Grass Roots Gathering Belfast

national | miscellaneous | news report

Monday October 14, 2002 01:30

by darren - Grassroots Gathering

grassrootsbelfast at yahoo dot com

1-5, Donegal Lane, Belfast

00447759598798

The 3rd Grassroots Gathering: The third Grassroots Gathering takes place in Belfast from the 25th – 28th of October (A Bank Holiday weekend in the Republic). It’s happening at Giros. The Belfast GG kicks of with a ‘critical mass’ action on Friday the 25th meeting at City Hall at 5.30pm (so bring your bike if you can). Workshops & discussions will take place throughout Saturday & Sunday. There are planned around 20 workshops, on issues such as gender, direct action, Sellafield, Peoples Global Action, Media Activism, creating social spaces, European Social Consulta, Anti-war Actions. There will be entertainment throughout the weekend with films, games & music (Giros hosts Irelands only d.i.y. venue ‘the Centre’). Monday the 28th has been set-aside for Actions, which will be planned over the weekend.

The 3rd Grassroots Gathering:

The third Grassroots Gathering takes place in Belfast from the 25th – 28th of October (A Bank Holiday weekend in the Republic). It’s happening at Giros (also know as the BYCG & Warzone Centre) 1-5 Donegal Lane. (Check out the website on http://www.geocities.com/warzonecollective ).

If you don’t know about the Grassroots Gathering here’s some blurgh:
So far the grassroots gatherings have aimed towards creating a network, which would
- Be based on the principle that people should control their own lives and work together as equals, as part of how we work as well as what we are working towards.
- Within the network this means rejecting top-down and state-centred forms of organisation (hierarchical, authoritarian, expert-based, Leninist etc.). We need a network that's open, decentralised, and really democratic.
- Call for solutions that involve ordinary people controlling their own lives and having the resources to do so: the abolition, not reform, of global bodies like the World Bank and WTO, and a challenge to underlying structures of power and inequality.
- Organise for the control of the workplace by those who work there.
- Call for the control of communities by the people who live there.
- Argue for a sustainable environmental, economic and social system, agreed by the people of the planet.
- Working together in ways that are accessible to ordinary people, particularly women and working-class people, rather than reproducing feelings of disempowerment and alienation within our own network.

The 2 Previous GG’s have taken place in Dublin & Cork you can read reports & check out some pictures @ http://grassrootsgathering.freeservers.com/index.html

The Belfast GG kicks of with a ‘critical mass’ action on Friday the 25th meeting at City Hall at 5.30pm (so bring your bike if you can). Workshops & discussions will take place throughout Saturday & Sunday. There are planned around 20 workshops, on issues such as gender, direct action, Sellafield, Peoples Global Action, Media Activism, creating social spaces, European Social Consulta, Anti-war Actions. There will be entertainment throughout the weekend with films, games & music (Giros hosts Irelands only d.i.y. venue ‘the Centre’). Monday the 28th has been set-aside for Actions, which will be planned over the weekend.

Accommodation (crash space) is available, there will be kids activities, wholesome, tasty, & cheap vegan food will be provided. Please contact us & tell us your coming so we have an idea how many people to expect.

If you have any special dietary/accommodation needs please contact us so we can accommodate you. Giros disabled access is not good if you have special needs please contact us in advance & we will try to work something out.

Over the weekend volunteers will be needed for various task, specifically cooking & helping with kids activities. If you’d like to volunteer in advance that would be great.

Contact:

Mail:
Grassroots Gathering
C/o Giros
1-5 Donegal Lane
Belfast

e-mail:
grassrootsbelfast@yahoo.com

Phone:
07759598798
(00447759598798 from ROI)

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Comments (18 of 18)

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belfast.

by enthusiast - reclaim the streets!

Mon Oct 14, 2002 12:18

belfast. belfast. belfast. belfast.
:-)
belfast. belfast. belfast. belfast.
on your bikes!

NO Prods Wanted

by Observor

Mon Oct 14, 2002 13:09

i´m new to all this and maybe this is the wrong place to ask;

by protester / protestant ?

Mon Oct 14, 2002 13:25

but is there an indymedia centre in Belfast?
I´ve googled but there isn´t.
& why isn´t there a french link to IMC?
are the french "externally associated" to indymedia?
and if the french through ATTAC have produced some of the most interesting counter-culture theories for "western civilisation" "evolution" why are they "externally associated".
and ´aint that a thought...

and is Barcelona different as well?

by quaker - pacifist anarcho-syndicalist christian religion

Mon Oct 14, 2002 13:44

becuase it seems to have a different logo?
are they "externally associated" as well?

re 'Observor'

by Andrew

Mon Oct 14, 2002 13:52

hey Observor go and take your sectarian poison elsewhere.

France

by Daithi

Mon Oct 14, 2002 14:29

As far as I recall the original French Indymedia had fallen into "the wrong hands" and the password holder was not paying attention to it anymore or something like that - i have a vague recollection of some hassle over setting up a new IMC maybe that's what's going on.

