the budget for this is over $900 billion, say $1 trillion. You could attack USAid spending in some places for its political bias – Ukraine and Israel are the largest recipients – but the fact is it does make a difference to some of the poorest of the poor and the sickest of the sick. $40 billion is not a huge amount for a large, rich country like the USA to share though the total spent on aid by the USA is $72 billion (possibly 8% of the military budget). https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/feb/20/how-will-trump-and-musk-freeze-on-usaid-affect-millions-around-world?CMP=share_btn_url The Trump/Musk justification for the attack was also false; three of the four projects named as wasting money by USAid were funded as cultural projects by the State Department, not USAid.

For the richest man in the world to be part of destroying help to the very poorest and sickest in the world is obscene and vengeful evil, full stop. Two thirds of soup kitchens in Khartoum, Sudan, closed as a result. Many essential health programmes in the poorest countries in the world have been decimated. And for a ‘Labour’ prime minister in the UK to subsequently cut their aid budget, already miserly as a percentage of GDP, to up military spending feels like another betrayal on the world stage. But then with Trump in the White House everyone seems to be getting in on dangerous and unjust behaviour.

Down North

What are you to make of the sadistic that while 81% of nationalist/republican voters in the North believe extreme weather events are at least partly caused by climate change, only 29% of unionist voters believe that. So 4 out of 5 nationalists/republicans are aware of the connection while more than 2 in 3 unionist voters have their heads in the shifting sand. Is this explicable by the Catholic/Nationalist/Republican ‘community’ being generally centre or left of centre and Protestant/Unionist/Loyalist politics tending to be centre or right of centre? You might expect some difference due to that but the void is staggering. I couldn’t look at the details more because the story was behind a paywall in the ‘Tele’ https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/environment/just-29-of-unionist-voters-believe-climate-change-is-partly-responsible-for-extreme-weather-poll-reveals/a1145304503.html

Meanwhile it does seem the gap is closing between those who support staying in the UK and those who want a united Ireland. In an Irish Times/ARINS survey the figures were 48% to 34% respectively, and there were some changes in the non-headline figures https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2025/02/07/support-for-irish-unification-grows-but-unity-vote-would-be-soundly-defeated-in-north-poll-shows/ However a Lucid Talk/Belfast Telegraph poll showed figures of 48% and 41%, much closer, which begs questions about their repective methodologies. While the latter poll has consistently shown a high proportion opting for a united Ireland, both show the gap narrowing.

The conclusion is that there should be all sorts of explorations on what a united Ireland might look like and how it would initially fund, and economically develop, the poorer North, as well as guarantees on human rights and other issues. However there is a reasonable case that unionists can or could make for continuing in the UK and one start to doing that took place recently in Coleraine with a ‘Safeguarding the Union’ meeting. While demographics show the Catholic population increasingly outpacing the number of Protestants, certainly from middle age downwards, it can’t be assumed that the current direction of travel will automatically continue. What would happen if, as the Coleraine meeting heard, there was a big economic shock to the Republic? What indeed.

It is all to be played for. The hope is that the players won’t engage in fouls and that the respective supporters will temper their behaviour. Unlikely? Maybe, but not if there are processes which encourage intelligent and analytical thinking at all levels and in a variety of ways.

Global injustice: It’s rich

I didn’t read the Oxfam report concerned but Stephen McCloskey of the Centre for Global Education in Belfast did a very useful precis in the February issue of their e-Bulletin which I quote here in full:

“Oxfam have published their annual analysis of global economic inequality which this year is titled Takers not Makers: The Unjust Poverty and Unearned Wealth of Colonialism.  This annual report has become an indispensible tool for understanding the key economic forces driving poverty between and within the global North and South.  The report’s main headline is that billionaire wealth has risen three times faster in 2024 than 2023 with 204 new billionaires created.  Such is the global flow of wealth to the super-rich that Oxfam estimates that there will be five trillionaires within a decade.  Conversely, the number of people living below the World Bank poverty line of $6.85 is 3.6 billion people, the same total as 1990, which means poverty indicators are going in the wrong direction because of wealth accumulation by the one percent.  In explaining the concentration of billionaire wealth, Oxfam’s report cites two main factors: first, the rise of a new oligarchy that generates wealth through inheritance, cronyism (such as tax avoidance) and monopoly power (for example, Amazon controls 70% of online purchases in the UK); and second, both historic and ongoing colonialism of the global South through global institutions, financial markets and multinational corporations.  The report sets out the kind of systemic changes needed to address global inequities and they really should be seized by development educators as a platform for economic literacy, advocacy and activism.  The depth of the problems described in the report demand nothing less.” The report is at https://www.oxfam.org/en/takers-not-makers-unjust-poverty-and-unearned-wealth-colonialism and the Centre for Global Education is at https://www.centreforglobaleducation.com/

–

That’s me as we come up towards St Patrick’s Day, that national occasion when anyone or everyone can shiver in the open because wintry weather is still around. It’s a shame(rock) that the weather can be so poor…..the day marks the death date of St Patrick himself but whether 17th March is accurate or not I don’t know, perhaps it could be ‘discovered’ that it was really sometime in the period May to August that the man himself died….. Until we meet again next month, Billy.

