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Bloody Sunday, Brexit & the Democratic Process

Yanis Varoufakis

To Speak in Derry on:

‘Bloody Sunday, Brexit & The Democratic Process’

Acclaimed economist and former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis will deliver a public lecture at Derry’s Guildhall on Friday, January 26th 2018.

The lecture, titled ‘Bloody Sunday, Brexit & The Democratic Process’ will address the question of why civil societies across the world are demanding democratic change and accountability from their governments and what can sometimes happen when those demands are frustrated or resisted with: indifference, censure, repression and violence.

Bloody Sunday March Committee

Speaking on behalf of the event organisers, Stephen Gargan of the Bloody Sunday March Committee said:

“Our committee decided to invite Yanis Varaoufakis to Derry because we believe his experience as former Greek Finance Minister and his current involvement with DiEM 25 (Democracy in Europe Movement 2025) leave him ideally placed to speak about the seismic global political changes sweeping the world and more specifically we believe the economic arguments and analysis he advances help shed much needed light and clarity on Britain’s recent ‘Brexit’ decision and what the likely consequences of that decision might be for the north’s border counties, the island of Ireland itself and our future relationship with the UK.”

Instability in European Politics

Mr Gargan continued:

“Britain’s Brexit decision has clearly introduced an air of anxiety and instability into European politics, which in turn has provoked heated debate and soul searching around the question of the border here and for many this instability has brought the imperative of a united Ireland much closer.”

“We also felt it was really important, given January 2018 will be the 46^th anniversary of the events of Bloody Sunday, to invite Yanis to locate those tragic events within a wider, world context, which hopefully will allow people to see Bloody Sunday in a global timeline and as part of a continuum of people across the world expressing their desires and demands for democratic change and also what can happen when those same desires and demands are suppressed with violence and lethal force”.

Following the lecture Mr Varoufakis will  participate in a public conversation with former MP and leading human rights activist, Bernadette McAliskey and this will in turn be followed with a Q & A with the assembled audience.

Further Information

The Bloody Sunday March Committee

The Bloody Sunday March Committee is comprised of relatives of some of those murdered on Bloody Sunday and of political, cultural and human rights activists.  The committee is comprised of trustees and members and was formally constituted in 2016.

The aims of the group are:

1. To commemorate Derry’s Bloody Sunday (30^th January 1972).
2. Organise, promote and oversee an annual ‘March for Justice’ on and around the Sunday nearest the 30th January each year.
3. Ensure that this March acts as an inclusive platform for ongoing social, economic, environmental and human rights justice campaigns both here and abroad.
4. Organise an associated programme of human rights, cultural and educational events addressing contemporary issues (local, national and international) of resonance with Derry’s Bloody Sunday.
5. Strive to ensure inclusive non-sectarian educational spaces where the complex social justice issues arising from the violent political conflict here, and others across the world can be freely addressed, and democratic actions initiated.
6. Promote through active, informed debate and actions, an active and informed citizenry

Yanis Varoufakis

Based in Athens, Greece, Yanis Varoufakis was formerly finance minister with the Syriza party.  Due to his opposition to crippling financial terms being offered by the European Union with regard to a bail out of the Greek economy he resigned his post in July 2015.

He is a founder member of the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025, which was founded in February 2016.

Yanis has appeared in numerous debates, lectures, and interviews, on radio and TV, in print and online.

He is also the author of a number of highly influential books on world economics, which include: ‘The Global Minotaur’, ‘And The Weak Suffer What They Must’ and more recently,

‘Talking to My Daughter About the Economy: A Brief History of Capitalism’.