Tag Archives: Ireland

Eco-Awareness: Valuing our waterways

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Larry Speight brings us his monthly column –

When I was a boy of about five or six I would sometimes tilt my head back and open my mouth to catch the rain believing that it was as drinkable as the water that came out of the kitchen tap. This I later learnt was not true as the rain contained contaminates from factories, vehicle exhaust pipes and home fires.

All of these, and a host of other contaminates, have to be removed from the water piped into our homes, schools, hospitals, libraries, offices and factories. This means that although water is free at the point of use, collecting, storing, processing, transporting and then cleaning the water after use costs a great deal of money.

Given that clean water is vital to life and to the smooth functioning of society one might think that we place an exceedingly high value on it but we don’t.

If we did then the waterways on this island, which are oblivious to political borders, would be in excellent health from which hill walkers could draw water to make a hot brew and swimmers stretch their limbs. This, as scientific reports and personal experience tell us, is not the case. Everyone who pays attention to the local and national media would know that not only are the bodies of fresh water across these islands a danger to human and other life but the lack of water infrastructure prevents the building of new homes and other amenities.

The Fermanagh based Impartial Reporter highlighted this in a recent special report on the pollution of Lough Erne and the negative social and economic consequences. Lough Neagh suffers from similar but much worse pollution. In regards to Lough Neagh members of the public in mid-Ulster informed the BBC’s The Nolan Show, 13 September, that the water coming out of their taps tasted so foul they could not drink it. NI Water assured the public that it was safe to drink.

Fergal Sharkey, a clean water activist and one-time lead singer of the Northern Ireland punk-rock group the Undertones, is quoted in The Belfast Telegraph as saying of the N.I. Water Authority that: “It does not need plans. It does not need strategies. It simply needs the current law enforced.” This deduction means that the responsibility for the deplorable condition of water in Northern Ireland, and other jurisdictions, lies with the government minister in charge. In Northern Ireland this is Andrew Muir. As the pollution of Northern Ireland’s waterways is a result of neglect over a long number of years previous ministers in charge of water are also responsible for its deplorable state.

Why do ministers, and bodies with statutory responsibility for our water, turn a blind eye to the scientific evidence and the experiences of those who have suffered illness or loss of income because of the pollution? I would venture that the reason is that they see their job as primarily to facilitate profit making regardless of the cost to ecosystems and human health. This is the case not only on our island but in countries around the world whose bodies of water are also polluted,

This was vividly illustrated by the N.I. Executive’s 2013 Going for Growth strategy which prioritised the expansion and profit-making of the agri-food industry at the expense of the protection of waterways, biodiversity and human health. Evidence that supports this contention is that slurry, which is a mixture of livestock manure and water, and is spread on grassland, is mentioned only once in the 85-page Going for Growth document.

Slurry, which is heavy in nitrogen and phosphorus and is likely to contain the residue of antibiotics, finds its way into our streams, rivers and lake, and is a major contributor, along with untreated sewage, to the growth of blue-green algae which afflicts Lough Erne and Lough Neagh as well as other bodies of water. In 2023 blue-green algae found its way by means of the River Bann onto the north coast. This year it was confirmed in Portrush harbour.

The Going for Growth strategy is a classic example of compartmentalised thinking and reflects the prevailing view, which is contrary to the evidence, that our species exists a part from nonhuman nature, or what is often called the natural world. This sense of disconnection is in large part the result of us living in an increasingly complex technological world.

In regards to our acquisition of water we in high-income countries pull a cord, push a button, turn a tap or push down on a handle without having a clue about where the water comes from, where it goes, its real financial cost or its ecological value. This is the case in regards to almost everything we consume underscoring the case that most of us, including those with doctorates or are highly skilled in a particular field, live in a knowledge vacuum.

The sphere of our ignorance about the things that underpin our way of life is cosmic. It is a vast black hole of not knowing about the materials that common appliances such as smart phones, laptops, motor vehicles, medications and foot ware are made of. Most of us don’t know where the raw materials were mined, processed and manufactured into finished products. We know nothing about the nature of the working conditions and wages paid to all the people along this chain including the inventors, financiers, advertisers, accountants, lawyers, the people who place shop orders, track their delivery across multiple countries and process the relevant forms.

In regards to our polluted waterways we have the expectation of having drinkable water at the turn of a tap no matter what building we are in, the time of day and regardless of whether there is a prolonged drought or a deep flood. We want water whatever the circumstance, or restriction on the quantity, without being prepared, in the broadest sense, to pay for its actual cost which is a disposition predicated on us not appreciating its real value.

Bill King: Rites Again, 323

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Billy King shares his monthly thoughts

Not so Lucky Dube hitting nails on the head

South African reggae singer Lucky Dube (pronounced ‘du-bay’) ended up not so lucky as he was shot dead in a carjacking in 2007. However he had been a prominent voice against apartheid and for racial harmony including before the end of apartheid. I returned to listening to a compilation album of his when racist riots took place in Dublin and Belfast. Some is culturally specific but change a word or two and some of the songs were made for such a time. Another song I admire not on the same album is ‘Respect’ which is certainly the best sung definition that I know of – “respect for who I am, not what I am”.

It’s not his own song but he has a great version of “Peace perfect peace” – “We cry for peace, perfect peace / Lord we cry for love in this neighbourhood / ……We cry for peace in South Africa” (and in Ireland I might add). “Together as one” is a great cry for racial harmony, singing from a black South African standpoint: “…Hey you rasta man / Hey European, Indian man / We’ve got to come together as one…” The alternative, of course, is some form of apartheid, formal or informal, and we know the dead end and violence that leads to.

Dalriada abu: We demand the return of western Scotland to Ireland

We must demand the return of western Scotland to Irish control and ownership. It was culturally Irish and part of the kingdom of Dalriada/Dál Riata on both sides of the Irish Sea only 1200 years ago. Why, if you arrive at the port of Cairnryan all the names around are Irish – and ‘Scot’land is named after the Irish. Western Scotland should immediately be returned to Irish ownership and control.

Eh, there are a few problems with this proposition. Things have changed somewhat over 1200 years. The people living in western Scotland don’t identify as Irish and it has been part of ‘Great Britain’ for centuries – and if it wasn’t then the next likely alternative is not joining Ireland but being part of an independent Scottish state.

However this preposterous demand is no different to the right-wing Israeli one to control ‘Judea and Samaria’ and all the lands Jews occupied or lived in a couple of millennia ago (even longer ago than when western Scotland was culturally and politically Irish). Yet this claim to others’ land largely goes unchallenged in the west. And Jews were not the only peoples around in those lands at that time and the Philistines and others get a bad write up in the Jewish and Christian Bibles and these versions are taken as ‘gospel’ by some Christians and Jews.

There are different definitions of Zionism but the denial of a viable Palestinian state means that Israel itself cannot live in peace. Justice is a major theme in the Hebrew (and indeed Christian) Bible and justice is being denied to Palestinians. The claim to land by the Israeli state and settlers because their distant ancestors lived on it – not necessarily without other people being around simultaneously – has to be called out for what it is, an imperialist land grab based on theocratic and archaic thinking; it is politically and ethically inexcusable. And it is very sad for various reasons, not least, as stated above, in denying a peaceful existence to the people of Israel.

Crews in

I watched the 2022 film ‘Triangle of sadness’ on a well-known streaming platform. It is a game of three halves which don’t necessarily fit too well together but it has some brilliant moments. A young couple (both models and she a supermodel and social influencer) and an older English couple (with the first names of a British prime minister and wife) are at the captain’s banquet on board a luxury cruise ship – the banquet is a disaster but that is another story. The young couple ask what business the older couple are in. “Producing product in precision engineering” comes the reply. And the older man further elucidates that their products have been deployed in upholding democracy all over the world.

Of course the younger couple ask what product it is. “Basically our best selling product in the hand grenade.” The older woman repeats the nature of the product, as if it was sprockets or tin cans, as it hasn’t sunk in with the younger couple. The older couple go on to say that their profits took a 25% hit because the UN banned landmines but “we pulled though” and they still have each other and loved each other….. I don’t think it requires a spoiler alert to say their product makes a brief cameo appearance later in the film.

The film is a satire on the rich to some extent but a drunken ‘dialogue’ between the alcoholic ‘Marxist’ captain and Russian capitalist oligarch passenger seems a bit weird (word of the moment after Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz used it about Trump) and doesn’t ring true; it would seem inserted (and perhaps the captain’s general behaviour) to say the makers of the film are not just critiquing capitalism but Marxism/Communism too. The tables do get turned in the film but maybe they keep on turning.

And I will add a final comment. As you may know, cruising (as in taking a luxury cruise) is about the most polluting R&R you can engage in; as Friends of the Earth say, “Cruise ships are a catastrophe for the environment — and that’s not an overstatement. They dump toxic waste into our waters, fill the planet with carbon dioxide, and kill marine wildlife.“ I am not suggesting you fly to your favourite resort however it is likely to be far less dangerous for our little planet than taking a cruise. But how do you persuade people that taking a cruise is anti-social and collectively suicidal? Are you going to tell your friends, neighbours or workmates that when they have proudly announced their latest trip on a ship? Doing so may ‘trip up’ your relationship, and they could flip out, but the learning has to happen somehow. Perhaps you could say, ship up or ship out.

Media not in the middle

Most of the Irish media, contrary to the the views of most people in the Republic but in accord with the establishment, takes a pro-NATO line. This is not usually actually advocating NATO membership, since that is a step too far and risking fully alienating citizens, but portraying NATO and cooperation with it as a Good Thing. In doing so their critical faculties go out the window.

