Upcoming Events

National | Anti-Capitalism

no events match your query!

New Events

National

no events posted in last week

Blog Feeds

The Saker
A bird's eye view of the vineyard

offsite link Alternative Copy of thesaker.is site is available Thu May 25, 2023 14:38 | Ice-Saker-V6bKu3nz
Alternative site: https://thesaker.si/saker-a... Site was created using the downloads provided Regards Herb

offsite link The Saker blog is now frozen Tue Feb 28, 2023 23:55 | The Saker
Dear friends As I have previously announced, we are now “freezing” the blog.? We are also making archives of the blog available for free download in various formats (see below).?

offsite link What do you make of the Russia and China Partnership? Tue Feb 28, 2023 16:26 | The Saker
by Mr. Allen for the Saker blog Over the last few years, we hear leaders from both Russia and China pronouncing that they have formed a relationship where there are

offsite link Moveable Feast Cafe 2023/02/27 ? Open Thread Mon Feb 27, 2023 19:00 | cafe-uploader
2023/02/27 19:00:02Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of

offsite link The stage is set for Hybrid World War III Mon Feb 27, 2023 15:50 | The Saker
Pepe Escobar for the Saker blog A powerful feeling rhythms your skin and drums up your soul as you?re immersed in a long walk under persistent snow flurries, pinpointed by

The Saker >>

Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony

offsite link Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony

offsite link Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

offsite link RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

offsite link Waiting for SIPO Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Human Rights in Ireland
Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link J.K. Rowling Leads Backlash Against Sturgeon for Claiming There Was No Public Opposition to Gender S... Tue Dec 24, 2024 11:23 | Will Jones
J.K. Rowling has led a feminist backlash against?Nicola Sturgeon?after she was accused of ?rewriting history? over the gender self-ID law controversy by claiming there was no public opposition until "forces muscled in".
The post J.K. Rowling Leads Backlash Against Sturgeon for Claiming There Was No Public Opposition to Gender Self-ID Until “Forces Muscled In” appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Science Shock: CO2 is Good for the Planet, Peer-Reviewed Studies Suggest Tue Dec 24, 2024 09:00 | Chris Morrison
Dramatic evidence has been published in a number of recent science papers that CO2 levels are already?'saturated', meaning little or no further warming is to be expected and rising CO2 levels are all beneficial.
The post Science Shock: CO2 is Good for the Planet, Peer-Reviewed Studies Suggest appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Whoever Rules Britain Is Going to Be Unpopular Tue Dec 24, 2024 07:00 | Noah Carl
It isn't so much that the Tories are getting more popular as that Labour is getting less so. Which illustrates a more general predicament for the Tories and any other party that might have aspirations to government.
The post Whoever Rules Britain Is Going to Be Unpopular appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link News Round-Up Tue Dec 24, 2024 00:40 | Richard Eldred
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Can Science Tell Us the Meaning of Life? Mon Dec 23, 2024 19:54 | Dr David Bell
At Christmas time, Dr David Bell reflects on what has true value in this world, the limits of science to tell us what that is and what a baby in a manger might have to say about it.
The post Can Science Tell Us the Meaning of Life? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

The Great Forest Robbery

category national | anti-capitalism | news report author Monday November 29, 2010 22:16author by John Report this post to the editors

Bertie Ahern and Coillte

Bertie Ahern in corporate takeover of Ireland’s Woodlands?
Reclaim our natural Resources
Time for a new Land League?

This is a short briefing regarding the ongoing privatisation of Coillte. It needs to be considered in conjunction with the theft of our other resources, including but not limited to oil and gas, water, minerals, fish, seeds and various utilities. I have done as much research into it as I am able for the time being. I hope others will be able to take up the baton and go deeper with a view to developing strategies to counter this. Please pass it this info on to relevant people.


The situation
According to information received from the Woodland League, from a trawl of Politics.ie as well as from private conversations over the last few weeks, a company by the name of International Forestry Fund, in a joint venture with Helvetia Wealth AG of Switzerland and IFS Asset Managers Ltd have put in a bid to purchase Coillte the Irish forestry body that currently holds a land area in this country approaching 1.5million acres.

For further research and sources
http://www.woodlandleague.org/ - restoring the relationship between people and their native woodlands.
Big respect to them for all the work they have done on this topic

http://www.coillte.ie

http://www.forestry-fund.com/ - A British Virgin Islands registered company established in March 2009 as a joint venture between IFS asset managers Ltd of Ireland and Helvetia Wealth AG of Switzerland. () In Jan 2010 one Bertie Ahern was appointed chair of IFF
Dublin address; 43 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin 2

IFS Assets; http://www.ifsam.ie
Helvetia Wealth AG; http://www.helvetia-wealth.com

http://www.politics.ie/current-affairs/119772-bertie-be...3.htm

I have not seen direct proof of this bid but anyone who knows anything of the giveaway of our oil and gas resources during Bertie’s tenure will not need this spelled out to them.

