Friends from Dublin Meetings joined Friends at Ballitore Meeting, Co Kildare, for meeting for worship on Sunday 24th June. Ballitore is possibly the oldest original meeting house in Ireland still used for Quaker meetings.

Participating Friends then travelled to Rathangan Burial Ground to meet members of the Rathangan Tidy Towns Committee who, in the course of the past few years, cleared away the jungle of undergrowth and transformed the site into a beautiful public park. They arranged for the preparation and installation of wall plaques with the names of all the people buried there.

This was the second year in a row the Committee invited Friends to visit the burial ground and be their guests at a picnic lunch. It was a joyous occasion where Friends met with the organisers, with local historians and with some of the descendants of the Quaker families who once formed a thriving community.

Pauline Goggin of Limerick Meeting will be heading to the Eurosatory ‘Defence and Security’ exhibition from June 11-15 to protest outside, as she has done several times before.

You can read an interesting article written by her for ‘The Friendly Word’ here titled ‘Quaker Activism and The International Arms Trade: A Reflection from Munster’

Building Security: Trust or Fear

20 April 2018

The Helix, Dublin City University, Dublin 9

Hosted by

Dublin City University,

Quaker Council for European Affairs Brussels,

Dublin Quaker Peace Committee.

The conference is a free event but to assist with the organising of the event please register your interest in attending with smccrum.1949@gmail.com or martin.leavy@dcu.ie

1. Introduction:

During the past five years, many assumptions about security have been eroded, new security challenges have emerged both inside and outside Europe needing new thinking around how to respond.

In a Europe in which increased paranoia is used as a political weapon against the “outsider”, how do we play a role as citizens in defining a policy which will direct action to take us away from fear and return us to trust? In a changed scenario, what role do citizens and policy makers play?

Dublin City University (DCU), Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA), and the Dublin Quaker Peace Committee are organising a conference bridging academics, policy makers and civil society to discuss this new security environment and our changing roles and responsibilities. This event is open to everyone interested in this challenging situation.

2. Programme:

09h30 – 10h00:  Opening: John Doyle, Professor & Director of the Institute for International Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction, and Executive Dean of Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, DCU.

10h00 – 12h00:  What does security mean in Europe and what is our vision of the European Union as a security provider?

What does the European Union and Europe mean by security?

What is our vision of the European Union as a provider of security?

What is our role as citizens in moving the European Union from fear to trust?

 Convenor:  Maria-Adriana Deiana, Assistant Professor in European Security,  Institute for International Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction, DCU

• Ian Anthony, Programme Director, European Security Programme, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
• Anna Penfrat, Senior Policy Officer, European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO)
• Girogio Porzio, Head of Division, Concepts and Capabilities, CMPD, European External Action Service
• John Doyle, Professor & Director of the Institute for International Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction and Executive Dean of Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, DCU.

12h30 – 14h00: Buffet Lunch served: speakers available to informally discuss concerns raised by the morning session.

14h30 – 16h00:  A changing security environment: new threats need new answers.

Convenor: Andrew Lane, Director, Quaker Council for European Affairs, Brussels

Are the roles of military and civilian actors complimentary or opposing?

New threats need new answers – what is the role now for military and civilian actors?

 Are there new actors involved in providing security and what gap do they fill?

Is there a role for communities and civil society as providers of security and if so, which one?         

• Murray T. Guptill, Deputy Director European Engagement, US Naval Forces Europe and Africa, NATO
• Olivia Caeymaex, Peace Programme Lead, QCEA
• Maria Mekri, Executive Director, SaferGlobe
• Maura Conway, Professor of International Security, School of Law and Government / Institute for International Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction, DCU 

16h00 – 16h30: Concluding Remarks: Kenneth McDonagh, Associate Professor of International Relations, School of Law and Government, Institute for International Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction, DCU

The Outreach & Ministry Committee of Ulster Quarterly Meeting have compiled a leaflet inviting you to attend Meeting for Worship.
Please click on the link below for details and feel free to download, print and pass on.

UQM invite you to attend Meeting for Worship

When:  Thursday 24th August 2017
Time:    3pm
Where: Edenderry Library, JKF Street, Edenderry, Co Offaly

Edenderry Friends have been selected, by Offaly County Council, to feature during Heritage Week. Light refreshments will be available after the talk, which will be followed by a visit to the Quaker Meeting House and weather permitting on to the Quaker Burial Ground.
All welcome.

Click on the link below to read the Irish Times article about Chuck and Nell Kruger’s last Meeting for Worship on the beautiful island of Cape Clear.

Stephen Collins: An Irishman’s Diary on a fond farewell to Cape Clear

Nine Young Friends enjoyed a trip to 1652 country in the north of England where they enjoyed learning about the roots of Quakerism.

Read their epistle here.

The Quaker Historical Committee has just published a remarkable book with the title The Quakers of Baltyboys, Co. Wicklow, Ireland 1678 to 1800s, which was launched in June in connection with the author, John Hussey’s, lecture.

The book tells the story of the Quakers who settled in west Wicklow and became involved first in the wool trade and, when it collapsed, in the weaving industry.  Its particular interest lies in the details it provides of the fortunes of a small rural community of Friends.

Copies are available for €10 from Friends Historical Library, Stocking Lane, Dublin 16.