The Phoenix magazine is an exception, consistently raising problems with NATO and often covering moves, sometimes covert, by the Irish establishment to be fully in accord with NATO thinking and practice, and detailing deviations from ostensible neutrality. Take the issue of 6/9/24 under the heading ‘NATO cods Ireland’. They rightly point out the bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipeline in the Baltic sea in 2022 has been used by NATO and Irish figures to warn of the dangers to undersea infrastructure (energy and communications) and, directly or indirectly, to refer to the ‘Russian threat’.

There is only one problem with this. It wasn’t Russia that blew up the Nord Stream pipeline. It was seemingly done by Ukraine. The appropriate conclusion to make is that it is war itself which is the real danger and that Ireland should be fearlessly exercising its neutrality to work for peace and avoid armed conflict. Wake me up when the Irish establishment realises that.

And what is it with Irish media? They are afraid to report on protests about Irish neutrality and NATO and rock the establishment boat. The issue of Shannon Airport as a warport is of course currently combined with opposition to the Israeli onslaught on the people of Gaza. 400 or 500 people attended the national demonstration at Shannon on 8th September. Al Jazeera and The Guardian reported the protest. In Ireland it would appear the only pick up was two local radio stations. There is only one word to describe this and that is – pathetic.

P Snooze

Apologies for a humorous heading to something which is more a crying matter. The British peace publication Peace News, founded 1936, is no longer going strong. In fact it has ceased publication for the moment anyway over a major conflict between the staff and the board and holding company, and the resignation of the staff. I am certainly not going into the details which have in any case been aired in public and in the publication.

Peace News was important to me when I first became a peace activist as the nearest (geographical) peace publication which reflected something of what I was feeling and believing – there was nothing in Ireland at the time. Peace News has gone through a number of transmogrifications since then and while a lot of the news and some of the features didn’t reflect situations I was dealing with, its coverage of issues and kind of approach was something I could often identify with and learn from.

You expect cut-throat conflict in some aspects of business and politics – not that it should be like that – but peace and community groups and churches are arenas where, because there is an expectation of people being ‘nice’ to each other, conflict can develop, go horribly wrong, and not be dealt with because ‘that sort of thing doesn’t happen with us’. Unfortunately nothing can be further from the truth. Those familiar with mediation and conflict resolution of any kind will know how anyone can end up in deep conflict, how easy it is to fall into, and how, when you listen to one side, the right of the matter seems to lie with them…..until you listen to the other side and the pattern is reversed. Getting each side to listen to the other is at the core of mediation.

Mediation has, rightly, taken its place as a mainstream option regarding conflict in both jurisdictions in Ireland. But there are so many situations where mediation and conciliation processes are not considered, and it also takes two to tango, and one party in a conflict can reject a mediative process for a whole variety of reasons – being convinced they are right and/or feelings of superiority, unfamiliarity with mediation and what it does or does not entail, or anger and heightened emotion.

I am not trying to make any judgements on the Peace News situation here in saying we have a long way to go in making mediation and mediative processes part of what and who we are. In that regard the work of the late Jerry Tyrrell in developing peer mediation in schools pinpoints one area where dealing with conflict in a positive way should be introduced – though he was keen to point out it had to be a ‘whole school’ approach and not a tokenistic attempt to appear progressive or help keep order in the school. Get them young – introduce the basic methodology of mediation in school as a basic part of education and preparing young people for dealing positively with conflict. Being familiar with such processes is important so it becomes as natural as breathing – not just for those who engage as mediators but also for the parties in conflict so they know that there is another side and another story involved, and are prepared to engage.

–

Well, that is me for another while as winter arrives. Time goes by regardless, I hope the next month is a productive one for you in whatever positive doings you are involved in, see you soon, Billy.

News, September 2024

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Triple Lock: Government locked in negative thinking

The Irish government is making its move in September to abolish the Triple Lock (Government, Dáil, and UN) on the deployment of Irish soldiers overseas. Tánaiste Micheál Martin has said that the draft legislation will be ready by “the first week of September”, when it will be considered by the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence. This is a critical move in further watering down Irish neutrality and preparing the Republic to participate in EU and NATO led military actions.

Peace groups, in a statement coordinated by Afri, have expressed alarm https://www.afri.ie/category/triplelock/ – it concludes “We call on the government to respect voter wishes and to prevent any erosion of neutrality through the dismantling of the Triple Lock, and to ensure that these widely held concerns are made present in the Joint Committee’s and further deliberations.” The above link has a list of TDs and their emails for making representations to them – which Afri has urged people to do. A further piece there describes a bit of the background – “The Seville Declaration on the Nice Treaty in 2002 spelt out the ‘Triple Lock’, requiring UN authorisation along with Government and Dáil approval if our troops are deployed overseas. This assurance was repeated in 2009 to get the Lisbon Treaty approved, but the promised ‘Lisbon Protocol’ of 2013 merely redescribed that Treaty, without even mentioning the Triple Lock. The present Government’s Programme reaffirmed the Triple Lock, its key resting in the People’s hands; now they propose to unpick the UN lever without reference back to us.”

An excellent recent detailed article on the Triple Lock by Niamh Ní Bhriain is available at https://www.tni.org/en/publication/saving-the-triple-lock and this carefully demolishes government arguments for abandoning it.

A logo produced for Afri which can be freely used in defence of the Triple Lock is available via https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/53941857477/in/dateposted/

The PANA/Peace And Neutrality Alliance’s pamphlet on the Triple Lock is available at their website www.pana.ie

The government-run Consultative Forum on International Security Policy of June 2023 is generally seen as attempting to provide a fig leaf for the change but it is disputed that it even did that. See https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/albums/72177720309217408/with/53008092883 and for a report by StoP on it see https://innatenonviolence.org/wp/2023/10/18/stop-report-on-consultative-forum-on-international-security/

Lex Innocentium 21st Century: Launch in Birr and Lorrha

21st September, International Day of Peace, sees the launch of Lex Innocentium 21st Century, a modern take on the 697 CE ‘Law of the Innocents’ adopted by a church synod in Birr, Co Offaly. The new Law of the Innocents includes protection for the earth as well as human beings and is written in secular mode. The conference part of the programme will take place in Birr on the morning of 21st September and the actual signing takes place in the afternoon in Redwood Castle, Lorrha, Co Tipperary, where in the early 17th century Micheál Ó Cléirigh, co-writer of the Annals of the Four Masters, travelled to find out more about Adomnán and the Law of the Innocents.

The law includes the statement that it is a “people’s law, a moral law, a law of principle, that can be used by individuals and groups to highlight failures of governments around the world to save humanity from the scourge of war; to call governments and international leaders to account for those failures; and to challenge all those who have a vested interest in the instigation, justification and normalization of war.”

Speakers in Birr in the morning include; James Houlihan on the history of Adomnán; Rob Fairmichael on Irish peace history; Ed Horgan on the human cost of war; Eamon Rafter on the financial cost of the military-industrial complex; Sylvia Thompson (Tralee) on the cost to the environment and the future. At Lorrha, the new law will be read by John Maquire. Participation is free, donations welcome, and full details of the new 21st century law, the launch, the background, and booking for the day, can be found at https://lexinnocentium21.ie/ Following the launch, people everywhere, anywhere in the world, will be invited to sign the new law – visit the website to do so later.

Aldergrove: Part of the Western war machine

Belfast International Airport at Aldergrove is very much part of the western military infrastructure. Ed Horgan reports that on 29th August there were at least 7 US military aircraft landing at Aldergrove airport outside Belfast, including 6 Hercules C130’s, all coming from Dyes air force base near Abilene in Texas and flying on to Ramstein US air base in Germany and at least four of these heading on from there to the Middle East. There was also a C 17 Globemaster coming from Norfolk naval air station Virginia which later flew on to Rzeszow airport in south East Poland near the border with Ukraine which is the main NATO supply airport for weapons and munitions to Ukraine. Ed Horgan vocalised peace movement concern that Aldergrove Airport is being used increasingly by the US military in support of unjustified wars and genocide. See e.g. https://www.facebook.com/veteransforpeace.org.ie

Shannon: A summer of vigils, continued resistance

Every weekend in July and August saw all-day anti-war vigils at Shannon Airport, https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/53854341990/in/dateposted/ and it is hoped to continue this on Sundays in September – including at 2pm on Sunday 8th September when there is a national demo there with the theme ‘Stop Arming Israel – No weapons or military flights to Israel through Shannon!’ https://www.shannonwatch.org/content/stop-arming-israel-national-mobilisation-shannon-airport

Action Against War, Cork

A new campaign group has been established in Cork, initially under the auspices of the Cork Neutrality League. Action Against War (AAW) will campaign against Ireland’s and the EU’s increasing militarism and in defence of neutrality. AAW aims to to build a united front against militarism and war involving campaign groups (including Palestine-solidarity groups, anti-racism groups, tenants’ groups), trade unions, left political parties, student groups and other progressive associations and individuals. Along with Cork Palestine Solidarity Campaign they organised a protest on 8th August at Collins Aerospace (a Cork subsidiary of RTX Corporation – formerly Raytheon). https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/53919710025/in/dateposted/ Contact: Dominic Carroll corkneutralityleague@gmail.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/action.against.war_/ This is a shorter version of an item in the August news supplement.

l It has since been revealed that Collins Aerospace has a role in the development of a new NATO helicopter. https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2024/08/15/irish-company-involved-in-concept-study-for-new-nato-helicopter/

