Once a Fighter, Now a Peace Builder: Joe Doherty in Schorndorf
The Peace Counts exhibit "Successes of the Peace Builders" will be on view in Schorndorf, near Stuttgart, from February 22 through March 19 at the Galerien für Kunst und Technik, with events including a talk by Joe Doherty. The former IRA terrorist is actively engaged in the cause of peace in Northern Ireland.
February 23, 8:00 p.m., Merkez-Camii Mosque, Hammerschlag 20, Schorndorf
Podium discussion and slide show with Joe Doherty and photographer Uli Reinhardt of Peace Counts and the Zeitenspiegel Agency.
Theme: Peacemaking Between Religion and Extremism
February 24, 8:00 p.m., Kulturhaus Schwanen, Waiblingen
Podium discussion and slide show with Joe Doherty and Uschi Entenmann of Peace Counts and the Zeitenspiegel Agency.
Musical accompaniment by Michael Davis.
Theme: Peacemaking in Northern Ireland and the Way to Normalcy
In the last six years, photographers and reporters from the Peace Counts project have traveled to over 30 conflict zones and profiled people who overcame ethnic, political, and religious barriers to bring opposing camps together. The result was fascinating features that appeared in renowned newspapers and magazines.
To make those experiences accessible to young people, the project created a series of traveling exhibitions with educational workshops. An additional key component of the program is the opportunity to meet the Peace Builders themselves.
One of those charismatic peacemakers is Joe Doherty. As a young man in Belfast, he began to spy on the British Army and joined the IRA at 17. He served nine years of a twelve-year sentence on explosives-related charges. In 1980, with two others, he was convicted of complicity in the murder of a British soldier. The court was unable to determine who pulled the trigger, but the sense of guilt changed Doherty's life. In 1999 he emerged from prison after 22 years. He devoted himself to social work in a youth house in Belfast. Today he assists ex-convicts in their transition to life on the outside.
Presented by Kreishaus der Jugendarbeit and Peace Counts.