Promoting Falun Dafa in an Irish Prison

Tuesday, April 16, 2002

Practitioners from different parts of Ireland had suggested spreading the Fa (Principles of Falun Gong) in a prison. Originally one practitioner had restrictive notions about prisons and wondered would it be the best place to promote Falun Dafa. These incorrect notions were quickly dispersed when this practitioner had the opportunity to attend a talk given by the warden of the largest prison in Ireland. When the warden heard we wanted to introduce this great practice in his prison he was willing to give us the opportunity as he came across as a benevolent man who cared about the welfare of his prisoners.

First we set up a poster campaign for a couple of weeks. We came back during this time to change the posters and the guards told us that they were very surprised because they had never before seen the prisoners take such a strong interest in anything. We had many difficulties every step of the way and through these difficulties many people learned about the practice.

After the poster exhibition, we wanted to give a presentation, but this plan met with great difficulties. We had to get time off work to go there and were then told on arrival that we did not have the necessary security clearance and that we had to go home. The next week we were told that the library staff had no idea we were coming and told us to return the following week. After three or four weeks of tribulations, we decided we would give it just one more try as there were many other projects that we could work on and this was very time consuming. On this particular day, two practitioners were to attend. One was to bring all the material for the presentation and the other was there to assist. As it turned out the practitioner who brought all the materials got stuck at work and couldn't attend. The second practitioner, after some serious thought decided to go anyway, even though he had no materials and not even a single leaflet. When he arrived he was told everything was prepared and he was to go to the library. When he arrived in the library the phone kept ringing as more and more prisoners wanted to come. In the end the small room was packed with twenty prisoners and three guards. They listened attentively as the practitioner gave an oral presentation about Falun Gong in Ireland, around the world and, of course, about the persecution. Following this, the curious group asked many questions and then learned some of the Falun Gong exercises. At the end of the presentation, five or six came up asking the practitioner to bring more books to the prison so they could study them.

When another practitioner heard so many people in difficult circumstances were willing to learn the practice, he donated ten books to the library and these books did not even reach the shelves of the library. The prisoners said they would study the books well and we could discuss them the following week. During the second week they actually had to put their names on a list (because the room was so full last time) and many people were turned away because they had not done signed up in advance. Through our difficulties and persistence in bringing the Great Law (Dafa) to this prison, many people have learned about Falun Dafa and the truth of the persecution.