The Climate Camp held recently in Shannonbridge, Co. Offaly highlighted the urgent need to address the issue of peat bogs in Ireland and the dangerous effect their exploitation by Bord na Mona and the ESB has on Climate Change.

The Communities Against Cuts march. Weds 30th Sept

12,000-15,000 people marched through Dublin yesterday (September 30th) to protest at big cuts this year to community resources and the threat of massive further cuts.
The marchers are people living and working on the ground and they see the harm done, with worse to come.
"People live in communities, not economies," read one of the thousands of placards.
If there was a general theme running through the march, it was that people saw the Government as helping out ‘fatcats’ and developer friends at the expense of poor communities.
The next big COMMUNITY march - bringing in people from all over Munster – is due to be held in Limerick on November 5th (fifth).

SOME GOOD LINKS
http://www.changingireland.blogspot.com/
http://www.changingireland.ie
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/93996#attachment1000049741
http://www.siptu.ie/community
http://www.eapn.ie
http://www.cwc.ie

Related Links: Social Solidarity Network - Building a Network of Resistance: Invitation to meeting Sat 3rd Oct http://indymedia.ie/article/93882

The Lost Revolution

In the first week of its release, “The Lost Revolution” shot straight into the top 5 non-fiction titles in Ireland. This in itself showed the enduring interest in the Official Republicans/The Workers’ Party. This interest was brought home to me again at the launch of the book, held in the Teachers club on September 12, which attracted an audience of around 300, including current and past members of the Official movement, as well as dozens of interested individuals from across the broad range of Republican and left groups in Ireland.

Related Links:
The Rise and Fall of The Stickies | Audio from Launch of The Lost Revolution | The Lost Revolution review from Irish Left Review

This interview, the first of two, enquires about the author’s interest in their subject. It also includes some analysis from the authors on key events covered in the book.

By Red Wedge. With special thanks to Godot, Brian Hanley and Scott Millar.

Red Wedge: Why is this the first book to be written about the Official Movement?

Brian Hanley: I suppose it suited a whole range of otherwise antagonistic people. One of the ironies is that the version of history that says the Officials wanted to demilitarise and become completely passive ties in with what the Provisionals say about them. Some people wanted to leave it all behind them, and then you have some people who have done very well in Irish society and would rather there was just the bland version of the party they were in rather than a warts and all story. That's one of the reasons why it was never before been written as a whole story.

Bail Out the People March, Sept. 20th
See: Bail Out People . org

While a self selected group of world leaders congregate behind a sea of security and police controls in downtown Pittsburgh, up in the Hill District a different kind of movement is beginning to be built.

Related Links:
Videos:
Police Crackdown on G20 Protests: Democracy Now! Reports from the Streets | 30 Second Video of MIlitary Kidnapping a Protestor | Video: Riot Police Attack Students at University of Pittsburgh | Video Compilation from Pittsburgh

Articles:
G20 at Anarchist News . org | ACLU sues Pittsburgh, Secret Service over G20 protest permits | Huffington Post: G20 PROTESTS: Men In Military Fatigues Snatch Protester

Links:
Indymedia Pittsburgh Dedicated G20 Site |
Pittsburgh Organizing Group | Bail Out People, not Banks | People Summit | ResistG20.org | White Band .org - Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) | Extensive list of organising centres

Joe Higgins, Socialist MEP.

Many issues have come up so far in the Lisbon debate, some very relevant, some less so. The key issues the Socialist Party have been raising so far are workers rights, public services and miltarisation. Elsewhere Joe Higgins has looked at the issue of workers' rights (http://www.joehiggins.eu/510) and public services (http://www.joehiggins.eu/489). Here, he goes into precisely how Lisbon boosts the armaments industry and is another step towards a militarised EU.

The absence of any detailed debate on the new provisions in the Lisbon Treaty concerning armaments policy and military strategy is quite alarming. This arises on the one hand from the reluctance of the 'Yes' side to highlight a face of the European Union which many Irish people would find revolting and on the other a blatant failure by the media to analyse these provisions.

It should be a matter of massive debate that, for the first time, the EU armaments industry is given a formal place in an EU Treaty. The role of the European Defence Agency is essentially to co-ordinate the armaments industry in the EU, making it an integral part of EU operations. Its tasks include: ‘implementing any measures needed to strengthen the industrial and technological base of the defence sector’ and to participate ‘in defining a European capabilities and armaments policy’ (Art. 42 TEU).

The EU armaments industry is the guilty secret that the EU political establishment likes to keep hidden. The major EU arms-exporting countries - France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Britain - account for one third of the world's arms deals. Their products include military helicopters, submarines which carry nuclear missiles and aircraft bombers. The largest armaments company in the United Kingdom, BAE, is currently in contention with other major contractors to get a contract with India for 130 Eurofighter combat aircraft. BAE already has a contract with Saudi Arabia for 72 Eurofighters.

Related Links:

- Assist with Joe Higgins & the Socialist Party's anti-Lisbon campaigning
- Read the pamphlet by the Peace and Neutrailty alliance on why they oppose the Lisbon Treaty
- Get involved in the broad left No to Lisbon Campaign
- Keep track of the latest articles from Joe on Lisbon throughout the campaign