Now more than ever we need the Irish peoples voice at Dail Eireann. The sale of Coilltes harvesting rights is still imminent. Please spread the word and join us there to stop the traffic on Tuesday 21st. Let the Government hear and see NO - loud and clear!! ... read full story / add a comment

From Justice Minister Alan Shatter's statement on mortgage default and repossessions ,Dec 2012

"All mortgages contain remedies that may be exercised by lending institutions in cases of mortgage default. Repossession in the event of such default is, therefore, an existing contractual right.
In a well-known 2011 case (Start Mortgages), the High Court found that enactment of reforming legislation in 2009 may have had the unintended consequence in certain cases of restricting lending institutions from asserting their repossession rights. ... read full story / add a comment

In the last week or so it was announced by the government that they were seriously considering extending the current free Pre-School year to a second free pre-school year. The government has been giving it a positive spin but also on the table as part of the deal is the suggestion that child benefit would be reduced by €20 per month. A lot of figures have been bandied about but the real question is: are the government trying to pull a fast one yet again and how do the numbers stack up? We attempt to look at the figures here. ... read full story / add a comment

The IRSP in Dublin would like to invite all Republicans and Socialists, along with friends, family and supporters of the movement to their Hunger Strike commemoration which will take place on O'Connell Street Bridge as a banner drop and Black Flag vigil the eve of the anniversary of the death of Comrade Patsy O'Hara 32 years ago

Saturday 18 May 5 pm..

'Let the fight go on!' ... read full story / add a comment

Call Out:
Come to the Rossport Solidarity Camp, Pullathomas, Co. Mayo for a week of action in June against Shell’s Corrib Gas Project. This week has been called to coincide with one of Shell’s busiest work times. Come to act in solidarity with the 13 year old campaign in Mayo against Shell’s Corrib Gas Project. The week will be jam packed with a wide variety of actions! There will be something useful for everyone to do, regardless of your experience and skills. The Rossport Solidarity Camp is being erected specifically for this week, and will be taken back down when the week is completed. So if you are planning on traveling to Mayo this summer – make it this week! ... read full story / add a comment

9 May 2013

Press statement: Joe Higgins TD

Supreme Court ruling on Registered Employment Agreements poses need for organising drive by union movement as first step in protection of conditions

Commenting on today's Supreme Court ruling that Registered Employment Agreements are unconstitutional Joe Higgins TD said:

"The striking down by the Supreme Court of the REAs will be seen by employers and sub contractors as a signal for a savage attack on the wages and conditions of workers. The trade union movement should immediately declare that any such attacks will be met by all out action and must now go on the offensive to ensure that wages and conditions provided for by the REAs remain intact.

"Today's ruling is further proof that the judiciary in the final analysis contains an inherent bias against the interests of working people. Employers have allies in the top echelons of the state who are prepared to strike down the legal underpining of conditions in the private sector that exceed the statutory minimum wage. ... read full story / add a comment

At 12 midday on the 16th of May, Occupy Galway will return to Eyre Square to mark the first anniversary of the destruction of the Eyre Square camp. ... read full story / add a comment

Join us on a worldwide march against MONSANTO on May 25th in Dublin and Cork at 2pm and Clare at 2:30pm

Events are taking place worldwide on May 25th against MONSANTO who are taking over our food and spreading GM crops everywhere. The genes are designed to make crops resistant to heavy doses of their herbicide RoundUp but this ends up in our food and kills the soil and destroys biodiversity. ... read full story / add a comment

Just as we are seeing climate chaos change to climate catastrophe, we may also see job chaos change to job catastrophe. We are entering an era of technological change which has the potential to create havoc in an already seriously undermined world of employment. It has become a well-worn cliché to declare that the robots are coming but it is necessary to consider seriously how the creeping technologisation of production and services is going to affect many areas of employment considered today to be relatively safe from the machines. ... read full story / add a comment

