To enable consensus politics to develop we need to empower people where they live. This means devolving financial resources and political power down to the community level. One of the greatest blocks to movement is fear. This fear can only be removed when people feel their voices are being heard by government and when they have a say in their own lives and communities.

The fact is that the American government and NATO have destroyed Iraq and Afghanistan. Their next targets will be Syria and Iran.

People keep me going. I believe people are wonderful.

We need now to build a culture of genuine nonviolence and real democracy.

It's okay to be scared, but fear is different. Fear is when we let being scared prevent us from doing what love requires of us.

I was born into a Catholic family. I grew up in West Belfast. Faith was very important to us eight children and my mother and father. It was grounded in the Christian tradition of social involvement.

To stand up for peace and against war and for disarmament is very courageous here in America.