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Human Rights in Ireland
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offsite link Red Cross Pays For Dependents of Asylum Seekers to Relocate to Britain Sat Aug 02, 2025 11:00 | Toby Young
The Red Cross is paying for the families of hundreds of migrants granted asylum to relocate to Britain. Confronted about this by the Telegraph, Yvette Cooper blamed the Tories. Shock!
The post Red Cross Pays For Dependents of Asylum Seekers to Relocate to Britain appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Scottish Prison Officer Sacked For Refusing to Call Male-Born Trans Prisoners ?She? or ?Her? Sat Aug 02, 2025 09:00 | Toby Young
A Scottish prison officer has been fired for refusing to call a male prisoner (who thinks he?s a woman) 'she' or 'her'. But with the Free Speech Union's help he's fighting back.
The post Scottish Prison Officer Sacked For Refusing to Call Male-Born Trans Prisoners ?She? or ?Her? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Stockport ?Ethnic Diversity Service? Pushing Open Borders Dogma on Schoolchildren Sat Aug 02, 2025 07:00 | Charlotte Gill
Welcome to Stockport, where the council's "Ethnic Diversity Service" is busy turning schools into open-border fan clubs with bilingual assistants, cultural talks and Ramadan guides.
The post Stockport ?Ethnic Diversity Service? Pushing Open Borders Dogma on Schoolchildren appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link News Round-Up Sat Aug 02, 2025 01:24 | Toby Young
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 Families Face Losing Their Land in Solar Power Push Fri Aug 01, 2025 19:00 | Sallust
Families all over Britain are facing the real threat of losing their land and livelihoods as new solar power rules give developers the power to take over their property.
The post Families Face Losing Their Land in Solar Power Push appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

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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

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Noam Chomsky in Dublin: a youth perspective

category national | miscellaneous | other press author Tuesday November 24, 2009 16:35author by Kenny G Report this post to the editors

A review from young competition winner

Thanks to the SpunOut.ie team, myself and a friend found ourselves with a once in a lifetime opportunity. We had won a competition to see Noam Chomsky speak.

The night to see Chomsky came and we were not sure what to expect, having only Chomsky’s Youtube broadcasts as a rough guide. As soon as he begun speaking though, our imaginations started firing. We listened to a man who spoke about what our hearts had told us, but what the world around us had convinced us not to believe.

Professor Noam Chomsky is arguably the finest linguist in existence. He is also an outspoken writer, speaker and activist on political issues that touch people worldwide. He is highly critical of US foreign policy and is an advocate of grassroots movements. He has also spoken out about the (mis)use of power, with power held being illegitimate unless justified. As he spoke to the audience, I was struck at his lack of theatrical quality. His powerful presence was not due to a booming voice and plenty of hand gestures; he simply kept my attention by the quality of what he was actually saying, and the simplicity with which he said it.

Throughout the talk, he kept things relevant to the country in which he was speaking, illustrating an understanding of the fall of the Celtic Tiger and the problems with Northern Ireland's Good Friday Agreement. He emphasised the importance of grassroots action as a tool for change, keeping the atmosphere alive with positive examples of where grassroots action really did make a difference. I found his criticism of President Obama’s office intriguing, as he made a number of points on recent decisions that were scarcely focused on in worldwide media. He hammered home his opposition to the war in Iraq, pointing out that the Obama administration has created the biggest military budget in history.

I often find political speakers, well, actually hard to listen to, so intent are they on subscribing to and promoting a particular type of political dogma with disdain for those who “don’t get it”. I am used to political speakers having a solemn band of loyal supporters in the audience wildly cheering when they hear a point they like. Chomsky encourages none of this fervour! Different types of political thinking inspire his opinions and he prevents doom and gloom by giving lighthearted humour throughout his lectures. He finished this lecture on a positive note, by saying that we can all be agents of change.

I left the RDS reflecting on my own views of the world in which I live. Noam Chomsky confirmed my niggling thought that Ireland is in need of grassroots change. Not the kind that focuses on local communities congregating inside the Irish bastions of power: the church, the schools and the pub; but, the kind that poses a direct threat to the ‘greed is good’ mantra of the now gone Celtic Tiger.

I would someday like to see an Ireland committed to goals of inclusion, justice served to all, first class healthcare, equal opportunities, and the abolition of social problems caused by poverty that the Celtic Tiger ignored. With grassroots action, Noam Chomsky convinced me that these dreams could become a reality.

By: Annette Carter

Related Link: http://www.spunout.ie
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