preliminary minutes of first meeting of the

Belfast Tara Vigil solidarity Group

date and place : -

John Hewitt bar , Donegall st , Belfast

at 6.00 pm   tues 14th of august 2007

present  :- Anita , Aingeal , Mark , Janet , Lisa

well - the meeting did happen

miraculously !

despite having been organised in a flurry and half the people who should have been asked - not having been -
but with five people in the context of a noisy bar - the meeting was probably  better small
it was very good - we had an interesting discussion

oh - first the Good News !

aparently Bundoran is awash with posters and leaflets since their own Robert Docherty was arrested and he is now a Local Hero

- though of course he may have been anyway !

here the rest

1 / Concern was expressed that people are going down and not knowing how to find the camp or not  feeling welcome or knowing what to do and how to get involved

That we are leafletting and calling for people to get involved without helping them to do this
We resolved to do what we can to get maps and information online or out with the leaflets


2 / Lisa brought back a lot of news from Tara and insight which the rest of us do not have into the situation there and the problems arising from the arrests and JPs caravan being moved

It was very interesting and she is a very good speaker

3 / she also bought some cds - although only a handfull

and I had brought as many over from Glastonbury as the man in the shop would let me have - ie/ three
and I had sold them in the bar by the end of the evening

   We would like to have more

  but we would also like to have leaflets , posters and T-shirts etc

If we cannot get them from the campaign then we will have to make them ourselves

           ....this is an oportunity  for us to get Creative !

4/ we also discussed a bit about the campaign and the particular issues it raises in the North .

There was concern that it would be seen as a Nationailst issue and campaigning for Tara seen in that way

I am convinced that this is not the case - that Tara can be important to everyone as part of a shared ancient heritage

- and is an oportunity for a cross-community campaign -

But how to present this is something that needs awareness and further thought

 We agreed to

1/ try and get together a press-pack of information

- so that we can all explain the facts and the issues

2/ To colllate any good resources

both of background and of up to date information

 ( the best so far is - IMOP  -

http://www.protect-tara.org/Background.html

The Story So Far .....

 written by Fionnula Devlin

there is resources on the SaveTara site

and a search on Indymedia for Tara  for the latest news )

 - but we could do with more

         and in downloadable  leaflet form

....it is a pity we were not recording Lisa as she gave a really good run-down and we could just have transcribed it -

 We badly need a leaflet giving information - the only one there seems to be is the one telling people how to vote in the Irish Election and we dont even have any of those -

And the Tara SOS one with is good but doesnt really give enough information for people who are completely new to the issue

If there isnt one then we will have to write a new one and find a place who will print it

3/ To tell the group - via email or this Wiki (http://tarabelfast.pbwiki.com/) of any relevant articles in the Northern papers

4/ to try to find oportunities for Lisa to speak to people

- whenever she gets the chance ...

5/ To try to write something down for Janet to take away and compile about why we think the Tara situation is important

6/ to get together with the other Tara group which had met the week before - find out what happened there - and try and Amalgamate

no date or place for a further meeting was set

ALL of us will be away a lot - at Tara or elsewhere and probably trying to find a date that will suit everybody will be futile

 Tuesday  28th August   ...?  same time ...?   same place - or would it be better not in a bar ....?

please leave any comments

- if you dont have the password to edit this wiki - then email me at anitagreg@gmail.com and I will sent it

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