Indo Piles On The Mayday Hysteria With A Subtle Headline

by Nighthawk Sat Mar 27, 2004 05:08

But of course.
What would you expect of the 'newspaper' of William Martin Murphy? That rag always slants things in favour of the employers. It is just part of the system of control.
We should definitely consider picketing the rag.
Perhaps it is time the NUJ was prepared to take a stand on this issue. Are there any journalists out there who still have any remaining shreds of integrity?

by memory Sat Mar 27, 2004 12:53

this newspaper stopped starving children from being brought to safety, accompanied by clergy they campaigned against the poorest children aside from Naples on this continent being brought to relatives in England and Wales.
This newspaper did this to break a strike, the clergy did this to save souls.
in 1916, many dubliners commented on how for the first time, the poorest of the slums had shoes on their feet, because the rebellion allowed looting.

Most of those children have now passed on, they grew up lived their lives, made their choices, and many of them forgot the first time they had shoes.

in the 21st century, this newspaper and all those who work for it, have played thier part in the disemination of lies, vanity, mortgage, pride, advertising, and all in two formats.

They took kudos from the death of one of their journalists, yet never offered her enough space to do her valued work.

Someone today takes pride in the article written predicting with whatever gift of prophecy such hollywood addled imagination may muster, what may be for May day.

It is a puzzle, is it not?
too much nostradamus and horoscopes and forecasts and not enough _-_-_-

by ec Sat Mar 27, 2004 16:30

Riot troops drafted in to put down EU protesters
Saturday March 27th 2004

FIVE hundred troops are being given special riot training in preparation for the massive security operation for the May Day events to highlight Ireland's EU presidency.

Senior Garda and Army officers were last night finalising the detailed blueprint aimed at curbing violence being planned by international and homegrown agitators.

It will be the biggest joint operation to maintain law and order in more than a decade.

All garda leave and rest days have been cancelled and more than 4,000 members of the force will be on duty to police the celebrations over the May weekend.

International police forces are supplying vital intelligence to Garda headquarters in the Phoenix Park on the movements of known anarchists and troublemakers who are expected to travel to Dublin to cause mayhem on the streets.

The wide range of events to mark the official enlargement of the EU has put extra pressure on security resources available.

But last night senior officers were satisfied that their blueprint could cope with large-scale protests and provide protection for the influx of EU leaders. Gardai have already trained 1,200 personnel in public order duties with one unit assigned to each region and most of these will be deployed over the flashpoint weekend.

The soldiers, drawn from barracks across the country, are being specially trained at the Garda College in Templemore and at the Curragh.

The troops will be given specific roles in providing protection against the demonstrators expected to converge on Dublin from all over the country and other EU states, rather than merely acting as back-up for the gardai.

They have been supplied with new riot gear similar to the equipment currently being used by gardai.

Army engineers have been placed on stand-by at the request of the gardai and may be asked to erect fencing at Farmleigh where the EU leaders will meet and at other key venues likely to be targeted for protests.

Gardai, meanwhile, are examining the range of equipment available to them to deal with widespread street disturbances. Water cannons will be available in the event of major trouble.

The financial cost of the Garda operation has not yet been totted up but will be met partly from a special budget of €7.5m provided in the current estimates for the Department of Justice for overtime to cope with the extra duties arising from the EU presidency.

For the past seven weeks a network of Irish street activists has been preparing protests to mar the May celebrations.

Many of the organisers of the protests were involved in the May Day clashes which resulted in violence on Dublin streets in 2002 and in last year's anti-war confrontations with gardai in Shannon and in the capital.

They are planning a series of measures from Friday, April 30 to Monday, May 3 to "focus on symbols of all that is wrong with the EU, militarism, neo-liberalism, fortress Europe and the EU police state".

The organisers have pledged that the EU leaders will "face resistance" and said it was intended to highlight local issues and campaigns linked to the broader problems of corporate globalisation and the EU.

Tom Brady
Security Editor

by ec Sat Mar 27, 2004 16:35

There were no clashes at the RTS you mention besides the clash of police batons off the heads of young people and bystanders.

If there were we would know all about it don't you think considering the massive bad publicity the gardai enjoyed in the aftermath.

