Violent death as entertainment
21st September is UN World Peace Day. A campaign that "No
Violent Death be used as Entertainment' on World Peace Day
is a campaign focusing attention on the effects of violence
as entertainment in the media and is looking for support.
"Children must be influenced by the 8,000
violent deaths they see in their entertainment programmes
before going to secondary school. Is it unreasonable to ask
TV stations to observe 21/9 each year as one day when they
will exclude violent death from their entertainment programmes?"
In 2005, BBC, RTE, UTV, Sky and TV3 all decided that they
were unable to commit to showing no violent death for entertainment
purposes on 21/9/05. TG4 was the only station transmitting
on the island of Ireland that readily agreed to observe the
day.
The campaign aims to use one high profile day
in the year to focus attention on the effects of violence
in the media; lobby each TV station not to show any Violent
Death for Entertainment on this one day in the year; ask schools
and colleges to devote Civics and Media classes on this day
to consideration of the effects of violence in the media;
to challenge the general public to consider their viewing
decisions in the light of the information now available.
If you know any teachers or anybody working in TV, could you
please bring this campaign to their attention. Also could
you please turn off the TV, or switch channel on 21/9 if it
shows violent death as part of an entertainment programme.
Further details on web site http://www.everylifecounts.info
or from Terry Gillespie ph 057 8625173 (evenings) or email
terry.gillespie@gmail.com
Trial by jury jury jury
As reported in NN 140 and 135, the third trial of the Pit
Stop Ploughshares/Catholic Worker Five begins at the Four
Courts, Dublin on 5th July. Here is some solidarity information.
On Wednesday 28th June a ‘Celebration of resistance’,
a benefit gig for the Pit Stop Ploughshares takes place with
music, tales and dance at Conways Pub, Parnell Street, Dublin
from 8.30pm-late; the music includes Paul O'Toole and special
guests including Donal O’Kelly (entrance by donation).
The daily routine for each day of the trial starts 5th July;
there will be an anti-war vigil from 8.30 am at The Spire
in O'Connell Street each morning of the trial. Around 9.15
am (depending when the trial is slated to start that particular
day) there will be a silent procession in single file carrying
the names of the dead (Iraqi & U.S.) in memory of the
dead to the Four Courts. There will be a circle at the Four
Courts, some reflections and a briefing on the logistics for
the day. It is hoped to sustain a vigil with Buddhist monks
outside the Four Courts while the trial is in process...a
roster will be created each morning. It is also hoped to find
a nearby church or other facility where people can gather
for coffee, food and reflection at the end of each day. The
support campaign has issued a call for international solidarity
vigils on 5th July at Irish embassies, consuls and sites of
significance; Irish consuls and embassies can be found here
and contact people for vigils are available in Britain, Australia
and the USA.
Further details at http://www.peaceontrial.com
Donations can be made to "Ploughshares Defence Fund",
134 Phibsborough Road, Dublin 7 or at any Bank of Ireland
branch, payable to "Ploughshares Defence Fund",
Account No. 80965573 Sort Code 900551.
Glencree: Summer school,
Conflict and Peacemaking Course
The Glencree Summer School 2006, incorporating the Annual
Glencree Women’s Lecture is on “Dimensions of
Conflict and Peace - Opportunities and Challenges”,
from 25th – 27th August. The event will create the space
for an informed dialogue around the complexities of conflict
and will place particular emphasis on factors which are often
significant elements of a peace process; speakers will represent
a wide range of opinion both within Ireland, North and South,
and internationally. Keynote speaker is Gregory Campbell,
MP MLA of the DUP. Other contributors include former hunger
striker Laurence McKeown, GAA President Seán Kelly,
Rev. Brian Kennaway, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Liz
McManus TD, Deputy Chief Constable of the PSNI Paul Leighton,
Leader of the Progressive Unionist Party, David Ervine MLA,
Colin Parry of the Tim Parry Jonathan Ball Trust in Warrington,
Pat Carey TD of the British Irish Inter-parliamentary Body
and Sr. Geraldine Smyth of the Irish School of Ecumenics.
The Annual Glencree Women’s Lecture will be delivered
by Journalist and
Broadcaster Karen Coleman, presenter of ‘The Wide Angle’
on Newstalk 106. The Summer School fee is €150 (€165
for twin bedded accommodation).
Meanwhile Glencree’s Conflict Resolution
& Peacemaking Certificate Course takes place with three
modules run back-to-back in 5 successive days from Wednesday
16th August to Sunday 20th August 20 (start time for each
day is 9.30 am) and a Project Day will be arranged for about
4 weeks later. The cost is €500 including some meals
and refreshments.
