Workers Solidarity Movement

Dun Laoghaire court remanded one of the water charge protesters arrested 19th May to Cloverhill prison for a week. An emergency protest called for the 20th blocked the quays and O'Connell St. for an hour in the evening demanding his release.

Stephen Bennett  is a well known water charges activist in Dublin who has been successful in defending himself in numerous cases brought by the Garda. He was remanded after refusing bail conditions that would have denied his freedom to protest in future. These conditions were clearly intended to remove him from the streets.

Taking advantage of the fact that a lot of local water charge groups were not seriously mobilsing for the April 18th march we called a last minute Anarchist Bloc to encourage people to attend via our Dublin radical events from WSM group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/radical.dublin)

Its already clear (23 May, 10am) that the referendum has been passed, that there has been a Yes vote across the country, its now only a question of how big. We won't know the answer to that for hours.

We are confident with this call because not only are huge Yes tally being reported from Dublin (as high as 3:1) but very large Yes votes are also being reported from some rural boxes. There are others that are 50:50 or even thought to be slightly No but its clear these No's hope to counteract the huge Yes's from the cities, never mind the significant Yes votes that appear to have happened in many rural areas. Areas that voted against divorce are showing significant Yes votes.

In the last 24 hours anti-equality campaigners have been setting up fake Yes to equality Facebook pages and then posting links around to large groups like the 26,000 strong anti water charges group. The intention being to trick people into voting No by trying to give credence to the fevered imaginations of homophobes.

On Friday Ireland goes to the polls for a referendum to introduce Marriage equality, when it is passed Ireland will be the first country to introduce Marriage equality by popular vote. In the final days of campaigning the reactionary anti-equality crowd are becoming increasingly open about their homophobia as they become increasingly desperate in the face of defeat.

The Dublin anarchist bookfair panel on migration, state racism and anti-racist, migrant self organising.

Looking at issues faced by migrant activists involved in left-wing politics including the NGOization and electoralization of the migrant justice movement; confronting nationalism and white privilege within campaigns and the particular types of exploitation and oppression faced by different communities of working class migrants. Also discussing migrant self-organising, as in the Kinsale Road occupation, and strategies for making single-issue campaigns more inclusive of anti-racism organising.

We've caught sight (24 March) of the documents for the High Court hearing against the Grangegorman residents tomorrow and we're surprized to see we (ie our new page Solidarity Times) get a prominent mention. It appears the lawyers concerned are so used to a completly compliant media reproducing ruling class ideology that they imagine our stance of solidarity with those they want to evict from their homes must make us the organisers of the resistance!

The residents of Grangegorman are once more in the High Court this morning (26 March) as what is in effect NAMA attempt to get them thrown out of their homes. NAMA own the loans on the site, their receivers are trying to get procession not in order to build homes or a community centre but in order to be able to sell it. Parts of this particular site have been lying derelict for about 15 years as part of the speculative cycle of the property millionaires. If the residents are evicted who knows how many more years that may continue.

One of the tricks of the media & politicians is to try and create conflict between protesters. So for instance in coverage of the Grangegorman eviction resistance you'll see the suggestion that squatters don't work while many workers can't afford rent.

The simmering student revolt that started this spring in Amsterdam and spread to the LSE in London has now reached Dublin. Austerity has meant the acceleration of the EU neoliberal plan to turn universities into over packed and pressured factories churning out little human units optimised for industry.