Over 30 years of anarchist writing from Ireland listed under hundreds of topics
At the unofficial border crossing between Serbia and Croatia
Date: Tue, 2015-10-06 13:40
A few kilometres away from the small Serbian border town of Sid, a dirt track through corn and turnip fields serves as passage to tens of thousands of women, men and children seeking refuge and lives of more possibility.
The unofficial border crossing between Serbia and Croatia is surrounded by sun-lit verdant fields, apple orchards in the distance and a calm that brings temporary respite to those who have been on the road for weeks or months. The threat of militarised borders and recent memory of dehumanising conditions along the way is temporarily kept at bay as those walking stop to drink freshly pressed apple cider handed out by a local farmer, chat and rest before they continue on.
The Firehouse Squat on Gardiner place prior to eviction - video report
Date: Tue, 2015-10-06 13:14
About 10 days ago three van loads of riot cops arrived at the door to No 2 Gardiner Place at around 9am, There they formed a Roman style tortoise shell shield formation and proceeded to start to batter the door down. Once in they stormed through the building, arresting the residents and dragged them down to the High Court for an eviction / injunction hearing at which they were forced to agree not to try and re-enter the house. No media outlet deemed any of this worthy of coverage.
Solidarity Times had been in the building the previous week, shooting some video in anticipation of a campaign in opposition to the eviction. We’re assembled a video report on the space from that footage as yet another example of the vast amount of empty housing that is around even inner city Dublin. Homelessness is not caused by a lack of usable buildings but by deliberately leaving such buildings empty and boarded up in order to create the scarcity that is seeing rent hikes and a new property bubble.
Make McNamara’s Class Pay! Against all Landlords! Squat the City!
Date: Tue, 2015-10-06 12:39
Bernard McNamara and his class are thieves who well deserve our scorn and derision. But if our communities want to take control of our city we must organise together.
News broke last week of how residents in a Dublin apartment complex are facing a €4 million bill to fireproof their homes. Or else they face eviction. Around 900 people live in 300 apartments in the Longboat Quay complex in Dublin's docklands, 'built' by developer Bernard McNamara in 2006. People paid between €450,000 and €750,000 for apartments there at the height of the boom. Longboat Quay also incorporated some social housing units.
Ireland to Calais Refugee solidarity - Report as the 1st convoys departed
Date: Tue, 2015-10-06 10:14
One of our member is now at the refugee camp in Calais as part of the solidarity convoy that arrived from Ireland a couple of days back. Before he left he filed this report for us.
Today the first of Ireland-Calais Refugee Solidarity’s convoys of basic aid is due to arrive in the French port of Calais. The aid is for distribution among the several thousand refugees living in deplorable conditions in makeshift camps outside the town, hoping to gain entry into the UK.
Over the last few weeks I’ve been lucky enough to be part of the ‘Ireland Calais Refugee Solidarity’ group, collecting and organising for refugee aid convoys, the first of which is being delivered to Calais today. The group was initially set up by one very impressive person from Cork, Tracey Ryan, who was planning on collecting donations and delivering them to Calais personally. Apparently though, interest in the solidarity action was so large that it grew into a cross-country action, focused in Cork and Dublin.
6 reasons why YOU should be Pro-Choice
Date: Wed, 2015-09-30 16:34
Here's 6 reasons why you should support the decriminalization of abortion and the pro-choice position.
Abortions rights are just one part of the struggle for full ( reproductive ) freedom
Date: Wed, 2015-09-30 16:25
The demand for abortion rights is a shallow one if all that it means is a right to a safe and legal abortion. The demand for abortion rights must be brought into the greater battle for full reproductive freedom.
Reproductive freedom means that if someone is pregnant and does not wish to be they are supported, financially and emotionally in that decision. Likewise, if someone wishes to have a child they should not be constrained by, for example, financial issues.
In 2013 15 of the super wealthy in Ireland paid a total of only €1.8m tax
Date: Wed, 2015-09-30 15:38
Rich people in Ireland as elsewhere are good at not paying taxes. When you give them a chance to prove you wrong we get figures that show that in 2013 just 15 of the super wealthy paid a total of €1.8m.
Who are these rich people and how do they do it? By rich we mean that you have an income of more than €1 million rolling into you from around the world, and that you have assets of more than €5 million here. That is some wealth right there. How they manage it is that whilst they might live here they register to pay tax in a low-tax haven like Malta or Monaco.
People's need for housing before markets property speculators and bankers
Date: Wed, 2015-09-30 14:08
People's need for housing has to be put before the considerations of the markets, the property speculators, and the bankers.
Property is once again on the rise which means this is a great time to be a landlord as you kick tenants out on the streets on some pretense, only to get in a new batch at a higher rental rate. The neo-liberal agenda has really given a free hand to the landlords to do what they wish, whilst the banks are only too happy to take homes of families who cannot meet their mortgage obligations, so that they can sell it or rent it out for quick cash.
The political policing of the AAA - if voting changed anything..
Date: Wed, 2015-09-30 12:17
Sometimes the old ones are the gold ones. The attempt by the Irish state to damage the electoral chances of the Anti Austerity Alliance by hitting them where it matters - in the pocket - reminds us of how shallow parliamentary democracy is. The Anti Austerity Alliance is the political front the Socialist Party runs under but for the next elections its unified with the SWPs People Before Profit as the rather lengthy AAA - PbP.
It's broadly understood that cash determines who wins an election more than any other factor. Indeed with the US presidential election, for almost a century, the winner has always been the candidate who had the most money behind them. So in terms of influencing the outcome of an election denying a party the right to fundraise is probably the single most effective tactic short of banning them outright.
1000s march for Choice through Dublin on Saturday 26th September - report with videos of speeches
Date: Wed, 2015-09-30 10:35
Thousands of people took to the streets of Dublin Saturday 26th September on the warmest, sunniest day in quite some time, to demand the fundamental right to abortion services on this island. The 4th annual March for Choice, organised by the Abortion Rights Campaign, began with a gathering at the Garden of Remembrance on Parnell Square.