Over almost 4 years of operation Indymedia Ireland have evolved a set of working practices and processes for keeping this site running and making it live up to its goals as best we can. Until now most of these operating rules have been hidden away among mountains of posts on the newswire, or even hidden inside the heads of individual editors. At our recent meeting we discussed the following documents which formalise how we work. We hope that they will make it easier for new people to get involved and understand how we work.

These documents are scheduled to be fully discussed, amended and agreed at our next meeting on June 29th. In the meantime, we offer them up to our users for any constructive criticisms that they might have. This is in keeping with our philosophy of facilitating as many voices and opinions as possible in all discussions about policy. The last major document that we agreed, our editorial guidelines were initally discussed on this newswire article and some of the suggested amendments were finally incorporated into our current document.

We are on the verge of updating our software to the new Oscailt 3.0 version which should give us the technical capability of expanding indymedia Ireland in a number of new areas. We hope that local collectives can start in areas around the country, with their own newswires on the site. We also hope to provide space to new types of material. Although we might be technically capable of all these things, we are in need of as many people with ideas and enthusiasm as ever.

So why not think about getting involved in some of the work of indymedia Ireland? At this stage, you need almost no technical skills to provide useful assistance in running the site and if computers aren't your thing, there are a huge number of other ways in which you can help out in making Indymedia Ireland a real voice of the people. We have nothing to lose but our mental chains.

indystructure.gif 0.03 Mb printable PDF file of organisational structure chart 0.02 Mb

UPDATE: Thursday, Jun 9 2005: Locals Force Shell's Trucks to Back Down
excerpt A local resident was driving up a road, with no traffic mangement, at around 5.30pm today, and was obstructed by two large trucks carrying pipes to the Shell compound at Rossport. The resident was then told to reverse and make way for the trucks as the narrow roads cannot accomadate such traffic. He refused and was soon joined by 15 supporters.....read the full report (with photos)

Judge - Just because I thought it was right to give an injunction against the landowners doesn't mean I was right. A hearing will determine that.
Philbin - I want the Minister for the Marine for 2002 in court to testify whether he signed the original order or not.
Judge - You can do that at a hearing - not today.
Philbin - The plaintiff argued in seeking the injunction that the Facility was in the national interest. The government has thus facilitated a private company from getting a Compulsory Acquisition order for the company's own private gain. The Irish State will be buying this gas back from Shell at top dollar. How can this be in the national interest?
Judge - It might not be in the national interest. If they are wrong compensation will be paid. Isn't that what compensates everyone?
Philbin - Money can't fix safety.

Not so long ago on Indymedia Ireland - Maura Harrington, a local campaigner implored people to come down to the solidarity gathering in Rossport against the construction of a Shell pipeline through the area. She said that “once you see the area you will agree with us that it is not the place for a gas refinery and an unprecedented high pressure up stream pipeline." How right she was. Last weekend over two hundred people travelled to the back arse of Mayo to take part in a Reclaim The Beach celebration of resistance to Shell in the area and to attend workshops on Shell’s brutality in Nigeria, engage in walking tours of the area led by local campaigners and enter into a dialogue on how best to advance the campaign. (Reclaim the Beach Photo-Essay)

Continue reading at the 'Feature Continues" link below for an account of the recent High Court hearing on the Shell pipeline and an Indymedia interview with a couple of the local farmers who are campaigning against Shell's Plans.

On Saturday 11th June a Parade will take place in Dublin to protest the imminent introduction of a form of anti-social behavior order to Ireland. Rory Hearne who is involved in the campaign against the introduction of ASBOs here submitted this guide to what is at issue to Indymedia Ireland.

The controversial Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) and other amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill 2004 are due to go to the Cabinet for approval on June 7th and then through the Dail pretty soon afterwards.

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) recently highlighted why we should be concerned: “The ICCL is concerned that in the Criminal Justice Bill 2004, that there is a strong tendency to see solutions to crime in terms of increase of policing powers, creation of new offences…without the necessary evaluation of how powers are used…it is all too easy to advance “quick-fix” populist answers to crime, which lack any evidence base as to their effectiveness and in fact in time will contribute to an unjust system.”