Further details on both the above at http://www.glencree.ie
Glencree Centre for Reconciliation, Glencree, Enniskerry,
Co Wicklow, ph. 01 - 282 9711 and e-mail info@glencree.ie
Peace People 30th Anniversary:
Service, nonviolence series
1) A Service of Celebration to mark the 30th Anniversary of
the founding of the Peace People in 1976 in Belfast by Mairead
Corrigan Maguire, Betty Williams and Ciaran McKeown will be
held in Windsor Presbyterian Church, 222 Lisburn Road, Belfast,
on Thursday, 7th September at 7.30pm. All welcome.
2) To mark the 30th Anniversary, the Peace People,
in collaboration with the Irish School of Ecumenics, present
a 5 week programme of inter-active of talks entitled ‘Journeying
with Active Nonviolence’, in the Middleton Room, Wellington
Park Hotel, 21 Malone Road, Belfast, commencing Thursday 28th
September, 7.30pm-9.30pm. Programme concludes Thursday, 26th
October. Chair of the Programme is Dr Johnston McMaster. This
free course is open to all. Further info contact Kevin Cassidy,
chair, Peace People, ph. 028 4173 8997, or e.mail info@peacepeople.com
Peace and Reconciliation
Group, Derry: Autumn training
Courses available include: 1) Advanced Conflict Resolution
& Mediation Skills, OCN Level 3 (9 Credits). Running from
14th September 2006 (Thursday 10.00 am – 4.00 pm) and
every Thursday thereafter until 16th November 2006. 2) Exploring
Diversity: Facilitating Community Relations Work, OCN Level
3 (12 Credits) from Tuesday, 12th September and every Tuesday
thereafter until Tuesday, 21st November 2006. Both taking
place at Peace and Reconciliation Group, 18/20 Bishop Street,
L'Derry BT48 6PW. Details from info@peaceprg.co.uk,
ph 028-71369206.
Justice Not Terror Coalition:
7/7 and 9/8
The Justice Not Terror Coalition (JNTC) in Belfast is to remember
the 56 dead and 700 injured in the London bombings of 7/7/2005
and to highlight that Downing Street has censored the Home
Office report on 7/7; the fact that 4 bombers were inspired
by UK foreign policy, and principally the decision to invade
Iraq, was removed from the final report. 12.30-1.30pm, Friday
7th July, JNTC stall & leafletting in front of Tesco Metro,
2 Royal Avenue, Belfast. Also, JNTC to remember 61st anniversary
of the bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki on 9th August with
a focus on nuclear proliferation and the £25bn tag for
Trident upgrade. Both events in support of the Global Call
to End the Occupation of Iraq. Next JNTC planning meeting:
7.30pm, 25th July at Peace House, 224 Lisburn Road, Belfast.
Info: jntcx@bonbon.net
ph. 0773 781 9569
Healing Through Remembering:
Storytelling
The “Storytelling as the Vehicle?” conference
report was launched at the HTR offices in Belfast in June
by Melanie Verwoerd, former South African ambassador to Ireland.
The papers are “What is Storytelling?” by the
HTR Storytelling sub group; “Rights of Memory”
by Kevin Whelan, Smurfit Director of the Keough-Notre Dame
Centre in Dublin; and “Dialogue Towards a Culture of
Peace” by Samson Munn, a founder of The Austrian Encounter,
a project which brings children of Austrian Holocaust Survivors
together with children of Austrian Nazi perpetrators. Healing
Through Remembering, 17a Ormeau Avenue, Belfast BT12 6HD,
ph 028 – 9023 8844, e-mail info@healingthroughremembering.org
and web http://www.healingthroughremembering.org
European Justice and
Peace Commissions meet in Belfast
The Conference of European Justice and Peace Commissions of
the Catholic Church, which brings together 28 national commissions
from all over Europe, has an International Workshop on experiences
from the peace process in Northern Ireland taking place 22nd
- 24th September 2006 in Belfast. We hope to bring you further
details in the September issue of NN. The Irish Commission
for Justice and Social Affairs (see NN 131) is at Columba
Centre, Maynooth, Co Kildare, e-mail icjsa@iecon.ie,
ph 01 – 5053016 and web http://www.catholicjustice.ie
Environmental Protection
Agency Campaign Steps Up A Gear
Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland report that an Environmental
Protection Agency has moved a step closer with the appointment
of a team to conduct an inquiry into environmental regulation,
the ‘Review of Environmental Governance’ to be
chaired by Tom Burke. Northern Ireland is the only part of
the UK and Ireland not to have an independent EPA; currently
the job is done by Environment and Heritage Service (EHS),
an agency within the Department of the Environment which has
been heavily criticised because of its failure to tackle the
degradation of the environment. The inquiry team will examine
the current governance arrangements, draw on experience at
home and abroad, and design a new system for managing and
protecting Northern Ireland’s environment. Nine leading
environmental organisations have campaigned to achieve an
independent review. This coalition expects that the inquiry
will be conducted in an open and transparent manner with maximum
participation from stakeholders and the public. For more information
on the Review, and how to get involved, go to http://www.regni.info
FOE-NI, 7 Donegall Street Place, Belfast, BT1 2FN ph 028 9023
3488, web http://www.foe.co.uk/ni
Friends of the Earth in the Republic are at
9 Upper Mount Street, Dublin 2, ph 01 6394652, e-mail: info@foe.ie
and web http://www.foe.ie
Current campaigns include nuclear power, and global warming.
