(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners from Dublin drove to Cork, the second largest city in Ireland, on June 21, 2014. Along with local practitioners, they brought to the residents of Cork the health benefits of practicing Falun Dafa and exposed the ongoing persecution of Falun Dafa in China.
Falun Dafa practitioners demonstrate the exercises at a busy pedestrian zone in downtown Cork.
Local residents of Cork and tourists stop to learn more. Many sign the petition asking for an immediate end to the persecution in China.
Posters introducing Falun Dafa among others that expose the brutal persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners in China
At noon on June 21, practitioners put up a table, banners, and posters on St. Patrick’s Street, the busiest pedestrian zone in Cork. It happened to be the first day of the summer sales, and many locals were out shopping. Many pedestrians noticed the practitioners demonstrating the exercises.
Cork has the largest Chinese population in Ireland after Dublin. A Chinese woman out shopping with her child told the practitioners that she often reads the Epoch Times newspaper. She quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations with the help of a practitioner.
She said she had a hard time believing that the CCP harvests organs from living Falun Gong practitioners for profit. A practitioner showed her the independent investigation report Bloody Harvest: Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China by Matas and Kilgour. She finally understood the extent of the persecution and said that she would persuade her husband to quit the CCP when she returned home.
Many tourists from around the world signed the petition that day to support the practitioners and demand an immediate end to the persecution. A family of three from Malaysia signed the petition. The mother, who lives in Australia, told the practitioners that she has seen Falun Dafa’s annual parade in Melbourne over the past three years.
Ms. Leung from Hong Kong moved to Ireland with her son seven years ago. She had heard about Falun Dafa in Hong Kong. When she found how that the exercises were easy to learn and have great health benefits, she said that she would like to practice and would ask her daughter to join her.
When one Irishman signed the petition, he asked for the name of the practitioner who had explained Falun Dafa to him. He said that he was a reporter and would find out more about the practice after he got home. He wanted to do a report on Falun Dafa and let the public know more about it.
On her way back to Dublin, a practitioner met an Irishman on the bus. He pointed at the “Falun Dafa” characters on her T-shirt and said, “Falun Dafa, I know it! You are here to petition for signatures, right?” The man expressed his support for Falun Dafa and waved goodbye when he got off the bus. He was from a very small town in Ireland, an indication that many people worldwide are becoming aware of the persecution of Falun Dafa.