Of course you know that but if you said it your manipulative Gardai/DoJ Contacts might dry up and your editors might fire you.

by steve Sat Mar 27, 2004 16:49

I think we have possibly some of the most tame protests/protestors in the world. What I remember from the last RTS when the guards beat the crap out of people was a lot of confusion but little violence on the side of the protestors. (there was also confusion on the part of the guards who werent beating people)

I suspect this 'training' makes it difficult for inexperienced guards to properly address the situation and they go full steam ahead regardless of what is in front of them.

by pc Sat Mar 27, 2004 17:11

?

by ec Sat Mar 27, 2004 18:31

Better safe than sorry

MAY DAY this year will be special. Ireland, already enjoying a successful tenure in the European Union presidency, will mount a joyful celebration to mark the accession to the EU of 10 more countries. It should be a splendid weekend.

But our security forces will, alas, have other things than celebration on their minds. They are getting ready to guard against demonstrations that could turn nasty - and they do not know the likely size or the extent of the nastiness. It could range from a few broken windows, as in Thessaloniki, to full-scale riots, as in Genoa.

Five hundred soldiers are undergoing special anti-riot training. Army engineers are on standby. Over 4,000 Gardai will be on duty over the May weekend. In addition to their normal equipment, they will have extra tools such as water cannons if they need to use them.

Are precautions on a scale like this necessary? Must we risk spoiling the party for fear of disturbances and worse? Sadly, the answer to both questions is yes. Our many distinguished visitors must be protected. So must our own citizens.

The same citizens will wonder about the point of the protests, and may well conclude that no point exists. Demonstrations on major EU occasions tend to have opposition to globalisation as their theme. The protesters are mostly well-meaning people. But there is almost always a dangerous, ill-intentioned minority, and there is a separate terrorist threat.

The danger is massively compounded by the state of the world post 9-11, post-Iraq, post-Madrid. Until quite recently, obvious targets of violence were relatively few. Now every country is a potential target. Ireland will be conspicuously at risk in May and again during the visit of President George Bush in June.

Every country mounting special events is of course under equal threat. For example, during the European football championships Portugal will have a fleet of fighter jets on standby.

In our own case, the need is not only for the precautions taken by the security forces but for more public awareness. That does not mean alarm or a supine attitude. It means vigilance, and it may mean willingness to put up with some inconvenience.

But no country can withstand the threat on its own. The greatest need of all is for close international co-operation. If that results from the efforts of the Irish presidency, it will be as substantial an achievement as agreement on an EU constitution.

by Socialist Sat Mar 27, 2004 22:24

By giving into using the Indo front page we are giving into the capitalism/ oppression it represents.
Better judgement next time please.

by Idiot Watcher Sat Mar 27, 2004 23:01

You spoilt brat! You have no idea how lucky you are. The world doesn't owe you a living.

I dearly wish you could have spent a few years living under the tender mercies of Saddam. That might give you an idea of what opression is.

Yet it is spoilt decadent well-heeled brats like you who wanted to keep 20million Iraqis suffering real opression, murder rape and torture.

You little hypocrites make me sick.

by . Sat Mar 27, 2004 23:25

you 'big' cyber bully

by Phuq Hedd Sun Mar 28, 2004 00:37

Thessaloniki was possibly more violent than Genoa. The cops were bloody and violent and arrested several foreign nationals and tortured them after planting evidence upon them. The closest to home was a Brit (Simon Chapman) whom (it is quite clearly shown on TV footage) was framed by the cops. See the link at the very bottom of this post and also this story on indymedia.ie:
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=62188

Now go and do some research and back up your "opinions" with facts.

by the real irish independent Sun Mar 28, 2004 00:59

. . its editorial line, like the israeli cameramen described in the link, deals in the creation of facts on the ground . . . ask john bruton . . . he'll tell you what they're like. . .

by Phuq Hedd Sun Mar 28, 2004 01:20

indicated that the Gardai were receiving training from the PSNI. Can anyone confirm this? More importantly have the shower that scribble arrrrthickels for deh press (and that means you too Tom Brady) managed to find out whether or not the Gardai have been told that their job is to keep the peace and not hit anyone on the head unless they're being physically threatened?

