On 13 December Dan Wheatley from the National Spiritual Assembly’s Office of External Affairs gave a presentation on the “Closed Doors” campaign in the University of Ulster campus in Coleraine. Wanting to respond to the worsening situation in Iran the Coleraine community decided to invite Dan over to NI to address the academic staff and local interested groups working in related areas. Natasha Robinson and her intricate flow chart were very much the driving force behind the initiative. From making posters, letters, lists of names, booking rooms etc the momentum built. The posters were very professional and covered most notice boards at the university attracting a lot of attention. The response to the letter/email campaign was not as large as we hoped but enough to make the event a success. Reponses were received from our local MP and MLA. A professor who turned up on the night has since attended a Bahá’í tranquillity zone event here in Coleraine this week. It was fortunate that the Bahá’í Society at Queens University could also use Dan the night before during his visit to Northern Ireland.
Dan’s talk was very interesting and designed to appeal to those with influence to take action. He covered the importance of education as a basic human right and pointed out how denial of such a right has to be addressed internationally. Academic circles are very close knit and information spreads quickly through conferences, emails, visits etc. We hope that those who attended/received the package will do all in their power to rectify the injustice faced by Bahá’í youth in Iran: already there has been a response via letters but it is our hope that individuals will not stop there but add their voices to the international plea for this basic human right to be restored.
There were a range of questions from the floor following the talk and Dan responded to these well, giving additional information and setting the persecutions in context historically. He was also able to bring across the personal human suffering involved and the immense contribution Bahá’ís have traditionally played in education in Iran. To thus target the young people of a group who have contributed so much to education in schools/universities/communities in the past seems particularly perverse. The evening ended with refreshments and an opportunity to mingle. Some of those attending where involved with peace education in conflict zones, others worked in community building initiatives locally and it made for an interesting mix of both academic and wider community members. Our thanks go to all who contributed to the success of this event.
CM
Karen Hutchinson a Bahá’í from Ballybogey married Patrick Dornan from Ballycastle on 18 November 2007. Their beautiful wedding took place in the Marine Hotel, Ballycastle with a lovely reception afterwards. Eddie Whiteside officiated at the wedding service and explained to the mostly non-Bahá’í congregation what was involved in a Bahá’í wedding. The Bahá'í choir sang as the bride came up the aisle, during the signing of the register and at the end. All the guests really enjoyed the service, and appreciated the choir. Karen and Patrick would like to thank all the people who helped to make their wedding so enjoyable.
LG
The Northern Ireland Inter-Faith Forum held a meeting on 27 November on the subject of music in the various faith communities. There were musical contributions from a Hindu priest, a Muslin, a Buddhist and a Christian choir. The evening ended with a contribution from the Bahá’í community. The Bahá’í contribution consisted of three piecessung by the choir, led by Susie Agahi and two solo pieces sung by Inge Haghighi with a guitar.
It was very well received. One of the members of the audience was Norman Richardson who is Head of Religious Studies in Stranmillis University College and is also the leader of the Corrymeela Singers. After the event Norman wrote: “I really thought the Bahá'í Choir stood out last nightas having a distinctive style and musical quality. I know how difficult it can be to run a small choir with limited vocal resources, but your group was very good and had a musical integrity that reallycommunicated.”
EG
The Londonderry community website has had a makeover and been updated. You can visit it at: www.bci.org/bahais_of_derry/
Welcome to Robert Bothwell, of Lisburn and Robin McFarland, of Belfast, who have declared their faith in Bahá'u'lláh and been enrolled in the Bahá'í community..
BACK TO CONTENTS PAGE