Afri Condemns Israeli Attack on Aid Ship and Expresses Solidarity with the Rachel Corrie

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PRESS RELEASE, 2 June 2010

Afri has expressed outrage and revulsion at the latest Israeli war crime, the attack by commandos on an unarmed aid vessel resulting in the deaths of at least nine people and the wounding of many more. Afri calls on the international community to ensure that those responsible and their political masters are held accountable for these murders of innocent civilians, which were executed in international waters. Afri expresses its strong solidarity with the peace activists on board the Rachel Corrie, including our patron Denis Halliday, and calls on the Irish government to use its influence with the United States (Israel’s main backer) to ensure that the vessel is allowed to complete its humanitarian mission to the besieged people of Gaza. Continue reading “Afri Condemns Israeli Attack on Aid Ship and Expresses Solidarity with the Rachel Corrie” →

Banning Depleted Uranium Weapons

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Afri was one of the many NGOs which supported the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which eventually succeeded in achieving its goal when an international treaty banning landmines entered into force in March 1999.

In 2008 Afri became actively involved in the Campaign to ban Cluster Munitions, which also reached a successful conclusion, achieving a treaty to ban the use, deployment or stockpiling of Cluster Munitions, at the Dublin Diplomatic Conference in Croke Park in May 2008.

Following on these successes and with the encouragement of our patron, Denis Halliday, Afri has recently taken up the campaign towards securing a ban on Depleted Uranium Weapons, which have caused so much death and health damage throughout the world. Continue reading “Banning Depleted Uranium Weapons” →

Human rights group calls for suspension of Corrib gas project

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PRESS RELEASE, 18 January 2010

Human rights organisation Afri is calling for a suspension of all work on the Corrib gas project in Erris, County Mayo, pending an independent and comprehensive investigation of its safety, human rights, economic and environmental dimensions. Afri is asking people to sign a petition to that effect, which will be delivered to the government next month. The petition will be launched by former UN assistant secretary-general Denis Halliday in Buswells Hotel at 11.30 on Monday January 18th.

Afri chairperson Andy Storey noted that “local people oppose the project because of the dangers it poses to their health and safety, and the way in which the policing of the project has violated their human rights. People throughout Ireland have also objected to the project on the grounds that Shell and its associates are reaping the full benefits of this gas find while the Irish people – the true owners of the resource – are left with almost nothing.” Continue reading “Human rights group calls for suspension of Corrib gas project” →

Féile Bríde 2009 – brief report and pictures

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Despite the snow and frost, over a hundred people made their way to the Derby House Hotel in Kildare for Afri’s annual Féile Bríde Conference on February 8th.

The theme ‘seeds of hope…seeds of change’ was reflected in the snowdrops peeping through the snow, as we gathered for the annual festival of words, music, dance and cooking! Frida Berrigan and Denis Halliday looked at our addiction to war and the cost to humanity and the planet while Chef Richard Corrigan and members of Irish Seed Savers Association together showed how to preserve our natural seed heritage, grow our own food and cook it in the most mouth watering way imaginable!

Féile Bríde 2009 – Seeds of Change, Seeds of Hope

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FB2009Sunday February 8th 2009, Derby House Hotel, Kildare Town

Introduction

Afri has been concerned about issues of food and hunger since its inception in 1975. One of Afri’s annual events is the Famine Walk, which remembers the Great Famine of the 1840s (a famine caused amongst other things by the dependence on a monoculture crop) in the context of ongoing famine and starvation throughout the world today.

We look especially at the causes of famine in the 21st century, particularly the war industry (the worst aspects of which are currently being demonstrated by the brutal Israeli bombardment of Gaza) an industry which now costs in excess of a staggering $1,200 billion annually, literally taking food from the mouths of the poor, an issue that will be addressed by Denis Halliday and Frida Berrigan in the opening session of this year’s conference. Continue reading “Féile Bríde 2009 – Seeds of Change, Seeds of Hope” →