News from Ireland NATIONAL CONVENTION The Bahá’í National Convention in Ireland this year was held in Bray, a nice seaside town about ten miles south of Dublin. Attendance was very limited. Most of the thirty-six delegates as well as a hand full of others attended. Usually there were only between two and six non-delegates sitting at the back of the room. The debate amongst the delegates was good-humoured and robust, as is the custom at Irish National Convention – quite an enjoyment to watch and listen. Scholarship was brought up as an agenda item near the end of the Convention, through a few points about the importance of scholarship. There was an ABS stand at the National Convention with the specific aim of increasing membership of the ABS. The membership of the ABS from the Republic of Ireland was trebled by this effort. This is the beginning of a concerted effort to bring Irish Bahá’ís into the ABS and to increase the participation of Irish Bahá’ís in ‘scholarship’. SUMMER SCHOOL Summer school in the Republic of Ireland will be held in Waterford again this year – 31 July to 8 August. There tends to be as many, if not more, participants at the Irish summer school than there are Bahá’ís in the Republic of Ireland. Needless to say, not all the participants are Irish. The ABS committee is currently working on a programme for the school. The programme is will span four afternoons. The tutors for these afternoons will be Seena Fazel and Masoud Afnan. Seena’s workshop will be on study skills on the Sunday and Monday, and Masoud’s will be on moral development on Friday and Saturday. It is expected that participants will be obliged to register for this programme at the school. It is hoped that there will be more participation by Irish Bahá’ís in ABS events and that the ABS will have a presence at the Irish summer school every year. ABS CONFERENCE IN IRELAND Plans are afoot for an ABS conference in Ireland in 2000. It's been a few years since the last conference. This will be part of the concerted effort to consolidate ABS in Ireland. It is expected that attendance will be as good or better than previous conferences, attracting both members of the ABS and others. It is hoped that new members will join the ABS at this conference. The expected date for the conference is between February and August 2000 – that is between the ABS Annual Conference and Summer School. The Associate is the newsletter of the Association for Bahá’í Studies (English-Speaking Europe), 27 Rutland Gate, London SW7 1PD, UK. <<PREVIOUS • ASSOCIATE HOME PAGE • CONTENTS • ABS(ESE) HOME PAGE • NEXT >>