2020 Vision Campaign drive in Ireland kick-starts at NFLA All-Ireland Forum

March 16, 2009
Last Friday representatives of the Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign spoke at a Seminar for the All-Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA) Forum in Dundalk, Ireland.  They joined other speakers such as John Gormley TD, Irish Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and leader of the Green Party, and Dr. David Pollard, Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland. The 2020 Vision Campaign message was greeted with great enthusiasm, as the first 7 Irish signatories to the Cities Appeal in support of the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol were welcomed on the day.
L-R: Sean Morris, NFLA Secretary; Cllr Mark Dearey, Dundalk Town Council; John Gormley TD, Irish Minister for Environment and Local Government; Cllr Caroline Burrell, Bray Town Council; Pol DHuyvetter, Director 2020 Vision Campaign International Secretariat at the NFLA All-Ireland Forum in Dundalk, Ireland
L-R: Sean Morris, NFLA Secretary; Cllr Mark Dearey, Dundalk Town Council; John Gormley TD, Irish Minister for Environment and Local Government; Cllr Caroline Burrell, Bray Town Council; Pol DHuyvetter, Director 2020 Vision Campaign International Secretariat at the NFLA All-Ireland Forum in Dundalk, Ireland
The aim of the seminar was to highlight key nuclear issues and inform Irish councillors of important developments in the nuclear debate in the United Kingdom and beyond.

Pol Dhuyvetter, Director of 2020 Vision Campaign International Secretariat and Jennie Corbett, Republic of Ireland Campaign Coordinator, introduced the 2020 Vision Campaign to the audience and spoke of why Irish Councils should be members of the Mayors for Peace network.

Representatives from the Irish Department of the Environment, the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland and from Councils such as Bray Town, Dundalk Town, Newry and Mourne, Roscommon Town and Ardee Town made up the distinguished audience.

The Republic of Ireland has long maintained a strong anti-nuclear weapons stance, both historically and in the present day. In fact, it was in Ireland in 1958 that the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) process was launched by the then Irish Minister for External Affairs, Frank Aiken. Since then, the Republic has been a strong force pushing for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament on the international stage.

Despite this, Mayors for Peace currently counts only three members in the Republic of Ireland. Through close cooperation with our colleagues at the NFLA and our allies throughout the country, Mayors for Peace intends to change this picture into one that better reflects the overwhelming consensus on the ground.

Please find the full list of signatories to the Cities Appeal, including the recent Irish additions, here.