Here is a link to the AVP Ireland newsletter for October 2025.
All posts by quakersireland
News from QUNO – October 2025
The latest newsletter from the Quaker United Nations Office includes the following items:
The opening of the UN General Assembly spotlights a desire for peace in Israel and Palestine
A Call for Climate Action: Protect human rights and decrease military spending
A new year begins at the UN, a new group of Programme Assistants rises to the challenge
Renewed calls for independent human rights monitoring at international borders
Marking Milestones: Reflecting on 80 years of the UN’s work for women, youth, and climate action
Building the New Myanmar: QUNO hosts a public event with Myanmar’s National Unity Government
QUNO Geneva seeks a Peace & Disarmament Representative
You can also download the full newsletter in a single pdf file.
No More Hiroshimas (Oct. 15)
This event hosted by Afri (Action from Ireland) and Irish CND, with the support of Irish Quakers, presents testimony and reflections on nuclear disarmament.
The event will take place at the Eustace Street Meeting House on Wednesday 15 October during 2.00-3.30.
Public Silent Quaker Peace Witness (Saturday Nov 8)
Dublin Monthly Meeting Peace Committee plans to hold another Silent Quaker Peace Witness on Saturday Nov 8 from 11.30am to 12.30pm, outside the gates of St Stephen’s Green at the top of Grafton St, Dublin. Friends from all Meetings, and their friends, are once again very welcome.
We are mindful that the following Tuesday 11th November is Armstice Day, which commemorates the ending of World War One in which 15 to 20 million individual people lost their lives. And how may individuals and families lived with severe physical and mental injury for the rest of their lives? Was this the war to end wars?
I would like to share with you a reflection given by our Friend Fiona Murdoch recently to the Ireland Interfaith Forum on Peace. I hope you will find a way to share this with many people of all faiths and of none.
Where do we find the divine — the source of peace?
Did Elijah hear God in the storm, the earthquake, or the fire?
No. It was only when silence fell, did “a still, small voice” emerge.
That same “still, small voice” lives in us all,
called God, Allah, Yahweh, or another name.
Small, yet powerful —
encouraging us to become channels of peace and love.
What if we took time each day to listen in stillness and silence to that voice?
And what if we dared to act on its promptings and leadings?
What if we listened to one another with empathy and respect,
seeing light in every soul,
embracing our differences,
treating all as equals,
speaking love, not fear?
Because the still, small voice is love.
Love for Earth
and for the web of life that holds us all —
human and other-than-human,
seen and unseen,
one sacred whole.
What kind of world might we create
if we tuned into that “still, small voice” within —
and followed its leadings?
If we chose to live with integrity and generosity,
seeing the world’s resources as something to share,
not fight over?
Could we — would we — find the courage
to fan the flames of justice and peace?
To rise, to speak, to act —
and begin to weave a new world?
One not built on fear or greed,
but rooted deeply in love?
It will be then—and only then—
that we can truthfully call ourselves peacemakers.
Thanks
Sean Kinsella, Dublin MM Peace Committee
Quaker Relief during the Great Famine (Oct 13)
This talk by Rob Goodbody, organised by the Donaghmore Historical Society, explores how the Society of Friends responded with compassion and courage during Ireland’s darkest years providing food, clothing, and dignity to those in need. It’s a story of faith in action that continues to inspire.
The talk will take place at the Heritage Centre Donaghmore at 8pm.
☕ Tea, biscuits and a chat afterwards – everyone welcome, especially those new to the Society!
You can also join by Zoom via Eventbrite:
👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/quaker-relief-during-the-great-famine-tickets-1767200737979
You can help publicise the event using this poster.
Coffee Morning: The Work of MECPATHS – Countering Child Trafficking in Ireland (Oct. 7)
Child trafficking has been documented in every country across the globe, and Ireland is no exception. Child victims of trafficking can be “hidden in plain sight” within cities, towns and villages.
JP O’Sullivan will speak about this important topic at a Churchtown Coffee Morning on Tuesday 7th October during 10.30-12.00.
Friends are also welcome to join on Zoom.
You can find more information, including the Zoom link for joining online, in this flyer.
Roof Collapse at Bessbrook Meeting House
The aging roof of the kitchen in Bessbrook Meeting House recently collapsed, taking out not only the kitchen but also the access to the ladies’ toilet. Below is a story from Fiona Devlin (Cork Meeting) about how a Gofundme campaign set up to help raise the £12,000 needed to repair the roof has made connections across the Quaker world. You can make a donation of any size to this campaign using the following link:
Fiona’s story:
Friends in Wilmington Carolina picked up a Gofundme request posted by Sam in Bessbrook Northern Ireland.
” Donate to roof collapse Quaker meeting house Bessbrook .. ”
Someone in Wilmington Carolina meeting sent it to an Irish/ American friend of mine currently working in Thailand. Her husband, now sadly deceased, had been a member of Wilmington Meeting. Unsure if it was valid she sent it to me in Cork. So a friend of mine in Belfast Meeting confirmed it and within a couple of hours the donation was made, from Thailand, towards the Quaker Meeting House in Bessbrook.
I love this story of goodwill and hope that Sam will hear how far his Gofundme post has travelled. I wish him and Bessbrook meeting fund well.
In friendship. Fiona Devlin, Cork meeting.
Church leaders call for an end to the war in Gaza
A broad spectrum of church leaders in Britain and Ireland has made another urgent call for an end to Israel’s war in Gaza. The initiative came from senior Church of England and Catholic clergy in England, and the information was shared through Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI). Will Haire, clerk of Ireland Yearly Meeting, has added Irish Friends’ voice to this statement. The report and the full statement can be found at the link below:
https://www.archbishopofyork.org/news/cardinal-joins-church-leaders-calling-end-war-gaza
Save the Date – IQFA Sale on 6th Dec at Monkstown Meeting House!
This year’s fundraising sale in support of Irish Quaker Faith in Action will take place at 11am=3pm on Saturday 6 December at the Monkstown Meeting House.
More information about how to contribute items for the sale will be distributed in due course. For now – save the date!
World Quaker Day is coming up (5 Oct)!
Quakers believe that anyone can have a direct, unmediated relationship with God, sometimes described as a Light in every person.
This leads us to strive for peace, equality and environmental protection. We also try to live relatively simply, and to treat others as we would wish to be treated ourselves.
All of this is a reflection of the ‘Great Commandment’: to love God and ‘love your neighbour as yourself’.
In times when conflict, untruths and unfairness seem to dominate, join us in exploring what love can do on World Quaker Day, Sunday 5 October 2025.
The theme for this year’s World Quaker Day will be Love your neighbour. You can find information about events being organised around the world, as well as resources to help you in organising an event at your own Meeting, at https://fwcc.world/event/wqd-2025/ .
quakers-in-ireland.ie 
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