April 2003

Councils to get power to refuse to collect the bins of non-payers but we can force collection

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The campaign against the bin tax is set to enter a new phase before the summer as the government brings forward new legislation to give the Councils the power to refuse to collect the bins of non-payers. The politicians are obviously rocked by the huge level of opposition to their attempts to impose this double tax - in South Dublin, for example, where the bills for the second year of the tax will arrive through people's letterboxes shortly, up to 70% of households are refusing to be bullied into paying.

Support those facing charges for Direct Action at Shannon

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As we go to press, at least 19 people are currently facing prosecution out of the October and March direct actions at Shannon airport. In addition 5 people are in the courts arising from the Catholic Worker/Ploughshares 'decommissioning' of a US military transport plane. Mary Kelly is facing charges for taking a hammer to the same plane on an earlier occasion, and Eoin Dubsky for spraypainting a warplane.

Direct action, violence & that fence at Shannon airport

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One of the most interesting arguments from within and, interestingly from without, the growing anti-war movement is on the use of violence. Typically, the argument takes this form: anti-war protests are peace protests, therefor they must be peaceful. Further, these self-appointed arbitrators within and without the movement have extremely tight definitions of what is and what isn't peaceful.

International anarchist statement against the Iraq war

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The statement below was issued before the war by anarchist groups from all over the globe. This included organisations in Ireland (WSM), Britain, France, Sweden, Argentina, Lebanon, Belgium, Turkey, Portugal, South Africa, Germany, Canada, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Italy, USA, Switzerland and Croatia.

Direct Action against the war - your questions answered

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This article addresses Direct Action in the context of the sometimes hysterical debate about the Grassroots Network Against War (GNAW) action at Shannon on March 1st.

Grassroots Gathering 4 - A sun kissed weekend in Limerick

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The fourth Grassroots Gathering happened at University of Limerick on the St. Patrick's bank holiday weekend. It was a glorious weekend of weather and once again I came away from the experience of meeting fellow activists with renewed vigour for the struggle. The Grassroots Network has succeeded in creating a space for non-hierarchical libertarian groups and individuals to gather and share information and conduct workshops on various tactics used.

One year of the Cork Autonomous Zone

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The Cork Autonomous Zone has bee functioning for over a year now. The shared space has become an irreplaceable part of the agitational infrastructure of anti-capitalism in Cork city.

The March 1st 2003 action against the Iraq war at Shannon airport

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If you were anywhere in Ireland in the last week of February you can't have missed the hype ahead of the March 1st direct action called at Shannon by the Grassroots Network Against the War (GNAW). Suddenly every politician, reporter and even bishop in the country was joining the queue to denounce the planned 'violent' protest. The morning before the protest irony died on its feet when Sinn Fein announce it was pulling out of the unrelated Irish Anti War Movement protest at the airport for fear of violence.

Global actions against the Iraq war

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In the extensive build-up to this war the United States had to enlist the logistical help of many countries to prepare for the invasion of Iraq. This in turn meant that anarchists and activists had the opportunity to display to their complicit leaders their opposition to this impending war. We have compiled a small selection here of the various actions that occurred thoughout the build up to the war.

Malatesta: Life & Ideas - review

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This book serves as an introduction to Malatesta's thinking on anarchism. And very lucid thinking it is too. You may agree or disagree, but you won't be scratching your head trying to decipher a load of jargon.

George Bush wages war on the poor in the USA

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Social spending is plumetting in the USA, leading to some strange things happening. The budget for the United States is going to run to a deficit of £180bn of spending over income.

Review of infoshop.org

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There are a large number of anarchist news services on the internet - one of the best ones covering North America is the news section of infoshop.org. The site looks a little like Indymedia, including readers' comments with articles but in fact all articles require prior approval by an editor.