Presenting the Irish
arms trade to official scrutiny
The existence of an Irish arms trade has for the first time
been acknowledged in a Department of Enterprise, Trade and
Employment report which came out in August. Entitled "Export
licensing for military and dual use goods", it highlighted
some of the problems such as the lack of control in the Republic
over arms dealing which could lead to UK based arms dealers
avoiding tightened legislation there by taking advantage of
gaps in the Irish legislation. It also showed an official
figure of the value of military licences in 2000/2001 as €11.27
per capita in the Republic (€34.4 million in arms and
€4.6 billion in dual use goods in 2002). Meanwhile an
informal coalition of NGOs is working on the issues involved
(this includes Amnesty International, Oxfam and Afri; contact
any of these as appropriate).
IAWM Iraq demos
As part of an international time of action, the Irish Anti-War
Movement has demos in Belfast and Dublin on Saturday 27th
September beginning at 2pm. ?The Belfast demo, "End the
occupation of Iraq, No more war lies', assembles at the Art
College Gardens (beside St Anne's Cathedral); contact 07740
683 767 or e-mail nowar_belfast@hotmail.com
The Dublin demo, 'End the occupations of Iraq
and Palestine, US military out of Shannon', assembles at the
Garden of Remembrance, Parnell Square; contact IAWM, PO Box
9260, Dublin 1, ph 087 - 6329511, website www.irishantiwar.org
and e-mail info@irishantiwar.org
The IAWM also has a petition (downloadable from
their website) calling for a constitutional amendment outlawing
participation of the Irish army in military alliances. A fuller
list of IAWM contacts appeared in NN 108.
Mediation Northern Ireland
training courses
A new training brochure is available from Mediation Northern
Ireland (MNI). This covers a variety of courses over the autumn
and winter including Negotiation Skills, Handling Life's Conflicts,
Foundation Training in Mediation Skills, and Group Mediation
Skills. MNI will also be offering NVQ Level 4 in mediation
for those already using the skill of mediation within their
work or voluntary setting. These and other courses are also
available on request for groups of twelve or more, e.g. on
Building Good Relations. For further details contact; Training
and Learning Unit, MNI, 10 Upper crescent, Belfast BT7 1NT,
ph 9043 8614, fax 9031 4430, e-mail info@mediationnorthernireland.org
and website www.mediationnorthernireland.org
Let's Talk - primary
school resource
"Let's Talk - Dealing with Conflict in the Primary School"
is the final part of the Little Pathways programme for 4 -
8 year olds. Let's talk provides children with a simple strategy
for dealing with conflict in the classroom; it encourages
listening, taking responsibility, looking for solutions and
coming to an agreement. Produced by Elaine Hall for the Churches'
Peace Education Programme, 48 Elmwood Avenue, Belfast BT9
6AZ, ph 028 - 9066 2992, fax 9066 4160, e-mail irish.churches@btconnect.com
It is free to schools in Northern Ireland; otherwise contact
for details. The other materials in the series are 'Getting
to know me' (Year 1, dealing with emotional awareness), 'The
zig zag carpet' (Year 2, dealing with fairness, actions and
consequences) and "Let's be friends" (Year 3, friendship
and the use of circle time etc).
White Poppies for a
culture of peace
As 'remembrance' time approaches once again, the Peace Pledge
Union once again makes white poppies available. White poppies
for peace were conceived by the Women's Co-Operative Guild
in Britain and made their appearance 70 years ago on Armistice
Day 1933. The PPU also has an interactive CD, 'Voices for
peace', examining beliefs about war through changing attitudes
to remembrance day, and other publications including 'Women
and Peace'. White poppies themselves run from £3 for
a pack of 5 (plus £2 postage). PPU, 1 Peace Passage,
London N7 0BT, ph 0870 770 7944, e-mail wp@ppu.org.uk or visit
www.whitepoppy.org.uk
Celebration of the life
of Victor Jara, NCH Dublin, 11th September
11th September is the 30th anniversary of the coup in Chile
which brought Pinochet to power. During that coup, leading
Chilean singer/songwriter Victor Jara was brutally tortured
and murdered. The Latin America Solidarity Centre (LASC) is
organising a concert in Dublin at 8 pm to mark the date and
celebrate the life of Victor Jara and of collective cultural
expression. It will be an evening of music, poetry and song
featuring members of Kila, Katell Keinig, Tommy Sands, Jayro
Gonzalez and others; tickets at €25, €15 from the
National Concert Hall, ph 01 - 417 0077, www.nch.ie LASC is
an initiative for development education, cultural promotion
and campaigning solidarity, linking Ireland and Latin America.
LASC, 5 Merrion Row, Dublin 2, ph 01 - 676 0435, fax 662 1784,
e-mail lasc@iol.ie and website www.lasc.ie
New Corrymeela leader,
former leader brought to book
The newly elected leader of the Corrymeela Community is David
Stevens, currently general secretary of the Irish Council
of Churches and involved in a wide variety of community relations
and other issues. He is the fourth leader of Corrymeela (in
succession to Ray Davey, John Morrow and, most recently, Trevor
Williams) and is the first lay person to hold the job. He
will be fully in post by the start of 2004.
