Workers Solidarity Movement

The Ireland segments of a European speaking tour with an Anarchist from Moscow who will talk about the anarchist movement in Russia, its successes and failures. Antti Rautiainen lived in Moscow for 13 years, participating in anarchist activities. His residence permit was revoked in March of this year, allegedly because he "called for a violent overthrow of constitutional order, or otherwise endangered the safety of Russian Federation or its citizens". He is member of Autonomous Action and the Anarchist Black Cross of Moscow.

• Cork on Sat July 7th, 5pm at Solidarity Books, Douglas St.
• Dublin on Sun, July 8th, 4pm at Seomra Spraoi, 10 Bevedere court D1
• Belfast on Tue, July 10th, 7pm at Na Croisbhealai Workers Co-op cafe
• Derry on Wed, July 11th, 7pm Castlebar Waterloo street 

Recording of the 'Being an anarchist' session at the 2012 Dublin anarchist bookfair where 3 WSM members talk about the influences that brought them into radical politics and anarchism. Touches on 1981 Hunger strikes, 1984 Miners strike and x-case as well as more recent events like the Garda attack on the Dec 2010 student protest in Dublin.

The WSM organised a successful public meeting on Saturday in Na Croisbhealai workers co-op on the topic of anarchists-who we are and what we are up to.  Leading up to the event leaflets and posters were distributed at the annual Mayday march and other meetings in the city. A similar meeting was held recently in Dublin which was attended by 80 plus people and the WSM aims to hold similar meetings across the country so feel free to get in touch.

An accusing finger is pointed at anarchists any time the word organisation is mentioned. Many people believe that anarchism is against organisation and just another word for chaos, but is it? The simple answer, of course, is no, but that does not explain the confusion surrounding the question, nor the accusations thrown at anarchists.

This May sees the return of the annual Anarchist Bookfair to Dublin, the seventh to be held to date. Since the first, back in 2006, the event has grown hugely in scale, against the background of the bursting of the Celtic Tiger bubble, the IMF/EU bailout and the catastrophic effect of austerity on Irish society. The Bookfair consists of a day of meetings, debates and discussions and will also host bookstalls and information stands from a large number of political organisations and campaigning groups.

The 4^th Belfast Anarchist Bookfair took place on Saturday in the Warzone centre in Little Victoria Street. Set up late last year the centre is a neutral space in the heart of the city including a coffee space which promotes alternative gigs and music.  There was a steady stream of people throughout the day event which began at 12pm with many new people coming across anarchist ideas and the wider movement for the very first time.

On the 10^th anniversary of the death of former Civil Rights activist and Anarchist John McGuffin, local activists including former friends and comrades gathered in Derry’s Bogside and gave the iconic monument a fitting rebellious make-over with the red and black colours of anarchism. Over the next fortnight the black flag of anarchy will fly over Free Derry corner in a fine tribute. No Gods No Masters!

The 4^thBelfast Anarchist Bookfair will take this Saturday at 12pm in the Warzone centre, Little Victoria Street in the city centre. Hosted by Organise!/Just Books Collective there will be also a WSM stall including the latest Workers Solidarity and Irish Anarchist Review.

There will also be two talks/discussions taking place.  The first at 12.30pm on radical co-operatives, collectives and ‘free space’ will be lead off by a panel of people involved in a range of co-operatives, occupations and collectives.

As has happened for the last two years, Solidarity Books and Cork WSM hosted an event on the 8^th of March to celebrate International Women's Day. This year, Cork WSM members and other activists got together to put on an evening of food, film and discussion in the city's premier radical bookshop and meeting space. Meals were prepared on site and served by Veg Out! and Lentil Disorder, and was enjoyed by a multitude of women and men from the Cork activist scene and beyond. The food fuelled an hour or more of convivial chat, as people reminisced over previous celebrations and cast an eye over feminist-themed displays in various places about the shop space.

The work of the WSM is often limited by the resources available to us, both in terms of finance and labour. And although our members bring a wide range of knowledge and experience into the organisation for collective discussion there are also wide areas where we have much less knowledge and experience than we would want. The solution to this would be to have more members, and we are always seeking to get new people to join.

But we recognize that the time & financial commitments of WSM membership are not for everyone. And that some people who broadly agree with a lot of our work have significant differences with us in particular areas that would stop them joining. So we offer a Supporter Status for people who broadly like what we are doing but who for one reason or another can't commit to membership.