Date: 23 March 2013
Time: 2pm – 4pm
Location: Elmwood Hall, Elmwood Avenue, Belfast
A celebration event to mark the life of Inez McCormack, the internationally renowned human rights and trade union activist, will be held on Saturday 23 March at Elmwood Hall, Elmwood Avenue, Belfast, from 2pm to 4pm.
The ‘Out of the Ballrooms: Peace, Participation and Equality’ event is available for open registration. A completed registration form must be returned to Claire Morrison at claire@pprproject.org or fax 004428 9024 5847. Click here to download the registration form.
The event is being organised by Participation and the Practice of Rights organisation (PPR) which Inez founded in 2006.
Inez passed away on 21 January 2013 following a short illness. Tributes were paid to her life and work from a wide range of people including the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins; former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; former President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson; and triple Oscar winning actress Meryl Streep, who portrayed Inez on stage in New York in 2010 in the documentary play SEVEN.
Discussing the celebration event, Nicola Browne, Director (Policy) of PPR said:
“During Hillary Clinton’s visit to Belfast in December last year, she paid tribute to Inez and said that the time had come in Northern Ireland to come ‘out of the ballrooms’ and into the communities where the promise of the Good Friday Agreement had not delivered on the ground. Throughout Inez’s work, be it in trade unionism, women’s rights or social justice activism, her focus was on supporting and raising the voices of excluded and marginalised groups and enabling them to be part of making change – in essence, putting human rights into practice."
“While celebrating and marking Inez’s life, the event will also consider how her work and legacy can be carried forward in practical ways to ensure change reaches the people who are ‘not at the table”
Commenting on Inez’s legacy her husband Vinny and daughter Anne said: "We were touched by the many messages we received from ordinary people whose lives Inez had touched. We would like to thank them, and to tell them that the family has taken comfort from their words of support. It is our wish, as it was Inez's that her work carries on into the future."
PPR was recently recognised by the United Nations Office of the High Commission for Human Rights as a best practice example of how human rights standards can be used on the ground. In accordance with Inez’s wishes and those of her family, PPR has established the Inez McCormack Fund, which will build on her unique legacy.