Ireland: Activities to Rescue Students Liu Feng and Yang Fang at Dublin Morning Practice

Every morning Irish practitioners meet on the busiest street in Dublin. In the middle of this street is a very wide and long strip of pavement, where Irish practitioners practise the Falun Gong exercises for 2 hours every weekday morning.

Because this place is in the centre of the city and is always very busy, practitioners have a great opportunity to tell the people of Dublin the story of Liu Feng and Yang Fang, two Dublin students who are currently being illegally detained in China. Thousands and thousands of people cross this street every day and those who walk by or pass by in buses and cars can all read our bright, colourful banner, which reads:

“DUBLIN STUDENTS DETAINED IN CHINA: PLEASE SUPPORT US TO RESCUE THEM”

We started this appeal on January 1st 2003 and it has continued every weekday since then. Due to Dafa practitioners’ righteous thoughts and actions, a series of events recently occurred that allowed people all over Ireland to learn much more about the persecution of Falun Dafa in China and the truth behind the Jiang regime’s lies.

By “coincidence”, at the same time as the establishment of this practice site, the local council began construction of a new monument on the same street called “The Spire”. It will cost 4 million Euros to build and received widespread public attention. When the final part of the Spire was to be constructed, TV stations, radio stations and newspapers all came to report on it. However, each day it was too windy for them to complete the final part. Instead, the reporters turned their attention to the practitioners who were meditating in the middle of Dublin’s busiest street. The news of the persecution spread once again to every corner of Ireland. The principles Truth, Compassion and Forbearance rang throughout the airwaves and newspapers.

The determination of some of the newer practitioners is really moving. When ‘veteran’ practitioners felt difficulty in getting out of bed, the newer practitioners would still be there every morning, enduring the cold, rain, and wind. Many people commented that they thought that practitioners were great and that they have never seen people show such determination, even though some had only practised for a month or so. This was a manifestation of the power of Falun Dafa.

The kind words and actions of the people of Dublin are also very moving. Because practitioners are in the middle of a busy street, many cars and buses pass by. When the traffic lights turn red the onlookers shout and whistle to get the attention of the practitioners and to get a leaflet. When people receive the leaflets and hear the story of the two students being detained in China, they quickly promise to write to the Chinese Embassy and Irish government to demand their release.

One morning a young man came over to the practitioners. He said he had already written a letter about the detained Irish students and gave us the thumbs up [a sign of approval]. He came back a short while later and said he planned to send a jumper to one of the students who is in a labour camp, as it might get cold there. Another student of media studies was moved by what he saw every morning and interviewed the practitioners for a school project. Many people have started to learn Falun Dafa after seeing the practitioners in Dublin city centre.

The activities in Dublin city centre also had a powerful effect on the people in the workplace of one of the practitioners. A Chinese girl who sits next to this practitioner needs to get a bus down this busy street every day to travel to work. When she saw the Falun Dafa exercise practice everyday without fail, she was moved and asked to read Zhuan Falun [The main text of Falun Gong]. When she took the book, she said to the others in the office “you should take it too and learn to be a good person”.