Tag Archives: Peace commentary

Billy King: Rites Again 326

Billy King, Nonviolent News, , ,

Billy King shares his monthly thoughts –

There’s gold in them thar hills…

…and that’s where it should stay… While gold does have some practical usages in fine tech and so on it mainly considered valuable for being valued, i.e. it is valuable as a store of wealth, a bit like crypto currency but in metallic form and less volatile in value – it is also comparable to celebrities being famous because they are famous. Humanity’s actual need for gold is relatively small today and could be met hundreds of times over by what is already extracted from the ground. Some of the uses of gold, such as the ‘gold standard’ or its use in dentistry (gold mining is a different kind of extraction but can be very painful) have been superseded by economic and technological advances.

So what is the point in ruining the Sperrins so Dalradian can make a profit? None. There are always less jobs than promised, they will disappear after a decade or two, while meanwhile farming and other developments, such as in tourism, are stymied or ruined. The recent public enquiry into the proposed goldmining there was quickly halted after a technical error by the relevant Northern Ireland government department not doing what they should have done. Two of the groups involved in struggling against an unwelcome extraction that you can look up are Save Our Sperrins (SOS) https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=save%20our%20sperrins (see the entry for 15th January 2025 on the collapse of the public enquiry) and Friends of the Earth in the North https://friendsoftheearth.uk/northern-ireland I have quoted before the Saw Doctors’ words (in ‘The green and gold of Mayo’) on prospective gold mining beside Croagh Patrick – “Do they think our greatest asset / Can be mined, dug up, and sold….” As with coal, oil and gas – ‘Keep it in the ground!’

Drill for the truth, baby, drill for the truth

‘There are none so blind as those who will not see’ is an aphorism about a disability, physical blindness, which does not insult those who have that condition. People who are physically unable to see usually develop other skills which compensate and many skills which sighted people are unlikely to have. The aphorism actually criticises sighted people who do not, because they refuse to, see what is in front of their eyes.

I do believe there is such a category as a ‘climate criminal’. Donald Trump, the most powerful elected leader in the world, fits that description with his denial of the human-based nature of climate change and his “We will drill, baby, drill” approach – which was even included in his inaugural address as president of the USA in January 2025, all happening at the time of the destruction by fire of significant bits of Los Angeles. The oil and gas industry bosses and owners are of course highly complicit in engineering cover ups and obfuscation of what is happening and why, and refusing to take the world and the vast majority of people into account due to their own selfish and destructive interests. Trump’s tech billionaire buddies are also climate criminals for permitting untruths to be told. Climate heating is, and will do, untold damage to our earth and its inhabitants with the poor, of course, suffering most.

It is difficult to come up with imagery about where we are. The best I can do is that the rich and powerful are driving a train with the rest of humanity on it. They come to a junction. One direction is clearly ‘Hell’ while the other is ‘Not hell but not quite heaven either’ (we are already far down the global heating track). The powerful are choosing to travel with the rest of the world to ‘Hell’ because they are, unlike everyone else, in Super First Class Climate Protected carriages which they believe are immune to the effects of Hell, and to travel the other direction they would have to transfer to slightly less comfortable carriages and they don’t want to do that because they know they are superior.

Getting the truth of climate heating across to those in denial is a subject much pondered in these pages by Larry Speight in his Eco-Awareness column. There are no easy answers. Telling the truth in different ways is of course part of it. But using personal relationships and getting people in the public eye to use their influence are important. And we, individual and ‘ordinary’ citizens, can show by our own example what to do in our travel and consumer habits. We ‘ordinary people’ in the rich world are highly complicit in global heating too.

Eventually, the truth of climate heating will trump denialism. But whether we arrive at the station marked ‘Hell’ before then is still a possibility.

Room for great improvement for Belfast Assembly Rooms

There is a wonderfully historic building in central Belfast which is in a woeful condition. It is historic for a number of reasons – the rejection of slavery, its connection with the 1798 rising, and with the preservation of Irish traditional melodies, and simply for being a prime meeting place when Belfast was ‘the Athens of the North’. In fact, in relation to the preservation of Irish traditional melodies, you could say it is perhaps the culturally most important building in Ireland. But it is currently, and very sadly, unused and near derelict. However one sign of the awareness of the risks to the building comes from its inclusion recently on the World Monuments Fund 2025 Watch List and it has been on the Ulster Architectural Heritage at risk list for a couple of decades.

