A political struggle in a European nation of less than three million, largely ignored by other socialists in Europe, has nevertheless come to the fore in the capitalist media repeatedly since the late 1960s. This has been largely as a result of the the Basque people’s struggle for socialism and independence from the Spanish and French states, a struggle led for decades by Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, the marxist armed organisation better known by its acronym, ETA. The organisation reawakened Basque national consciousness, has worked with others for the restoration of Euskara, the Basque language, organised Basque workers and faced the repression of the General Franco dictatorship in the Spanish state. Famously, in 1973 it assassinated the Prime Minister of the state, Admiral Carrero Blanco, Franco’s right-hand man, which hastened the fragmentation of the dictatorship and its passage to partial democracy.
read full story / add a comment

Once again we are being asked to vote on yet another EU treaty. This time it is the Fiscal Treaty otherwise known as the permanent austerity treaty. Most of the people of Europe are against this treaty and they are once again relying on us although as usual most of the governments of Europe are for the treaty because well they represent the people in power -the large banks, corporations and financial elite in general. As we know they call the shots these days in every country and it has got to the stage where "investors" will lend money to governments and charge a nice rate of interest too and in this way they get to decide how much they will allow governments to spend on luxuries for the middle class and poor like health, education, social welfare, pensions, water and sewage etc. And since the financial crisis they have come to the realization that none of this is neccesary. In fact the only arms of government really required are the police, army, courts and prisons.

Anyhow in this feature the folks from People's Association Watchdog have done a really good job in going through the Fiscal Treaty line by line and doing alot of other research and analysis to discover and explains what it really means. And don't forget if enough of us vote No, the government will be back to give us plenty of more chances to vote Yes, just like they did with the Nice Treaty and the Lisbon Treaty.

read full story / add a comment

Occupy Galway took part in a protest march over the weekend along with many other groups at the Labour Party conference held in NUIG Galway. Here are some photos from the event read full story / add a comment

For the past six months and longer once Libya had fallen to the NATO sponsored 'rebels', we have faced a continuous media onslaught about Syria with reports of protests, shootings, killings, attacks, bombing and so forth. The backdrop to the narrative is that this is part of the Arab Spring which started last year and it is a good thing overall. So many people are probably wondering what really has been happening, given that this is the same media that was cheer leading the Iraq war almost 10 years ago even though at least a million+ are now dead as a result. And yet somehow they want to imply that they are doing the right thing now. We should also recall that this is the same media that is promoting austerity and encouraging us to accept the blame for the mad years of the bubble and as a consequence we should pay up the €90 billion bailout and in the process see all the state services stripped to the bone. They are presenting the uncomplicated truth surely read full story / add a comment

“There was a big line of them" read full story / add a comment

Israeli Apartheid Week is an annual international series of events held across the globe. The aim is to educate people about the nature of Israeli apartheid against the Palestinian people and to build the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement locally and globally. Last year, IAW took place in over 60 cities across the globe and this year the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (http://www.ipsc.ie) is proud to again host a series of events in Ireland. read full story / add a comment

Leonard Peltier, a Native American activist was born in 1944 in North Dakota on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation. He is the 11th child of 13 children and from his early years suffered racism and brutal poverty at the hands of US government and its officials. read full story / add a comment

Today's occupation is happening at 66-67 Great Strand Street, Dublin 1. Come down and support the occupation - get involved in the debate during the day. Today one of NAMA’s properties in Dublin has been opened to the public. The building will host a series of talks and workshops engaging the public in the questions that surround debt, property speculation and asking how we can use NAMA buildings for social and community purposes.
read full story / add a comment

A Uachtaráin,

It is my assertion that the current government of the Irish Republic is attempting to initiate changes that will negatively impact the welfare of the people of Ireland.

An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny T.D. is seeking to circumvent the initiation of a referendum by seeking to have a ruling from the Attorney General which will deny the people of Ireland our constitutional right to self determination which is also a principle of international law.

I am hereby petitioning you with respect in your capacity as Uachtarán na hÉireann to invoke your powers under Article 27.5.1 to call a referendum on the ESM Treaty, a proposal I believe is of such national importance that the will of the people should be accordingly ascertained.

Article 15.4.1° The Oireachtas shall not enact any law which is in any respect repugnant to this Constitution or any provision thereof. read full story / add a comment

Belated merry xmas and happy new year to all our contributors and readers read full story / add a comment

The Irish government has been complicted in the murder of innocent people for almost a decade now via the wars of aggression in Afghanistan and Iraq. They are completely hypocritical when for so many years they condenmed the acts of murder in the North, but now not only remain slient about these mass murders in far off lands but actively support it through the apparatus of the state in the form of providing resources -Shannon Airport, policing to go with it and of course welcoming back in 2004 the war criminal Bush and more recently Obama. We are supposed to cheer when the US and NATO drop daisy-cutter 4,000 lb bombs or when drones fire missles and say oops! when innocent civilians get killed.

And to counter the propaganda spewed a few weeks ago about the so-called ending of the war in Iraq. It is not over. There are still troops there. And contary to statements at the time of only 64,000 killed as if that was just a few, the figure is well over one million people, as estimated by internationally peer reviewed Lancet study that was done twice to confirm the initial findings.