News, February 2025

Nonviolent News, ,

Corrymeela 60

Corrymeela, the only existing peace and reconciliation group to predate the Troubles, is approaching 60 years at work. While the group that became the eponymous Corrymeela identified the site they wanted to purchase outside Ballycastle, Co Antrim, a former Holiday Fellowship venue, at the start of 1965, it was the summer of that year that they took possession and it only became an incorporated charity in December 1966. There will be Corrymeela Sunday events at Coventry (15th-16th March) coming up to St Patrick’s Day and then in the period 22nd – 31st August this year anniversary ‘open’ events will be held at the Corrymeela Centre that they hope will allow the generations who have been a part of the Corrymeela story to reunite and learn with people interested in carrying that story forward. 

Also look for more information to come around a planned trip to Taizé in early autumn; events in Dublin at the end of October 2025; a service in the Croí on 30 October to mark the anniversary of the centre’s 1965 dedication; a special anniversary concert in Belfast Cathedral on 22 November 2025; a service in Exeter Cathedral on 23 November; and a conference on Reconciliation for Easter 2026. Other events and ongoing programmes will also take place. Up to date information is available at www.corrymeela.org

Féile Bríde: Justice and Solidarity

Afri’s Féile Bríde takes place on Saturday 8th February at Solas Bhríde, Tully Road, Kildare with the title “Brigid’s Light: Illuminating paths of justice and solidarity”. Speakers are Niamh Ní Briain on Brigid’s call to action today: Defying militarism and protecting the Triple Lock, James Hennessy on Solar lights and the work of Development Pamoja, Catherine Cleary on Pocket Forests and Raghad Abu Shammala on Solidarity is key; musicians are Emer Lynam, Dee Armstrong, Lughaidh Armstrong, Gráinne Horan, Kate Moore and the Resistance Choir. The programme runs from 10.15 am registration and finishes after the final programme item at 4.20pm. Full price for the day, including lunch, tea and coffee is €35, concessions €25 (further donations to costs welcome). Bookings via https://www.afri.ie/category/feile-bride-2025/ or to Afri at 8 Cabra Road, Dublin D07 T1W2.

Sperrins gold diggers inquiry halted

The public inquiry into gold mining by USA-owned Dalradian in the Sperrins near Greencastle, Co Tyrone, was abruptly halted after two days in mid-January. Opponents of the mining were there in strength but Dalradian have been working on site since 2009 and first submitted plans to mine in 2017. Their commitment, under pressure, not to use cyanide there may hold but does not cover other toxic and environmental effects, or the possible use of cyanide elsewhere. The inquiry was halted over the failure of the Department for Infrastructure in the North to give the required notice across the border but may resume in late March. The NI Executive makes the final decision on mining. https://www.facebook.com/search/posts/?q=save%20our%20sperrins

Another miraculous appearance by St Brigid

In a stupendous and recurring miracle, around her feast day every year St Brigid puts in an appearance at the Department of Foreign Affairs at St Stephen’s Green, calling on the Irish government to act for peace (in accord with St Brigid herself), and, currently, to protect the Triple Lock which requires UN approval for Irish troops deployment overseas. https://swordstoploughsharesireland.org/ and https://youtu.be/hl4LHqSVU4o?si=4J4YiOaFBm7cpJRn

ICCL on new government programme

ICCL/Irish Council for Civil Liberties has looked at both negatives and positives in the Programme for Government with the former including the retention of the Special Criminal Court and the extension of police powers, and the latter comprehensively reviewing the criminal justice system, modernising the Coroner Service, and tackling the use of recommender algorithms. www.iccl.ie

Transformative approaches to housing

Housing is a critical issue in wellbeing. Housing ourselves in the wellbeing economy is an in person and online event on Friday 14th February taking place at WeCreate Centre, Cloughjordan Ecovillage, Co. Tipperary, E53 VP86 and online from 10am – 5pm. It aims to explore transformative approaches to housing that prioritise sustainability, inclusivity, and community resilience and is hosted by Cloughjordan Co-Housing in collaboration with the Irish Hub of the Wellbeing Economy Alliance which Feasta co-ordinates. Details at https://cloughjordancohousing.coop/making-neighbourhoods/housing-ourselves-2025/ and Feasta is at https://www.feasta.org/

Glencree on 50 years after Feakle talks

It is 50 years since Protestant church leaders bravely met the IRA in secret talks at Feakle, Co Clare, setting a pattern for dialogue which eventually paid dividends. Glencree marked this anniversary with an event in December. https://glencree.ie/events/feakle-1974/

