A lovely day for a conference

Concern’s Tara McIndoe is blogging from the Fighting Hunger Conference:

It’s a gorgeous morning in Dublin. One of those blue, crisp, see-the-flight-paths-in-the-skies October mornings. The Royal Hospital Kilmainham is a beautiful location for this conference. The old buildings have a real feeling of history about them. The Concern staff are very excited about the event and are rightly pleased with the fruits of their many months of organisation – the venue is being professionally run. There are lots of media people around, white linen, good smelling coffee...

The room is full: about 250 people. There are many Concern staff and council members, Dublin NGO delegates, international development delegates, development academics, press people. There are plush red carpets and comfy red chairs. There is also a feeling of discussing something with grave importance on an issue affecting so many people across the world. Tom Arnold opens the conference with a video of African people (from Ethiopia, Kenya) speaking of their daily struggles with hunger.