Workers Solidarity Movement

Hundreds of people from all over Ireland are expected to attend the 7^th annual Dublin Anarchist Bookfair which takes place in Liberty Hall, Dublin on Saturday 26^th May. The Bookfair, organised by the Workers Solidarity Movement, will consist of a day of meetings, debates, discussions and films and will also host bookstalls and information stands from a large number of political organisations and campaigning groups.

Workers Solidarity Movement spokesperson Gregor Kerr said he expects attendance at this year’s Bookfair to “reflect the fact that more and more people are beginning to search for an alternative to the chaotic political system that is capitalism.”

“The last number of months has seen a new awakening of political awareness in Ireland,” Kerr continued.  “Hundreds of thousands of people have refused to pay the household tax.  Communities are organising to resist the water tax.  People are beginning to realise that we don’t have to accept the inevitability of the boom-bust cycle of capitalism and that the extent to which the austerity agenda can be imposed on us is related to the extent to which we are prepared to resist it.”

“In that context,” Mr. Kerr concluded, “the Anarchist Bookfair is about exploring new ideas, discussing options for an alternative type of society and above all awakening possibilities.  Anyone who comes along won’t go away disappointed.”

Highlights on the meeting schedule include

• Referendum Debate - Will Voting No Make Any Difference? – a debate between Paul Murphy, Socialist Party MEP and Mark Hoskins of the Workers Solidarity Movement
• Abortion in Ireland- Is The X Case Enough? – a panel discussion with Dr. Mary Favier (Doctors For Choice) and other speakers to be confirmed
• Is It Kicking Off In Ireland? – a discussion about whether Irish people are beginning to organise against the politics of austerity with Tommy McKearney who has been involved in helping to establish the Campaign Against Household and Water Taxes, Gregor Kerr who was centrally involved in the DEIS Action Group and others
• Racism In The Recession – with Hannah McGinley Community Development Worker with the Galway Traveller Movement and Gavin Titlley, co-author of ‘The Crises of Multiculturalism? Racism in a Neoliberal Age’
• Come Here To Me: Dublin’s Other History - Sam McGrath presents his research on the life and death of English revolutionary socialist Arthur 'Neal' Wicks who was killed in action in the Easter Rising.
• Old Media In The Age Of the Internet - why bother with Radical andUnderground publishing?
• My Life in politics - Radical women speak
• Unlock NAMA
• Being an Anarchist

Film showings will include

• Eyewitness Afghanistan –  an outline of the current political situation in Afghanistan as told through interviews Farah Mokhtareizadeh conducted with Afghan politicians, artists, religious leaders, community organizers, journalists and activists between December 2010 and February 2012.
• Bernadette: notes on a political journey – a remarkable documentary, made over a nine year period, which charts the story of Bernadette Devlin McAliskey’s political journey since her explosive entry into the public arena in the late sixties.  This showing will be followed by a Q&A session with director Lelia Doolan
• The Viking Way – a documentary about Iceland’s 4 –year journey from economic disaster to signs of recovery

Bookstalls carrying an array of radical literature and books, and information stalls from a huge number of campaign groups will be set up for the day.  Among the organisations hosting Bookstalls and information stalls will be Freedom Press, AK Press, PM Press, Rabble, Rebel books, Solidarity Books, Revolutionary Anarcha-Feminist Group, Anarchist Federation, Organise!, Just books, Workers Solidarity Movement, Oxfam Books, Irish Labour History Society, Irish Socialist Network, Free Education for Everyone, Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Latin American Solidarity Campaign, Corporate Watch, Campaign Against Household and Water Taxes, Shell to Sea, Anti Fascist Action and many more

Full details of the meetings, Bookstalls and Information Stands can be found at http://www.wsm.ie/c/7th-dublin-anarchist-bookfair-2012-may-26th-liberty-hall or on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/events/262814147141663/

For confirmation/further information please contact Workers Solidarity Movement PRO Gregor Kerr on 086 1501151 

Note:- the Dublin Anarchist Bookfair is organised by Workers Solidarity Movement (WSM), an Irish anarchist organisation with branches in Dublin, Corkand Galwayand members in several other places around the country.  WSM members are actively involved in many community and trade union campaigns.

For more information about the WSM visit our website www.wsm.ie