Workers Solidarity Movement

The 'Occupy X' movement arrived in Ireland over the weekend when a core group of around 50 people set up camp at the Central Bank Plaza on Dame street. Numbers grew to a few hundred at times over the next days and nights as supporters came down to join in for a while and the curious stopped to see what was going on. Issues highlighted by participants included the bank bail out, IMF intervention & the ongoing Great Oil & Gas Giveaway.

A motion at the annual Congress of the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) today calling for the “setting up of a policy study group” within the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to “conduct an urgent enquiry into …. the feasibility of the Irish state re-taking into public ownership” Ireland’s Natural Resources has been passed by a unanimous vote - a level of support that took even those who strongly supported the motion by surprize.

ESB today announced a range of price changes that could decrease the average billpayer's costs by up to 17% for electricity per unit and 6% for gas per unit.. However, this will only apply to customers in good standing, i.e. not to the 100,000-plus ESB customers who are having difficulty paying their bills.

Oh the last day of his brief spell in power the replacement Minister of Energy Pat Carey signed the consents on the final stage of Shell's experimental gas pipeline in Erris despite continued opposition from the local community and people all over the island concerned with both safety and the Great Oil & Gas Giveaway.  It is increasingly clear that the haste on pushing the project thorough is because the Bellanaboy refinery is intended to take not just the relatively small deposits of the Corrib field but also the hundreds of billions of oil and gas found off the atlantic coast.

“Someday Independent” is a 4 page leaflet produced by Dublin Shell to Sea. The design/layout and graphical work is of a very high standard and compares favourably to high cost, professionally produced brochures. The overall colour scheme and design is a pleasing blue “wave” design which is easy on the eye and appropriate to the subject material without drawing too much attention to itself.

Long-term Rossport campaigner, Sean Mallory, gives his views on the give away of Ireland’s natural resources and the recession. While the Irish economy was built on a construction boom and massive inward investment, it seemed to go unnoticed that, by our governments own February 2009 estimate, there is €315b euro worth of oil and gas deposits all along our western seaboard. At the same time, the government tells us that it has no money to pay for cervical cancer tests and the construction of specialised multiple sclerosis units, amongst other vital services.

What should happen to the €51bn gasfield off Rossport? Let Shell keep it and let the fat cats get fatter? Try to make Bertie’s government nationalise it and use the wealth for our benefit?

This morning myself and a number of my comrades from the WSM along with members of Eirigi occupied the roof and reception of Corrib House to draw attention to the state giveaway of Irelands natural resources. Outlined here is my understanding of why we need to act to regain control of our resources.