CRIS/Community Relations in Schools at 40

Belfast-based Community Relations in Schools is marking 40 years work with schoolchildren in building understanding and friendship. They will be celebrating with a gala fundraising dinner on Saturday 15th March from 6pm to late at Titanic Centre Belfast, tickets £75. More details and about CRIS’s work at https://www.crisni.org/40-years-of-cris

WRI on Israel-Hamas ceasefire

A statement from the Executive of War Resisters’ International (WRI) on the Israel-Hamas ceasefire can be found at https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2025/wri-exec-statement-israel-hamas-ceasefire

Oisín Coghlan moving on from FOE

Oisín Coghlan who has been at the helm of Irish Friends of the Earth for 20 years has decided it is time to move on but with many achievements under his/their belt. https://www.friendsoftheearth.ie/news/announcement-oisin-coghlan-to-step-down-as-ceo-of-friends-of/

WBW course on Unarmed Civilian Defense

Among others, World Beyond War (WBW) has a 6 week online course (time recommendation 3 – 6 hours per week) on Unarmed civilian defense instead of war beginning on 12th May, course fee $100, concession as little as $25. It has a focus on the role unarmed civilian defense can play in resisting military force, invasion, occupation, dictatorship, and warfare. See https://tinyurl.com/84j96z3p for details. The WBW website is at https://worldbeyondwar.org/

Diasporas and peacebuilding

The January 2025 issue of Peace in Progress from the International Catalan Institute for Peace looks at the role of diasporas in peacebulding. https://www.icip.cat/perlapau/en/magazine/42-2/

Global Day of Action to #CloseBases, 23 February

World Beyond War, backed by many other organisations, is organising a global day of action to close military bases since they are “a critical piece of the war machine that must be dismantled. “ https://worldbeyondwar.org/closebases/

Organic Centre Rossinver

The Organic Centre in the heart of rural Rossinver, Leitrim looks forward to 2025 with the hope of brighter days ahead. As an educational charity, it specialises in promoting all things organic, sustainable living and biodiversity. The Organic Centre was founded in 1995 by local organic growers, and farmers. Developed on a 19-acre green field site at the foot of limestone hills beside Lough Melvin, it became a pioneering organisation, at the forefront of organic growing, and action for climate change. In the beginning there were 6 weekend courses which took place in 1997. Now, the centre looks forward to almost 40 courses ranging from growing to recycling workshops, stone wall building, cheese making, pizza oven building and more.

The calendar year now hosts a multitude of free seasonal events, including one to mark Brigid’s Day, Apple Day, Samhain, a Green Christmas fair, a large range of activities in Biodiversity Week in May and Heritage Week in August, to name but a few.  And coming soon is Potato Day, a free family friendly event, on Sunday 2th March from 12-4pm, with demonstrations, tours, and an onsite craft and food market. Regarding training for growers, the centre also hosts a now adapted, part time, funded course in organic horticulture, an opportunity to learn and be part of a movement, as policy makers nationally and internationally start to recognise the importance of organic agriculture for planet and health. The MSLETB Level 5 in Organic Horticulture closes for applications on Feb 10th https://www.theorganiccentre.ie/Learn/now%20part%20time%20horticultural-course

You can organise a tour of the centre as an away day with your work, school or family – just ring 0719854338.  You can go for a walk on the new Fowley’s Falls trail that links up with the Organic Centre, and end at the Grass Roof Cafe for tea and coffee. Check out the Organic Centre’s website and social media channels for more information on courses, events, and the onsite and online shop. https://www.theorganiccentre.ie/

Death of Ken Mayers

We regret to record the death of US peace activist Ken Mayers. Edward Horgan writes: “Ken Mayers, peace activist, member of Veterans For Peace US, and VFP Ireland Chapter, passed away at his home in Santa Fe New Mexico on 27th January. Many of you will have met Ken while he was virtually imprisoned in Ireland for almost 9 months after the peace action that he and Tarak Kauff undertook at Shannon airport on St Patrick’s Day in 2019. Ken was an inspiration to peace activists in Ireland, in the USA and worldwide, and in addition to his activism in Ireland he also attended and helped to organise peaceful protests in the US, Palestine, Korea, Japan and elsewhere. I have no doubt that Ken in Resting in Peace and the world is a better place because of his life’s work.” For photos of Ken Mayers in action, see e.g. https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/48187813206/in/album-72157616378924274 and https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/48863510693/in/album-72157616378924274

Principles and practices of peace education

The Open University has a free introductory short course (12 hours study) produced in collaboration with Quakers in Britain on how peace might be built in everyday classroom practice. It introduces layers of peace education for children and young people, including inner-peace and wellbeing; interpersonal peace through positive relationships and constructive approaches to conflict; and critical thinking about the world beyond the classroom. See https://www.open.edu/openlearn/education-development/principles-and-practices-peace-education/content-section-overview?active-tab=description-tab for details.