MII conference for Belfast, 18th – 19th October

The annual conference of the Mediators’ Institute of Ireland (MII) takes place in Belfast from 18th – 19th October, the first time north of the border, with the title ‘Broadening our perspective on mediation’. It includes a session on ‘The role of mediators in conflict zones’ with input from Cathy Ashton, Nita Yawanarajah, and Pat Hynes. There is a varied programme, details of which are at https://www.themii.ie/mii-annual-conference-2024-broadening-our-perspective-on-mediation-2/

World Beyond War: Award to TCD SU, Resisting US military empire

World Beyond War (WBW) has given the 2024 Youth War Abolisher Award to Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union. In May, 2024, Trinity College agreed to fully divest from Israeli companies over a period; this followed a tent encampment protest on campus that was part of a movement at campuses in several countries. For this and news of the other awards see https://worldbeyondwar.org/war-abolisher-awards-of-2024-announced-presentation-scheduled/ The WBW annual international conference takes place, including remotely, from 20th – 22nd September on the theme “Resisting the USA’s military empire”, see https://worldbeyondwar.org/nowar2024/

Jeremy Corbyn at Galway commemoration of Hiroshima

Video of Jeremy Corbyn speaking on 3rd August at the GAAW/Galway Alliance Against War commemoration of the Hiroshima bombing can be found at https://www.facebook.com/100003639263343/videos/900703115224421/

Good Relations Week in the North, 16th – 22nd September

Good Relations Week in Northern Ireland is used as a showcase for the work done by may different projects. The theme this year is “OpportUNITY” and for full info see https://goodrelationsweek.com/

Nuclear ‘Russian roulette’ in Ukraine

Chernobyl Children International (CCI) has again warned of the enormous dangers posed by threats to nuclear plants in Ukraine following a drone strike and fire at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on 12th August. Adi Roche of CCI has repeatedly spoken of the danger of Zaporizhzhia becoming another Chernobyl and that “The inferno at Zaporizhzhia reflects a worrying trend emanating from this war, where nuclear facilities have been weaponised and brought into the increasingly volatile and unpredictable combat zones, signifying to the world that the nature of modern warfare has changed forever, and brings with it a sense of foreboding for wars of the future.” 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’. https://www.chernobyl-international.com/

Feasta ‘Rethinking Growth’ videos

Videos of the sessions at the ‘Rethinking Growth – Towards a wellbeing economy for Ireland’ conference in late June are available at https://rethinking-growth.ie/ and the main Feasta website is at https://www.feasta.org/

Season of Creation – Worldwide….including Kerry

This is the worldwide Christian ‘Season of Creation’ which runs from 1st September to 4th October; lots of resources can be found in and via Eco Congregation Ireland at https://www.ecocongregationireland.com/2024/07/31/resources-for-season-of-creation-2024/ One example event, organised by the Diocese of Kerry, is a webinar at 7.30pm on 12th September with Dr. Niamh Brennan sharing on ‘To hope and act with Creation’, see https://www.dioceseofkerry.ie/2024/08/season-of-creation-webinar-to-hope-and-act-with-creation/ for info and booking.

Action for Peace and Climate Justice

The first global Week of Action for Peace and Climate Justice, coordinated by the Arms, Militarism and Climate Justice Working Group, will take place from 21 -28 September, 2024. This initiative aims to connect peace and climate justice movements, raise awareness of the links between militarism and climate breakdown, and foster collective action for a sustainable world. This year’s theme, “Divest from War – Invest in Climate Justice,” promotes redirecting military spending to climate action. See https://climatemilitarism.org/weekofaction/ Source: QCEA https://www.qcea.org/

Editorials: The race against racism, Not being neutral on neutrality

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The race against racism

The ugliness of racism has been all too evident in Ireland over the summer with slightly different manifestations in the two jurisdictions on the island. In the Republic the now established norm, requiring only a small number of perpetrators, is to burn and destroy buildings which are perceived to be, or actually are, for refugees and international protection migrants. In the North, because of the legacy and presence of sectarian violence and paramilitarism, there are more physical attacks directly on people because of their skin colour or perceived religion (not necessarily correct in relation to the latter as when a restaurant owner of Nepalese Hindu origin, employing ten people, was burnt out and ‘Muslims out’ daubed on the walls). We are lucky there were no racist killings recently.

The tie up between racist attacks and far right activists is all too plain to see through social media and ‘facts on the ground’. In the North there is also the connection to some loyalist paramilitaries; racism is present in Catholic/Nationalist communities in the North but nationalism has the advantage, in relation to racism, of being at least theoretically inclusive – ‘everyone’ is, or is invited to be, part of the Irish nation (the reality can, of course, be rather different). Loyalism has the disadvantage in relation to racism of being more exclusive, ‘what we have we hold’. Racism and sectarianism are perhaps not evil twins but certainly evil cousins or even step-siblings.

Ireland, the Republic, has undergone perhaps the fastest transition in Europe from a very high level of people born in the country to a situation of around a fifth of people being born outside the state. It has been good for the country in a variety of ways and the Irish experience of emigration has, until relatively recently, meant that most people appreciated that people had excellent reasons, in some cases survival, for coming and would make a positive contribution to society.

What racists and the far right have sought to do is to exploit two things: unfair distribution of resources (housing and facilities) and incidents where migrants have been involved in violence. In the case of the latter, it does not matter whether mental illness or other mitigating factors are involved, it is a coat on which to hang their right wing and violent ideology. Inequality and poverty are exploited by racists and the far right to scapegoat migrants when the issue is both long term and shorter term deficiencies in governmental planning and action.

Of course governmental policies are not the cause or source of racism but they can exacerbate it. The Irish government has learnt, hopefully, that depriving a local community of its only hotel to use to accommodate migrants is not a good move as it deprives local people of needed facilities. Of course there is a major housing crisis in the Republic, especially Dublin, but it is due primarily to economic success. And who will do the jobs Irish people may no longer wish to do or fill in the gaps in health and social care systems? Migrants of course.

There are many things which civil society can do in relation to countering racism, and most are being done though there is always the need for more people to be involved. One is get to know and support migrants in integrating with local society while allowing them to retain what they wish of their own identity. A second is educating, in a broad sense, people about why migrants have come and what they bring. Racists sometimes use facile slogans such as “Ireland is full” – yes, there are issues in relation to housing, which are fixable, but ‘full’? There were still more people on the island before the Great Famine and there are many countries far more densely populated than Ireland.

A related matter, in terms of education, is to help people be aware of the history and cultures of the places where migrants come from. ‘We’ can have a very insular view of culture and development – do we know, for example, about the role of India in the development of mathematics https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/01/hidden-story-ancient-india-west-maths-astronomy-historians or the role of China in innovating so much over the millennia? Our Western-centric view of civilisation is not only false but dangerous in giving ‘us’ western Europeans an inflated view of our own importance.

Criticism has been voiced of the police/PSNI failure to take a more pro-active stand in relation to racist attacks. Regarding violence in Belfast at the start of August, Patrick Corrigan of Amnesty International said “An unlawful procession, including masked men clearly intent on violence, marauded across the most ethnically diverse part of Belfast, attacking communities and businesses as they went – and the PSNI did not stop them. There are serious questions for the police, who publicly declared they were prepared, but then failed to protect already vulnerable communities.” While such situations are not easy for the police to deal with both imagination and firmness are needed and many people from ethnic minorities in Belfast and other parts of the North, especially Antrim, have been left in fear (and may leave in fear).

In times of racist violence there are also actions which civil society can, and does, take. Expressing solidarity with neighbours and giving our presence at anti-racist and inclusivist demonstrations are two such things. Actively standing out in the street, and intervening to help stop racist violence when tensions are high and things are actually happening in places or people being targetted, is more risky but necessary (and took place in Belfast recently). Monitoring and accompaniment may be appropriate tools but so can active intervention to form protective lines or challenge violent behaviour. The problem is also that anti-racists cannot be everywhere and racists can target anywhere, or anyone, in the middle of the night or at least when no one else is around. Nonviolent training and tools are potentially vital in these kinds of situations particularly when some anti-racists can also engage in antagonising behaviour such as shouting abuse at racists – this merely ups the tension and potential for violence.

Local and European elections in the Republic did not show the far right and racists to be a significant force but they are there, and through violence then can exert a felt presence they could not through more peaceful and democratic means. We cannot ‘root out’ racists since they are part of the community. What we can do is educate people in the realities of the world and the contribution migrants make but also point out the relatively small number of refugee seekers coming to Ireland – which also needs workers.

The race against racism is not a sprint but a marathon. There always has been racism in Ireland and Irish people themselves have been both subject to, and perpetrators of, it. We need strategies and tactics for a long haul which will show the humanity of migrants and allow Irish people to enjoy and benefit from what they bring.

Not being neutral on neutrality

The lead news item in this issue reveals just how close Irish neutrality in any meaningful form is to being binned. Micheál Martin in particular has been gunning (sic) to fully join Ireland with EU and NATO militarism – and regarding NATO, Ireland is definitely a ‘fellow traveller’ – full NATO membership may not be on the cards but participation at a high level is possible without that. It is remarkable how far Ireland has travelled from the principles held by former leaders, including Eamon de Valera and Frank Aiken – ironically both of the same political party as Micheál Martin.

The homogenisation of EU military and foreign policy leaves limited scope for manoeuvre but there is considerable scope for action. Ireland has been more outspoken on the massacres happening in Gaza while it has been tardy in actually taking action, and has refused, despite some soundings, to inspect US military flights stopping over at Shannon Airport. Of course as a neutral country there should be no military flights there but the craven subservience to the USA in refusing to inspect military planes is an insult not just to peace but to any idea of Irish sovereignty.

