August 2012

Sean Quinn - Cowboy turns desperado - A Western in four parts

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We don’t know a lot about the personal life of this son of a small farmer.  He was the richest man in Ireland in 2008 with an estimated wealth of €4.7billion and now he is only out of jail because the Judge wants him to help the Irish Resolution Banking Corporation (IRBC) recover some of the €2.8 billion that he owes them.  You may never have heard of IRBC but you will know of it’s previous alias: Anglo Irish Bank,winner of the dodgiest bank award in a state where there is stiff competition for that prize.   His son is in prison, (plush Training Unit in Mountjoy) serving a sentence for what the Judge called ‘outrageous’ contempt of court as he sought to put money/assets beyond the reach of the bank.  His nephew Peter is supposed to be there for the same reason but has gone missing.  All we know about Sean – the daddy of the empire is that he’s big into the GAA and he likes to play poker for a few quid with his friends. Along with his love of poker, I would guess that Sean senior fancies the odd western.

 

Shell finally get their TBM out of the bog after week of resistance

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On Monday we provided the first report & video of the secret Shell convoy that had left Dublin port with a massive police escourt late Sunday night. This turned out to be the start of a week of frantic activity as the Convoy was tracked across the country and then subject to repeated blockades as it neared Erris.  Whether because of this pressure or not on near its final destination the convoy missed a key turn with the main truck and its load of 160 tons jacknifing on a tight turn and starting to slide into the roadside bog.  With a massive mobilisation of Garda and private security Shell finally dragged out the truck Friday. The report that follows gives an account of the final day, you will find moment by moment reports of the rest of the resistance during the week on the WSM Facebook page and WSM Twitter.

Fighting Austerity: Amber Women’s Refuge, Kilkenny.

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The Amber Women’s Refuge in Kilkenny was set up to support women facing domestic violence.  Although the Centre has never been as busy it is now facing massive cuts.  The workers at the Centre are fighting to save the service.  Earlier this week the workers, members of SIPTU, placed a daily two-hour picket at the Centre to highlight the situation they are facing.  They are looking for support.  Following the intervention of the Labour Relations Court, talks have taken place between the workers and management.  Although daily pickets have been suspended pending the outcome of these talks, the fight for the Centre is still very much on.  In this interview Claire O’Neill talks about what has happened and the background to the dispute.

Report on Cork Pride 2012

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For the third year in succession the Cork branch of the Workers Solidarity Movement participated in the Cork Pride Parade. Anarchists have been involved in Pride organising in Cork since its beginnings in the mid-noughties and have long seen Pride as both an important civic festival and an opportunity to connect with Cork's burgeoning LGBT community. Cork WSM also distributed a leaflet on Pride and its politics at the parade (see below). The parade was the culmination of a week of hectic activity and celebration by Cork's LGBT community across a number of venues and across a range of activities.

Interview with striking bus worker in Belfast

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In April this year over 100 bus drivers took successful wildcat action bringing Belfast city centre to a standstill in solidarity with a work colleague who was wrongly suspended by management without using the proper procedures.  Independent Workers Union and WSM member Sean Matthews speaks to one anonymous driver from Translink about the action taken, wider working conditions and the possibility of solidarity and

Belfast: Just Learning presents 'Marx in Soho' & 'Fever' in the Peoples Bank

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Marx in Soho, written in 1999 by historian Howard Zinn and author of the ‘Peoples History of the United States’, is presented by the Just Books Collective and is a one-man play on the life of Karl Marx.  Zinn stated that he wrote the play to "show Marx as few people knew him, as a family man, struggling to support his wife and children." The play depicts Marx resurrected to defend the ideals of communism from the dehumanized version of it practiced in the former Soviet Union and to defend humanity from capitalism.

Unemployment rises as Stormont politicians squabble over new road signs

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Northern Ireland unemployment figures rise again as our local sectarian politicians engage in petty point-scoring over the latest hot potato that dominates the political discourse. Latest figures have revealed that the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in July was 63,200, an increase of 400 with this figure being the second highest among the 12 UK regions. The NI rate now stands at 7.6% with that figure rising again once you include the fact that over 20% of the population our classed as ‘economically in-active’- the highest in the UK.

