Over 30 years of anarchist writing from Ireland listed under hundreds of topics
Thousands of students demonstrate in Dublin against Education cuts but USI attack their own members
Date: Wed, 2011-11-16 17:42
Over twenty thousand students demonstrated in Dublin today against the introduction of student fees and the cutting of student grants. The main demonstration organised by the Union of Students in Ireland (USI)also included a Free Education for Everyone All (FEE) bloc comprised of rank & file students in disagreement with the passive lobbying tactics of the USI leadership. USI stewards formed a line with Garda to prevent FEE rejoining the demonstration after they led a breakway protest at Fine Gael HQ.
(Pic: From FEE twitterstream
USI stewards form 3 rows
to stop USI members
in FEE joining march)
Mayfield meeting pledges to fight Household Tax
Date: Tue, 2011-11-15 14:49
A meeting in St.Joesphs' Community Centre in Mayfield, Cork, on Monday night, pledged determined opposition to the coming household tax. The meeting was addressed by campaign members Dave Keating and James McBarron who outlined the reasons for opposition and the plan to organise in every community in a mass non payment campaign.
Overheard pre budget conversation in Cork
Date: Mon, 2011-11-14 17:36
Overheard pre budget conversation between two women shoppers in Aldi in Cork city.
Occupy Wall Street offer of election observers for Egypt shocks us
Date: Mon, 2011-11-14 11:22
Comrades from Cairo explain why they are puzzled by the offer of Occupy Wall Street to send election monitors to Egypt for the elections when "Our struggle—which we think we share with you—is greater and grander than a neatly functioning parliamentary democracy; we demanded the fall of the regime, we demanded dignity, freedom and social justice, and we are still fighting for these goals. We do not see elections of a puppet parliament as the means to achieve them."
Occupy Movement, the Zapatista's and the General Assemblies
Date: Fri, 2011-11-11 14:10
The General Assemblies of the Occupy movement are creating a global experience in Direct Democracy. But this model did not come from nowhere - among other sources of influence is the Zapatista rebellion of southern Mexico, soon to enter its 18th year. Over almost two decades hundreds of rebel communities in Chiapas have used a General Assembly model to decide on how all aspects of life in the liberated zone will be organised. Despite their different circumstances to those faced by the majoity of the Occupy camps (in urban built up locations) there is still much that can be learnt from that experience.
This piece written for the Irish Mexico Group by a WSM member a few years after the start of that rebellion looks at how the Zapatistas organise themselves in great detail, what some of the problems they had faced are and how they overcame them. It also looks further into the history of General Assemblies and Direct Democracy in Mexico and around the globe. [Note: This long text is also available as a PDF file in a number of different formats suitable for distribution]
Shell compound at Aughoose shut down during day of solidarity
Date: Fri, 2011-11-11 12:55
About 40 Shell to Sea campaigners blocked the Aughoose compound this morning (Nov 11) - all Shell employees were prevented from entering compound between 7.30 and 9.30. The road was kept open to local traffic by the campaign. There was no Garda presence. Just after 10 Shell to Sea activists started setting up an Occupy Shell Corrib Camp at the gates of the refinery in a show of solidarity with the global Occupy movements!
Occupy - the assembly process is the revolution
Date: Thu, 2011-11-10 17:16
As we prepare to enter the 3rd month of the Occupy movement a commonly heard criticism targets both the lack of clear demands and the related complex and often drawn out decision making processes being used at Occupy General Assemblies. These criticisms however miss the point, against the traditional left with its package of pre-set answers (best before 1917) what makes Occupy different is that process of decision making through assembly. The assembly form is not just a way of making decisions but also a different form of doing politics. The Assembly is in embryo the different world we seek to create.
Prison Officers to walk away with 60 million in north as sectarian legacy continues in prisons
Date: Thu, 2011-11-10 12:10
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The sixty million payoff to prison officers in Northern Ireland could be much better spent on addressing the causes of crime such as poverty, social deprivation and prison rehabilitation. Prison officers who served during the Troubles could walk away from their jobs with packages of more than £120,000 plus pension as part of a £60m redundancy programme aimed at ‘modernising’ the service.
Picket at pro Water Tax Seminar
Date: Tue, 2011-11-08 17:33
Emergency Protest 8:30am tomorrow (Wednesday) morning at the International Institute for European Affairs on 8 North Great Georges Street where Phil Hogan will be given a speech at a pro Water Tax seminar entitled the 'Future of Water Management'. Come and spread the word
Solidarity Books in Cork - making a difference
Date: Mon, 2011-11-07 20:48
Early in the morning the crew arrive from the Occupy Cork camp to do their dish washing in the back kitchen of Solidarity Books. At 12 o'clock the days first volunteer arrives to open the bookshop and by lunch time the campers are back for the lunchtime wash up. By evening the bookshop is closed but will invariably re open by 8 for a meeting or organising group, maybe a movie showing or a talk, the Climate Campers doing their vegan cafe or it could be the Couchsurfers for their meet up, maybe the Campaign Against the HouseHold Tax for an organising meeting or just a crew to paste posters onto corriboard.