Is investigative journalism dead and gone?
Is it with your conscience in the grave?
Did it squeak as your avarice tightened around its throat?

(Got to stop reading ipsiphi's posts. It has a bad effect on me.).

by Bill Sun Mar 28, 2004 03:13

Avoid the EU and the government thugs.

Write a very very short pamphlet explaining one or two issues, and deliver it to every maildrop, and post-board in the county.

by Dawn Patrol Sun Mar 28, 2004 08:50

I doubt if 'Socialist' is really a socialist. Unless he or she is of the more humourless type. Could be a spart.
Speaking of humour, I'm sure the use of that photo alongside that headline was probably coincidental, but it works well. I doubt if 'Socialist' would see the humour in it though.
On a less funny note, the editoral does a subtle job of associating the protestors with the threat from Al Quaeda. Typical indo b***shit.

by Deirdre Clancy Sun Mar 28, 2004 11:11

I must confess I don't understand the shock/horror tone around this headline. The Sindo is a rag and has been ever since I can remember. It was inevitable they'd target the protestors around mayday and the Bush visit. They have published worse stuff than this in the past. I came across a copy with an article by Brendan O'Connor on travellers again a few months ago, denying their separate ethnicity - in terms milder than his usual rants, but that was probably merely to avoid running into legal problems.

It's a paper that has stereotyped anyone to the left of Mussolini since the dawn of time (and worse, as someone pointed out above in relation to 1913). So, surprise, surprise, nothing has changed. It is still the the forum for disgruntled, right-wing wannabe 'serious' socio-political analysts it always was, along with the usual posse of wannabe media celebrities writing articles about themselves and their small circle of fellow social climbers.

The couple of token lefties they have in the paper don't make it worth buying. So let's buy the Tribune instead. Or read a book. 'Middlesex' by Jeffrey Eugenides is a good read, actually. Much more relaxing than getting worked up about the tabloid masquerading as a broadsheet that is the Sindo.

by John Sun Mar 28, 2004 12:06 dunaree2000 at yahoo dot com

The Sunday Independent and the Government got it quite correct. All you leftie/green pinkos WOULD try to wreck the Dublin summit if you could. Suppose there were no police or troops around in Dublin at all that day. Is it seriously believed that you lot would content yourselves walking up and down the street outside waving your silly little banners. Of course not! You'd be inside like a shot trying to wreck the summit. So, of course the Government is going to take steps to prevent you so doing. Do you think they are dumb, or what? Its just the same sort of preventative action that would be taken to stop footbal hooligans., to whom you lot have a striking ressemblance.

by Sunday Papers again Sun Mar 28, 2004 22:09

As well as the Independent, see the fawning love fest to Richard Boyd Barrett in the Sunday Tribune by Fiona Looney. It tries to give the impression that all SWP naysayers are just jealous of RBB's 'good looks'! (?!)

It also tells a twee tale about him being known as Richard 'Boy Band' in UCD because of such looks. That was in the days when boy bands weren't actually a phenomenon yet - there must have been a lot of psychics in UCD at the time.

by rashers tierney Mon Mar 29, 2004 00:20

... specially dedicated to Tony "Telecom" O'Reilly ... known to his friends as Sir Anthony ....

In Dublin city in 1913
The boss was boss and poor were slaves
The woman worked while the child went hungry
Then Larkin came like a towering wave.

The worker cringed when the bossman thundered
And seventy hours was his weekly chore
He asked for little and less was granted
Lest getting little he'd ask for more.

Then God sent Larkin, so dark and handsome
A mighty man with a powerful tongue
The voice of labour the voice of justice
And he was gifted and he was young.

Then God sent Larkin in 1913
A powerful man with a gifted tongue
He raised the worker and gave him courage
He was the hero the worker sung.

In the month of August the bossman told us
No union man for him could work
We stood by Larkin we told the bossman
To fight, to starve we would not shirk.

Eight months we faught and eight months we starved
We followed Larkin through thick and thin
But foodless homes and the crying children
They broke our hearts and we coild not win.

Then Larkin left us, we seemed defeated
The night was dark for us working men
But Connolly rose with new hope and counsel
He gave the slogan "We'll rise again!"

