Workers Solidarity Movement

At the time of going to press, only 14 of the 115 Romanians targeted in racist attacks in Belfast earlier this month have decided to remain in the country. The rest are returning home. The 22 families had sought refuge in a church hall and then temporary accommodation in vacant student houses after they were driven out of their homes in a sustained and co-coordinated week-long hate campaign.

In the aftermath of the racist attacks that forced over 100 Romanians to flee their homes in South Belfast, the local Workers Solidarity Movement branch is hosting an afternoon of discussion about how we can tackle racism. This will be happening in the city centre on Saturday July 18th. Watch out for posters or check www.wsm.ie for the time and venue.

Local DUP councillor, Adrian McQuillan seemed less than outraged at the sectarian murder of Kevin McDaid in Coleraine. He wrote it off as “tit for tat” and went on to excuse the killers: “What reason can you see for there being tricolours up yesterday afternoon, a Sunday afternoon? None other than for to get a reaction from the loyalist community…”

For the last eight years the local communities in Rossport and Glengad, County Mayo have been resisting petro-chemical giant Shell’s plans for a high-pressure gas pipeline from the offshore gas fields to an online refinery at Bellanaboy. The project is a significant health and safety risk in the medium term, as admitted by Shells own engineers at a recent local forum examining the project. It already has caused high levels of aluminum pollution of the local water supply.

Last night, local residents organised a rally on the Lisburn Road in South Belfast against a spate of racist attacks against Romanian families.

Since last Wednesday, a gang of youths have attacked the homes of families living in Belgravia Avenue and Wellesley Avenue every evening, smashing windows and shouting racist abuse, forcing one family to leave their home on Belgravia Avenue.

At 2am on Thursday morning, Pat O'Donnell's boat the 'Iona Isle' was boarded by four masked men and sunk out at sea, near where Mr. O'Donnell lays his fishing pots off Erris, North Mayo. Mr. O'Donnell and crewman Martin McDonnell were attacked and held down by some of the men, while others went below deck, where they proceeded to sink the boat. Both local men have been taken to Castlebar General Hospital, where they are recovering.

Over the June Bank Holiday weekend dozens of people traveled from all over Ireland to Erris to join locals in ongoing resistance to Shell's project of imposing an experimental gas pipeline on the local community.

In April 2009, twenty six traffic attendants were sacked in Belfast for resorting to a half-day un-official strike, after management ignored their grievances over working conditions.

The long running struggle in Erris (Rossport) against Shell's attempt to impose an experimental gas pipeline on the local community has erupted in recent days with repeated local direct actions against the compound Shell are trying to construct. Meanwhile the state at the behest of Shell continues to press vindictive prosecutions against local activists. Back in March retired school teacher Maura Harrington for jailed for 30 days, today the state returned for another pound of flesh and she was sentenced to another 7-10 days in Mountjoy prison. At very short notice over 20 activists from Dublin Shell to Sea gathered at the prison gates and showed their outrage by blocking the entrance of the prison van containing Maura in to Mountjoy for about twenty minutes.

On Saturday 9th May, the Belfast branch of the WSM held a public meeting at An Culturlann in West Belfast on ‘Can Direct Action achieve success’.

Contributions from former Visteon workers, Dessie McEnroe and Mark O’Hara on their participation in the occupation, building links with fellow workers and lessons learnt.

Here is a short report and audio recording from the discussion.