It should be noted that when Bertie was minister of Finance in 1993 with 99 shares in Coillte he oversaw the establishment of Irish Forest Unit Trusts (IFUT), a pension scheme set up jointly with Allied Irish Banks and Irish Life. Minimum investment in this fund was e100’000 and it was set up using £33million worth of state land. A community in South Galway were recently shocked to discover their local woodland of Chevy Chase being clear felled as part of this enterprise.
Attention should also be paid to the recommendations of the McCarthy Report last year that Coillte should be privatised.

“Consistent with the reduction in available Exchequer resources, the Group puts forward a range of
reductions in administrative costs and increased flexibility and recommends that D/AF&F should
conduct a review with a view to reducing administrative costs. In particular, we see significant
scope for the outsourcing of payment processing activities.
In addition, the Group has suggested exploring the following avenues which could provide once off
receipts for the Exchequer:
• dispose of non-essential land/property holdings owned by the State Agencies;
• sell surplus Teagasc assets; and
• review the operations of Coillte with a view to realising optimal return through
rationalisation, asset disposal and, possibly, privatisation.”

Coillte has form when it comes to disposing of this country’s forest assets.

Implications
If Coillte falls into private hands we will have even less control over a large chunk (an area approximately equivalent to 2 county Meaths) of this country’s land mass than we do already. The lofty sounding vision statement of IFF notwithstanding we may see the planting of GM trees, we may lose access to this land for walking, camping, firewood collection, fishing, water supply and other purposes.
This has huge implications for our access to water. If we lose access to that land we also lose access to a large part of our water catchment, purification and supply system which leaves us in a very vulnerable position.
The arrival of the IMF to these shores means that the stripping of this country’s assets and resources is being accelerated. We need these resources to continue living here. We also have a duty of care towards them and towards future generations that will have need of them.

Responses
People need to know about this. Please forward this info. Leaflets?
The scale of the problem demands a collective response.
The effective husbanding of resources is best left in the hands of those who use them and live locally.
This becomes a survival issue if factors like climate change and fossil fuel depletion come into play.
In the event of transport and supply interruptions we will be dependent on these local resources so we have a huge vested interest in ensuring our continued access to them.
If they are in the possession of vast corporations who are making us pay for what we have a right to, we have a problem. This threat needs to be removed.

Communities and individuals need to begin assessing the resources in their areas, examine their levels of dependence on them and be vigilant for any threats to them. This could be a key step in reversing the process of dispossession that history has wrought on us.
Is it time for a new Land League?

Related Link: http://www.woodlandleague.org
author by old codger - pensionerpublication date Tue Nov 30, 2010 15:16author address author phone Report this post to the editors

This was a nice little piece of long term planning by Bertie the traitor, he and his cronies are sittng back and waiting to plunder what is left of Irelands resources. When these criminals are kicked out of office it must be a top priority for the new government to put a stop to all Fianna Fail scams and schemes.
The whole system needs to be cleansed of their evil. Maybe Vincent Browne might be interested in highlighting this, if you informed him of the details. Our useless media should be constantly hounded to inform the public of this.

author by Santapublication date Tue Nov 30, 2010 23:21author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Does this mean that when people go to the hills to pinch christmas trees they'll in fact be pinching them from a foreign consortium? Remember the times when land leaguers used to hunt pigeon and rabbits on the landlords estates. Aux barricades!

author by Keltoriapublication date Wed Dec 01, 2010 19:17author email keltoria at keltoria dot comauthor address author phone Report this post to the editors

This story is very alarming. On the face of it this will be sold by the politicans as a kind of "privatisation" that will bring in some much needed money or save some money or whatever. But the truth of selling off an area of Ireland the size of 2 Co. meaths puts a whole different slant on this. I'll suppport any moves to stop this from happening.

author by Con Connor - Ireland's Druidschoolpublication date Wed Dec 01, 2010 20:25author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Good man John, respect to you for your bravery in exposing the corruption of our politicians.

What crimes against the Irish people are to be considered as TREASON? Bertie selling off Coillte? Burke Corrib gas giveaway? Cowen gifting the banks? Dempsey destroying Tara Valley? Harney closing hospitals? Media complicity? Judicial blind eye? Garda beating peaceful protestors? Allowing US warplanes to land at Shannon? Allowing US nuclear warship to dock at Castletownbearhaven? Or is it Opus Dei Lismuillin HQ at Tara controling it all and being kept invisible??? Answers please on a postcard to Joe Duffy Opus Dei member..... or maybe try Pat landgrabber Kenny...

The politicians are meant to serve the people instead they serve corporate imperialism = this is called TREASON

Related Link: http://www.druidschool.com/site/1030100/page/928971
author by Johnpublication date Thu Dec 02, 2010 23:43author address author phone Report this post to the editors

International Forest Fund have not put in a bid for Coillte that I'm aware of, rather they have expressed an interest in acquiring them should they be placed on the market.

The amount of forestlands given to IFORUT ( Irish Forest Unit Trust ) was 15million punts worth to start them off, this gave them an asset base.

Coillte have sold 33 million euros worth of forest to IFORUT in 2009 which was reported in Coillte's accounts.

Getting a good response to this. We plan to bring out a leaflet shortly.

 
© 2001-2024 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy