Aung San Phyo was just 21 when he last saw his parents and four siblings. A student activist with the pro-democracy movement in Burma, he was forced to flee his homeland when the soldiers came looking for him.

"I was lucky because I had gone to Rangoon for a meeting when they called for me," he says. "I hid at a friend's house. She was a teacher, and a mother with children. They took her in for questioning and beat her so badly that when she was released she was paralysed."

Phyo eventually escaped and has been living in Dublin for four years. Now 34, he is married to an Irish woman and has two children, whom his parents have never met.

"I can't keep in touch with them because I don't want to give them any trouble," he says. "It's tough to have to move from place to place and know we can't go home."

Two aspects of the Burmese experience will be marked today at an awareness-raising event in Dublin at which Phyo is to act as master of ceremonies.

The event coincides with the 10th anniversary of the awarding of the Nobel Peace prize to Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma's National League for Democracy, who remains under house arrest in Rangoon.

"She is our only hope," says Phyo. "She is really brave and everyone in Burma respects her because she has sacrificed so many things in her life for the people of Burma."

Today's event, to be held at the Mansion House between 1.30 p.m. and 2.30 p.m., is described by organisers Burma Action Ireland (BAI) as a "peaceful reflection" on Burma's plight "with words and music". It coincides with similar events in 15 other cities, including Washington, Brussels and Perth, which seek to highlight the fact that Ms Suu Kyi cannot attend the Nobel Foundation's centennial celebration in Oslo this weekend.

Among those due to attend the Dublin event are the Lord Mayor, Mr Michael Mulcahy, and the Co Wicklow-based film-maker John Boorman whose 1998 movie Beyond Rangoon was set during the pro-democracy demonstrations of August 1988 in which Phyo participated.

As many as 10,000 people were killed in a four-day period when the military opened fire on protesters.

"I still have nightmares about them," said Phyo. "I saw many students shot in the head. One girl I carried to hospital but she died. She was in the demonstration with us. It was a peaceful demonstration for the restoration of democracy and they just shot at everyone."

He stresses the Burmese people want a "peaceful solution" to the country's problems. "But for that we need the international community to put pressure on the government."

Ireland, he says, could play an important role in bringing about change by lobbying on the issue at EU level and within the United Nations Security Council. The Irish Government, he says, has been "quite supportive", although he adds, "politicians sometimes are very unpredictable. What we need is consistent and sustained pressure."