The Irish government has consistently refused – including at the (so called) Forum on International Security Policy in 2023 – to look at possibilities of developing and extending Irish neutrality. The sky is the limit to the role Ireland could play for peace in the world, and as a relatively rich country it has the wherewithal to engage meaningfully on many different issues and situations while avoiding an imperialist “we have the answers” approach. The opportunity is there and the history of Irish contributions to peace sets a great precedent. It is the lack of imagination which is particularly galling along with the willingness to back the former imperialist powers in NATO and the EU. It is a very sad situation.

Billy King: Rites Again, 322

Billy King, Nonviolent News, ,

Billy King shares his monthly thoughts

Well, it was one of those years when you might feel, as I did, that summer forgot to come and autumn came first. With climate change that may be increasingly our lot, not that Ireland was ever renowned for tropical summers. The rain in Spain Ireland stays mainly on and on. Oh well, I hope you got your head showered somewhere and you are fit and ready for autumn and winter. Of course it wasn’t a good summer for racism either but that is another, and unpleasant, story.

Marching orders

For imaginative audacity and brass neck over the summer though you have to admire Portadown Orangemen, still smarting after all these years on not being able to march down the Garvaghy Road and through a Catholic area where they are not welcome. They argued the toss with the Parades Commission that they should march through when Armagh (the county Portadown is in) were playing in – and in the event winning by a point – the All-Ireland Gaelic football final. The premise was that all the taigs* would be either in Croke Park or watching the match so it wouldn’t matter to them. Nice try lads [I thought a try was in rugby – Ed]. But you’ll have to do better than that next time, like actually talking to residents. *’Obviously not the term used by them in seeking permission, but Taig’ is used in a highly derogatory way by some Northern Prods about Catholics; as its origin is in the personal name ‘Tadhg’, coming from ‘poet’, I use it as a positive term but being careful to explain why.

Genius

It was a bit of a coincidence. Edna O’Brien’s impressionistic and excellent 1999 biography of James Joyce had sat on a bookshelf of ours for a long time but it caught my eye and, it being short, I thought I could read it in a couple of days and I had, it being summer, time to do so. That I did and finished it on the day that Edna O’Brien’s death was announced, before I heard she was dead or even at death’s door. illy King

Without going into details of the book, my chief thought following the reading was how Nora Barnacle stuck to her man through thick and thin (mainly thin), it is absolutely amazing. Lesser people would have headed for the hills, or in her case close to the sea, very early on. But it got me thinking. JJ is usually thought of as a bit of a genius, and he certainly proclaimed it himself, but are all ‘geniuses’ impossible (or at least improbable) to live with? O’Brien however talks about writers in the context of James Joyce (and I am not equating ‘writers’ with ‘geniuses’) – “Do writers have to be such monsters in order to create? I believe that they do. It is a paradox that while wrestling with language to capture the human condition they become more callous, and cut off from the very human traits which they so glisteningly depict” (in the “Fame” chapter of her book). I don’t necessarily agree.

Edna O’Brien herself chose to stay single most of her life though that did not preclude relationships. She was a determined and dedicated writer but I don’t think she would have been impossible to live with. Certainly some writers or geniuses would require a genius at putting up with them to sustain a relationship, and probably a certain amount goes with the territory. But so too in relation to political activists, peace or otherwise, given the commitment made to The Cause and how this relates to, or can tower over, family relationships and commitments.

Isn’t it a strange world.

Struth

The old adage that the first casualty of war is truth is one that isn’t much bandied about in relation to the war in Ukraine. The fact is that we usually in our neck of the woods only get one version of what is happening and that is taken as gospel truth; Russians bad, NATO good, Ukraine saintly. No, I am certainly not going to say the Russians are good, it was a brutal and opportunistic invasion that went badly wrong for Putin but he has used it for his own purposes (cf perpetual war in Orwell’s ‘1984’). But NATO had a part in setting up the scenario for the war by its expansionist aims and actions (cf perpetual war in Orwell’s ‘1984’, NATO was set up to counter the Russian communist bloc and should have got moth-balled when it fell, instead it came up with new enemies).

Occasionally we get a glimpse at greater truths. Take https://www.irishtimes.com/world/europe/2024/08/13/we-killed-many-of-them-on-the-first-day-they-didnt-expect-us-how-ukraine-pulled-off-its-invasion-of-russia/ about the Ukrainian invasion of Russian territory in August 2024. A Ukrainian soldier says of this incursion into Russia that “We killed many of them on the first day……..Because they were unarmed and didn’t expect us.” Ahem, I know this is a war, but this sounds like the Ukrainians killing many unarmed soldiers, contrary to the ‘laws of war’ as I understand them as they were no threat to the Ukrainian army. He does say many surrendered too.

Reading

between the lines

is a necessary skill and never needed more than at the moment.

Picture it

INNATE’s photo and documentation site at https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/ has plenty to choose from and in the last year has averaged over a thousand photos a week opened (you can look at photos in the photostream without opening them but then you can’t read any detailed descriptions etc). But I must admit I am often surprised about what gets hits and what doesn’t. You can browse from the latest entries but if you are looking for something in particular then using the albums tab makes things much easier; word searching can work well but not always.

One of the surprising ‘top hits’ is a photo of dumped rubbish on the seashore at Carnsore Point in a photo essay on the wind farm there – if you click on https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/2835010165/ you will see a fairly basic and unexciting picture of rubbish, rocks and sand; it is a commentary on Irish attitudes to getting ‘rid’ of ‘rubbish’ – one person’s ‘rid’ is another’s ‘rud’ (multilingual pun) [Or multilingual punishment? – Ed] – but it doesn’t feel earth shattering. Yet it is second in the photos having the most hits. Of course tastes and interests vary but often what I expect to be popular is not.

And other photos that do feel special get relatively little attention. I feel https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/53703463429/in/dateposted/ is an absolutely brilliant photo (by Larry Speight), coincidentally concerning rubbish, where the shape of human and animal at a landfill site in Kampala seem to mimic each other. And for me the most powerful photo of all on the site comes from Palestine (taken by Mairead Collins) of a young boy running with bottles of water to try to put out a fire in an olive grove started by Israeli settlers in the West Bank – the triumph of hope and dedication over the reality of what can be achieved.

If a photo or album is linked in someone’s blog, email or article it can suddenly receive lots of hits. Others get occasional visits but the point in documentation is something is there when someone really wants to find it. And if you find your group or field of endeavour in the peace and social change fields is missing, well, put yourself in the picture by sending in some pics. That is an invitation.

The growing year

If you have green fingers I hope it has been a good year (if you have orange fingers it is because you have likely been handling orange lily stamens). Overall it wasn’t a great growing season, not that it is over yet, and I recently sowed rocket and land cress which I hope will over-winter. In general it has been a very undistinguished gardening year (and I pity farmers); germination of the purple sprouting broccoli was very poor, I think I did three sowings under a tunnel cloche to get at least some seedlings and the plants are small. The Russian kale grew well however but caterpillars did a lot of mischief I didn’t notice partly because with the shape of the leaves it wasn’t seen. We have a now well-established fig tree but the figs have been quite small, not enough sun, and unfortunately our blackbirds have taken a liking to them so we need to pick them early and ripen indoors if they are not to be pecked and eaten to bits.

My new success of the year was undoubtedly delicious akito outdoor cucumbers which grow vertically though they need a bit of a hand with canes of some kind, and some string or twine to help secure them. Seeds bought in Lidl, they were started indoors and I put them in tubs and they have been well fed, and are currently performing excellently; we have had cucumber salads three days in a row…..day one was a recipe with a dressing and chilli flakes, day two a dressing with mint, and day three was tzatziki (store that one up for Scrabble though the game for some racists this year was Rabble……). Of course how long they will keep going into autumn I don’t know and when the cucumbers will take cucumberage at colder weather. Organically grown veg has a higher dry matter level than those using artificial fertilisers and I think this makes a big difference especially with a veg which has a high water content like cucumbers. With them performing well, though a bit slow to get into gear, maybe I can feel as cool as a cucumber. [I hope that is the end of cucumbersome puns – Ed] [Given that cue I think I’ll head off to Comber – Billy]

I nearly danced for joy outside a week ago – I did cry out aloud – when I saw a living creature hop away from me….it was a frog in our suburban garden. We have had one, or a succession of them (the Irish Common Frog can live for 5 – 10 years) for some considerable time but then I hadn’t come across any evidence for the last few years until one hopped very briefly into view away from me and the sage bush and into a clump of montbretia where it was well covered. Speaking of hopping, for a period a bit more than a decade ago Donegal town had a ‘Donegal hopping centre’ when a letter fell off a sign there….is that the triumph of hop over experience? Hop until you drop may leave you hopping mad tired but does not pander to consumerism so has that in its favour.

–

As the Triple Lock policy faces obliteration by the Irish government in furtherance of its unimaginative and little-minded pro-militarist agenda, I am reminded of a joke written on a lock securing a park gate in Belfast. Someone had taken the trouble to write on what was a reasonable sized lock, it looked like Tippex was used, “So is your Mammy”. Spoiler alert: ‘Locked’ is a euphemism for being drunk. The government has of course ruled out, without any exploration, positive and peaceful alternatives to its pro-NATO and pro-EU militarism policies. In fact I think they are triple faced or talking trip(l)e.

Finally, as regular readers [Plural? – Ed] will know, this is my least favourite time of year, not because I dislike autumn weather and nature – I like it – but because I dislike autumn schedules and busyness. But the wheel of the year keeps on turning (Happy Christmas anyone?). See you soon, Billy.

