Workers Solidarity Movement

The major development for the WSM of late has been the establishment of a Galway branch, which is now up and running and meeting fortnightly in the city. We have had contacts with various anarchists in the city for a number of years and are delighted to now have a core of people in Galway campaigning and promoting anarchism in the West.

As the new government backtracks on their election promises in record time (no surprises there), the problems facing workers, the unemployed and students continue to mount. While the visit of Queen Elizabeth may be seen as a distraction from these more important issues, the WSM nevertheless attended protests against her visit, including the banquet in Dublin castle, whose attendees epitomised the privileged minority who hold the power and wealth in this country. As detailed elsewhere, we mobilised in both Dublin and Cork against the visit. Check out http://www.wsm.ie/c/cork-protests-british-queens for a more in-depth look at events in the south.

This position paper was modified October 2014 - read the current version at http://www.wsm.ie/c/wsm-membership-engagement-policy

This position paper outlines the two forms of WSM membership and how we engage with people interested in the WSM

Over the last few years, the Workers Solidarity Movement, the anarchist organisation that publishes this magazine, has grown considerably. We went from being an organisation with only a dozen members or so, to an organisation six times that size. As part of that growth we have had to reassess our internal workings and devise a range of new processes and structures for communicating, coordinating and democratic decision making. This article describes this process of change. It is hoped that it may serve as a useful case-study for other groups facing similar problems and as a small demonstration of the how anarchist organisational principles can be applied in practice.

The government has inflicted growing hardship upon workers and communities across the country, spreading the ethos that we should all commit to sharing the pain. This has been perpetuated by mainstream media, as “sharing the pain” has been portrayed, as the only way out of this crisis.

In October, Anti-Fascist Action successfully prevented a large European neo-nazi gig from going ahead in Kerry. Dozens of Slovakian, Polish and Czech neo-nazis were planning to spend a long weekend in Ireland to celebrate the birthday of a leading fascist living in Dublin who’s originally from Prague. AFA managed to stop the gig from taking place and even had the pleasure of bumping into a few of the Blood & Honour fascists in Dublin.

We carried out an anti-Lisbon campaign involving the distribution of 15,000 copies of a special edition of Workers Solidarity and putting up posters advocating a no-vote. Our activity was designed to begin a discussion about the sort of Ireland and Europe people would like to live in, and was centred on the needs of working people. The vote may have been lost but several thousand people got to hear about the anarchist alternative.

The Workers Solidarity Movement is twenty-five years old this autumn. A quarter of a century ago anarchists in Ireland came together to establish an organisation to promote and fight for our ideas.

On Friday 31st July workers at Thomas Cook occupied the shop on Grafton street. Management got a court injunction against the occupation and on Monday morning a huge force of Gardai sealed off the area, smashed their way into the shop and arrested the 28 workers inside.

A conversation with WSM member Davy Carlin, from his early childhood growing up in the Ballymurphy housing estate in the midst of an ‘Irish War’ to community politics. Davy also reflects on his involvement in struggles to date from anti-racism, workplace organising and organisations from the Socialist Workers Party to Organise! Finally, we touch upon the politics of anarchism and his hope for the future.