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Anti-Empire

Anti-Empire

offsite link North Korea Increases Aid to Russia, Mos... Tue Nov 19, 2024 12:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link Trump Assembles a War Cabinet Sat Nov 16, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link Slavgrinder Ramps Up Into Overdrive Tue Nov 12, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

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The Saker

Indymedia ireland

Indymedia Ireland is a volunteer-run non-commercial open publishing website for local and international news, opinion & analysis, press releases and events. Its main objective is to enable the public to participate in reporting and analysis of the news and other important events and aspects of our daily lives and thereby give a voice to people.

offsite link Army Sergeant Travis Decker Murdered His Three Children After Being Denied Mental Health Care at JBL... Sat Jun 07, 2025 04:52 | JBLM Whistleblowers
A corrupt military police force and incompetent Commander who denied emergency mental health care and crisis counseling to an American service member resulted in the murder of the sergeant's three young daughters

offsite link Gaza doctor grieves her nine children killed in Israeli strike Sun May 25, 2025 20:00 | imc
Israeli regime continues it's slaughter
'The children were completely charred'

Paediatrician Alaa al-Najjar was treating victims of Israeli attacks when her children were killed by an Israeli strike on their home

offsite link British doctors working in Gaza describe territory as a ?slaughterhouse? Sat May 24, 2025 00:23 | imc
There?s no food getting in so people are starving,? surgeon Tom Potokar says
British doctors working in Gaza have described the territory as a ?slaughterhouse,? where the patients they are treating are severely malnourished.

Plastic surgeons and orthopedic specialists from the UK are based at the Amal and Nasser hospitals in Khan Younis in the south of the territory.

Dr. Tom Potokar, a plastic surgeon specializing in burn injuries, has worked in Gaza 16 times but said this mission had revealed a level of destruction far greater than his last visit in 2023,

offsite link It is time to talk about the Out of Control Immigration. Mon Mar 31, 2025 22:12 | imc
For the last few years since the CV19 scamdemic undocumented immigration into Ireland has surged. No one is allowed discuss it because they do not want any rational debate about it. If you do you are labelled an extremist. However this out of control immigration is fully facilitated by the Irish government and the EU and the shady figure behind the Neo Con movement pushing for endless war, wokeism and globalist agenda.

offsite link [Dublin] National Demonstration for Palestine: End Israeli Apartheid & Genocide Thu Mar 06, 2025 22:35 | ipsc
Sat, 22 March 2025, 13:00 Assemble at the Garden of Remembrance, Parnell Square, Dublin 1
The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, supported by over 150 Irish civil society organisations, has called another National Demonstration for Palestine on Saturday 22nd March.

The march will begin at the Garden of Remembrance at 1pm and finish outside the D?il on Molesworth Street/Kildare Street to bring our demands to the Irish government?s doorstep.

The Saker >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link White House Warns Starmer: Stop Threatening US Tech Companies? Free Speech Thu Jul 31, 2025 11:00 | Toby Young
It looks increasingly likely that the sweeping censorship powers granted to Ofcom by the Online Safety Act will be raised in US-UK trade talks, as the Trump administration becomes increasingly concerned.
The post White House Warns Starmer: Stop Threatening US Tech Companies? Free Speech appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Mainstream Naysayers Gather As Hopes Rise for Fourth Year of Record Coral on the Great Barrier Reef Thu Jul 31, 2025 09:00 | Chris Morrison
Despite three record years of coral growth, the mainstream media keeps pushing doom and gloom on the Great Barrier Reef ? a story that doesn't quite add up, says the Daily Sceptic's Environment Editor.
The post Mainstream Naysayers Gather As Hopes Rise for Fourth Year of Record Coral on the Great Barrier Reef appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Unless Migrant Crime Is Happening to Them Personally, Many Brits Simply Refuse to Believe It Even Ex... Thu Jul 31, 2025 07:00 | Steven Tucker
Britain's migrant crimewave is only invisible to those living in leafy delusion ? just ask Steven Tucker, who rips into the blind elites mistaking burning mattresses for cultural enrichment.
The post Unless Migrant Crime Is Happening to Them Personally, Many Brits Simply Refuse to Believe It Even Exists ? Especially Our Blinkered Rulers appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link News Round-Up Thu Jul 31, 2025 00:51 | Richard Eldred
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Migration Adds 707,000 People to the Population of England and Wales in Just a YEAR ? The Second Lar... Wed Jul 30, 2025 19:00 | Richard Eldred
707,000 people have been added to the population of England and Wales in just one year ? 98% of them due to net migration ? making it the second-biggest rise in more than 75 years.
The post Migration Adds 707,000 People to the Population of England and Wales in Just a YEAR ? The Second Largest Jump Since 1945 appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Will intergovernmental institutions withstand the end of the "American Empire"?,... Sat Apr 05, 2025 07:15 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?127 Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:38 | en

offsite link Disintegration of Western democracy begins in France Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:00 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?126 Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:39 | en

offsite link The International Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism by Amichai Chikli and Na... Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:31 | en

Voltaire Network >>

National - Event Notice
Thursday January 01 1970

National Public Service Alliance Meeting

category national | worker & community struggles and protests | event notice author Tuesday April 21, 2009 15:29author by pat c Report this post to the editors

A general meeting of the National Public Service Alliance will take place in Teachers Club at 8 pm. Next Wednesday, April 22. Meeting will discuss next steps to be taken in the light of developments at teachers congresses and an imminent outcome from ICTU talks with government and IBEC. A mass public Lobby of ICTU will be considered.

Here are some reports and analysis of the Teachers Conferences and on ICTUs inaction.

