Monday meetings

David's son and daughter-in-law, Ian and Soliana, arrived today for short visit before going to Italy for a week. They napped for part of the day then David took them to the Titanic museum.

I had lunch with one of my favourite Queen's students, Felicity de la Torre. She's as beautiful as her name. She's from Northern Ireland but gets her lovely surname from her Italian father. A lot of Italians have come to Ireland through the years, so Italian surnames are not uncommon. Our minister's wife's name is Isabella Evangelisti, for instance. Despite that, she has a solid Dublin accent.

Where was I? After lunch, I attended a lecture favourably comparing Australia's human rights act to Britain's. The former is more a creature of parliament and the executive, the latter more court based. The Australian giving the lecture felt that Britain could learn from Australia. The UK's human rights act is under attack by the conservative government, so his comments are of great interest. I can see where Australia's act came about through extensive consultation with the public, and so has greater legitimacy, while the UK act feels imposed and arbitrary. In fairness, the Australian act applies in only two territories that have adopted it, not nationally, while the UK Act is national and has to contend with broader issues.

In the evening I attended a volunteer meeting at the refugee agency and learned of the wide range of needs and ambitions of the people running the agency. Lots of volunteer opportunities...
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