In Dublin Citry in 1916
The British army burnt down the town
They shelled the city they took the leaders
The harp was buried beneath the crown.

They shot MacDonagh and Pearse and Plunkett
They shot MacDermott and Clark the brave.
From bleak Kilmainham they took their bodies
To Arbor Hill to a quicklime grave.

But last of all our seven heroes
I'll sing the praise of James Connolly
The voice of labour, the voice of justice
Who gave his life that men might be free.

by T Mon Mar 29, 2004 02:17

These total fabrications about violent protests and so forth are just as much geared towards the members of the Garda who will be present as well as the public.

This is so that they are made to believe there are thousands of violent protestors intent on causing damage and they are there to stop it. Not only that it serves to get them all worked up and in a frenzy so that they are essentially on a trigger and ready to beat the crap out of anybody. And so they will have justified in advance anything that they would normally find morally wrong.

It is interesting that these scare stories started in the tabloids and worked themselves up into papers like they Indo. It is notable that the readership of both of these papers are the very classes in society (i.e working and middle classes) that are most affected by privatisation and worsening conditions of employment, job insecurity, the appalling state of our services and so forth. As privatisation takes hold in things, like waste, water, health, education, utilities etc, these are the people who will end up paying more, and these are the people who are that natural audience of what the anti-capitalists protestors have to say. The government does not want them to hear the arguments and analysis of the protestors and therefore need to drive a wedge between the two. Hence we have these scare stories. The idea is to criminalize the whole movement which is implied by these scare stories and the presence of the riot police and thousands of Garda at the protestors. The reflex reaction is then suppose to kick in, where people would then recoil from wanting to know anthing about 'these' people, let alone listen to what they have to say. And unfortunately it works beautifully for the various governments throughout the world everytime.

In the past year or two, I have been at many protests and have meant many of the people, and I have to say, I have not met a single person who I would consider even the slightest bit violent. Instead I have found that nearly all of them are well-informed people who happen to be very concerned about the plight of people, justice, and the horrendous state of the environment throughout the world. To compare them to violent thugs is absolutely scandalous. I have never seen such blatant and outright lies. And calling the loyalist group C18 anarchists is totally ridiculous. C18 are violent neo-nazi thugs. It's a blatant attempt to throw mud and make it stick. Anarchists and anarchism on the other hand are at the other end of the spectrum. They are against racism, wars, exploitation and are very much a grassroots democracy movement, which is at the core of Anarchism. People who don't know anything about anarchism should visit http://struggle.ws/wsm.html to find out.
A brief history of the negative conutations of anarchism are that there was quite a strong movement in the USA back in the 1920s and it worried the capitalists there that it might actually succeed and real grassroots true democracy break out, as opposed to the facade that exists. So a concerted campaign was launched to spin a negative image and it was in American dictionaries that they first started entering the violent definition of anarchy, by saying it means chaos and violence. Anarchism is all about organising society without hierarchical forms of power. In fact it is about preventing power from acculumating in any individual or group. Contrast this with the immense power at the disposal of governements and their leaders through the obedient army, police and various secret services and the immense amount of weapons and armanments available to them from riot gear all the way up to cluster bombs, daisycutter bombs and ultimately nuclear weapons.

I would strongly advise anyone who is new to this scene, having come straight from these tabloid articles, to do some reading for yourselves and find out about the many many issues and come along and see for yourselves.

A few good places to start might be (bookmark them too)
www.gatswatch.org
www.corpwatch.org
www.wtowatch.org
http://struggle.ws/wsm.html
www.stopthebintax.com
www.zmag.org/weluser.htm
www.medialens.org
www.fromthewilderness.com
www.gregpalast.com
www.democracynow.org
www.theecologist.org
www.fair.org

And that would only be the beginning. Don't expect soundbite sized answers. This whole area is not something, that can be dealth with it in 10 mins and then you continue on as normal. It takes time, but there is nothing less than your future at stake here.

by until it sleeps Mon Mar 29, 2004 03:49

How about : Evil Protesters plan Killer March of Death. Its a pity we don't have an Irish Mail. Their headlines are a riot.