ASBOs if introduced here could see a situation whereby normal activity becomes criminalised. Just look at some examples of ASBOS in Britain: A 13 year old was banned from using the word ‘grass’ , a 16 year old was banned from showing his tattoos, a profoundly deaf girl was served an order for spitting in public, an 87 year old was forbidden from being sarcastic to his neighbours, a football fan was banned from playing ball games in the street, a 17 year old was ordered not to enter or leave his home except by a back alley, a 21 year old was banned from wearing a woolly hat, baseball cap or hooded top, and an 18 year old was ordered not to meet with three or more other youths. He was later arrested for breaching this order because he entered a local youth club. (see www.nyci.ie)

There are several excellent programmes in Ireland which seek to deal with the underlying causes of anti-social behaviour but all are grossly underfunded and unable to achieve their potential. ASBOs, by seeking to punish and control such behaviour, will only increase the alienation of these young people and immerse them further into the criminal justice scene, for behaviour which in itself will not be criminal. It is a superficial response to a serious problem, a response which, although politically popular, is likely to make the problem worse, not better.

The Net Art Open is an ongoing uncurated exhibition of net art on Irish new media artsite Stunned.org. The exhibition is an open submission state-of-the-art showcase of Irish and International net art with a difference. All work submitted is accepted and rather then a traditional 'all work being simultaneously presented' the Net Art Open is blogged over the period of a year and delivered directly to the audience with RSS syndication.

Net Art is the newest art movement around, an art movement where the art is delivered directly from the artist to the public without the mediation of the art world. For artists it offers an opportunity to reach a global audience without art world institutional backing, to have that audience experience your work in the intimate space of the web browser and even more importantly to reach an audience who may never set foot in an art gallery.

There's no surprise then that in the last few years the net art scene has exploded with artists seizing the opportunity to take greater control over their own work, how that work is seen by their audience, and to escape the strictures placed on them by an art scene increasingly dominated by curators and 'gallerists'. Add to that increased access to computers, software tools ( thanks to the open source movement) and cheaper net access and the result has been a vibrant international net art scene with the physical limitations of gallery based art removed. Most importantly though net art offers the artist access to a much larger audience and a more direct relationship with that audience.

The problem, if indeed you can call this a problem, is that there is so much activity that even with the best will in the world it's hard to keep with all the new work being created online. Traditionally this has been done with community sites and mailing lists and these still play an important role in getting access to net art. However, as the net art world develops, curatorial models are becoming more important. While they have a role to play it is important to maintain the spirit that informed early net art and important to realise that curators tend to show only a snapshot of the net art scene that fits with their curatorial vision.

The Net Art Open was developed to fill this gap and to create a space which would show net art direct from the artists without any curatorial mediation. Originally conceived by Artie Doyle as part of the irishmuseumofmodernart.com project the concept was taken over by Stunned.org in 2004 and given a new format. The Net Art Open's central concept is that it is an open submission exhibition in which every submission (which meets the criteria of being net art) is accepted. In the latest edition the exhibition is rolled out one work at a time in blog format with each entry getting equal prominence. The exhibition is designed to make seeing new work as simple as possible so RSS feeds are published so the audience can incorporate the Net Art Open into their daily routine of checking their blogs and newsfeeds. A javascript feed is also available to facilitate easy integration of the exhibition into other websites.

Campaign Against the EU Constitution Press Statement

The decisive NON to the EU Constitution in the French referendum is the first step towards a new direction for Europe. The ordinary people of France have voted NON to the privatisation of public services, to the profit motive of the market dominating all aspects of life, and to further centralisation of decision-making in the hands of the EU elite. They have rejected a European Constitution that enshrines competition above solidarity - a Constitution that makes people in work compete for their jobs and wages against the unemployed and makes the poor compete against the very poor for scarce resources.

The French NON is a demand for a different Europe to the free-market politics of the EU Constitution - which would set in stone the same neo-liberal policies being imposed by the French government, and supported by many other European governments and the European Commission. This NON is a setback for neo-liberal politics throughout the EU. It is the first step towards an alternative direction for Europe, where the needs of ordinary people come first.

The leaders of other European countries and the European Commission must accept the French vote. There must be no campaign for a re-run of the French referendum and no anti-democratic back-room deals. The EU Constitution cannot now come into force and must be abandoned.

There should now begin a Europe-wide discussion on an alternative direction for Europe, with the NON campaign in France as its starting point. It should be public, open and inclusive - involving all parts of society and not based only upon the views of 'experts' or elected representatives.

The NON campaign in France has brought together a wide range of people - including public sector workers, the French radical Left, environmentalists, and those who seek an alternative to the global rule of the market - in a united movement against the politics of the EU Constitution. The movement in France is mirrored in other European countries, including Ireland. We look forward to the French movement continuing to campaign against neo-liberalism and militarism - and likewise the movement in other countries. For it is this movement that can begin to provide an alternative to the failed politics of the right and to the failed leaders of the traditional social-democratic parties.

Related Indymedia Ireland Stories
Non Merci, M. Chirac
Letter from Paris
Two False Statements on EU Constitution in Irish Times
Irish Times Letters Section Debate on Constitution