The logo and designs can differ from site to site; external association is (I think) when a site does not meet all the IMC criteria (new apps have to fill out a form and have certain things like an open publishing newswire).

Irony is lost on you fools. You will only be cheerleading for the poor catholics at this cabal.

by Observer

Mon Oct 14, 2002 14:51

observor/irony

by tina

Mon Oct 14, 2002 15:28

Everybody is welcome to the Grassroots gathering but sectarianism,religious/homophobic/sexist/racist bigotry is NOT. Norn Iron humour seems to be wearing a bit thin these days

Welcome?

Mon Oct 14, 2002 16:41

Ha! All you will do is whinge about the taigs. If anyone mentioned the protestants who are being driven out in North Belfast you would not listen.

The real sectarianism is the nationalism you lot cheer lead. Your poor Catholic friends in East Belfast are just a wedge to drive more Protestants out.

Why not support Protestant Civil Rights?

You never condemn the Catholics on the Garvaghy Road who are attacking Protestants all the time.

Your reactions are just proving my point.

'Observer's observational skills

by Ray

Mon Oct 14, 2002 16:55

Sherlock Holmes must be spinning in his grave...

What's next - condemning atheists for being anti-Mormon?

'Our' area

Mon Oct 14, 2002 17:12

Observer the logic behind 'Your poor Catholic friends in East Belfast are just a wedge to drive more Protestants out' is sectarian. It suggests that there should be 'catholic areas' and 'protestant areas' and people of one background should not be allowed to live in the areas of another. An anti-sectarian position would obviously be 'anyone can live where ever they want'. Maybe you already understand that?

In any case those of us involved in the gatherings would presumably opposed sectarian attacks no matter who they are carried out on. The reality in the north is that 90% plus of reported sectarian attacks are aimed at people perceived to be catholics. But that doesn't make a single case of somebodys window getting smashed because they are perceived to be from a protestant background right either.

on non aligned

by iosaf

Mon Oct 14, 2002 18:12

barcelona sets quite a few criteria
as well as meeting them.
Yes Daithi that was the problem for France.
Logos can change and often appearances solve "local" difficulties or "sectarian" (...flags and emblems)... sort of things.
Irony ought not be lost on any of us.
if THORP blows everyone will be driven out of wherever they live.

majority of those at giros are prods

by diallo

Tue Oct 15, 2002 14:15

of those that run giros, the majority are prods. unfortunately many of whom are middle class, with non violent middle class values almost akin to those of the SDLP. although they do try to embrace wishy washy old school leprachaun type republicanism, all things organic, all things traditionally irish, obviously without any violent or revolutionary tendencies. and you can be sure they'll phone and squeal to peelers for assistance when things get out of hand.

Here we go again...

by maalox - grassroots belfast covert task force

Tue Oct 15, 2002 16:01

maalox at safe-mail dot net

"The real sectarianism is the nationalism you lot cheer lead."

"wishy washy old school leprachaun type republicanism"

"NO Prods Wanted"

etc. etc. ad nauseum

Um, i take it you lot won't be coming then? That's a relief. I just hope you don't put any real activists off coming to Belfast with this sort of crap. We're not all dickheads, honest.

And as for the ethnic makeup of Giro's, i don't remember the survey, and i don't really care which background the volunteers are from. Some of us have actually managed to outgrow sectarianism.

Cross Comunity

by darren - giros

Tue Oct 15, 2002 16:15

directactionagainstapathy at yahoo dot co dot uk

Hey,

Let it be known at Giros we are really a cross community...

& the kinda sectarian bollox posted above makes us even more cross.

How do people feel about an IMC meeting here

by C.

Tue Oct 15, 2002 16:28

We're due to have an IMC meeting, it should be outside Dublin and this seems a good place to call one. Don't want to step on anybody's toes though (especially any media activist comrades).

I'm intending to head up and could probably round up a couple of other dublin heads - enough for some continuity etc.

Comments?

Oh, yeah... i forgot

by maalox - grassroots gathering organisational matrix

Tue Oct 15, 2002 17:55

We'd like an idea of numbers of people attending, numbers of kids to be looked after, etc. so we can sort accomodation and food etc.

Also any dietary or other needs people might have.

cheers...

improve your communication systems

by duncan

Tue Oct 15, 2002 20:17

duncancrowley at hotmail dot com

oxford

there was talk at ecotopia re improved communication networks; both virtual and real.

i was at the first leinster meeting last month and am now studying in u.k

i still think that the irish sustainable movement has a big communication problem, it needs to be improved.

an open forum area should be linked to www.sustainable.ie
and from www.ecotopia2002.org
main campaigns should be highlighted

how are things progressing on this front?
was there a report of how things have gone in each of the provinces on indymedia/ is it the place for it?

eitherway good luck to you, enjoy the w/e

slán
dunk

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Comments (18 of 18)