by Joe Mon Mar 29, 2004 13:08

Worth pointing out that the Dublin Grassroots network had sent put a press release to the Indo and other the day before on the very subject of the scare stories being circulated by the police. This was not referred to but they did include a quote from a much older press release! Press release under latest news at http://struggle.ws/eufortress

by Tabloid reader Mon Mar 29, 2004 13:15

Yesterday's Star was at it as well. It had an expose of how their man had infiltrated the Wombles. Classic stuff.
Time for the I'm a Terrorist t-shirts.

by Socialist Mon Mar 29, 2004 18:04

While well meaning the article here is hopelessly naive.
By displaying the front page of a commercial "News" ( Lie ) paper we encourage those viewing these pages to purchase this liepaper to follow their delibarately anti-Marxist propaganda campaing.
In fact if we purchase goods at all it is serves to fruther our exploitation and increase the sound of pennies clinging in the coffers of the exploitative bourgeoise class.
Instead we should return to the idyllic and rightful natural state of primitive man/woman who grew his/her own crops, hunted for his/her own meat or fish and made his/her own clothes. The total elimination of all private property rights should be our goal before the equal distrubution among the world population begins by our activists.
While we wait and debate the environmental destruction of our planet by the global capitalist system continues destroying whole ecosystems. What our slave masters wish for us by environmental destruction is to ring fence us within the construct of "Western Civilisation".
What the demos and direct action against the forces of Capitalism will begin in Dublin on MAYDAY is the struggle to eliminate the war mongering global capitalist infrastructure.
The exploitation of the thrid world must be stopped NOW!
THE OCCUPATION OF IRAQ BY THE GLOBAL BUSH EMPIES ENDS RIGHT NOW WITH PEOPLE POWER!

by meee Mon Mar 29, 2004 18:06

Either a socialist robot (Marxabot?) or someone taking the piss, right?

by Phuq Hedd Mon Mar 29, 2004 18:56

Note the illogicallity, spelling problems and general idiocy. I'd wager a suspicion that it's our old friend up to his idiocy again.

by iosaf Mon Mar 29, 2004 19:13

on my way to work this morning on the news kiosk at avinguda de la Angel, in central BCN one of the few places this rag is offered for sale, I thought, oh...
riot police will be drafted to bring these scots to ground.
as we know (those who have worn the kilt) it gets drafty up there.

A sense of humour is seriously lacking amongst all of ye of both left and right.

by Acid Mon Mar 29, 2004 19:44

If they think an irish riot ( I cant even imagine it ) is big news, wait until they find out about the Intergalatic Death Ray thats being built in the attic!
Or the nuclear reactor in the basement!!

by R Isible Mon Mar 29, 2004 23:42

At least that's how I reacted Deirdre. I do find it amusing though that the Sindo claims that they report news when what they actually do is to make up stories like this one. I think they ought to be called publically on every set of distortions like this.

It's interesting to go back and look at the NUJ guidelines and then consider that the people putting their names to this stuff are members of the NUJ.

by ec Thu Apr 01, 2004 20:55

Mayhem alert for May Day
ADVERTISEMENT

1,000 troops stand by to strengthen security blanket

THE Government has given the go-ahead for a special detention centre to hold troublemakers and agitators arrested at the May Day events which will be held to highlight Ireland's EU presidency.

Several locations have already been examined by senior Garda and Army officers as the authorities finalise their plans for a massive security operation to maintain law and order.

A shortlist of likely sites include an existing jail, and a former military barracks in Dublin has been drawn up as part of the contingency plans to cope with an outbreak of violence involving international street protesters.

The likely military presence in the security operation has also been strengthened significantly. Apart from the 500 riot control troops, disclosed in last Saturday's Irish Independent, another detachment of at least 500 soldiers will be made available to the gardai to seal off key venues.

The main focus of the security blueprint being prepared by garda anti-terrorist officers is being placed on venues such as Dublin Castle, Aras an Uachtarain, Farmleigh and the United States Ambassador's residence in the Phoenix Park.

The cancellation of the concert in O'Connell Street has eased the planning headache, and the initial proposal to deploy more than 4,000 gardai over the four days is now expected to be scaled back.

"We will now require less personnel to cope with normal crowd control and traffic duties, and we can concentrate on public order tasks and dealing with known troublemakers," one officer revealed last night.

