Over 30 years of anarchist writing from Ireland listed under hundreds of topics
News
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.
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.
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.
March for Choice - video report
Date: Tue, 2015-09-29 15:23
Last Saturday the 26th of September saw thousands of people take to the streets of Dublin for the now annual March for Choice. The march is organized every year by the Abortion Rights Campaign.
The current key demand is that for the repeal of the Eighth Amendment. This amendment passed in 1983 equates the life of a mother with that of a foetus. It's implementation through the legislation of the Labor Party party and FIne Gail government means in effect that a doctor who helps a pregnant person have an abortion or someone who procures one in Ireland could face a jail sentence of up to 14 years.
Irish Water bills burned in Kildare
Date: Sun, 2015-09-27 14:45
Yesterday afternoon in Newbridge, Co. Kildare, a crowd assembled at 2pm outside the town hall in order to collectively burn their bills in a symbolic act of defiance of Irish Water and the government's plans to introduce a double charge for water provision. The assembled protesters understand that if everyone paid up and Irish Water managed to establish these charges, they would rapidly increase to the point where water charges were a lucrative revenue stream for the company and a significant drain on our limited incomes.
If that were to happen, the government would certainly privatise the company and virtually gift ownership of the rights to water provision to a profit seeking company. Nowhere in the Water Services Act (2013) does it say that privatisation is prohibited. In fact, Eurostat noted in a letter to the CSO in July of this year that "Privatisation Of Irish Water Is Ultimately Envisaged". Further, Irish Water was established as a subsidiary of another privatised company, Bord Gáis (privatised in mid 2014 as part of the IMF/Irish State engineered giveaway of Irish assets to international capital).
Homeless march on the opening of the Dail
Date: Thu, 2015-09-24 16:56
The opening of the Dail was marked by protests by organisations campaigning on housing and homelessness and by over the top policing of them. Steel fences and dozens of Garda were used to hem a crowd that was probably never larger than 120 into the end of Molesworth street, presumably least any TD have to interact with them as they sought to flee the Dail.
The Boston Famine Memorial - A reminder from 'our own' history
Date: Thu, 2015-09-24 15:21
The inscription on the memorial to the Irish 'Famine' in Boston serves to remind us of much we should not have forgotten and how shameful some of our words today must sound to the millions who suffered then.
Over 1000 early medical abortion pills seized by Irish customs
Date: Thu, 2015-09-24 14:58
Over 1,000 abortion pills were seized last year at customs, a figure that represents double the amount seized the two years previous. This fact is very much in contradiction with the myth of the anti-choice side that there is no demand for abortion in Ireland.
Despite the fact that abortion is illegal in Ireland and having an abortion, or even helping someone have one, is punishable by up to 14 years in jail it is a well known fact that abortions still occur.
You can't come in!! Looking after 'our own' millionaires first?
Date: Thu, 2015-09-24 14:37
'Enda here ... We've a real immigration problem. Not enough multinationals are taking refuge in our tax haven'.
No we have no more room. No more room in Fortress Europe. This is the civilised world after all! And especially no more room in THIS country. That could be Ireland, or Germany, or France, or Greece, depending on who's speaking of course. But not HERE. Sorry but if those people wanted to have a decent life like the rest of us, they should have thought about that before being born on the wrong patch of planet Earth.
Drop the Charges against the Jobstown 3 March - report with video
Date: Tue, 2015-09-22 16:18
The photos shows the Jobstown 23 'Drop the Charges' banner on its way down the Quays to the courts on Parkgate street. The Jobstown 27 charged in connection with the protest last November which saw Labour Party leader struck in her car because of a sit-in just in front of her.
Revenge came initially in the form of over the top dawn raids on the houses of water charge activists and now after a long delay many are charged with crimes as serious as false imprisonment - the maximum sentence for this is 14 years - despite the fact that several Garda were also around her car at all times. The number facing charges means this may be one of the largest political trials in Ireland for some decades.
