WIMPS.tv

Short video by WIMPS Central Belfast with interviews from the public on a shared and integrated education.

Pro-Life and Pro-Choice groups held rallies in Belfast city centre last weekend.

On Saturday 7th of July Precious Life, Youth Defence and The Life Institute organized a “Rally for life”.

Meanwhile a pro-choice counter rally was held in front of the City Hall.

A large group of pro-lifers marched through the city to “to keep abortion out of Ireland”.

The counter rally called for abortion rights to be extended to both Northern Ireland and to the Republic of Ireland, two of the last countries in Europe where terminations are illegal.

Abortion is a thorny issue, both socially and politically. The 1967 UK Abortion Act never came into force in Northern Ireland. The 1861 Offences Against the Person Act still applies. Every year more than 1000 women from NI and 4000 from the Republic of Ireland travel to Britain to have abortions. Pro-choice supporters say that women who can’t afford the journey could decide to undergo an unsafe illegal termination.

The pro-choice movement say that this has a serious impact on a woman’s human rights. But the pro-life movement consider the embryo to be a person and sees abortion as a threat to the rights of the unborn.

WIMPS.tv went to both rallies to hear the arguments.

“The more I played flamenco, the more I liked it”, Paddy Anderson, flamenco guitar player.

Paddy Anderson is one of a few flamenco guitar players in NI. He juggles 2 jobs as a guitar player and as part of the staff in a language school in Belfast.

He was a guitar player before fell in love with this specific music style. “I went to Spain, I was living there and the more I played, the more I liked it.” Paddy said.

Every Wednesday he plays in Teatro Restaurant. Watching his show there are couples, old people, young people, tourists… “In my opinion young people are interested in Spanish culture, because it’s where they go on holidays,” he added.

The future for this lover of flamenco is clear, “I will carry on playing”, Paddy concluded.

WIMPS has now established a crew in Coleraine wimps.tv/wimps-crews/coleraine-crew/

Here they are to introduce themselves.

Three years ago, Nicholas Munster - then 15 years of age, was the subject of a brutal attack in Poleglass.  

He was held down by his attackers and shot in the knee with a ball bearing gun.  His attackers claimed to be from the ‘Real IRA’. The shot remains lodged in the bone in his left knee. His mother Anna has now spoken out against so-called ‘punishment attacks’. 

Her son, who has learning difficulties, was apparently a victim of ‘mistaken identity’ - but she talks about how the incident affected her son and her entire family.  ”After three years - he is starting to get back onto his feet a wee bit - trying to cope”, she says.

“He was very much a social animal… playing in the street, football, everybody was his mate.  Nicholas was diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Defecit Hyperactivity Disorder) when he was only six… he would have been very unaware of danger.  When this incident happened …he had thought when the gunmen jumped out, that they were dressed up…  He didn’t connect that he was in a dangerous situation.” 

WIMPS is campaigning to end these brutal attacks - as many of the victims are young people, and this is a huge human rights issue.  

Harriet Long is the Advocacy Officer with the Rainbow Project in Belfast. 

The Northern Ireland Policing Board recently published a report on policing with and for the LBGT community.