Meanwhile, John Morrow's "On the Road of
Reconciliation - A brief memoir" has been published by
Columba Press. ISBN 1 85607 411 0, 86 pages, priced UK£5.99.
It covers the various aspects of his life on both sides of
the border and in Scotland, and of course as leader of Corrymeela.
Corrymeela Community, 8 Upper Crescent, Belfast
BT7 1NT; becoming a 'Friend of Corrymeela' costs £24
or £12 unwaged. Website www.corrymeela.org.uk and e-mail
belfast@corrymeela.org.uk
Mon Dieu, it's Monbiot
in Belfast
George Monbiot, author of 'Captive State' and 'The Age of
Consent', and Guardian writer, will speak at events organised
by the One World Centre, New Ireland Group and The de Borda
Institute;?
* The 2nd annual One World Centre lecture,
12 noon to 2pm, Thursday 9th October, Room G07, Peter Frogatt
Building, Queen's University, Belfast; everyone welcome. Info
from One World Centre, 4 Lower Crescent, Belfast BT7 1NR,
ph 9024 1879, e-mail stephen@owcni.org.uk ?
* 'Unionism, nationalism or Globalisation?', 7.30 for 7.45
pm on Thursday 9th October in the Elmwood Hall, Belfast, tickets
£5 inc glass of organic wine. Info/Tickets; New Ireland
Group, 7 Slievedarragh park, Belfast BT14 8JA, e-mail sec.newirelandgroup@ntlworld.com
or The de Borda Institute, 36 Ballysillan Road, Belfast BT14
7QQ, e-mail pemerson@deborda.org
Meath Peace Group; Reconciliation,
Peacebuilding, Churches
The theme of the next Meath Peace Group public talk is 'Reconciliation,
Peacebuilding and the Churches', at 8 pm on Monday 6th October
at St Columban's College, Dalgan Park (3 miles out of Navan
on the N3); speakers include Archbishop Robin Eames and Mgr
Raymond Murray. All welcome. Details; Julitta Clancy 01 -
825 9438 or e-mail meathpeace@hotmail.com
Regime Unchanged
"Regime Unchanged: Why the war was wrong" is the
title of a new book by Milan Rai, author of 'War Plan Iraq'.
Its 256 pages looks at how the anti-war movement forced the
British Ministry of Defence to draw up contingency plans to
pull out of the invasion force, days before the war began,
and how UN weapons inspectors were about to begin a new and
decisive phase of inspection on 19th March when they were
shut down by the US. Further details about the book appear
at www.justicenotvengeance.org The book will be UK£10.95
in bookshops or £10 within UK including p&p from
JNV/Justice Not Vengenace, 29 Gensing Road, St Leonards on
Sea, East Sussex TN38 0HE. Multiple orders; 5 copies at £45
including p&p.
Giros Belfast to receive
last payment
Well known venue, Giros in Belfast's Donegall Lane is to close
from the end of September (end of lease and other factors)
so the various musical, cultural and political projects based
there have been looking for alternative homes. The Resource
Centre/Info Shop hopes to continue - watch this space - and
they can be contacted at infoshopbelfast@yahoo.com
'The Northern Ireland
Peace Process'; Accord supplement
Conciliation Resources 'Accord' review has published an update/supplement
to 'Striking the balance' (1999, see NN 77). The contents
are primarily a useful review by Clem McCartney, and a chronology
2000-3003. 24 pages, A4. Conciliation Resources, 173 Upper
Street, London N1 1RG, ph 020 7359 7728, e-mail accord@c-r.org
and website http://www.c-r.org
Et Tutu, Joe Murray
Joe Murray, coordinator of Afri, was the first recipient of
the Desmond and Leah Tutu award presented in Dublin in August
for 'unsung heroes' in the NGO sector. Warm tributes were
paid to Joe for working on so many campaigns, often in the
background, including working for Afri for 21 years. Afri,
134 Phibsborough Road, Dublin 7, ph 01 - 496 8595, e-mail
afri@iol.ie website www.afri.buz.org
Poets for the Planet
(Belfast branch)
The Green Party is holding an open evening of poetry and music
on the theme of peace and planetary survival, taking place
at the John Hewitt pub, Donegall Street, Belfast from 7.30
pm - 9.30 pm on Tuesday 28th October. Names include Jean Bleakney,
Maureen Boyle, Ruth Carr, Paula Cunningham, Moyra Donaldson,
Pamela Greene, Erin Halliday, Lindsay Hodges, Medbh McGuckian,
and Adrian Rice, all under the baton of Tommy Sands. Details,
contact 028 - 90 77 64 57.
INNATE Belfast meetings
INNATE, the producers of this newssheet, hold monthly networking
meetings in Belfast to plan work in the area of nonviolence,
and discuss matters of concern to those attending. Anyone
interested is welcome. Here is the schedule of meetings through
to January (usually but not always on the 4th Monday of the
month), each taking place at 7 University Avenue, Belfast
(opposite Christian Science Church) at 7.30 pm: 22nd September,
20th October, 24th November, 15th December and 26th January
'04. Queries to 90 64 71 06.r
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