Young Adults invited to St Patrick’s Peace Party attended by Archbishop of Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury to attend Belfast event

Are you a young adult aged 16 – 30 years? Do you want to do something different and worthwhile for St. Patrick’s Day? Well this could be for you…..

A special, cross-community St Patrick’s Peace Party is taking place in Belfast on St Patrick’s evening the 17 March, starting at the Waterfront Hall. It is being organised by Christian organisation Summer Madness and Church Army, along with the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Nichola Mallon.

Special guest for the evening will be the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who will be travelling to Northern Ireland especially for the Peace Party and St Patrick’s celebrations with Downpatrick Cathedral.

The event is to help encourage and inspire a new generation of peacemakers and will bring together young adults aged 16-30 year old from across all religious backgrounds who want to play a part in shaping their community and culture.

Jasper Rutherford from Summer Madness and Church Army, organiser of the event, explained: “This event comes on the back of a number of initiatives we have run where we have brought young adults of faith from Protestant and Catholic backgrounds together to talk about their hopes and dreams for the future. Our peace process is more than 16 years old, but has been influenced by little or no 16 – 30 year old voices and it is vital that they are able to contribute to the future of NI.

“St Patrick’s Day is a great opportunity to emphasise how the next generation is open to working together, irrespective of religious beliefs. Most haven’t lived through the ‘troubles’ so any ‘differences’ between communities is not at the forefront of their minds – they can offer a refreshing perspective on life in NI which is very much needed.

“We are very privileged that the Lord Mayor has cleared her diary to be here for the event and that the Archbishop has felt it important enough to travel here to attend so we would like to thank them both. Archbishop Justin Welby has a strong interest in peace and reconciliation and will offer great insight and authority into how various communities can work together from both his religious background and also from his experience with his time in the oil industry where he spent many years negotiating and reconciling tense issues.”

He added: “This party will be a celebration of peace and will offer an alternative way for young people and young adults from across all communities to engage on this special day. There will be live music through the evening, a time of worship and the event will conclude with a symbolic act of prayer at the City Hall at approximately 9.30pm. Participants will then be able to go off and enjoy what the great City of Belfast has to offer!”

The event is free but registration is essential. Jasper concluded: “We have limited space available for this event and we have already had a huge amount of interest so we suspect the tickets will go in no time. We would ask that people only sign up to the event if they are confident that they will attend and we would urge those who are interested to do so as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. It is sure to be a very interesting and inspiring evening!”

Tickets are available by visiting www.summer-madness.ticketbud.com/st-patricks-peace-party.

Youth groups are also very welcome but please email info@summermadness.co.uk to register in advance.