There has been excellent coverage of the elections for the Assembly and criticism of the lack of interest shown by IMC-IE contributors in this topic. This has been attributed variously to "southern myopia" or to "anarchist anti-electoralism." In the essay below, written by newswire contributor "hs - sp", the importance of elections is discussed.

With elections coming in the south and just after the elections in Northern Ireland there have been some comments on indymedia on the idea of standing in elections and voting itself. But there has not been a full debate on the subject alone. This is an important question for activists in all groups and parties, especially as more have taken an electoral strategy. We also expect to see anti-bin charge candidates. Although we should remember that this is not the only reason everyone is standing. Hopefully this can begin a debate on the subject without falling into name calling such as “reformist" or “ultra-left”.

I will begin with the preamble that I am writing from my own personal opinion and experiences and do not represent the views of the socialist party or anybody else (and if anybody feels I have misrepresented their position they are free to correct). And I will add I am also someone who has been living abroad for the last few years so won’t be up to date on every detail of every campaign or comment.

As George Bush was being greeted by hundreds of thousands of protestors in London, his little brother Jeb, governor of Florida, was demonstrating how to deal with dissent, Bush-style. The occasion was the FTAA summit in Miami. Tens of thousands of trade unionists and anti-capitalists came from all over the Americas to protest against this inequitable attempt to establish a 'free' trade area of the Americas. They were met with an unprecedented level of repression. Indymedia established a dedicated FTAA server and infoshop.org also created a special site to cover the protests. They provide a huge number of personal accounts of the violent assault on the right to protest that they encountered in Miami.

Several excellent reports are available elsewhere on the net, including DemocracyNow!'s Jeremy Scahill report on the "embedding" of journalists and assaults on independent journalists and Naomi Klein's description of the new "Miami model" of reportage as the war comes home.

The severity of the repression, including allegations of torture and sexual assaults in prisons, has provoked a backlash from organised labour. The one positive note is the increased solidarity between the more radical unions and the black bloc.

Speaking shortly before his arrest, Fintan Lane said: “The mass trespass in which I was involved was an act of protest and resistance against the integration of an Irish civilian airport into the US war machine. What we did was an act of conscience and I have no regrets. I couldn’t pay this fine because that would be to plead guilty retrospectively and I will not do that. I feel no guilt over my actions.”

He continued: “Innocent people are being killed in Iraq and Afghanistan by the war machine that is being facilitated at Shannon airport. What is happening is an outrage, and it is no exaggeration to say that Fianna Fail and the PDs have blood on their hands.”

“I don’t want to be in jail, but as an Irish citizen I refuse to be implicated in the immoral actions of this government. It is important that people stand up and say no to the refuelling of US warplanes at Shannon.”

Concluding, Fintan Lane called on all those opposed to Irish complicity with the US occupation of Iraq to attend the demonstration at Shannon airport on December 6th: “It is important that there is a large turnout to demonstrate to Fianna Fail and the PDs that we will not put up with the refuelling of US warplanes at Shannon. Enough is enough.”

UPDATE: Indymedia.ie interviews Fintan Lane before going to Limerick Prison ( Interview )