August 2024 News supplement to Nonviolent News 321

Nonviolent News,

ICND: Annual commemoration of Hiroshima, Dublin,                6th August

Irish CND/Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament will mark the 79th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, which took place on 6th August 1945, holding the customary annual commemoration in Merrion Square in Dublin.

The ceremony will take place at the memorial cherry tree in Merrion Square Park, at 1.10 p.m. on Tuesday 6th August. There will be short speeches by Deputy Lord Mayor Donna Cooney, Japanese ambassador Mr Norio Maruyama, and Irish CND vice-president Adi Roche (CEO of Chernobyl Children International). There will also be contributions of music and poetry, and a wreath of flowers will be laid at the tree at the close of the commemoration.

An estimated 80,000 people were directly killed by the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, with casualties reaching 140,000 within a year. Approximately 14,000 nuclear weapons remain in the world today, more than enough to destroy life on earth as we know it many times over.

Irish CND goes on to say: “Sadly, the dark shadow of the possibility of nuclear war looms more grimly than perhaps ever before. Russian nuclear weapons are now stationed in Belarus. Plans to resume the stationing of US nuclear weapons in the UK have been widely reported. Spending on nuclear weapons reached more than $90 billion last year, a shocking new high. Nuclear weapons states are all engaged in modernising their arsenals and delivery systems. We’ve heard bellicose rhetoric about the potential use of nuclear weapons from government representatives in Israel and Russia, and from Republican lawmakers in the United States. It would only take a moment of madness to plunge the world into an irreversible nuclear war.

“We must meet darkness with positive hope and determination. Wherever you are, even if you are not in a position to join us in person this year, please do join us in spirit to stand in solidarity with the victims of these horrific weapons of mass destruction, and to affirm our determination to work for their elimination, the only way to ensure that the ghastly events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will not be repeated.”

http://irishcnd.blogspot.ie/

Hiroshima commemoration, Galway, 3rd August

The annual Hiroshima event organised by GAAW/Galway Alliance Against War will be on Saturday 3rd August at 2pm at Spanish Arch, Galway; the speaker will be Jeremy Corbyn MP. GAAW continues to be active in a variety of areas including Shannon antiwar solidarity, work to get trade unions to oppose US military use of Shannon, working to defend the Triple Lock, and demanding the freedom of the city be removed from Hilary Clinton for her opposition to a ceasefire in Gaza. You can get put on their mailing list to be kept up to date: galwayallianceagainstwar@gmail.com and https://www.facebook.com/groups/312442090965

At 6pm, also on 3rd August, there will be a book launch of “Poetry for the many: An Anthology” with Jeremy Corbyn and Len McCloskey in Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop, Middle Street, Galway.

And PANA pinpoints part of the problem

A press release from PANA/Peace And Neutrality Alliance includes the following – “According to Roger Cole of PANA, “the NATO military alliance will not accept an emerging multipolar world, our foreign policy is based on hypocritical “double standards” on international law and on global conflicts, that has become the main driving force for a New Cold War Arms Race.”

The United States announced plans to install long-range Cruise missiles in Germany following an agreement reached at the recent NATO summit in Washington. Russian President Putin responded: “If the US implements such plans, we will consider ourselves free from the previously imposed unilateral moratorium on the deployment of intermediate and shorter-range strike weapons.”

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) latest report “Surge: Global Nuclear Weapons Spending 2023” exposes the massive increase in global nuclear weapons spending. In 2023, nine nuclear armed countries spent $91.4 billion on nuclear weapons.

In 2023, military spending by NATO EU countries amounted to €215 billion, so you might expect that our Irish government representatives are out there trying to calm conflicts around the world, advocating peace, diplomacy and an end to this arms race. According to Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, newly promoted Fine Gael Minister of State with responsibility for EU Affairs and Defence. ‘We spend about €1.2bn (or 0.23pc of GDP) on defence. NATO members have a target of spending 2pc of GDP, or almost 10 times as much…I believe €3bn is a target we now need to be working steadily toward.’

PANA asks you to support those regular protests organised by Shannonwatch/IPSC at Shannon Airport for the month of August and the Annual Irish CND Hiroshima Commemoration that will be held next Tuesday 6th August in Merrion Square, Dublin.” https://www.pana.ie/

Shannon Warport vigils continue, big demo 8th September

Anti-war vigils are taking place all day every weekend (Saturday and Sunday) in July and August at Shannon Airport with the theme “US military out of Shannon – No complicity with war crimes”. kinvarasolidarity@gmail.com and https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554239395818 but for seeing the timetable and slots to volunteer contact Barry Sweeney barrysweeney11@gmail.com Meanwhile IPSC/Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign is organising a major national protest at Shannon on Sunday 8th September to coincide with the regular monthly Shannonwatch peace vigil which normally takes place at 2pm. See also http://www.shannonwatch.org/

Action Against War, Cork, and Collins Aerospace protest

A new campaign group has been established in Cork, initially under the auspices of the Cork Neutrality League. Action Against War (AAW) will campaign against Ireland’s and the EU’s increasing militarism and in defence of neutrality. The group is opposed to colonialism and imperialism, and supports liberation struggles in Palestine, Myanmar, the Sahrawi Republic (Western Sahara) and others.

The groups says: “We will campaign to keep Ireland neutral – a neutrality rooted in anti-colonialism. We defend a neutrality where Ireland sides with anti-colonial struggles – for instance, with the struggle in Palestine – and against colonisers and imperialists. That’s how neutrality was defined more than a hundred years ago when the Irish Neutrality League was set up by James Connolly and fellow revolutionaries. That’s what neutrality means to us today.”

AAW aims to to build a united front against militarism and war involving campaign groups (including Palestine-solidarity groups, anti-racism groups, tenants’ groups), trade unions, left political parties, student groups and other progressive associations and individuals.

Campaign activity in Cork will include protests at Collins Aerospace (a Cork subsidiary of RTX Corporation – formerly Raytheon), at the Tyndall National Institute (a “deep-tech research centre”), and at other military-oriented (including dual-use exporters) companies and institutions. Shannon Airport and government parties will also be a focus for protests. AAW will support the national protest at Shannon Airport on 8th September.

On Wednesday 7th August from 3 – 5pm, AAW and the Cork Palestine Solidarity Campaign will hold a joint protest at Collins Aerospace, Lower Glanmire Road, Cork.

Contact: Dominic Carroll corkneutralityleague@gmail.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/action.against.war_/

War planes in Irish skies

The Irish state has failed to block at the High Court an action by independent Senator Gerard Craughwell concerning a secret deal allowing the British Royal Air Force/RAF to intercept aircraft inside Irish airspace. Senator Craughwell has claimed any such deal is illegal and unconstitutional. See https://www.thejournal.ie/state-loses-high-court-action-to-block-senator-gerard-craughwell-case-over-secret-raf-air-policing-deal-6430367-Jul2024/

A Borda border poll, Belfast

Having proposed various constitutional arrangements, participants, for the first time ever, will cast their decision-making preferences in a multi-option border poll; they will vote at www.debordavote.com on their mobile phones on a (short) list of about six of these options, and, a few nanoseconds later, the result will emerge. 11-12 o’clock, Saturday 3rd August as an event in Féile an Phobail, at St Mary’s University College, Falls Road, Belfast. Chair – Eilish Rooney; Notes – Tommy Sands; Words – Peter Emerson. https://feilebelfast.com/events/should-majority-voting-a-cause-of-the-troubles-be-part-of-the-solution/?occurrence=2024-08-03 and see also http://www.deborda.org/

Good Relations Week deadline

Good Relations Week in Northern Ireland runs from Monday 16th to Sunday 22nd September with the opportunity to showcase work done and learn about others’ approaches; the theme is ‘OpportUNiTY’. The deadline for the inclusion of events is Friday 6th September. See https://goodrelationsweek.com/

Síolta Chroí: Introduction to ecosystem restoration

An introduction to ecosystem restoration course takes place at Síolta Chroí ecosystem restoration demonstration site in Carrickmacross, Monaghan, on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th of August (10:00am – 4:00 pm). The course is subsidised by a European project funded by Leargas and so it is only €50 for the two days. Participants will explore how they and their community can begin to be part of the movement of people that are working to restore local and global ecosystems. https://sioltachroi.ie/product/an-introduction-ecosystem-restoration-for-community-groups/

News, July 2024

Nonviolent News,

Stair na Síochána in Éirinn

This 300 page book, in Irish, by Risteárd Mac Annraoi on the history of peace in Ireland is an important addition to thinking about peace and the story of peace in Ireland. It is published by Coiscéim at €20. It is available at some Irish language booksellers (e.g. An Siopa Leabhar in Harcourt Street, Dublin) and by post (search online). It is reviewed by Máire Úna Ní Bheaglaoich in the email and web editions of this issue of Nonviolent News.