It is where the 1792 harp festival took place, organised by the good Presbyterian citizens of Belfast, with Edward Bunting commissioned to record the music and thus preserve it for future generations – the old harping tradition was on its death bed after their prime sponsors, the Irish aristocracy, were long defeated and gone. It is where Henry Joy McCracken was court-martialled in ‘98 following the failure of the rising before being taken to be hung nearby. It is where Thomas McCabe intervened against a move to set up a slaving company (i.e. dealing in and transporting slaves) in 1786, a successful intervention in that Belfast continued to have no direct involvement in the slave trade though it did have trade involvement in selling salted beef and clogs to slave plantations as well as through individuals.

On a more prosaic and contemporary note the Assembly rooms are on INNATE’s Belfast peace trail where the INNATE coordinator loves to gently shock participants on the walk in telling of Thomas McCabe’s interjection by bellowing out his message “May God wither the hand of any man who will sign that document!”.

Used as a bank for a long time, the building then had intermittent cultural use – and it being a cultural centre is surely the appropriate course of action for the future. But it needs major work first. Belfast City Council has purchased a couple of iconic buildings, No.2 Royal Avenue and the wonderful art deco former Bank of Ireland on a corner of Royal Avenue for civic purposes. The Assembly Rooms building is currently privately owned but going to wrack and ruin. It needs urgent attention and deserves it. For more info see https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c87d8121lj3o and https://sluggerotoole.com/2025/01/17/the-inclusion-of-belfasts-historic-assembly-rooms-on-world-monuments-funds-2025-watch-list-is-a-game-changer/#respond

A migrant story

She came from a war torn country where she had been married young. We can call her Anna because that is certainly not her name. After her father and eldest child were killed in the strife in her home country, she sold everything she had and eventually ended up in Northern Ireland where she claimed asylum. One of her other children has a disabling medical condition. The first place she lived in the North she had to leave because it was attacked. Then in the racist riots of August 2024 she was personally assaulted and injured in the street with lasting effects, and she had to move again. During her time in the North her ex-husband, the father of her children, was killed in the strife in her home country. Thus she had the violent deaths in three generations of her immediate family.

She eventually received refugee status. Any one of the deaths mentioned above could break someone. While obviously deeply affected, she has been determined to keep moving forward and do the best possible for her children despite attacks in a place where she had escaped in order to be safe.

Not all migrants have as dramatic and traumatic stories and experiences as Anna. However we should of course be ashamed that in “Ireland of the welcomes” the welcome (hellcome?) she received included physical attacks on her and where she lived, inhumanity when extreme humanity was called for. Where some saw an unwelcome alien there was a resilient but hugely suffering human being who had been through tribulations which her attackers could probably not even imagine, and someone who has much to contribute if allowed to do so. Meanwhile some people reached out to try to help her.

May she now live in peace and be able to establish the life she wants for herself and her children.

Contrast

The names ‘Donald Trump’ and ‘Gustavo Gutiérrez’ are seldom uttered in the same sentence, I would imagine. Donald Trump is the president of the USA and aged 78. Gustavo Gutiérrez was a Dominican priest from Lima who died in October 2024, aged 96.

INNATE is a secular organisation which is happy to carry material or organise events in relation to connections between humanism and nonviolence or particular religions and nonviolence, and respect people of whatever secular or religious beliefs while being critical of the practices associated with any of these which are contrary to building peace and justice. In terms of parity of esteem I usually avoid sharing on my own religious beliefs and background which would be a variety of Christian. However, in moving some books recently I came across the Gutiérrez book, from the 1970s, “A Theology of Liberation” – he was one of the founders of the ‘theology of liberation’ movement in Latin America at that time, even called the “Father of Liberation Theology”, and I thought of the contrast with Trump.

Donald Trump has monetised the Christian bible, as well as made it nation-specific, in his Trump Bible; the bible is clearly a book he has little knowledge about, effectively thinking of it as a MAGA-manual. Monetising the Christian bible sounds rather like being moneychangers in the Temple, i.e. turning religion into a commercial enterprise. JC drove the moneychangers from the Temple in what to me seems like a good example of determined nonviolent action (though one conservative Christian once told me Jesus shouldn’t have done that as it gave Christians a bad name!). One joke about Trump and his desire to cut things (taxes, environmental regulations etc) is that he has already got the Ten Commandments down to six, and is working on the rest. He uses the bible and Christianity as a political prop and tool.

