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select region...strange, Belfast isn't on here? national |
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opinion/analysis
 Wednesday September 14, 2005 06:52 by observer
 Belfast doesn't exist as a selectable region on indymedia Events in Belfast over the weekend seem to have been missed totally by indymedia. Despite serious violence and rioting, not to mention heavily armed assault on the police, there is nothing to be found on indymedia. While I do not agree with the aspirations of those who are rioting in belfast at present, I think there is a need for an alternative reporting to balance the line we are being fed. |
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Comments (18 of 18)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18Have you not noticed the Sinn Fein bias to this web site. Do you think they are the slightest bit interested in the problems loyalists face.
Observer is right.
There is too much silence.
An Indymedia.belfast must be opened now so the locals can explain to us what is going on.
At the weekend an Orange Order march was re-routed and all hell broke loose.
Why was this?
Why do the people of belfast hate each other so much?
Over a forgotten some battle 300 years ago?
If the marching is a problem than each side should take part.
Ian Paisley and the Orange Order should march down the Falls Road with their flags and drums.
And Jerry Adams and the Provos should march down the Shankhill Road with their flags and drums.
Afterwards they should meet up for a pint of Guinness and compare old war wounds.
Anyway, it is time the people of Belfast stopped hating each other.
Paisley is a peer and Adams is Peerless.
Ian, Can I march the Shankhill?
The whole idea of Indymedia is not to feed a line but to be open to all to tell their news, give their views or comment as they choose.
If you have news about Belfast that you want to put up here, you can do so as long as you abide by the rules. I'm not an Indymedia editor but I post regularly and I'm certain that all my views don't coincide with the views of the Editorial team.
The riots in Belfast do merit discussion and it would be great if there was a debate here on the issues. But there was a fragile peace process and people down here were slow to comment on Belfast, there not being much told to us by the corporate media of what was going on in republican and loyalist strongholds.
It's all done by counties. If you check
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?region=antrim
you'll see a good load of material.
having said that a) indymedia.belfast would be great to see b) if, in the meantime, this indymedia could be used to hear both sides of what is going on in Belfast that would be really valuable.
If anybody wants to discuss these things using the contact form
http://www.indymedia.ie/contact.php
will get a response from the editors here.
We don't need a Belfast based Indymedia - or do you folk not regard Belfast (and the rest of the North) as part of Ireland? The problem it seems to me is twofold i) people in the South just don't give a f**k about the North and ii) everyone just assumes that if protestants are rioting, it must be for reactionary reasons.
Actually, the reasons the riots started ARE reactionary but there is definitely something different about the events of last weekend. While there were some attempts to break through the 'peace walls' and attack Catholic homes, these failed and despite hundreds of rioters on the streets, they ended up leaving the Catholics alone and getting on with attacking the cops. Two DUP constituency offices were burnt down, Sammy Wilson's and Nigel Dodds', banks were particular targets and attempts were made to dig ATM machines out of walls. While today's Daily Ireland does its best to say that the riots couldn't have been fuelled by poverty because there are more poor Catholic areas, the days of the zero sum game have to end. The truth is that the biggest divide in NI is not between Protestant and Catholic but between the rich and the poor. That gulf is growing while the gap between the proportion of Protestants and of Catholics that are poor is narrowing year on year.
We shouldn't have to wait until there are equal proportions of poor Protestants as there are Catholics to worry about Protestant poverty. And we need left wing people in the South to start thinking about how best to build links with those in the North - including in Protestant areas - who have a vision or an "Ireland of Equals" that includes no rich and no poor [not what Sinn Fein have in mind when they talk aobut an "Ireland of Equals"].
Poverty and socio and economic depravation, of course, had a part to play.
'The truth is that the biggest divide in NI is not between Protestant and Catholic but between the rich and the poor.'
In agreement
There are also a number of other factors - which I go into in my Sept diary which will be online shortly.
In reply to seedot, the first four names on that non alphabetical drop down menu are Dublin, Cork,Galway, Limerick, yes they are counties. They are also cities. Antrim is bottom of the list!
I have no doubt it suits some for the unionist/loyalist side to be presented as a bunch of thugs, who wreak havoc at will. It suited for years that the Nationalist/Republican side were similarly portrayed.
