Largymore Primary on song for new Amnesty video
By Ben Lowry

CHILDREN from Northern Ireland are seen singing the John Lennon hit 'Imagine' in a video released today by the human rights group Amnesty International.

A new CD and music video of the famous song, which will also star children from India, South Africa, Croatia and Tibet, is part of a global campaign.

It will be played on TV music channels worldwide and in cinemas and music stores across Ireland from this weekend and shows pupils from Largymore Primary School in Lisburn and from the Glen Road in West Belfast.

The video was produced by Academy Award winner Hans Zimmer after Yoko Ono lent Amnesty the song rights until the end of 2004.

The human rights education campaign was inspired by Gabriel Byrne after he heard New York schoolchildren singing Imagine at his niece's graduation ceremony.

Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty's programme director in Northern Ireland, said: "The Imagine campaign is a fantastic opportunity for Amnesty to share our vision of a world where human rights are protected I and to ask people to imagine what it will take to ensure that the world really does live as one."

He added that Amnesty International's Northern Ireland office will be encouraging local schools to take an interest in international human rights issues over the next year.