He also accused an Episcopalian bishop of being nasty in a presidential inaugural service when she called for him to exercise mercy in relation of migrants and people who are LGBT; mercy is usually considered a Christian virtue but Trump made it sound like a dirty word. Making the bible nation-specific, as the Trump bible seemingly does in relation to the USA, seems contrary to the ‘neither Jew nor Gentile’ part of the Christian New Testament. Trump was surrounded by billionaires at his January 2025 presidential inauguration whereas Jesus had plenty to say about those who loved riches. It was the German revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg who stated that the early Christian church was communist in consumption if not in production.

Gustavo Gutiérrez was an important and founding figure in liberation theology which opts for solidarity with the poor, something which seems totally in accord with Christianity and the ‘Sermon on the Mount’, while for Trump – where money is usually the bottom line – his beliefs seem to be more in relation to the ‘Sermon on the (Financial) Count’. Gutiérrez’ book, mentioned above, is overflowing with biblical references. He states clearly that “In the Bible poverty is a scandalous condition inimical to human dignity and therefore contrary to the will of God.” and that “Poverty is not caused by fate: it is caused by the actions of whose whom the prophet condemns….” (and then quotes Amos 2:6-7).

I stand with Gutiérrez.

Youphemisms

We all use euphemisms but sometimes there are ones we dislike or refuse to use, and what you use may not be something I would use. Language is always evolving so this is all a natural human process. The US English ‘restroom’ for what is commonly here called a toilet seems an unnecessary and inaccurate euphemism – and yet I might quite happily use ‘loo’ or even the southern terms ‘jacks’ (which may be medieval English in origin and also relate to the US English term ‘the john’, although the latter may also be connected with one of the inventors of the flushing toilet).

One US euphemism I refuse to use however is that someone has ‘passed’ when they have died. Passed what? Their final exams? To glory in heaven? From this earthly coil? No, not a term I find acceptable. And yet if referring to someone’s status in relation to being living or dead, e.g. on a letter coming for someone who is ‘no longer with us’ (another euphemism), i.e. dead, putting ‘Now dead’ seems too bald a statement and I might write ‘Deceased’ – which is simply another way of saying ‘no longer with us’. Death is kind of final and it is difficult not to be euphemistic. But, it is clear, I find some euphemisms a load of crap.

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That’s me for now and the bold, bad January is over, I hope you weren’t badly affected by Storm Éowyn if you live in what was its path….unfortunately with global heating there is much more of that to come. But always look on the bright side, the snowdrops are well out, the daffodils are coming, some out, and we live in hope, so until next time, Billy.

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.

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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.

Billy King: Rites Again, 315

Billy King, Nonviolent News, ,

Billy King shares his monthly thoughts –

Gender equality, how are ye

It caught my eye on the BBC NI website on 27/11/23: three stories in a row about the treatment of women and girls. Under the heading of ‘Latest updates’ were three stories in a row, “Childminder’s husband jailed for abusing children”, “Upskirting and cyber-flashing laws come into effect”, and “Medic admits sterilising woman without her consent”.

The first story was about a former senior civil servant from Co Down who sexually abused two young girls (age unspecified) in his wife’s childminding care. The second story might be considered ‘good news’ in that new laws came in to effect on upskirting, downblousing and cyber-flashing with perpetrators potentially facing up to two years in prison and up to 10 years on the Sex Offenders Register. But the question underlying this is – why was this new law necessary? The NI Assembly (remember it?) had backed this law in spring of 2022 before the Assembly disappeared in a puff of smoke, with the bill, now law, being introduced by Naomi Long. And the final story was about a male consultant gynaecologist in a regional hospital in the North who admitted sterilising a woman without her permission and without medical need.

These are three stories covering different aspects of the treatment of women and girls in our society, all concerning aspects of what I would consider violence against them. These things happened to happen in the North but could be anywhere. You could come up with many other examples from different aspects of life and society. It doesn’t look very much like equality for women and girls, does it.