There are continuing long winded (though well meant) postings on this site regarding peace campaigning, it seems to be concentrated on the U.S/Iraq war.We hear lots about the plight of the victims of that conflict. We hear nothing of the situation in East Belfast, of the poverty and deprivation that exists there.We hear nothing of the social conditions that cause the people in Belfast to take to the streets rioting.
Maybe I am nieve, but somehow I suspect there is more to it than the re routing of one Orange order parade. I suspect that there is a feeling of isolation among those people, a feeling of not counting when it comes to "All Ireland".
There have been discussions in the past to establish a 'Belfast' working group which I am in favour of. Time permiting over the next few weeks it would be great if we could meet up somewhere in Belfast to kickstart something. I dont mind facilitating a meet up/venue if peeps are interested in getting involved.
As to having a distinct Northern Indymedia I would favour an All_Ireland approach and keep things as they are. After all Indymedia is only as succesful and topical due to the input of contributers. So if people feel topics or regions arent being covered adequetly its really up to themselves to contribute!
Indymedia is an open newswire. those who use it are those who control it. I agree that it is an awful shame that no coverage of what is happening in Belfast has encouraged somebody to do an article on the whole issue. if i had the knowledge and involvment with such issues i would attempt an analysis. the idea of indymedia is Be The Media. the fact that the issue has not been covered by indymedia does not reflect indymedia it reflects the priorities of its users, and yes it is a shame that the north is ignored but hey whats new in southern left politcs
absolute disgrace that Mc Aleese was welcomed by UDA fascist Jackie mc Donald in Belfast last week. Mc Donald expressed to mc Aleese that she have a safe journey home. the front page of irish times was sick of the pair together. how many people were attacked by mc Donald fascists in Ballymena and elsewhere. another darling of her majestys subjects wis Andrea Shoukari the Egyptian drug pusher in the UDA and his activities. see phoenix magazine article about him. the silence in the Dail is amazing.
any other sources of indie reportage on happenings in belfast etc
.
Why do the people in the North hate each other so much?
Is there an answer for this?
I am a member of the Fir Bolag and have seen you all come here for the last 2,000 years.
Which of you has the right to say you belong here without my permission?
Stop bitching and get on together.
There is no doubt that the "peace process" which has in some respects been an amazing success and in overall terms there has been a massive financial peace dividend.
But who has made the most financially out of the process?? who has been making a killing out of the property market? who has the yacht down in Bangor marina?
These people are not defined by their religon, they are defined by their class and are found in both protestant and catholic areas.
Only last week father Faul was criticing the upper middle class catholic families for abandoning their working class roots.
observer indymedia works on an 'open publishing' system this means if you are interested in something you write about it and hey presto there is an article about it on indymedia - this is what indymedia is - not a team of journalists providing a commodity for consumers. Go for it - click 'publish your news' on the right hand corner of the home page.
That is untrue, there are a small group of people who publish on indymedia and are recognised around Dublin as such. Dunk being one and JD was another. Then there is the pitstop crew, for whom Elaine the banshee is now doing a lot of the posting. So save the smart remarks, do you think i'm some eejit that just came across indymedia? As a matter of fact I have used it to publish news and in regard to Belfast,well hey I don't live there and can't go there due to an outstanding difference with Mrs. Windsor and her court officials.
My point was that some of the INDEPENDENT MEDIA(DUH) journos might make it up there, or some of the anti war, trendy left, food not bombs, anarchist, black bloc or others who regularly turn up in Dublin at "protests" might get off their asses and put up a report!
Over and out................
whats the difference?
the difference?
what is implied in the post is that indymedia (which poster equates with open publishing) is a group of unconnected and un(as opposed to dis-)organised people acting severally. This is patently untrue in my experience. In fact indymedia consists of a pretty small community of people who can generally be seen to turn up in the same places some of the time and who could loosely be described as acting in concert.
Or is it a case that you don't miss that happy american with his dv cam and stills cam? was he not a journo?did he not do the stills and vid for a large number of diverse stories?Pretty organised,huh?
Also the poster tries to be smart by directing me to the publish button! I take it he is saying "well if you are so bothered, take your self and your camera up to Belfast". This misses the point completely, as the idea is for someone up there to get involved in doing some indy journo work. Belfast indymedia project?
There is a hell of a difference between between trad media and indy media, the former work severally the latter jointly ( eg. in unison, in concert, toward one common goal). Ob1 thinks it's them thats organised!