Special courts are also being organised to deal with lawbreakers if there is a spate of arrests over the May weekend.

Intelligence officers are seriously concerned that the cancellation of the May Day celebrations in London will result in an influx of British demonstrators targeting Dublin.

Officers have already been briefed that groups of known agitators here and overseas have been circulating details of protests from Friday, April 30 to Monday, May 3, and offering free accommodation in Dublin for the weekend.

Many of the organisers of the protests were involved in the May Day clashes that resulted in violence on Dublin streets in 2002 and in last year's anti-war confrontations with gardai in Shannon and in the capital.

But while the same ringleaders are expected to be at the forefront of the planning, the biggest fears are created by the reported targeting of Dublin by troublemakers who were prominent in street mayhem and rioting in Genoa and other flashpoints.

"The Dublin celebrations are very different to Genoa and have no globalisation connections but these people seem intent on causing trouble here," an anti-terrorist chief said last night.

Anti-riot weaponry available to the gardai will include water cannons and non-lethal weapons that were agreed and introduced by the authorities in the wake of the internal review of the tactics employed by the gardai during the Abbeylara siege.

Graffiti encouraging people to become involved in rioting during the May Day events has been appearing on street signs around Dublin in the past few days.

One target for the graffiti vandals was a sign that had been erected outside a North Strand constituency office for Fianna Fail local election candidate Nial Ring.

"This sign was up less than 16 hours when it was attacked by the vandals," Mr Ring said last night.

"I hope this is not an indication of what is in store for us on May Day," he added.

Personal protection for EU leaders who could be singled out by the protesters will be provided by Special Branch detectives and the emergency response unit.

Tom Brady
Security Editor

by Sorba Thu Apr 01, 2004 22:00

I'm glad the Irish government is taking thse steps to ensure you Kollij brats will have absolutely zero impact during these important events. The fact is you people are of no consequence, you have no support and no ideas. Smash capitalism and "replace it with something nicer". Is that it?

by smash authority Fri Apr 02, 2004 19:36

the bosses are on the run! they tried to prove that they are democratically elected and accepted by the people... But they failed!

Prague, Nice, Gothenburgh, Genoa, Brussels, Evian, Thessaloniki... wherever they go they are confronted by the people who refuse to bow their heads and accept the terror of the totalitarian capitalist democracy!

WE ARE WINNING!!! and they run back to their wealthy ratholes protected by thousands of armed guards!

THEY MAKE PLANS - WE MAKE HISTORY!
SMASH CAPITALISM!

by Boardstupid Sat Apr 03, 2004 18:54

I've just haerd that the Mayday Collective in the UK have cancelled their events this year. Anybody know why??

by go back to featuer - and look at bottom link Sat Apr 03, 2004 19:05

.

by Peter Ayfore Tue Apr 13, 2004 07:23

"Instead we should return to the idyllic and rightful natural state of primitive man/woman who grew his/her own crops" etc. What kind of idiotic claptrap is this? It might have been the natural state of humankind thousands of years ago but it is also the natural state of humans to develop as we have done over the centuries. If we had not then Socialist would not have the computer he/she used to make those daft comments.
It's typical of these wasters, they want us all to be equal as long as we are equal in poverty.

A friend of mine who witnessed a Socialist gathering in Dublin to celebrate the October Revolution said it was obvious that none of the people taking part had ever lived under the oppressive regime they were honouring.
She spoke from experience.

As for environmental destruction, former socialist countries have been among the worst offenders. Equal distrubution among the world population may be a fine ideal but it will never happen because it is another of part of human nature to be greedy.
I agree that the world is too unequal but the tried and failed socialist nonsense is obviously not the answer. Wake up to reality!

By the way, what are GLOBAL BUSH EMPIES?

by kahbsdfhgsa Wed May 19, 2004 17:12

where was it tried? "Communist" countries were not what most socialists would consider socialism at all, just like we wouldn't consider american "democracy" to be democratic at all. idiot

by Martin O'Rourke Sun Mar 20, 2005 13:15 mairtinoruairc at eircom dot net

It would appear that the spirit of William Martin Murphy is alive and well and his politicial bias still holds sway.