Bill Hetherington

The death of long time British peace activist Bill Hetherington removes another of the ‘old’ faces from the peace movement there. He was 89 years old. While associated most with the PPU/Peace Pledge Union (where, incredibly, he was on their Council for fifty years) it is hard to think of a substantial peace initiative in past decades, in Britain or internationally, that he was not involved with. He was well informed on, and involved with, Northern Irish and Irish matters and, if I recall correctly, had some Irish blood in him. He was involved with the BWNIC campaign to withdraw British troops from the North and subsequently was on trial in 1975 for his involvement in that (and was imprisoned for a while, accused of breaking bail conditions) – were the BWNIC 14 encouraging British soldiers to disaffect? Maybe they were but fortunately were found not guilty.

An appreciation of his life as a peace activist can be found at https://www.ppu.org.uk/news/peace-movement-mourns-lifelong-pacifist-campaigner-bill-hetherington and there is a great photo of him there, looking a bit like an old seafarer – and he certainly had to negotiate lots of choppy waters in his time.

The INNATE coordinator remembers fondly the socio-political walking tour of Dublin that he (Rob Fairmichael) conducted for a group from the 2002 WRI/War Resisters’ International Triennial conference. This ran, or rather perambulated, from the Garden of Remembrance to the Dáil; he would give a short take on the relevance of the building, memorial or topography involved….and then Bill would, as was his wont, extend it “with the due parts of legal and constitutional history in detail” as the Triennial newsletter related. There is a photo of just such a scene at https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/3269226483/in/album-72157613605954884/ Small of stature, Bill Hetherington was a big presence. For me he was one of those people who I didn’t have much contact with on an ongoing basis but knew were contributing hugely to work for peace – I definitely feel sad that he is no longer around.

Shannon ‘not being used’ – but Varadkar is…..

Ah yes, the main supplier of lethal equipment and just as lethal money to Israel is of course the good oul USA. It was kind of Leo Varadkar to tell us https://www.irishtimes.com/politics/2023/11/19/shannon-airport-not-being-used-by-us-to-supply-military-equipment-to-israel-varadkar/ that Shannon Air/Warport is not being used by the USA to move military supplies to Israel. He has the USA’s word on that.

But since the Irish state never inspects what is coming through on US military or military-contracted planes he really doesn’t have a clue. And while the US army has no boots on the ground directly fighting in Gaza – I am sure there are lots of military advisors somewhere – he might think that is OK. But any support to a military aggressor or supporter of aggression is plain and simply wrong. And despite the atrocities committed by Hamas in southern Israel on 7th October I think we can be quite clear that Israel is an aggressor in its assault on civilians in Gaza. And, in general (and for generals), armies need soldiers so transporting soldiers through Shannon is every bit as nefarious as transporting weapons.

The Irish state is complicit in supporting US military aggression. [full stop]

EU Bottlegroups

Useful little piece by Conor Gallagher in the Irish Times of 16th November https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland/2023/11/16/ireland-faces-embarrassment-as-just-35-troops-volunteer-for-eu-battlegroup/ and follow up on 23/11/23. The first story was that “Ireland faces embarrassment as just 35 troops volunteer for EU Battlegroup”, less than a fifth of those needed from Ireland for a German-led ‘rapid response’ battlegroup being formed in January. It would be good to think that this was Irish soldiers voting with their feet not to get involved. The Irish Times reported that “It will act in support of UN-authorised missions and will also be deployed to aid humanitarian crises and support existing peacekeeping missions that face heightened difficulties” but given the plan to remove the Triple Lock on deployment of Irish troops overseas, and developing EU militarism, it is a further move towards Irish military integration with other military powers.

However this article and the follow up indicated that reluctance to sign up may be mainly due to uncertainty about additional financial allowances for being part of the battlegroup (interesting term that, they don’t even use a euphemism – which they are so good at – such as ‘peacekeeping group’). It is expected that the government will introduce financial incentives to get the 182 soldiers they need (however, it being an army, if needed soldiers could be ‘volunteered’). However amazingly Ireland already withdrew from participation in military peacekeeping in the UNDOF operation in the Golan Heights to get involved in this battlegroup which will be training for most of the next year and on standby for 2025.

Starmint

Is it a new mint flavoured confectionery in rounded star shape? Or a rather unpleasant tasting confection currently out of production? The varmints in Starmint, the House on the Hill, are still not meeting thanks to a DUPlicitous party. Please note I am not saying other political parties are not or cannot be duplicitous, it is just as clear as day that the DUP turned what they saw as electoral survival into a principle. And there are principles involved for unionists who have been sold down the river, again, by a British government intent on its own nationalist project and their desire for survival.