She has been sentenced to six years of prison for alleged membership of SEGI – the banned Basque pro-independence left youth organisation. According to the Spanish state, to be a member of SEGI is to be helping ETA, the armed Basque resistance group; however no “terrorist” action was proved against either Nahikari or her seven male co-sentenced, no possession of arms, no plans, maps – nothing like that. The evidence against them consisted of T-shirts, CDs and posters which indicated that they are pro-Basque independence and for socialism, in accordance with which they have been doing open political work for years. But according to the Spanish state, as in the infamous words of a previous harrier of pro-independence Basques, the 'liberal' judge Garzón: “everything is ETA”. ... read full story / add a comment

Independent Workers Union May Day Event. Commemorating the Centenary of the Dublin Lockout in Speech, Prose and Song. Wednesday 01/05/2013. Ceremony at the James Connolly Statue, Beresford Place near Liberty Hall and the Custom House, Dublin, starting at 5.30 p.m. Gathering afterwards in Cleary’s Public House, 36 Amiens Street for light refreshments. ... read full story / add a comment

The Inchicore Friends of the International Brigades is a local group dedicated to remembering those who volunteered to defend the Spanish Republic against the forces of international fascism and capital. As part of the Friends of the International Brigades in Ireland (FIBI), the group is affiliated with the International Brigades Memorial Trust. Future projects include the erection of a memorial to Jim Prendergast in Temple Bar in September 2013 and the continuation of a second-level schools’ essay competition, launched successfully in 2012. ... read full story / add a comment

Galway Pro-Choice condemns the passing of three motions at today's Fianna Fail Ard Fheis which oppose suicide being included as a ground for abortion under proposed X Case legislation. In particular, we condemn the decision of the Galway East Comhairle Dáil Ceantair of Fianna Fáil to propose one of these motions which would continue to place women’s lives in danger.

Orlaith Reidy of Galway Pro Choice said:

“The motions presented to the Ard Fheis reveal a fundamental disregard for women's health. As Dr. Peadar O'Grady of Doctors for Choice has outlined, denying women the right to choose is a key cause of suicidality among pregnant women, and maternal deaths have markedly declined in countries where abortion is available.” ... read full story / add a comment

Animal welfare groups and greyhound protection organizations are appalled at the deliberate cruelty to greyhounds in Ireland revealed in the course of a recent court case, where a man admitted getting someone to shot two greyhounds that refused to chase hares (link to item on case below)
... read full story / add a comment

REINHART AND ROGOFF: " 'Full Stop,' We Made A Microsoft Excel Blunder In Our Debt Study, And It Makes A Difference." The oft quoted rationale for austerity measures by such people as Ollie Rehn and Tim Geitner turns out to be the result of an excel blunder by the authors ... read full story / add a comment

Quality Ska party this Friday - dance your ass off and help fundraise for Solidarity Books!
... read full story / add a comment

Saturday 20th April -
Venue: TEACH FAILTE - University of Limerick Campus

... read full story / add a comment

LASC, in partnership with the Colombian lawyers collective Equipo Juridico de los Pueblos, are launching a solidarity campaign with the internally displaced campesino community of Pitalito in Cesar, Colombia. ... read full story / add a comment

On Sunday April 14, Bolivarian candidate Nicolas Maduro won the Venezuelan presidential election by a narrow margin. With 99.12% of the votes counted, there was a 78.71% turn out, with Maduro receiving 7,505,378 votes (50.66%), and Capriles 7,270,403 votes (49.07%). Opposition candidate Capriles declared that he does not recognise the result and demanded an audit of 100% of the vote.

On Monday April 15 Capriles made a speech, which was broadcast live by all private TV stations as well as CNN Spanish. In it he refused to recognise the election results and called for mobilisations to demand a full manual recount of the vote. These included a national pots and pans banging protest on Monday at 8 pm, marches on the regional offices of the National Electoral Council (CNE) on Tuesday 16, as well as a march on the CNE in Caracas on Wednesday 17.

At the same time both the Organisation of American States president Insulza and the United States declared that they were also in favour of a full recount. The Spanish government added its voice to the chorus and said they did not recognise the results of the elections. ... read full story / add a comment

Today, for a brief moment, America knows how awful it feels to live in one of the states they have invaded or that they have helped reduce to sectarian nightmares with imported jihadist mercenaries, CIA advisors, funds and weaponry, such as Iraq, Syria or Libya, where explosions like this occur every other day ... read full story / add a comment