Teachers Congresses

Before ICTU entered the first talks on the economic crisis, the secretary of the public Services Committee (ICTU) issued a statement to PSEU members suggesting there was a danger of IMF intervention which could be followed by sacking of public servants with no pension. Peter McCloone, Chair of Public Services Committee (ICTU) issued a statement saying that public servants would have to choose between pay cuts and a pension levy and/or deferaal of pay agreement. In effect they had capitulated before they entered any talks. The decision to walk out was by no means unanimous. It is widely believed that the wal-out was at the insistence of Jack O’Connor whose union contains many lowly paid public servants.

Two days after ICTU re-entered talks, Government announced an embargo on filling of vacancies and promotional outlets in public service. Days later, government issued an emergency budget which savaged PAYE tax-payers but did not impose a cent in taxation on massive personal assets of the wealthy. Cuts in public services were included.This and future generations were saddled with the toxic debts of developers. There was no emergency measure to make these developers draw on their other non-toxic assets to service their loans.

When negotiators remain at talks ( no walk-out this time!) while the employer side announces huge income reductions on members, it has one meaning only. They have effectively agreed to these measures. They are merely allowing government to issue the measures unilaterally so that the union leaders can disclaim responsibility for them.

It can be expected that the leaders will emerge with minor alterations and with rumoured worse outcomes averted. The danger is that public service unions will then be pressurised into withdrawing all directives and campaigns with cuts, pension levy, jobs embargo and income levies in place.

This is the background to the discussions at the Teachers Congresses asnd the criticism of ICTU leaders


Paddy Healy    086-4183732
paddy.healy@eircom.net

Teachers Congresses

TUI

TUI Congress has unanimously passed the following emergency resolutions

“In the wake of the emergency Budget, the education cuts, the Public Service Embargo, TUI calls on ICTU to leave the talks with government and build a campaign of resistance through industrial action. The motion called for a special congress of ICTU to discuss the crisis.” Proposed Finbarr Geaney Dublin City Post-Primary
In the course of his speech Finbarr Geaney questioned the role of David Begg as a member of the board of the central bank while financial malpractice was rife in the banks "

“TUI will continue its campaign of industrial action against the pension levy and the public service embargo on the filling of posts and vacancies. Accordingly, this Congress determines that this union will oppose and will not be bound by any national agreement entered into by ICTU which does not remove the Public Service Pension Levy and the Embargo on the filling of vacancies and promotional posts in Public Service and the cuts in Education provision”

Proposed Paddy Healy DIT Branch

In the course of his speech Paddy Healy said that the Public Services Committee of ICTU had led public service workers to disaster after disaster over the years. Its officer board (Peter Mccloone, Dan Murphy and Matt Merrigan) should resign.
Attempts by national executive to have these resolutions referred back to it were overwhelmingly defeated.

Widespread criticism and lack of confidence in ICTU leaders was expressed by delegates. President Don Ryan, in his opening address questioned whether the executive council of ICTU had the capacity or the will to solve the problems of teachers and Irish education.

Bat O’Keefe received a very hostile reception. Rounds of applause for a very strong speech by President Don Ryan regularly turned into demonstrations against Bat—shouts of” shame” and “tax O’Callaghan” were to be heard.

ASTI

Colleagues inform me that branches are not permitted to put down emergency resolutions for ASTI convention. However delegates referred back a motion from national executive(Standing Committee) which committed the union to no action. A strengthened motion was later passed. President ruled out of order amendments which would strengthen the resolution. There was widespread criticism of ICTU during the debate.

Branches who wish to have stronger resolutions  passed, have collected the signatures to call a special meeting of the 180 person Central Executive Council (CEC) to discuss such resolutions –based on reports by delegates

INTO

At the annual Congress of the Irish National Teachers Organisation in Letterkenny there was a mood more of anger and resentment among the delegates (about 700 from all over the country, north and south).  This manifested itself particularly in relation to the reaction to the Minister for Education Batt O’Keefe.

An attempt by Dublin City North Branch on the first evening to have the invitation to Minister for Education Batt O'Keefe to address the Congress withdrawn was ruled out of order because it was against the rules. However there was a decent-sized walkout (between 40 and 50) on Tuesday morning when O'Keefe got up to speak and those who stayed gave him the silent treatment with many holding up placards. It was clear from the reaction to the General Secretary's response to the Minister that there was huge anger at the government.

But throughout the debates on motions over the next couple of days it was hard to hear that anger turning into anything positive in terms of a fightback.

Many people seem to have bought the line that 'we're all in it together, we have to take some of the pain' etc. and also seem to feel that there is little we can do. This despite the fact that 79% of the members of the union voted for industrial action just a few weeks ago. But it was amazing to listen to Executive members again and again repeating the line that members weren't ready for strike/didn't realise they were voting for strike etc. The line being peddled was that we need to take industrial action that won't affect children's learning!

An emergency motion from Dublin City North condemning the cancellation of March 30th and calling for a day's strike by the end of April never made it past standing orders so couldn't be debated.
Motions passed included one which supported industrial action in the form of "a range of non-cooperation measures which could not impact on the teaching and learning process" and called for a directive to be issued to "direct members not to undertake additional duties where a post/acting post of responsibility is not fulfilled as a result of the embargo" and another which instructed the Executive to "formally propose within the ICTU the holding of a Day of Action to be held before the end of June to defend Public Services and jobs."
Overall, not a great ‘Fightback’ mood but the challenge is to try to turn the limited motions that were passed into some positive action over the next couple of months. – Gregor Kerr

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