The 2005 Labour Party National Conference has today voted overwhelmingly in favour of the motion brought by the UCD Pat Upton Branch expressing solidarity with the Coca-Cola workers of both Colombia and of the Naas Rd, Dublin. The motion also asserted the Labour Party’s support for the international campaign called by SINALTRAINAL in 2003 in defence of the right to join a trade union.

The motion was passed by at least 80% of delegates and was an emergency addition to the agenda following the initial rejection by Standing Orders Committee of the UCD motion on Coke. The UCD Labour delegation met with the SOC on Friday evening and negotiated an acceptable motion, ensuring that this issue received the debate and support that it deserves. Despite an effort from some SIPTU delegates to have the motion referred back to the National Executive and not voted upon at Conference, rousing speeches from both UCD Labour Chair Enda Duffy and outgoing Secretary Paul Dillon ensured that the motion was resoundingly supported.

A letter supporting the motion from SINALTRAINAL was also circulated by members of the UCD delegation this morning outlining the reasons why it should be passed. The level of recognition which already existed among conference delegates with regard to the boycott campaign was notable, and is testament to the work done by Coke boycott activists nationwide.

Given SIPTU’s influence in the party and the size of their delegation, the approval of this motion is a great victory for the campaign and another step forward in ensuring that awareness about the human rights abuses in Colombia is raised at both a national and international level.

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Today (24th May) the ‘Quantified Risk Assessment’ (Q.R.A.) of Shell’s Rossport pipeline has finally been released. This was sought by campaigners through Dail Questions (from Deputies Ferris, Higgins, and Cowley) and Freedom of Information Act requests (including one by local T.D. Michael Ring). However this is only a new version of the Q.R.A. Versions A,B,C,D and E will not be released, nor will the research documentation which forms the basis of the Q.R.A.

Earlier, in Shell’s case to bring injunctions against Rossport residents and owners of the land upon which their pipeline will go, the President of the High Court described it as “inconceivable” that the Q.R.A.s would not be before the court. This was in reference to the earlier versions.

Meanwhile a review into the safety of the project, commissioned by Minister Noel Dempsey in the middle of March this year, has been revealed to have been carried out by a company, British Pipeline Agency LTD, established in 1969 as a joint venture between British Petroleum and Shell. So effectively Dempsey’s “review” was another tax payer subsidy to Shell!

In related news the Irish Times of Friday May 20th reports that the High Court judge Fidelma Macken has been nominated to the Supreme Court. Macken’s decision on the application for a judicial review of Shell’s development made by Martin Harrington will be made and announced by the middle of June.

While on the ground Shell have re-started, they say, transiting removed peat from the refinery site at Ballinaboy to the bog storage place at Srahmore. This process had been halted due to accidents, the trucks started to roll again on Tuesday the 17th.

Giuliano Giuliani is a leading Italian Trade Unionist whose son Carlo was murdered by the Italian Police during the July 2001 protests in Genoa against the G8 Summit. Since Genoa, Giuliano and his wife Haidi have become stalwarts of the international anti-globalisation movement, speaking at countless events and protests as well as campaigning for justice for their son. He will speak at a public meeting organized by G8 Mobilise on Thursday 26th May in Dublin.

Four years on from Carlo's murder, do you feel any closer to achieving justice for him?

It is very difficult after waiting for four years to even think about achieving justice. But we are doing everything possible to ensure that the truth be acknowledged. Carlo was killed while he was trying to defend the others and himself from being shot at by the police. Carlo tried to resist: this is the truth. Along with this truth, we also want to find out the exact chain of command on those days, and we want someone to take political responsibility for Carlo's murder. This is absolutely necessary for our country, for democracy, and in particular for all the other young people who are looking for a better world.

How have the police behaved during the investigation?

Terribly, no investigation has really been carried out, not even into the most disgraceful and violent behaviour of the police. After he was hit by a bullet, Carlo was kicked while he was lying on the ground and then one policeman broke his forehead with a stone. This is the behaviour of Nazis. So was what they did at the Diaz school or at the Bolzaneto barracks or in the streets: torture, extremely violent beatings, both physical and mental. These facts are unworthy of a civilized society and they cannot remain unpunished. Instead they are trying to cover, to hide and to mix up everything. Some Judges are also not doing their jobs, because dismissing a case, like Carlo's murder, contributes to the truth being hidden.

From the newswire:

"I hope things will come around and that at the end of the day we will manage to save An Post from privatisation. You don't want to think the opposite, because it is your job. But the truth is that all the signs, everything is pointing the other way around."

Over the last year or so, the working conditions of staff in An Post have been the subject of cutbacks and attacks by its management and ultimately the government. This includes shutting the SDS Courier service, withholding pay-rises, and understaffing many sorting offices. The strategy is to undermine workers' morale and thereby to facilitate either privatisation or simply to weaken An Post in order to benefit private competitors. Kevin Doyle interviews a postal worker in Cork to find out the mood on the shop floor.

No Alternative But Legal Action By Vincent Salafia ''The M3 will pass within 1,200 metres of the top of the Hill of Tara. A 52 acre interchange will be clearly visible from the Hill, and over 40 individual archaeological sites within the valley between Tara and sister hill Skryne will be systematically demolished by archaeologists using mechanical diggers. Then the bulldozers will finish the job. Campaigners are now left with no alternative but to support a legal action that will seek a High Court injunction and judicial review of the Minister's decision.''

The Road to Hell
by Dr. Muireann Ni Bhrolchain
Spokesperson for
The Save Tara/Skryne Valley Campaign

The decision of the Minister of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to give consent to "a programme of archeological works" to proceed "at sites along a section of the proposed M3 motorway" will ensure that for this government the M3 will be the road to hell. This is the worst planning decision that has ever been taken by an Irish government. We will be the laughing stock of Europe and the World. The Minister had the power to protect the monuments in the path of the motorway - instead he has chosen to destroy. To destroy the heart of our premiere sacred, ancient capital. The Minister and the Taoiseach will become the 'Terminators of Tara' if this road goes ahead.

A statement on behalf of Edel Bhreathnach, Joe Fenwick and Conor Newman who have worked on the archaeology, history and literature of Tara since 1991 says: "Today is not only a dark day for Tara, but a dark day for Irish culture". It goes on to say: "This is a shameful decision that will have repercussions far and wide."

Despite warnings from all the experts, the advice given by the Halcrow Barry Route Selection Report and by archaeological companies employed to give the NRA advice the Minister has chosen to plough ahead with this horrific desecration of Ireland's premier sacred site. The Taoiseach and Minister Roche met with myself on April 27th and again I emphasised to them how unadvisable this route was. The new CEO for the NRA met with Edel Bhreathnach and Conor Newman over the past week but again all our arguments fell on deaf ears.

This is but one battle in the war to protect our heritage. The excavations alone could take years and will be an unnecessary expense. But the next step is to take the case to the European Parliament, to go court in Ireland and to the European Court if necessary. The protests will now be escalated far beyond the polite noises that have been made heretofore. We cannot continue to allow this Government to ride roughshod over our cultural heritage.