New Afri Coordinator

The incoming coordinator of Afri is Katie Martin, taking up appointment at the start of September; Joe Murray, Afri coordinator for the past thirty years is retiring at that point. Katie Martin is a Global Citizenship Education practitioner who has worked with Development Perspectives since 2018 and has been Coordinator of the post-primary projects (the SDG Challenge Schools and Water Wise Explorers). She has a BA in International Relations and an MA in International Peacebuilding, Security and Development Practice, and is a member of Comhlámh Justice for Palestine, a former Board Member of AfrI, and an activist. Meanwhile Joe Murray was surprised with a farewell party he knew nothing about, at the Teachers’ Club in Dublin on 6th June…a hundred people gathered to pay tribute to him and the work Afri engages in without him knowing anything about it beforehand! Afri website www.afri.ie For a photo of Katie and Joe at the farewell party for Joe, see https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/53826121818/in/dateposted/

lAfri Doolough Famine Walk video

A 12 minute video on this year’s Afri Doolough Famine Walk, including extracts from powerful talks by Faten Sourani and Donal O’Kelly on Palestine, is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2iCG99vN_E with the text of those talks available on the Afri website at www.afri.ie

Conflict Textiles; Threads of Empowerment

A new Conflict Textiles exhibition, Threads of Empowerment, with nearly thirty arpilleras on violence and conflict, human rights violations, poverty, oppression and environmental issues, is on display in the Ulster Muesum, Belfast, until January 2025. It is arguably the most powerful presentation of arpilleras in Ireland to date. Other contemporary displays of arpilleras/textiles are in The Troubles and Beyond exhibition also at Ulster Museum; at McClay Library, QUB; UU Coleraine campus and Belfast campus; Linenhall Library, Belfast; Tower Museum, Derry; the Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny; and Ballymoney Museum. Full details at https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/conflicttextiles/ and click on ‘Events’.

Shannon vigils, July and August

Suggested by Kinvara Palestine group, in the summer months there will be an increased number of anti-war vigils at Shannon with vigils proposed every weekend with the theme “US military out of Shannon – No complicity with war crimes”. kinvarasolidarity@gmail.com and https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554239395818 but for seeing the timetable and slots to volunteer contact Barry Sweeney barrysweeney11@gmail.com

GAAW: Galway Alliance Against War – Hiroshima and more

GAAW’s annual Hiroshima event will be on Saturday 3rd August at 2pm in Eyre Square, Galway; the speaker will be Jeremy Corbyn. GAAW continues to be active in a variety of areas including Shannon antiwar solidarity, work to get trade unions to oppose US military use of Shannon, working to defend the Triple Lock, and demanding the freedom of the city be removed from Hilary Clinton for her opposition to a ceasefire in Gaza. You can get put on their mailing list to be kept up to date: galwayallianceagainstwar@gmail.com and https://www.facebook.com/groups/312442090965

Caverns are not great gas

Campaigners against giant gas caverns in Larne Lough won a victory in the NI Court of Appeal in mid June when there was a ruling that the matter should have gone to the whole Northern Ireland Executive. Campaigners, including No Gas Caverns, Friends of the Earth NI, and the PILS Project, celebrated the overturning of a previous decision by the (ir)responsible minister to allow these giant caverns to be made locking the North into fossil fuels and with great environmental risks. Word search for further info and see https://friendsoftheearth.uk/climate/no-gas-caverns-under-larne-lough

Tools for Solidarity: 40

From 3rd to 7th July, Tools for Solidarity is celebrating four decades of work. The big celebration event will be on Friday 5th July at the Dockers’ Club, 57 Pilot Street, Belfast with the Hoakers and others, plus Tim McGarry and Terri Hooley; 7.30pm for 8pm, suggested donation £10/£7 unwaged. There is an open day workshop at their Sunnyside (up!) Street headquarters, Belfast from 11am – 5pm, also on 5th July, and the following day, 6th July, a treasure hunt beginning at Belfast City Hall at 12 noon. Tools For Solidarity is a not-for-profit organisation in Belfast which is fully run by international, local and supported volunteers; the main focus is to support artisans in the poorest parts of the world and mostly in the countries of Africa. Lots more info at https://www.toolsforsolidarity.com/

Mairead Maguire on Gaza

For links to talks by Nobel peace laureate Mairead Maguire on Gaza, and a written A plea for peace by a mother, see News items at http://www.peacepeople.com/

ICCL campaigns for Special Criminal Court abolition

ICCL, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, continues to campaign for the abolition of the jury-less Special Criminal Court, 52 years after it was introduced as an ‘emergency’ measure. Two different review groups have been established by the government to examine the Offences Against the State Acts and the Special Criminal Court, with reports in 2002 and 2023 but, to date, none of their recommendations have been implemented. ICCL continues to call for the Special Criminal Court to be abolished and the jury system to be reformed to protect jurors with proportionate measures ensuring human rights are not interfered with. https://www.iccl.ie/police-justice-reform/state-of-emergency-52-years-of-the-special-criminal-court/

CGE: Reimagining Development podcasts

The Centre for Global Education (CGE) in Belfast https://www.centreforglobaleducation.com/ has a new series of podcasts which aim to discuss new ways of thinking about and practising global education and international development. Go to https://open.spotify.com/show/0I9MX9YXBsq6Ldon9jyIQp

Amnesty International on ‘shocking’ PSNI surveillance report

Amnesty International’s Patrick Corrigan has said that ‘The police appear to have forgotten that journalism is not a crime’ following the publication of a Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) report on their use of surveillance on journalists and lawyers. This showed 323 applications for journalists’ phone data including 10 attempts to identify confidential sources and 500 applications for lawyers’ phone data raising questions on compromised lawyer-client confidentiality in the reporting period 2011-2024. AI has also expressed concern about a 21% increase in the use of various forms of force by PSNI in the year to April 2024. https://www.amnesty.org.uk/issues/Northern-Ireland

Political advocacy and communications with Rochtain/ICCL

Rochtain is taking expressions of interest in its training to build advocacy capacity and understanding of the political system with smaller community and grassroots organisations around the Republic. It has already provided three rounds of online training to over 150 organisations plus 1-to-1 sessions. Training is provided free. There is a survey on needs at https://www.surveyhero.com/c/gbmfunuy and you can enquire directly to ronan.kennedy@iccl.ie

Eco-Congregation small grants scheme

Eco-Congregation Ireland (ECI) has a new small grants scheme for churches and congregations for small scale practical projects which are either already running or will begin before the end of 2024. The church or congregation must have already registered with ECI (a very simple process) and begun their Eco-Congregation journey. The closing date for applications is 31st July. https://www.ecocongregationireland.com/ You can also sign up there to receive the regular ECI newsletter.

FOE Cuppa for Climate

Friends of the Earth Ireland is continuing its Cuppa for Climate campaign as a way of helping bring people together to talk about the climate crisis in an informal yet constructive way that leads to an invitation to explore positive actions together. It can be used as a fundraiser and/or as a way to mobilise people locally. More info at https://www.friendsoftheearth.ie/cuppa-for-climate/signup and see also their Act Local project https://www.friendsoftheearth.ie/act-local/

Bremen Peace Prize

Church and Peace has welcomed the award of the the Bremen Peace Prize, from the Schwelle Foundation, to its board member Maria Biedrawa for her work in various African countries including the Central African Republic: Connection e.V. was awarded the group peace prize simultaneously for its work protecting conscientious objectors. https://dieschwelle.de/en/home https://www.church-and-peace.org/en/

World Beyond War resources

While some of the material is US-centric, World Beyond War has a large variety of useful resources on its website including many podcasts, go to https://worldbeyondwar.org/resources/ and you can select what kind of material you are interested in.

Síolta Chroí courses

Courses at Síolta Chroí over the summer include An introduction to Ecosystem Renewal for community groups on 10th and 11th August, and a one day taster on Syntropic Agriculture (respecting the principles of life) on 13th July, both in Carrickmacross, Monaghan. More info at https://sioltachroi.ie/

Readings in Nonviolence: Stair na Síochána in Éirinn le Risteárd Mac Annraoi, Is abolishing war possible?

Nonviolent News, Readings, , , , , ,

Stair na Síochána in Éirinn

le Risteárd Mac Annraoi

Coiscéim, 300 leathanaigh, €20.

Léirmheas: Máire Úna Ní Bheaglaoich

Seo stair ghluaiseacht na síochána in Éirinn ón luath-stair anuas, ó ré Chúchulainn, Cáin Adamhnáin, Foras Feasa, go dtí inniu, i 6 chaibidil. Tá sé ana-chuimsitheach, go háirithe ó 1800 amach. ‘Sé an laige is mó atá ann ná an tréimhse is déanaí,s a 20ú céad agus na dosaein grúpaí ba mhaith linn a bheith sa chúntas, mar Afri, PANA, Gluaiseacht an Phobail (people.ie), agus go háirithe sa Tuaisceart, Bishopscourt Peace Camp ’83, Peace People ’76, Veterans for Peace 2012, Women Together 1970, a bhí ag coimeád dreamanna trodacha ó chéile. Nach mór an gá a bheadh leo inniu! D’oirfeadh cuntas ar leithrigh dóibh sin, taréis an méid a d’fhulaing an pobal dúchasach. Tá liosta foilsithe ag INNATE.

Bhí páirt mhór ag mná sa streachailt ar son na síochána, Louie Bennett, Lucy Kingston, Eileen Robinson, Helen Chevenix, Rosamund Jacob. Fite fuaite leis an ngluaiseacht náisiúnta tá an iarracht frith-sclábhaíochta, an ghluaiseacht frith-choinscríofa, saoirse na ndaoine gorma, fuascailt agus cearta na mban, ag rith comhthreormhar leis. Bhí dhá chogadh ag bagairt. Chuaigh an dá chogadh ar aghaidh in ainneoin gach aon rud, sampla atá againn sa lá inniu, agus tionscal na n-arm ag ” fás” agus ag carnadh airgid.

Ní raibh Hanna Sheehy Skeffington sásta nach raibh an tacaíocht cheart dhá fháil ag mná sna gluaiseachtaí. Bhí Louie Bennett ag lorg athmhuintearais seachas cogadh cathardha ach d’ eitíodar í. “Tarraing cogadh agus bris síocháin”. Dá réiteofaí ceist cearta na mban sa domhan, ní dócha go mbeadh na cogaí chomh mí- dhaonna, mar is mná agus leanaí agus seandaoine is mó go ndeintear ár orthu.

