The theme for this year’s International Day of Peace is Cultivating a Culture of Peace. People in various countries will be marking the day in a variety of ways. It will gain a certain amount of traction in social media, here in Northern Ireland it barely makes the news at all. When I’ve asked about how come there is so little interest in it, I’ve been told there are so many of these UN days that it is impossible to cover them all.
Whilst I understand that, with all due respect to the editors, producers they miss a very significant point when it comes to this particular UN day, in the hierarchy of days, this one is at the very top. There is an enormous need for peace throughout the world as so many lives continue to be devastated by an absence of peace. Every evening when I watch the news inevitably there will be a report or reports on conflict in some of the well known places and the resulting human suffering. Some places even with considerable violence never seem to make the news.
Going to school and university in Belfast during the Troubles has left a deep impression on me. As a teenager I had developed the habit of following the news on a daily basis which I continue to do to this day. As I listen today to people being interviewed who had lost a loved one or loved ones killed in the violence here they often seem to me as if they are talking about the event happening last week instead of thirty, forty or fifty years ago. To quote an expression which I have heard various families say – the bullet that killed my loved one didn’t stop travelling.
In thinking about the importance of International Day of Peace I want to bring to our minds the reality that the value of military spending globally has grown steadily in the past years and reached 2.44 trillion U.S. dollars 1. 97 trillion sterling in 2023 which is the equivalent to the GDP of Russia. (https://www.theguardian.com/
As we celebrate Good Relations Week this year I want to acknowledge the decision made ten years ago, when the board of the Community Relations Council changed the date of Good Relations Week moving it from May to September to include International Day of Peace. To my mind, this was a good decision reminding us here of the importance of Good Relations in Cultivating a Culture of Peace.
We here are only too aware here of the issue of legacy and the trauma of the past which some people carry to this very day. There is of course much discussion about best to deal with it with it in the present, be that through a public inquiry or going to the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Retrieval (ICRIR). The best way of dealing with a past we cannot change is to work for a present and future by building good relationships so that violence will not be seen as a way of dealing with difference in sort, prevention is better than cure.
When I call as I do every year for a greater recognition of International Day of Peace, I’m thinking of peace as more than an absence of violence but closer to the Biblical concept of Shalom which takes in the idea of wholeness, completeness, soundness, health, safety and prosperity.
For us here, cultivating a culture of peace will include looking at those areas of our cities and countryside which require regeneration where all parts of our city prosper not just the better off parts. Sadly as we can see clearly there are several parts of the city of Belfast which have not prospered over the last 30 years.
In this final part, I want to mention four events from the plethora of events happening in the course of Good Relations week (https://goodrelationsweek.
On Thursday 19th in the evening there will be a panel discussion followed by a Q and A with four people actively involved in the work and hosted by journalist Jude Hill called 30 Years of Peace?exploring the ceasefires, reflecting on what has been achieved and what lessons we need to keep learning. (https://goodrelationsweek.
Then on International Day of Peace itself, Saturday 21st in the morning there will be a Multi-Faith Conference, “Faiths Together for Climate Justice and Peace”bringing together esteemed speakers to discuss the intersections of peace, ecology, and interfaith collaboration. Attendees will engage in group discussions and feedback sessions to explore the complexities of climate justice and its implications for global peace. (https://goodrelationsweek.
In the evening of the same day, there will a “Celebration of Difference” featuring an evening of music, personal stories and reflections from the diversity of our multi-cultural community. The organisers extend this invitation: “Join us and many others from all over the world who call Northern Ireland home as we celebrate difference, responding to hatred with love and creating community through the sharing of art, music and culture”. (https://goodrelationsweek.
In one of the final events of the week on Sunday 22nd there will be an event organised by the Clonard Fitzroy group entitled “From Ceasefires to Circles of Change” taking place in Clonard Monastery where some key talks took place which helped prepare for the ceasefires. There will be an evening of poetry, prayer and reflection, with an address by charity director Tim Magowan, who is passionate about supporting charities in unlocking the potential in marginalised communities.
Fr Martin Magill is a co-founder of 4 Corners Festival