Mid-Down Group attends Regional Conference

The Regional Conference of Amnesty Northern Ireland took place on the Barge on the Lagan on Saturday 26th January. The conference was introduced by our Regional Representative Philip Nye and we had an interesting talk by Ciarnan Helferty, Chair of the Board of AIUK and Harrison Littler, one of the Directors. Ciarnan gave us a full account of recent developments in AIUK, including the outcome of the EGM held in London on 12th January and the way ahead for Amnesty in the lead up to the AGM in March. He outlined the reasons for Amnesty's decison to move closer to the ground in the global south and east and the human and financial challenges which this posed. His talk was followed by a lively discussion of the issues surrounding the new policy. After a light lunch. we had a talk by the Director of Nations and Regions and Programme Director for Northern Ireland, Patrick Corrigan. Patrick discussed the dangers of the UK Government making changes to the Human Rights Act, the issue of a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland and the importance of taking a strong stance on human rights generally both in the UK and throughout the world. All in all a very worthwhile conference.