Tír, talamh agus teaghlach is cúis le cogaí.

De réir teagasc Gandhi, tá an neamh-fhoréigean préamhaithe sa bhfírinne.

Tá léargas suimiúil anso ar na coimhlintí go léir a bhí ar siúl ag an am céanna agus an pháirt mhór a bhí ag Cuallacht na gCarad iontu. Dhiúltaíodar go hiomlán don bhforéigean. Muinín as Íosa an teagasc a bhí acu agus bhíodar seasamhach sa phrionsabal san i gcónaí. Bhí alán taistil dhá dhéanamh acu ar fuaid na hEorpa, Job Scott, Abraham Shackleton, Henry Richard, William Jones, Ennis Darby agus mórán eile. Bhí comhdháil síochána sa Bheilg, i bPáras, Frankfurt, i Londain i 1848, agus na céadta ag freastal orthu. B’shin aimsir na gorta in Éirinn. Eadrán a bhí uathu seachas troid.

Bhí Wolfe Tone diongmhálta ar son neodrachta na hÉireann i 1792, dar leis, dála Swift agus Molyneux, gurb é Sasana préamh gach oilc in Éirinn. Theastaigh uaidh an ceangal le Sasana a bhriseadh, scríobh sé billeog The Spanish War, ag cur in iúil dá seasfadh muintir na hÉireann go léir le chéile faoin ainm “Éireannach” seachas Caitliceach, Protastúnach nó Easaontóir, ba cheart don dtír a bheith neodrach, nár chóir fuil a dhortadh. B’shin í an aisling a bhí aige. I 1824 a bunaíodh an chéad chumann síochána in Éirinn. Bhí deireadh le sclábhaíocht i gcóilíní Shasana i 1834. Cuireadh Crosáid Frith-Chogaíochta ar bun in Éirinn i 1936 agus bhí teagmháil acu le War Resisters’ International agus an Peace Pledge Union. Bhí Peace News ar díol ar shráideanna Bhaile Átha Cliath.Tá an nuachtán san beo fós. Tá na “conarthaí” Eorpacha nár iarramar, ar a ndícheall ad’ iarraidh neod racht na hÉireann a chloí. Tá an fíor-scéal ar leathanach a 279. Dí-armáil domhanda atá le moladh.

Ní gá an leabhar a léamh d’aon-iarracht. Is féidir é d’oscailt ar aon leathanach agus cúntas beo bríomhar a léamh ar stair na síochána in Éirinn agus a bhuíochas san dos na laochra go léir. Bhaineas ana-shásamh agus tairbhe as an leabhar so agus as an eolas atá ann.

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[Review translated into English]

Coiscéim, 300 pages, €20.

Review: Máire Úna Ní Bheaglaoich

This is a comprehensive history of the peace movement in Ireland from early history and legends like Cúchulainn, Cáin Adamhnáin, Keating’s Foras Feasa, in 6 chapters, however beginning mainly in the 1800s. The weak point is the scant coverage of contemporary peace movements of the 20th century, groups like Afri, PANA ,People’s Movement (people.ie), and especially those in Northern Ireland, Bishopscourt Peace Camp ’83, Peace People ’76, Veterans for Peace 2012, Women Together ’71 who endeavoured to keep rival gangs apart. I wonder how they would fare today? INNATE has catalogued many of these groups and they would warrant a separate booklet perhaps.

Women had a large part in the struggle for peace. Louie Bennett, Lucy Kingston, Eileen Robinson, Helen Chevenix, Rosamund Jacobs and others. While the struggle was going on in Ireland, there were other parallel groups like the anti-slavery, anti-conscription, freedom for people of colour, and the emancipation of women. Two world wars were threatening. The two wars happened despite protests,and we have echoes of that today. The weapons industry is feeding the frenzy in its race for profit. Hanna Sheehy Skeffington was not impressed with some groupings for not supporting women. Louie Bennett was looking for reconciliation and peace rather than civil war but she didn’t get much of a hearing, “Make war and smash peace”. If women’s rights were a priority, wars would not be so bloody, because the victims are usually women and children and the elderly.

Earth, land and home are the excuses for war.

According to Gandhi, non-violence is rooted in truth.

This book gives us an insight into all the conflicts that were happening in Europe, and the important part that the Society of Friends (Quakers) played in their total opposition to violence. They were steadfast in that principle. There were a lot of travels to and from European countries by people like Job Scott, Abraham Shackleton, Henry Richard, William Jones, Ennis Darby and many others. Peace conferences took place in Belgium, Paris, Frankfurt, London 1848, attended by hundreds.

Wolfe Tone advocated neutrality in 1792; in common with Swift and Molyneux, he regarded England as the root of all evil in Ireland. Tone wished to break the connection with England. In his pamphlet The Spanish War, he advocated that all Irish people stand together as Irish people, rather that Catholic,Protestant or Dissenter, for Ireland to be neutral and not take part in bloodshed. That was his dream. The first peace conference was held in Ireland in 1824. Slavery was ended in the British colonies in 1834. The Anti-War Crusade was founded in Ireland in 1936 and contact was made with War Resisters’ International and Peace Pledge Union, and the Peace News paper was sold on Dublin streets. That newspaper is still going strong.

The European “treaties” that were foisted on us, are trying to wreck our neutrality and “progressively increase our military capacity “. The account is on page 279. Global disarmament is what is needed. No need to read this in one go, you can dip in and out, and every short chapter reveals a very interesting and lively story. I found it a very pleasant read and the second reading can be more revealing.

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Is abolishing war possible?

Introduction

While we may or may not see the origins of war in the USA in terms as black and white as those below, the following thought-provoking short piece asks important questions about the circularity of the Military Industrial Complex there – and elsewhere. – Ed.

By Robert C Koehler (Transcend Media Service)

If we can end, let us say . . . slavery — the legal “ownership” of other human beings — can’t we also end other great social wrongs? Can’t we also end war?

As I ask this question, I am suddenly bludgeoned by an unexpected irony, since the United States ended slavery through a brutal war, with a death toll of perhaps three quarters of a million people.

But it was worth it, right?

Well, that’s what history tells us. It has essentially “made peace” with the war and now celebrates the moral objectives of the winning side, with all its carnage forever reduced to a statistical abstraction.

The topic of this column is the abolition of war — the urgent necessity of doing so — so, how odd it feels to begin by referencing a “good” war, which ended an enormous wrong . . . or at least forced the wrong to morph into a different, less legally blatant form of racism known as Jim Crow. (And when Jim Crow was defeated by the nonviolent civil rights movement a hundred years later, the nation’s racism morphed into such things as the “war on drugs” and an expanding prison-industrial complex.)

In any case, the Civil War — or at least its reduction to the simplicity of good vs. evil —is the manifestation of war’s staying power and principal talking point: War is always necessary, damnit! Both sides think so, and the winner is the one who gets to write the history. At least that’s the way it used to work.

In my lifetime, things have changed significantly, at least from the point of view of the United States, the world’s primary military power (at least for now). While war is bloodier and more devastating than it’s ever been, it no longer has much to do with winning and losing — at least from the U.S. point of view, which has basically “lost” (whatever that means) every war it has started since the Vietnam era. And that hasn’t seemed to matter. Winning isn’t really the point anymore, at least from the point of view of the moneyed interests of war. What matters is waging it — that is to say, what matters is keeping the profits flowing.

Or to put it more politely: What matters is keeping the sanctity of war alive and well.

Indeed, I’m reminded of George H.W. Bush’s comment in 1991, after the success of the first U.S. Gulf War.

“It’s a proud day for the USA,” Bush declared. “And, by God, we’ve kicked the Vietnam Syndrome once and for all.”

That is to say, the US public’s antiwar cynicism after Vietnam was now just more wreckage to be found on the Highway of Death. War is good again in the US! We no longer have to be content simply arming contras and fighting proxy wars. We can get back to the real deal. The Military Industrial Complex, which was born in the wake of World War II, has returned, front and center.

And that’s where we’re at today. As David Vine and Theresa Arriola write:

“Those two forces, the military and the industrial, united with Congress to form an unholy ‘Iron Triangle.’ . . . To this day those three have remained the heart of the MIC, locked in a self-perpetuating cycle of legalized corruption (that also features all too many illegalities).

“The basic system works like this: First, Congress takes exorbitant sums of money from us taxpayers every year and gives it to the Pentagon. Second, the Pentagon, at Congress’s direction, turns huge chunks of that money over to weapons makers and other corporations via all too lucrative contracts, gifting them tens of billions of dollars in profits. Third, those contractors then use a portion of the profits to lobby Congress for yet more Pentagon contracts, which Congress is generally thrilled to provide, perpetuating a seemingly endless cycle.”

This is the secret context of war — at least US war. The context is hidden behind the enormously effective public relations of war, whose headline slogans over the past few decades have mutated from “war on terror” and “axis of evil” to “Israel has a right to defend itself” — turning thousands and, ultimately, millions of deaths (deaths of civilians, deaths of children) into abstractions: collateral damage. We had no choice.

Knowing the illusions hiding behind the heroism and glory of war — the grotesque profits for some, the horrific toll taken on so many others — is crucial to establishing the urgency of its abolition. And then there’s the cost on the environment: how war poisons our ecosystems; how it murders the planet’s biodiversity; how it diverts our focus (financial and otherwise) from putting our money and energy into saving the planet, to making planetary destruction our primary effort.

