The time is now

Ian Kirk-Smith considers a very special ‘Quakerfest’

by Ian Kirk-Smith 12th August 2011

It was uncomfortable. It was unsettling. It was wrong. And yet there was a sense that we all knew where it was coming from: from people who were all too human and felt frustrated.  In several decades of attending Quaker business meetings in Ireland, it was a sound that was very strange to my ears: applause. It was an important business session. A Friend had been waiting a long time to speak. He finally did and clearly echoed the views of a number of people present. Almost in relief, some clapped.