Workers Solidarity Movement

People in deprived areas in Northern Ireland are three times more likely to take their lives.  Health minister Edwin Poots said, ‘Unemployment rates in deprived areas further affect people and this is a major concern. Studies indicate that a 1% increase in unemployment is met with a corresponding 0.79% increase in suicide.

 €1,600 billion.  That is the figure for Irish Oil & Gas reserves already licensed revealed this morning in a detailed report from Shell to Sea using the energy corporations own reports and estimates.  People in Ireland will see almost no benefits from this incredible wealth because the Irish state gives these reserves to the corporations at the cheapest terms in the world.

On Friday 7th Sept councillors at the Kildare county council offices choose to enter through a side door rather than pass a group of protesters at the main entrance to the building. The councillors were meeting to discuss how to implement the budget cuts imposed on the council by the government as part of its efforts to pay the State's odious debts. Chants of "Axe the household tax" and "Tax the rich, not the poor" resounded in the courtyard of Kildare's administrative centre.

As the latest youth club in Belfast is threatened with closure, it is clear some of our local politicians and fat cats have never had it so good. The Irish News has revealed that DUP Health minister, bigot and creationist Edwin Poots and his advisors flew business-class to a five day healthcare conference in Boston. Earlier this year it was also uncovered that 400,000 had been spent on overseas training for 50 managers.

Around 50 people attended a lunch time vigil today organised by the Belfast Trade and District Council. A range of political organisations and unions attended including the Independent Workers Union, the WSM and Organise!  During the rally one speaker from the council also referred to the police being workers too. This will provide little comfort to working people on the receiving end of state violence and terror.

August saw a gathering of a couple of thousand anarchists from all over the globe in St Imier, Switzerland. This small town was the site of the founding of the Anarchist International in 1872, the gathering was organised to commemorate this event and involved dozens of political, organisational & cultural events.  As part of this gathering Anarkismo, the international network that the WSM is the Irish section of, held both a European conference and a global gathering.

Marx in Soho, written in 1999 by historian Howard Zinn and author of the ‘Peoples History of the United States’, is presented by the Just Books Collective and is a one-man play on the life of Karl Marx.  Zinn stated that he wrote the play to "show Marx as few people knew him, as a family man, struggling to support his wife and children." The play depicts Marx resurrected to defend the ideals of communism from the dehumanized version of it practiced in the former Soviet Union and to defend humanity from capitalism.

For the third year in succession the Cork branch of the Workers Solidarity Movement participated in the Cork Pride Parade. Anarchists have been involved in Pride organising in Cork since its beginnings in the mid-noughties and have long seen Pride as both an important civic festival and an opportunity to connect with Cork's burgeoning LGBT community. Cork WSM also distributed a leaflet on Pride and its politics at the parade (see below). The parade was the culmination of a week of hectic activity and celebration by Cork's LGBT community across a number of venues and across a range of activities.

The Amber Women’s Refuge in Kilkenny was set up to support women facing domestic violence.  Although the Centre has never been as busy it is now facing massive cuts.  The workers at the Centre are fighting to save the service.  Earlier this week the workers, members of SIPTU, placed a daily two-hour picket at the Centre to highlight the situation they are facing.  They are looking for support.  Following the intervention of the Labour Relations Court, talks have taken place between the workers and management.  Although daily pickets have been suspended pending the outcome of these talks, the fight for the Centre is still very much on.  In this interview Claire O’Neill talks about what has happened and the background to the dispute.

On Monday we provided the first report & video of the secret Shell convoy that had left Dublin port with a massive police escourt late Sunday night. This turned out to be the start of a week of frantic activity as the Convoy was tracked across the country and then subject to repeated blockades as it neared Erris.  Whether because of this pressure or not on near its final destination the convoy missed a key turn with the main truck and its load of 160 tons jacknifing on a tight turn and starting to slide into the roadside bog.  With a massive mobilisation of Garda and private security Shell finally dragged out the truck Friday. The report that follows gives an account of the final day, you will find moment by moment reports of the rest of the resistance during the week on the WSM Facebook page and WSM Twitter.