And beyond all this, waging war requires the ever-presence in our national minds of . . . yeah, an enemy. War simplifies conflict, which is always inevitable and could be constructive, and turns it into “us vs. them.” And since nations spend so much money and effort preparing for war, they are always predisposed to turn conflict into the wrong kind of opportunity: an opportunity to define and kill an enemy. And step one is always this: dehumanize the enemy. That makes the killing of the bad guy (and all the collateral civilians who are in the way) totally fine, totally necessary.

And when we grow accustomed to the dehumanization of others — the refusal to listen, to acknowledge they have a point of view, let alone a soul — we simplify and diminish ourselves, essentially turning ourselves into our imagined enemy. And thus we’re always living in fear because war always comes home: Enemies always retaliate. Or their children grow up and retaliate.

So was the Civil War a “good” war, a necessary war? Ending slavery was certainly absolutely necessary, just as never creating it in the first place was necessary . . . but happened anyway.

The only lesson I can draw is that we’re not going to succeed at abolishing war unless we first succeed at transcending our exploitative interests. What does this mean in today’s world? Let the conversation begin.

– Taken from Peace Media Service https://www.transcend.org/tms/2024/06/is-abolishing-war-possible/

Billy King: Rites Again, 321

Billy King, Nonviolent News,

Billy King shares his monthly thoughts

I get to read Nonviolent News before publication so I can make comments on contents in the same issue [What a privilege! – Ed]. The comment in the editorial about mediation and conciliation seeming to be forgotten in the international arena made me think that they are, collectively, one of the Secrets of the Universe. And that made me think about the cartoon of the guru on the mountain top, looking glum. One acolyte below the guru says to another “He has forgotten the secret of the universe again”. There seem to be a lot of Secrets of the Universe forgotten at the moment….

Elect shun

Well, the nativist far right did make a very few gains of local council seats (from zero) in Ireland in the local elections but nothing compared to what they were hoping, and nowhere near a seat in the EU elections. Now there are some people who claim true Irishness but who don’t remember anything about one of the most essential parts of Irish history in the last number of centuries, emigration.

However I was sad in particular to see Clare Daly voted out from MEP-dom. She has been a fearless advocate of peace and against EU military aggrandizement, as well as being a sensible voice on many other issues. There was a vindictive piece in the Irish Times following her defeat https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2024/06/21/justine-mccarthy-clare-dalys-dog-whistle-to-haters-of-the-media-wasnt-just-hypocritical-it-was-reckless/ She was continually mocked and abused by the conservative media in Ireland (I would feel the above piece after her defeat was confirmation of this) so it is not surprising that said media can be judged to have had a significant hand in her defeat, or that she reacted as she did.

Meanwhile in de Nort we await the results for 18 seats at Westminster in the British general election on 4th July, using the primeval first-past-the-post voting system. This system does encourage tactical voting – voting for someone you don’t fully support but who has a chance of getting elected in order to deprive someone you definitely do not support winning. Sinn Féin did atrociously – compared to expectations – in both elections (local and EU) south and west of the border but are likely to hold most of their ground in Northern Ireland. How the DUP will fare after a) ‘Sir’ Jeffrey Donaldson’s departure in less than auspicious circumstances, and b) the admission by new DUP leader Gavin Robinson that they overstated their case on the trade barriers or checks Britain/Norn Iron having been removed. But all in all there is plenty for psephologists to get their teeth and calculators into (psephologists study voting and voting patterns, pepsiologists study teeth rot and obesity), North and South, not forgetting east and west.

While there may be one or two surprises in the British general election in the North, there will be no such surprise in Britain itself on the overall result where the Conservative party are on track for one of their worst defeats ever. In the North in general however most people will vote as they usually do, and change comes slowly; the 40-40-20 pattern of the last number of years is likely to be maintained (40% unionist, 40% nationalist/republican, and 20% for the others or less constitutionally-aligned parties).

I had hoped that the Sinners would be the lead party in the next coal-ition (it may not be very green…) government in the Re:Public. This desire on my part wasn’t for their policies on the North – which I thought would be tempered by their partners – but because they might actually stand up for a positive Irish neutrality. However on the recent showing it will be another conservative-conservative deal with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, and the vestiges of neutrality will continue to be sold down the river while FG and FF proclaim no change on it….

Haven’t we heard that before?

Speaking of neutrality, the Oireachtas, well the Seanad, missed the opportunity https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/seanad/2024-05-29/11/ to prevent arms coming from or passing through Ireland to Israel – this was thanks to a rearguard action by the powers that be not to do anything (full stop). Recognition of Palestine, how are ye. Suspending a decision for 6 months on the matter, and on adequate inspections of planes at Shannon, was a death knell for any measure being of relevance – and maybe a literal death knell for some people in Gaza too.

I just happened to come across a cutting I had taken from the Irish Times of 14/6/06….which mathematicians among you will realise is 18 years ago, i.e. almost two decades: “US military-linked flights may face inspections in Shannon” was the heading which began that “The Government is to reconsider introducing inspections on US military-related flights landing in Shannon after a US marine being held prisoner was transported through the airport without the necessary permission being obtained from the Irish authorities.” The then Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, said he was going to engage with the US Embassy “with a view to strengthening the verification procedures and if that entails inspection so be it.” So, that was then, and nothing happened. Don’t be surprised when nothing happens now or in the future either. Heaven forbid that little Ireland should even look at what the the most powerful military in the world is shipping through Irish territory and skies…..or that it should actually consider what it is using it for, or the fact that simply permitting troops to pass through is directly assisting US hegemony and warmaking.

Mapping it

The randomness of the effects of war and violence never ceases to amaze me. I mean of course the randomness of the victims in the sense that they could be anyone, anywhere, you, me, your granny. There is nothing random however in the planning of the violence, it is often meticulously planned even if who actually dies may be subject to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Being in Gaza at the current time is being in the wrong place at the wrong time for everyone; even if you are not injured, killed or dying from lack of medication or food, you face constant fear from there being no safe place available anywhere.

I was drawn back to Tom Weld’s artwork by these thoughts, particularly https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/48861290991/in/album-72157711237159086/ with parallels between the terrors of the Second World War and today. For me the power of his imagery is in people – living, breathing human beings – being reduced to lines or areas on a map. For me this illustrates the worst aspects of the militarist mindset. However in the current situation in Gaza it seems everywhere is marked for obliteration, not just the carefully marked areas in Tom Weld’s artwork.

Transcending war and violent conflict

Nonviolent News often uses pieces from Transcend Media Service (‘Solutions-oriented Peace Journalism’ is their strapline), indeed there is one in the Readings in Nonviolence slot in this issue. Some of the pieces are very much written from a US point of view, but there is no harm in that, especially given that they come from the belly of the beast, the world’s number one military superpower. If we wanted we could use lots more from that source. If you are interested in the origins of US imperialism, apart of course from the initial colonialism of taking the land in north America, you can read about the 1823 Monroe Doctrine which proclaimed the US hegemonic interest, and intent to control, the northern and southern American continents, in the issue of 24-30 June 2024 https://www.transcend.org/tms/weekly-archive/

The issue of 17-23 June (available at the same link) had a piece about a survey showing “94% of people in the US and 88% in Western Europe want a negotiated settlement to end the war in Ukraine, but NATO opposes a peace proposal made by China and Brazil, and refuses to invite Russia to talks in Switzerland.” And also in that issue Mairead Maguire writes “A mother’s plea for peace” to the people of Gaza. And that is only touching on a tiny amount of their coverage. It is worth keeping in touch with what is online at https://www.transcend.org/tms/

Ancient caring in situations of disaster and disability

In common with doubtless the rest of yez, I receive dozens of items of spam and unsolicited ‘news’ daily to my phone or email. Most are relegated to the netherworld without being seen by my eyes. One piece that did get my attention, being interested in history and archaeology (primarily what it says about humankind) was about the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE. https://www.yahoo.com/news/records-pompeii-survivors-found-archaeologists-124107499.html

But this study by Steven Tuck was not about those incinerated or overcome by the tidal wave of heat, or fumes and ash, but rather the survivors. There were many people who survived, perhaps a majority of people he concludes, some of whom prospered and others didn’t when they moved, mainly nearby. But some of the conclusions of the piece are worth quoting: “While the survivors resettled and built lives in their new communities, government played a role as well. The emperors in Rome invested heavily in the region, rebuilding properties damaged by the eruption and building new infrastructure for displaced populations, including roads, water systems, amphitheaters and temples. This model for post-disaster recovery can be a lesson for today. The costs of funding the recovery never seems to have been debated. Survivors were not isolated into camps, nor were they forced to live indefinitely in tent cities. There’s no evidence that they encountered discrimination in their new communities.”

How’s about that then. Another very different piece I will refer to here indicates that our cousins the Neanderthals were caring and compassionate to those who could not reciprocate. https://www.theguardian.com/science/article/2024/jun/26/fossil-of-neanderthal-child-with-downs-syndrome-hints-at-early-humans-compassion A severely disabled child with Down’s Syndrome (possibly from a couple of hundred thousand years ago!) survived to the age of six which implies that their mother received lots of help from others. There is no mention of possible support from the Da but that could have been an important part of it too, I don’t know and no one will ever know except those people aeons ago. Caring and sharing is in our DNA – and except for those from Africa we do all literally have Neanderthal DNA in us.

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It is my wont at this time of year to quote Christy Moore’s definition of holidays, in his old song Lisdoonvarna, when he says “When summer comes around each year / They come here and we go there’”. I wish you time and space to get your head showered (with Irish rainfall rates that is likely to be literal) but a good break anyway. Summer goes by in a flash [of lightning? – Ed], be good to yourself and each other until I see you again in September, Billy.