Peace And Reconciliation Group, Derry: Women into Politics
Women make up 51% of the population yet in Northern Ireland we are virtually invisible in public life and politics; in the past, women have tended to be actively involved in community issues but have avoided major politics due to the unstable political environment. The Women Into Politics Project seeks to bring women together to talk about issues of political concern and create the necessary space to explore honestly our political differences and similarities. The programme has been successfully run in Belfast, it's not associated with any political party and it works at both a local community level and across communities. It is hoped to start a programme in the Derry/Londonderry area in September. If you have any questions about this or other Peace and Reconciliation Group projects, contact Catherine Cooke at 01504 - 369206. The address is: 18-20 Bishop Street, Derry BT48 6PW.

Amnesty International - NI
Amnesty International Northern Ireland programme over the summer includes a photographic exhibition of 6,000 'Lost children of Rwanda', a fraction of photos taken in 1994/5 in Rwandan refugee camps in Zaire to try to help re-unite families dispersed by the civil war. It will be showing at Foyleside Shopping Centre in Derry 14th July - 28th July, and at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast from 30th July - 14th August (entrance free).

AI-NI has groups in Belfast, Newry, University of Ulster (UU) Coleraine, Dunmurry, Foyle, Queen's University Belfast, Mid Down, Ballycastle, UU Jordanstown, North Down and UU Magee, plus a Lawyer's Group. Amnesty International, Northern Ireland Region, 80a Stranmillis Road, Belfast BT9 5AD. Campaigns ph. 01232 - 666216; Fundraising 666001; Fax 666164. http://www.amnesty.org.uk

Pax Christi Britain
Pax Christi in Britain, which has considerable involvement with the situation in Ireland, has moved (as of the end of June) with a new address and phone number: Pax Christi, Christian Peace Education Centre, St Joseph's, Watford Way, Hendon, London NW4 4TY, and the phone number is 0181 - 20 34 884.

There will be a further seminar on Northern Ireland to be held on 21st November, on reconciliation and the healing of memories, with a number of speakers from Northern Ireland (venue, central London).

Norn Iron Elections: On To The David And Seamus Home Rule Show...
Well, the Good Friday Agreement 'yes' parties obtained at least the same proportion of votes in the Assembly elections as in the referendum, enabling things to proceed onwards; David Trimble of the Ulster Unionist Party was elected as First Minister at the initial meeting of the Assembly, and Seamus Mallon of the SDLP as his deputy. But there is a long way (past Drumcree stand off, arms decommissioning etc) to get to lift off with the return of real 'home rule' powers to Stormont. Meanwhile, 'for the record' and our international reader, I mean readers, here's the results in brief:

Total votes:

• SDLP 177,963, 21.99%
• UUP/Ulster Unionist Party 172,225, 21.28%
• DUP/Democratic Unionist Party 145,917, 18.03%
• Sinn Fein 142,858, 17.65%
• Alliance Party 52,636, 6.5%
• UK Unionist Party 36,541, 4.52%
• PUP/Progressive Unionist Party 20,634, 2.55%
• Women's Coalition 13,019, 1.61%
• UDP/Ulster Democratic Party 8,651, 1.07%

The 108 seats in the new Assembly are split as follows: 28 UUP; 24 SDLP; 20 DUP; 18 Sinn Fein; 6 Alliance; 5 UK Unionists; 2 PUP; 2 Women's Coalition; 3 others ('No' unionists).

The one paramilitary-linked party failing to get anyone elected was the UDP, which is linked to the UDA. But the stand off regarding the right, or lack of it, of the Orange Order to march through the Catholic area of the Garvaghy Road in Portadown shows just how little has changed on the ground; limited compromise has emerged in party politics (and the cross-community transfer of second and subsequent preferences was up somewhat in the election) but there's the rest of life to deal with too - Editor.