But unionists are not the only people in Northern Ireland, or indeed in the United Kingdom to which they have allegiance. And while they stick to their principles the whole of Norn Iron is going down the tubes in relation to most things – including health and social services, poverty, community groups and the services they provide, and education (how can anyone hope to pull out of such a downward spiral when education funding is cut so badly?). The economy is just ticking over with remarkably low unemployment but also lots and lots of low pay. And Chris H-H as Shockretary of State compounds the problem by using, and adding to, the suffering of ordinary people as a weapon to try to get the DUP back in residence in the House on the Hill. I was thus wondering whether Chris Heaton-Harris deserves the title of (Vindictive to a) Tee-Shock. Meanwhile Troubles victims have been terribly short-changed again.

What a mess. While the new year was being signed up in the last while as a possible point for a return departure, the stars do not seem to be aligned [is Sammy a star?] for, or rather within, the DUP who may struggle on with an assembly boycott while the North falls apart at the seems (sic). Perhaps political bravery could win out but I suspect what is in store is that is not mint to be in NOrthern Ireland. I hope I am wrong, I would be delighted to be proven thus.

Waking up

It’s official, sort of. The Irish – and in Ireland generally culturally Catholic – way of death is superior, certainly compared with another western European island. It is something many of us have known for a long time, and Kevin Toolis’ book “My father’s wake” is on the topic, but research has now proven it (usual caveats…) that active social engagement and collective remembering after the death of a loved one can help you. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-67462985 “The Ulster University study, which involved more than 2,000 people, looked at prolonged grief disorder (PGD). It described the disorder as an enduring yearning for the deceased persisting for more than six months. About 10.9% of grieving people in Ireland featured in the research fulfilled the disorder’s criteria, compared to 15.3% in the UK.” The study does go on to say “cultural differences with regard to death may be an explanatory factor” in relation to waking and so on.

So not only is the West a-wake but much of the rest of the island too. You may not be able to wish ‘slainte’ to the deceased but being able to do it to and with their kin, even with a cup of tea, can assist in coming to terms with the death. There is no simple answer or time limit to, or remedy for, grief when you lose your nearest and dearest. But waking can help and waking up to that fact is important so it is never lost.

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Recently we have come on for a cold spell (blame the witch/wizard/warlock though I thought the last of these was Micheál Martin’s alternative to the Triple Lock….) but I have bright red salvia still in full bloom in the gordon, however the current cold may knock them on the head – being in a city and only a few k’s from the sea we escape some frosts manifested elsewhere.

But Christmas and New Year festivities and break are coming up fast and so I wish you an enjoyable and restful time (when you get there!) and, as always, a Preposterous New Year – the new year will be well established when I join you again. One piece of good cheer is that a song about Norn Iron trade union and peace activist May Blood is to be released just before Christmas https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/music/news/song-about-work-of-ni-peacemaker-for-christmas-release-a-lot-of-people-dont-really-know-who-she-is/a2133175073.html

Let’s hope, and work that, 2024 is more peaceful than the current year – Billy.

Billy King: Rites Again, 311

Billy King, Nonviolent News, , ,

Billy King shares his monthly thoughts

Auntie Militarism

‘Antimilitarism’ is not a term which is understood by everyone, I have even met many Norn Iron Catholic-and-Protestant-Peace campaigners who hadn’t a clue about it. In fact militarism, in selling itself these days, probably tries to look a bit like ‘Auntie Militarism’, your favourite auntie, who is going to treat you kindly and look after you. However it is, in fact, a Wicked Warlock (the male equivalent of a witch is linguistically a very fitting semi-personification of militarism even if it scapegoats this aspect of paganism……….though in fact I don’t know if those into witchcraft use the term). [I thought a ‘warlock’ was what the Irish government was trying to get the country into, forgetting the ‘triple lock’! – Ed]

This is by way of beginning to comment on the War Resisters’ International’s recent conference in London on ‘Antimilitarist Roots’. Unfortunately I didn’t make it there but caught a couple of the plenaries online. Everything that I heard was valuable – including from Olga Karach in Belarus, Milan Sekulović in Montenegro, and Camila Rodriquez in Colombia – but what I picked to relay to you was the contribution by Israeli peace activist Sahar Vardi on militarism and green issues/climate heating.

