A celebration of people working for a more just and peaceful world

dublin | miscellaneous | event notice Thursday November 18, 2010 12:21 by Grace Walsh - Voluntary Service International (VSI) info at vsi dot ie 30 Mountjoy Square 018551011

A Celebration of 90 Years of working for peace through international volunteering.

Speakers: Senator David Norris and Jon Mc Court

Background: VSI was founded in 1965 and Service Civil International SCI in 1920. Together we are celebrating 45 and 90 years of working for peace through international volunteering in Ireland and in over 70 countries worldwide. SCI was founded in the aftermath of World War 1 and the first project was the restoration of villages and communities destroyed by the war near Verdun in France. The project brought together volunteers from the previous warring nations –Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Austria and was a positive attempt at reconciliation and international understanding. Today VSI and SCI continue that tradition in our work for peace in Ireland and around the world.
We are very happy to have David Norris and Jon Mc Court with us today to share their ideas and views on working for a more just and peaceful world.

Senator David Norris is a civil rights campaigner. He is a former university lecturer and a longtime member of Seanad Eireann. He is a member of the Dail’s Foreign Affairs Committee and has raised many human rights issues while taking part. He is particularly concerned about the conflict in the Middle East. He also has helped to raise funds for grassroot projects to promote peace in Israel and Palestine. He is the founder of the Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform. David Norris was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in Ireland. David is also a well-known Joycean scholar, and plays a large part in Dublin's annual Bloomsday celebrations.

Jon McCourt grew up in Derry, Northern Ireland. He marched for civil rights in 1968, and joined IRA in 1969. He left in the mid 1970s, feeling disillusioned that it had moved too far from the civil rights agenda and was contributing to increased polarisation and sectarianism. He then became a community peace activist, and has worked in the area ever since, including working with victims of violence, community relations and youth in criminalised areas.