CommuNIqué

Issue 56 - 19 Mulk 157 BE / 1 March 2001 CE


Bahá'ís participate in the first major performance in the Odyssey Arena

Six thousand people attended the new Odyssey Arena in Belfast for a spectacular show on Saturday 13th January. The show had been organised by Diversity 21 to display the cultural diversity of Northern Ireland. The first half was a history of Ireland told in music and drama. It included pieces about the children of Lir, St Patrick, the Siege of Derry and the Troubles.

The second half was a celebration of the achievements of sports people from Northern Ireland. It started with 10 motorbikes coming into the arena for a tribute to Joey Dunlop. It continued with all sorts of spectacular demonstrations - including mountaineers dropping unexpectedly from ropes in the roof. The Bahá'í participation was at the end of the first half in a presentation called "We Remember", paying tribute to the victims of the Troubles. 15 Baha'is joined others from minority faith communities and from integrated schools who walked into the arena carrying candles in memory of those who died. It was great to be part of such a major performance.


MAYOR OF DERRY PRESENTS SPECIAL AWARD TO BAHA'IS

A delegation from the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Londonderry met the city's Mayor, Councillor Cathal Crumley, in the city's historic Guildhall on February 20 to be awarded a "Quaypin" for the Baha'i Community. Quaypins are sculpted awards made from the timbers and structure of the city's old quayside, from which many emigrant ships left for the New World, and which were recently brought to light during redevelopment work. In the words of the citation they are "...an award presented in the new millennium by the Mayor to those who have made a significant contribution to our city" and "symbolize a new departure from the old, divided ways into a new, inclusive city". The Baha'is were one of a small number of groups being presented with the award for their work for the wider community.


Ards community hits front page of local newspaper

The Newtownards Chronicle recently published the heading, "Important post for local man". The election of Eddie Whiteside to the newly-formed Bahá'í Council for NI gave us a wonderful opportunity to proclaim the Faith and the important role and work of this new institution within the NI community. As far as we know this is only the second time that an article about the local Bahá'í community has made the front page of the Chronicle. The first time we actually made the banner headline was following a seminar on drugs and alcohol about 10yrs ago!


World Religion Day-"Global Prosperity"

On Sunday 21st January, the Omagh Bahá'í community celebrated its 18th consecutive 'World Religion Day', which has been held in Omagh since 1984. This year, the theme was "Global Prosperity". The venue was the Omagh Library, Spillars Place and the programme-comprising of passages from the Sacred Writings, music and Prayers-started at 2.45 pm. Bahá'ís from other communities, North and South, as well as local friends supported the event and afterwards we enjoyed fellowship with refeshments. Readers were the Omagh Bahá'í Youth: Karen Jamshídi, Níma Hedayati and Ánísá Lake. Rustam Jamshídi read the final passage. The event was chaired by Malcolm Lake, who introduced it by explaining the analogy of "religion being a book, of which the different 'religions' are the separate chapters." One of the local papers sent a photographer and photos and an account appeared, locally. Thank you to those Bahá'ís, from outside Omagh who attended and gave their support.


World Religion Day in Derry

The Londonderry Community had a smaller than normal World Religion Day, but we still had two non-Bahá'í visitors. We also welcomed Lynn Cooper, a newly declared Bahá'í from over the border in Moville. Many thanks to Joan and Keith for an inspiring programme of readings and music and for delicious refreshments.


Mary Robinson launches refugee solidarity initiative in Ireland

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, officially launched a refugee solidarity badge on 16 December 2000 that had been sponsored by several Irish organisations, including the Bahá'ís of Ireland. The badge was designed by students at Castleknock Community College in County Dublin to show solidarity with refugees and asylum seekers in Ireland. The Bahá¹í representative on the Irish Refugee Council, Mrs. Mahin Sefidvash, learned of the studentds' initiative and helped coordinate the sponsorship and financial support of the Council and several other organisations, including Amnesty International, the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism and the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá¹ís of Ireland.

The launch, held at the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin, was attended by refugees and asylum seekers, school pupils and staff, human rights activists, the media and local and national government officials. Mrs Sefidvash introduced the commissioner and talked of the need for global unity, and Mrs Robinson in turn expressed her appreciation to the Bahá'ís. In a radio interview the following day, Mrs Robinson pointed to the badge launch as one of the many signs of positive grassroots activity, and praised the motivation of the young people who initiated it, making particular mention of the involvement of the Bahá'ís. After the launch, the badge was on sale with proceeds going to support the Irish Refugee Council.

(Reprinted from the European Bahá'í News Service)


"It was the best two days I've had in months!"

Many Junior Youth , assisted by 'older' Youth/Adults, to a total of 21 people, attended a splendid Junior Youth residential weekend (organised by the NI Youth Taskforce) between 9th-10th February at Portneal Lodge - Kilrea. Among the participants was 12 year old Robert Cecil. "It was the best two days I've had for months" he said. " We cooperated in the group and we got to know everyone. I participated in the programme and had a good time in the sessions."

Robert was so enthused by this experience that he went on to thank the organisers and expressed his hope that more weekends would be planned in the future. Robert also wanted to congratulate all those who passed their 11+. Finally Robert ended his report by saying: "I played football, roller-bladed and skateboarded with the boys. It is really good to meet Bahá'ís my age"




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