Most of us probably know already the connection between militarism, global warming and pollution; no inclusion in national figures, huge carbon emissions, and high use of ‘forever’ chemicals, not even mentioning depleted uranium. One speaker at a Dublin Castle session of the recent Consultative Forum on International Security even spoke of how hard NATO is trying/succeeding to be green! That about a nuclear armed and interventionist military alliance. And if that isn’t greenwashing I don’t know what is. However given that a lot of military carbon emissions take place high up (air transport, bombers and fighter planes) where emissions are much slower to degrade, it can be argued that military emissions are actually a hell of a lot (sic) worse than even the established figures indicate.

I can’t do it justice but anyway, in her talk to the WRI, Sahar Vardi spoke eloquently about the links between militarism and climate change. Militarisation sets priorities in international political discourse because nothing is as important as (a narrow concept of military) ‘security’. 78% of military emissions are in the air I heard her say – I can add that this is where they are far more damaging and long lasting. She spoke about the complete connection between the two issues. There is massive carbon use in normal military behaviour and in war – and then there is massive carbon use in rebuilding. In the Vietnam war half a million hectares of land were sprayed with (carcinogen and other disease causing) Agent Orange. Her challenge to completely link militarism and climate change is a difficult but fascinating one and scary in that, as she pointed out, climate change is adding to greater militarisation (because of the perceived need to be better able to use military force in a more unstable world).

The clash of the sash

We are into ‘the marching season’ in the North and although thankfully marching/parading issues have been fairly quiet in the last few years there is the ever present danger that things will flare up again. There are both general and geographically specific issues that remain, including for unionists and Orangemen the very existence and power of the Parades Commission to regulate parades.

The Orange Order has an exhibition in Portadown on 25 years since they were stopped from parading through the Catholic Garvaghy Road. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/new-exhibition-seeks-reflection-on-legacy-of-drumcree-parade-dispute-after-25-years/a851534926.html The argument by the district master of the Orange Order that the issue should be given the same attention as the cost of living crisis seems rather OTT, though that doesn’t mean there should not be an effort to resolve the matter and he does mention ‘shared space’.

I don’t know if the concept to the “Queen’s Highway” (well, now “King’s Highway”) is still a prevalent argument but the idea behind it is that people should be able to parade anywhere they want. This was disproved by Portadown loyalists themselves. Years ago the Drumcree Faith and Justice Group, https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/albums/72157717096321767 a nonviolent body on the Catholic side of the fence, applied for permission for a parade up the town and back again, in a clever move to test the waters. There were loyalist threats and the march was banned from leaving the Catholic area (at that stage, the police were responsible for decisions on parades as the Parades Commission had not been set up). By their actions loyalists quickly disproved the notion that there is a neutral “Queen’s Highway” which should be open to everyone.

Derry showed the way in relation to an agreement between residents and the Apprentice Boys of Derry (an Orange institution specifically linked to that city). A solution to the Drumcree parading issue in Portadown (the site of pitched battles in the mid- to late-1990s) can only come through negotiation with residents, and while there can be recalcitrance on all sides, the reality is one of clashing rights. Military style parading is not my style or to my liking but if that is what people want to do as a demonstration of their identity and culture, then it is up to them. But on the other side of the, literal, fence, others have the right not to be intimidated, have their noses rubbed into it in triumphalism, or be unduly disrupted. Squaring that circle can only come through mutual agreement involving a modicum of understanding and even tolerance.

Helena Desivilya Syna and Geoffrey Corry’s book “Track III Actions”, mentioned in the news section of the last issue, has Brendan McAllister (who sadly died last December) writing on involvement with mediating Drumcree 1995-99, and Michael Doherty on the process for arriving at an agreement between the Apprentice Boys of Derry and the Bogside Residents Association regarding the former’s parading in Derry. I haven’t read these pieces yet but am looking forward to giving them some undivided attention.

No to NATO, No to drones

Great rock videos from US based Mistahi on No to NATO can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwc-XBjl1tc and on Killer Drones at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd1G0sUntcw

Selling your soul on the streets

The Headitor has been reminiscing about the days of Dawn magazine (1974-85) which he was involved with. It was widely distributed – see https://www.flickr.com/photos/innateireland/20321310120/in/album-72157609617432905/ – but also sold at events and in the street.

