A sort of annual report from INNATE INNATE is a fairly loose affair existing mainly at
the level of information exchange…mundane this may be
but it is a fact that people don’t know what other people
are doing, or if they know something then part of what they
know is distorted, or a vital part missing. This is a fact
of human existence and the complexity of modern life. Learning,
cooperating and avoiding the re-invention of the wheel all
depend on the quality of the information we have. And, since
this is so, an effort has been made in the last year to increase
the content of the INNATE website which now includes a variety
of other information as well as Nonviolent News. And the web
/ e-mail editions of Nonviolent News now include more material
than the paper edition (usually an editorial, sometimes more
news items, and the columnist Billy King) – you can
choose what you receive (ask for a subscription/mailing form
if you’d like one). The website also has a word search
facility – useful for finding that elusive information
from a year ago that you can’t quite track down. My
thanks to Mark McCann who manages the website so efficiently.
The Belfast networking group of INNATE meets
regularly but is small, in fact at a point where a couple
of additional members could make a considerable difference
in enabling things to happen. So I would ask individuals and
groups accessible to Belfast if this is something you could
consider; no assumptions are made about those attending meetings
doing anything until or if they decide to do so (i.e. we don’t
operate on the ‘treasurer-at-your-first-meeting’
syndrome!). The danger with a small group is that it becomes
simply ‘another group’ struggling to exist rather
than having the networking function intended. That said, some
useful work has been done by the group in supporting particular
initiatives.
There are plenty of possibilities for INNATE
to expand its work, or to do what it does with greater outreach,
anywhere in Ireland. That depends on ‘you’ as
well as ‘us’. The vision is a much greater one
than our reality, a vision of groups pushing back the boundaries,
and cooperating together where possible.
One significant event will take place in Ireland
next year, July 2002, in the Dublin area – the War Resisters
International (WRI) Triennial conference (while a whole raft
of groups in Dublin is backing this event, INNATE is currently
the only group formally linked to the WRI). This will be an
international conference for up to 400 people with the majority
of them coming from abroad and will be a real challenge to
make it an event to remember. One key element of the whole
Triennial will be an, optional, home stay programme where
local activists around Ireland, North and South, get to host
international activists and use them for meetings locally
(and international activists get to see locals at work and
play). You will be hearing more about this! Information and
updates will appear on the website. More...
Some realities change, for better or worse,
and others stay the same. Where we are on this island, North
or South, East or West, or indeed in the middle, old certainties
have gone or are disappearing and new uncertainties rear their
heads. Pluralism of the old sort has to grow into multiculturalism,
while increasing involvement in world economies and EU-structures
makes for an island tied into western economic and power structures
which are difficult – though not impossible –
to challenge. The Northern Ireland situation remains as difficult
and complex as ever but also more open to new initiatives
in a post-kind-of-settlement era, however while the divisions
and enmity may remain similar, the form and expression of
these evolves.
Finally, thanks for being on board, I hope you
enjoy the ride this year. And if you have any news about things
you’re involved in that you want to share that you think
would be relevant, we’d be delighted to hear, likewise
regarding suggestions for activities. You can get in touch
by phone, fax, e-mail or post (pigeon post not available).
Rob Fairmichael, Coordinator, INNATE,
February 2001
