Rousing welcomes for Mary Robinson and Rita Fagan at Possibilities Conference

This 'Possibilities' conference is one with a difference, featuring threatre, music, song and dance, not to mention famous activists and promoters of peace and human rights. 

Following Kila's performance, Mary Robinson received a rousing welcome when she spoke this afternoon, focusing in on a few lines in the UN Declaration of Human Rights and our duty to community.

She phrased it better than the original which states: "Article 29 - Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible."

She spoke about the need for "a greater sense of shared responsibility for the implementation of international human rights law."

She was followed by five speakers from communities in Ireland including Mayo's John Monaghan and Dublin's Rita Fagan, the former unpaid, the latter unpaid, both working in communities.

- 2 VIDEOS UPLOADED (ALMOST LIVE)!

2 videos we've uploaded from this afternoon - one featuring the Dalai Lama answering a question about youth in Ireland and the second featuring Rita Fagan telling her story of community struggle, after which she sings! And for the record, Rita’s a good singer.

PHOTO: Community worker Rita Fagan.

Richard Moore - blind man with a vision

LIVE REPORT - CHILDREN IN CROSSFIRE DIRECTOR, THE MAN WHO BROUGHT THE DALAI LAMA TO IRELAND
Richard Moore from Children In Crossfire introduced the 14th Dalai Lama in Dublin this morning.
Richard set up the NGO some years after losing his eyesight as a child to a British bullet in Derry in the 1970s.
Richard  said the Dalai Lama always teases him about how beautiful his wife is.

DALAI LAMA - LIVE REPORT FROM SAGGART

INTRO
This is a live report from Saggart, Co. Dublin, oddly named after the Irish word for "priest."
The theme of today is activism and taking action, but the Dalai Lama speaks here of nurturing peace within the individual and within society. ALLEN MEAGHER reports:

WATCH the Dalai Lama, Mary Robinson, Rita Fagan online TOMORROW!

CAPTION: Tomorrow's gig-like event is one of the biggest ever for Irish activists. If you can't go, you can follow it via a live webcast on this site.

TODAY of all days, Fintan O'Toole wrote about the Irish people's failure to rise up and protest and lamented the lack of activism. He's correct to a point but he took no account in his article of activism that is happening and tomorrow just happens to see one of the biggest activist gatherings in years.