Japanese Peace Boat For Dublin

international | anti-war / imperialism | event notice Thursday June 10, 2010 01:25 by June Kelly - World Without Wars and Without Violence( Ireland) june_kelly_2 at hotmail dot com

WELCOME THE JAPANESE PEACE BOAT DURING ITS STAY IN DUBLIN ON 14TH JUNE 2010

On 14th June Dublin will host a visit from the Japanese-based Peace Boat, including ten atomic bomb survivors (hibakusha) from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Everyone welcome to following events:

9.30am to 11am - A major press conference, Georgian Room, Buswell's Hotel (opposite The Dail) Dublin.

11am to 12 Noon Buswells Hotel - Round Table discussion

1pm to 2pm - Visit memorial cherry tree in Merrion Square, Dublin.

3pm to 5pm - Public meeting at the Art Exchange Centre, Temple Bar, Dublin.

Host organisations - World without Wars and without Violence Ireland and the Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

WELCOME THE JAPANESE PEACE BOAT DURING ITS STAY IN DUBLIN ON
14TH JUNE 2010

On 14th June, Dublin will host a visit from the Japanese-based Peace Boat, including ten atomic bomb survivors (hibakusha) from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Events on the 14th June include:

9.30am to 11am - A major press conference on the growing global movement towards nuclear disarmament, including testimony from the hibakusha and an international panel of campaigners will take place in Georgian Room, Buswell's Hotel (opposite The Dail) in Dublin.

Other events include:

11am to 12 Noon Buswells Hotel - Round Table discussion about establishing a Nuclear Weapons Convention.

12 Noon to 1pm – Lunch at Buswell’s Hotel (please contact us if you wish to join the lunch)

1pm to 2pm - Laying of flowers at the memorial cherry tree in Merrion Square, Dublin.

3pm to 5pm - Open public meeting at the Art Exchange Centre, Temple Bar, Dublin.
It is expected that the Lord Mayor will welcome the hibakusha at the Mansion House at some point during the day, but the time is not yet confirmed.

Given the age of the survivors, this may well be the last time a large group like this visits Dublin on a programme of public activities. As such, this visit is a unique opportunity to meet survivors of the most devastating weapons of mass destruction ever used, and hear their message.

Representatives of the Peace Boat and of the Irish and international organisations involved in the events are available for interview on the day (14th June). Irish representatives are of course also available for interview in advance of the Peace Boat visit.

Host organisations of the Peace Boat events 14th June are World without Wars and without Violence Ireland and the Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament.

Contact:
David Hutchinson Edgar (Chairperson, Irish CND)
- reply to this email ([email protected]) or 086 3621220
Krisztina Dragoman (Coordinator, World without Wars Ireland)
- [email protected] or 085 1261287
- www.peaceboat.org www.irishhttp://www.irishcnd.org/cnd.org www.worldwithoutwars.org
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Some brief notes follow below, also attached short briefing document with more information on the Peace Boat, its work, and its current peace voyage.

Peace Boat is an international NGO working to promote peace and sustainability through the organisation of peace voyages onboard a large passenger ship. Peace Boat also actively participates in advocacy and educational activities on issues such as disarmament, conflict prevention and development as an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations.

Nuclear disarmament has been back in the news recently, with uncertainty over the intentions of North Korea and Iran, and the agreement of a new strategic arms limitation treaty between Russia and the United States, following on President Obama's declaration of his vision of a world free of the threat of nuclear weapons in Prague last year.

The past month has also seen the five-yearly Review Conference on the nuclear weapons Non-Proliferation Treaty at the UN in New York, which reached agreement on a number of measures last week, including moves to take forward the setting up of a nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle East, with Irish diplomats playing the leading role in achieving consensus (remarkably including both Iran and the US) on the Middle East issue.

The NPT had its origins in the work of Irish Foreign Minister Frank Aiken in the late 1950's and 60's, and Ireland was the first country to sign and ratify the treaty. Although not widely publicised, Irish diplomats today continue to play a key role in the promotion of disarmament. Among NGO's and non-nuclear-armed states, there is growing support for the negotiation of a nuclear weapons convention (similar to the cluster munitions convention agreed two years ago in Dublin), and a high-level international consultation on this will take on board the ship en route to Dublin from Norway.

Participants in the consultation and in the media briefing at 9.30-11.00 in Buswell's include Mairéad Maguire (Nobel Peace Laureate), Baroness Susan Miller (UK) and Alyn Ware (US; both Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament), Randy Rydell (UN Office of Disarmament Affairs), and others.
ENDS