The most successful street selling came during the 1976 Peace People Shankill rally; a small team of 3 or 4 people sold over 400 copies in a couple of hours. The magazine had been going for a couple of years at that stage, and some of those involved had already been peace activists for longer, so it was a bit disconcerting to be told by a few people (just a few) on the rally that they (the Dawn sellers) were “not in the peace movement proper” – i.e. not on board the Peace People vehicle though in fact a member of Dawn worked on some early editions of the Peace People publication “Peace by Peace”.

However it is other altercations that the Headitor remembers better. Selling the magazine on the street outside the Europa Hotel in Belfast circa 1980 during a peace event inside, he was checked out by a regular passing police patrol. The security building (this was Troubles Belfast) to go through into the hotel was a prefab in front and someone there objected to having the selling of magazines outside and called the police. So a second police detail arrived and a sergeant questioned him for around ten minutes before moving on. However, and inexplicably, the police sergeant told him just before he went that he had been trying to get him to say something which would have justified pulling him in, i.e. arresting him. If that was what he was trying to do, why did he say so? And if it was trying to award brownie points for withstanding his questioning, surely that made his behaviour (the police sergeant) look bad? Strange. Maybe ‘image’ was the last thing on the police sergeant’s mind in those days.

Another time it was selling Dawn magazine (No.54, February 1980) outside a Corrymeela sale or fundraising event which was taking place in the Whitla Hall at Queen’s University Belfast. The cover of the issue had the words ‘Corrymeela’ and ‘H-Blocks’ on the cover. The Corrymeela feature was an interview with John Morrow and Ray Davey, founder of Corrymeela, when the former took over the leadership of Corrymeela from the latter. The article on H-Blocks was written by Una O’Higgins O’Malley, a leading figure in Glencree, the nearest equivalent in the Republic to Corrymeela in the North. Anyway, a woman came out of the event, saw the two words “Corrymeela” and “H-Blocks” and mistakenly put two and two together into two hundred and twenty-two: “We don’t like Corrymeela being linked with H-Blocks” she said as she moved past. The seller followed her for a few metres across the pavement trying to explain that they weren’t being linked, and the article on H-Blocks was written by a prominent peace activist. She wasn’t having any of it and told the male seller, “If you follow me any more I will have you taken in for molesting me”. Ouch.

Intending to sell Dawn outside St Anne’s Cathedral, again in 1980 or just after, while a service for reconciliation was happening, out of courtesy he phoned the dean of St Anne’s – he was not obliged to inform anyone. He wasn’t going to be on Cathedral property, and the magazine was rather in accord with the theme of the service inside. The seller was also unpaid and giving up time to promote a publication which might be of interest to those attending. However in the phone call the dean was not in listening mode, accused him of being a money changer in the temple, and slammed down the phone. A letter of complaint about this unreasonable behaviour, and pointing out that he himself was from a Church of Ireland background, brought no reply and no apology. This was not a very good response from the guy who was the first ‘Black Santa’ in Belfast (Christmas sit out for charity). But then St Anne’s also has a substantial British Army memorial chapel or wing (with its massive Celtic cross – visible on the outside – which seems extreme cultural appropriation on both religious and cultural grounds).

Prejudice comes in various forms and is not limited to any one section of society, and sometimes with ‘friends’ like those…. But with technological change, not having to sell a magazine on the streets has its advantages in not being abused – today abuse has however also moved online, big time, and given a whole field for vile vitriol.

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Those of you who are not gardeners probably get fed up with my gardening references but this year, with a long hot spell in May-June, has brought about the earliest courgettes ever in our garden, a week or ten days earlier than ever before (picking courgettes ten days before the end of June). I start them out inside in a reasonable size pot so their growth isn’t stunted waiting to be put outside, and then plant them out in well composted and organically-fertilised ground and cover them with a cloche until they are strong enough to withstand the wind and needing to spread their wings/leaves.

However I am telling you this not to illustrate my gardening prowess (gardening disasters and mishaps could be shared too) but in terms of global warming. And the fact the seas around Ireland are several degrees warmer than they should be at this time of year is also scary, for the creatures of all kinds who live there but also for us. Ireland may not be as badly affected by global heating as others but there will be severe repercussions in storms, rain and drought, and even temperature drops if the Gulf Stream stops or slows up more.

But, in keeping with (my) tradition, in wishing you Happy Holliers and the hope that you are able to get your head showered over the summer, I will quote from Christy Moore’s ‘Lisdoonvarna’ on what holidays are about: “When summer comes around each year / They come here and we go there”. Anyway, I hope you get your break and I’ll see you in September….. Billy.