Occupy x

Articles on the M15 and Occupy movements from Wall Street to Dame Street & beyond

A quick introduction to Occupy Dame Street

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Over the last year, from Tahrir Square in Cairo to New York, a new movement sprung from the discontent of millions. It brought down a dictatorship in Egypt, re-awakened the libertarian spirit in Spain and affected a sea change in American politics. The Occupy movement, as it has become popularly known in English speaking countries, shook the world in 2011.

The crisis is changing politics

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If the recent budget highlighted anything, it was the fact that the working class in Ireland is under severe attack.  Services, too numerous to mention here, are being cut or removed entirely, while the real living standards of many of us are being driven down and down.  Meanwhile the banker-thieves and investment-gamblers still live the highlife. 

Occupy Belfast send defiant message - ‘We are not here today to plead for crumbs from the tables of the rich’

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Up to 100 people listened to a rousing speech by former civil rights activist Eamonn McCann on Saturday in defence of the liberated former bank of Ireland building in Belfast followed by a spontaneous march to the city hall without a police permit chanting ‘Whose streets our streets.'

The writer and journalist emphasised the international nature of the Occupy movement and how the occupation must build links with others in struggle and the beginning of a wider fightback. A statement was also read out on behalf of the Independent Workers Union who have been solid in their support and solidarity of the occupation since the beginning.

Reclaim the City- Defend the ‘Peoples Bank’ in Belfast

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Occupy Belfast will be holding a rally this Saturday outside the former Bank of Ireland building at 2pm. Following the rally there will be a public general assembly whereby all are invited to participate in the discussion on where next for the movement. There is a stall including leafleting outside the building every day at 1pm if anyone is interested in getting involved.

The liberation of a former Bank of Ireland building in Belfast

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 Occupy Belfast seized the initiative Monday by re-possessing the former Bank of Ireland building in Royal Avenue gaining media coverage both here and across the world. Around a dozen protestors including a WSM member entered the building, unfurled banners and put up barricades despite early attempts by the police to illegally evict us. A WSM member who took part gives us his views on the occupation below.

 

Referenda: A Strategy for Success?

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The idea that calling for a referendum is a good strategy for winning significant reforms often crops up in campaigns. It seems logical, as a referendum is a chance for the population to directly make a decision on the issue to hand. But the reality is that the demand for a referendum is seldom, if ever, the best way to build a struggle for a reform. Here are five reasons why:

Take back the city- Fight house evictions and homelessness

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Occupy Belfast held a protest outside the city hall yesterday in a campaign against evictions/re-possessions and an end to homelessness. Campaigners have also located an empty building in the city centre and hope to re-possess the centre as a self-managed space in the next couple of weeks beginning the process of building a movement against house evictions.

CCTU Unemployed Centre, Vita Cortex and a NAMA building - Cork's three occupations

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Three occupations in Cork highlight the ideas of direct action, self-organisation and solidarity

 

At a time when Ireland's rich class and their government are relying on passivity and apathy from the country's working class to push through their austerity agenda with the minimum of resistance, the presence of three separate occupations of workplaces and vacant NAMA commercial property in Cork is a hopeful sign that 'the powers that be' are not going to have it all their own way, as they attempt to make everyone else pick up the tab for the economic carnage their actions have unleashed upon this society. Although each occupation is separate and different in origin and potential outcome, each one shows that people do understand the necessity and the effectiveness of direct action in this time when bosses and property owners are trying every trick in the book to slough off their debts and evade public accountability while doing so.

May 15th - a Peripheral Conversation about the crisis & the EU periphery

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This conversation between anarchists from the so-called “peripherals” in the Eurozone, Portugal, Ireland, and Spain took place by timely coincidence on the very day that saw the birth of the Spanish M15 movement.  This spread for a period around the globe and was to some degree a precursor or pattern for the “Occupy Everywhere” movement which emerged later this year. On a historical point of interest, in this conversation we also look at the precursor to the M15 movement, the March 12th mass demonstrations in Portugal called by the Geração À Rasca movement.

Christy Moore visits Occupy Dame Street and sings Ride On

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Singer songwriter Christy Moore dropped into Occupy Dame Street in Dublin last night to sing and send grettings to all the Occupy camps in the major cities of Ireland,  at Cork, Limerick, Belfast, Waterford, Kerry, Athlone, Galway and the over 2000 Occupy camps world wide.  In the video Christy refers to being in the 'Yellow Submarine,' thats the wooden structure built to serve as a kitchen for a camp that is waterproofed with heavy yellow plastic.  Christy then sings 'Ride On' before heading off into the night to the applause of the assembled campers.  

(Pic: a still from Dave's video of
Christy Moore at Occupy Dame Street)

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