We are so immersed in the propaganda that we have all forgotten our true values and the difference between right and wrong. Fortunately there are a few individuals willing to stick by their convinctions.

Below we reproduce a handwritten communication we received from one of the members of the Peace Team that sabotaged a US troop transporter at Shannon warport last Tuesday morning, 20th December 2011. We have verified that this person participated in this action. read full story / add a comment

Barrister Leo Mulrooney to ex-Sgt James Gill: “Complete the now well-known phrase 'Give me your name and address or I'll...' “
Ex-Sgt James Gill : “I don't understand the question”
Barrister Leo Mulrooney:“Do you know what I'm referring to when I say those words”
Ex-Sgt James Gill: “No”
Leo Mulrooney: - “'Give me your name and address or ...' “
Judge Margaret Heneghan interrupts: “He said 'No', next question”

And so the lies of Corrib Gardaí continue in court !!!! read full story / add a comment

Friday 25th November saw over 5 hours of Shell's peat and stone haulage completely blocked by campaigners, and no arrests were made. First thing in the morning four campaigners had trucks blocked for over an hour and a half, and later on one person climbed on top of a peat truck outside Shell's Bellanaboy refinery, remaining there for 3 and a half hours stopping all haulage. read full story / add a comment

Fair Hotels is an initiative of hotel workers employed in Fair Hotels throughout Ireland and trade union representatives. Hotels listed on www.fairhotels.ie were invited to participate in the Fair Hotels campaign by their own staff and their staffs' representatives. Each of the hotels listed on www.fairhotels.ie has agreed to participate. Our objective is to support and promote quality employment in the hotel industry in Ireland. read full story / add a comment

The Occupy movement has grown steadily in the past 4 weeks in Ireland. It is part of the global Occupy movement. As to what it is about is best summed up by the OccupyGalway statement:

Occupy Galway is part of the international movement against austerity measures imposed on ordinary people around the world. We are all part of the 99% who, so far, have been subject to economic inequality and social injustice from the 1% who control the world's resources. We, the 99% demand:

1 - The removal of the IMF and ECB from all Irish financial affairs;
2 - That the national debt imposed on Irish people from the bank bailouts be lifted;
3 - The return of Irish resources (gas, oil, forestry) to the people of Ireland;
4 - Real particpatory democracy.

THIS IS NOT A RECESSION, IT'S A ROBBERY!!! read full story / add a comment

"it shall be for the house (Dail and Senate) to determine the appropriate balance between the rights of persons and the public interest..." Okay this is pretty basic - A referendum is needed every time a government wishes to change our constitution - this is because the constitution theoretically exists to protect people from the excesses of any government i.e. any elected government can only work within the confines of what the constitution sets out. This means the constitution belongs to the citizens (i.e. us) not the Government. Whatever government is in power has to get our permission to change it. Lots of things in our constitution are outdated and need to be changed BUT and it's a big BUT we should be really careful of letting it be changed for trivial issues. read full story / add a comment

NEW YORK TIMES: Updated, 3:35 a.m. Sunday | In a tense showdown above the East River, the police arrested more than 700 demonstrators from the Occupy Wall Street protests who took to the roadway as they tried to cross the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday afternoon. (After a 2 week corporate media blackout, #occupywallstreet direct action is now front page news) read full story / add a comment

On this 10th anniversary of 9/11 attacks there are many things to reflect on and in this article we are going to focus on the relationship between 9/11 and the political 'Left'. Today 10 years later, the public particularly in the US seems quite dividved as numerous polls show that a majority of US citizens don't accept the official story and a significant portion believe the government was involved in one form or another. The mainstream media though is still very much on page with the official version of events. The details of the topic itself are divisive and two clear camps have arisen with opposing views and very little common ground between. At this stage many people are simply tired of discussing it and wish to move on. This article does not intend to dwell on the mechanics of the event itself but examine the wider political effects. read full story / add a comment

The situation in Libya is not what it seems as reported by the mainstream press -the same press that has promoted all the previous wars with some lame excuse or another. The MSM media likes to teach the public to think only in black in white. So if you oppose NATO, you love Gadaffi. Actually it possible to see both as bad. But the long and short of it all is that it really all just amounts to a modern form of the Class War. Notice how our liberties in the West are disappearing along with the social gains achieved over the last century of labor struggles. The Libya things is mainly an oil grab. It is also because Gadaffi was not an obedient dictator and it is also because it had the highest standard of living in Africa and very generous welfare and last but not least it was not adhering to the NeoLiberal agenda and the free market. The same ideology that has ruined all our economies and is being used as the excuse to take away all our gains and make us worker far longer and for less.

So the purpose of this feature is to present the alternative and to provide some background analysis to what is going on and happened so far

read full story / add a comment

Over the past week at Giuseppe Conlon CW House in Harringey London, we have recieived calls of concern, and requests for explanations, following the rioting and looting over the weekend that started in our borough of Harringey and extended across London and then to regional towns in England.

read full story / add a comment