The New Politics of Sinn Fein by Kevin Bean- From Insurgency to Identity - Review

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As someone who moved from Irish republican socialism to anarchism, Kevin Bean offers a convincing and fascinating insight into the journey and demise of radical republicanism in Ireland. It demolishes the ‘sell-out’ narrative promoted by some quarters of disaffected republicanism by diligently exploring the rapid transformation of the Provisional movement from a counter-insurgency to an active partner in governing the state it now eagerly upholds.

Delegation returns from International Anarchist Gathering at St Imier

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August saw a gathering of a couple of thousand anarchists from all over the globe in St Imier, Switzerland. This small town was the site of the founding of the Anarchist International in 1872, the gathering was organised to commemorate this event and involved dozens of political, organisational & cultural events.  As part of this gathering Anarkismo, the international network that the WSM is the Irish section of, held both a European conference and a global gathering.

Belfast rallies in solidarity with massacre against striking miners in South Africa

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Around 50 people attended a lunch time vigil today organised by the Belfast Trade and District Council. A range of political organisations and unions attended including the Independent Workers Union, the WSM and Organise!  During the rally one speaker from the council also referred to the police being workers too. This will provide little comfort to working people on the receiving end of state violence and terror.

The experience of the Social Solidarity Network



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The Social Solidarity Network came into existence in the Autumn of 2009 in Dublin as an initiative of the Workers Solidarity Movement. It faded out of existence a few short months later and never amounted to all that much in the interim beyond a couple of meetings, a leaflet distribution at a mass ICTU march and a badly organised and executed protest at the Dail on budget day. Nevertheless there are some useful lessons (mostly of the ‘how not to do it variety’) to be taken from its short existence.

Stormont Health Minister taking us for a ride over 'business flights' to US

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As the latest youth club in Belfast is threatened with closure, it is clear some of our local politicians and fat cats have never had it so good. The Irish News has revealed that DUP Health minister, bigot and creationist Edwin Poots and his advisors flew business-class to a five day healthcare conference in Boston. Earlier this year it was also uncovered that 400,000 had been spent on overseas training for 50 managers.

The Nightmare Life: Migrants tales from Greece

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Migrants detained on Samos island sleeping on top of each other

Racism is definitely not a "new fruit" in Greek society and not a unique phenomenon to this country. I have witnessed it with my own eyes as it manifested throughout the years I was living there so I can share with you a little knowledge of how it ripens.

In Greece being different is not a good thing, as you will suffer a lot if you are a minority! Your life will be a living hell, if you are a woman or find yourself in a minority like being a  lesbian, gay, gypsy, Pakistani, Albanian, Egyptian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Nigerian... In other words it will take a lot of effort to escape being discriminated against and that's without mentioning the people that are prepared to stand up for all these people, the likes of socialists, autonomists, anarchists, people that volunteer in NGO's or anyone that cherishes humanism/altruism. For people to fit in, in a land the locals like to call Hellas (and of the sun) to survive within it is to stay silent and live life in a comatose state.   

 

Paradoxes of Utopia - Anarchist culture and politics in Buenos Aires 1890-1910 - Review

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We have taken a good path. As we see it, the formation of social study circles and the establishment of libertarian schools are solid, protective bulwarks in our race toward emancipation.  They are the groundwork of the great revolution.’ - La Protesta Humana, January 7th, 1900

Carrick Hill residents in Belfast subjected to sectarian hatred from Loyalist parade

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There was little ‘our time, our place’ for residents of Carrick Hill on the edge of Belfast city centre recently as they were subjected to a sectarian and provocative Loyalist band parade with the approval of the PSNI along a route that has been relatively ‘peaceful’ and ‘non-contentious’ for years. Despite a parades commission ruling banning the Shankill Road band Young Conway Volunteers from playing outside St Patrick’s catholic church after this incident on the 12th July in which they were deliberately playing sectarian songs such as the Famine outside the church. (See video

Dub: Free Marian Price national march

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National Rally calling for the release of Marian Price at 2pm on Saturday the 15th of September. Assemble at the Garden of Remembrance on Parnell Square, Dublin 1, and march to the GPO. Speakers include Monsignor Raymond Murray, Thomas Pringle TD, Pauline Mellon from the Justice for Marian Campaign in Derry and Councillor Cieran Perry.