Feasta on nuclear power,
sustainability
Look no further. If you want an authoritative guide to nuclear
power and why investing in it would be an expensive radioactive
and red herring, then look to Feasta’s website at http://www.feasta.org
for their nuclear power briefing “Why nuclear power
cannot be a major energy source” (written by David Fleming
and co-produced with the New Economics Foundation). Paper
copies are also available for an s a e and preferably a donation
(it’s a 12-page booklet). Meanwhile Feasta’s course
'Understanding the Economics of Sustainability' will be run
again this autumn at the Cultivate Centre in Temple Bar, Dublin.
The course will take place on Tuesday evenings for ten weeks,
from 26th September to 28th November &.30 – 9.00
pm every Tuesday). Further details on the website. The course
fee is €150, or €120 concession. FEASTA: The Foundation
for the Economics of Sustainability, 10A Lower Camden Street,
Dublin 2, ph 01 405 3615, fax: 01 405 4835, e-mail: feasta@anu.ie
GM Free areas
GM-Free Ireland reports that Counties Cavan, Clare, Fermanagh,
Kerry, Meath, Monaghan, Roscommon and Westmeath now prohibit
genetically modified (GM) seeds and crops, as do the local
authorities of Bantry, Bray, Derry, Galway City, Navan, Newry,
Mourne, and Clonakilty. Over 1,000 smaller local areas have
also declared themselves to be GMO-free. It suggests you ask
your Local Authority to pass a Motion to (a) prohibit the
cultivation of GMO seeds, crops, trees, insects, crustaceans,
fish, poultry and livestock in its area; (b) exclude Local
Authority funding for the procurement of food containing GM
ingredients in schools, hospitals, nursing homes, canteens
etc.; and (c) prohibit the transportation, storage, or use
of live GMO seeds (including rape seed approved for animal
feed), as well as any GM crops, trees, insects, crustaceans,
fish, poultry and livestock on its land, water, and airspace.
See the (excellent) GM-Free Ireland website at http://www.gmfreeireland.org/
Michael O'Callaghan, Chairman, Global Vision Consulting Ltd.,
Little Alders, Knockrath, Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow, ph. 0404
43 885, e-mail mail@gmfreeireland.org
ICJSA on Darfur
The Irish Commission for Justice and Social Affairs, a commission
of the Irish Bishops’ Conference, has issued a 3-page
statement on Darfur and the humanitarian disaster there, including
a call for an urgent response from the Irish public and from
the Irish government. The statement is available on the ICJSA
website
Protest over British
warship visit to Dublin
A demonstration/protest, organised by the IAWM/Irish Anti-War
Movement, PANA/Peace And Neutrality Alliance and NGO Peace
Alliance will take place on Thursday, 29th June at 6.00 pm
against the UK Navy’s biggest supply ship HMS Ocean,
on a so-called social visit to Dublin Port. Assembly from
the Famine Memorial in the IFSC. Contact any of the three
organising groups for further details.
Texans for Peace
The peace and anti-war movements in the USA does not often
get much of a look in, either in the mass media there or here,
but it is beavering away on many relevant issues. Just one
small example of this work was brought to our attention by
e-mail about Texans for Peace; see their website at http://www.texansforpeace.org/endthewar
for details.
The networking group of INNATE meets for a planning
day in August, next regular Belfast meeting 25th September,
details in September issue. Anyone interested welcome –
please enquire
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