Clearly, the usual suspects are using this totally hyped media trial to get the dig they promised in at Russia after it didn't play ball regarding Assad in Syria. Apparently even RTE has it's instructions to do a hatchet job. You have to laugh at our own extended segment RTE propaganda tour de force on last nights "prime time". It's quite funny to hear everyone saying "pussy" with a straight face on prime time catholic Ireland TV. Don't they realise it's NOT tiddles the cat we're talking about here! ;-) read full story / add a comment

An account of Friday's events on the day the tunnel boring machine was moved. read full story / add a comment

Right, a quick update from camp. The Tunnel Boring Machine is still stuck. Shell's contractors Roadbridge have been trying several different methods, but none working. Currently, it is believed the plan is to build up the road so local residents can get past, then use the main road to bring in cranes that can lift the truck in sections. However, there is resistance in the air... read full story / add a comment

The last twelve plus hours saw protesters in Erris take on one of the largest Gardai operations Ireland has seen in some time – and ran rings around it. The mammoth operation saw hundreds of Gardai and IRMS security trying to escort the tunnel boring machine [TBM] to Aghoos. Yet Shell to Sea campaigners managed, in separate incidents, two lock-ons and used a car to blockade a bridge on the route of the TBM. read full story / add a comment

The Real IRA and a number of breakaway IRA organisations, including
Republican Action Against Drugs and Oglaigh na hEireann, have come
together to issue the following public statement this evening in the
name of the IRA Army Council. read full story / add a comment

Here are two very interesting videos with a view of what is happening in Syria and elsewhere in the region at the moment read full story / add a comment

The Italian High Court confirmed on Friday 13th July the sentences for the 10 activists on trial for crimes of “devastation and looting” during the G8 summit in Genoa in 2001. While some of the sentences have been slightly reduced, all 10 activists have been declared guilty of devastation and looting crimes against private property (for a little historical insight on this charge have a look at my previous article). read full story / add a comment

On 29th July we interviewed Fionuala Cregan on the Paraguayan crisis, its background and the Latin American context in which it takes place. She is based in Argentina and works with the Latin America Regional Office of Church World Service. She has also written for the Irish Times on Paraguay and has extensive research on the impact of agribusiness on Paraguayan peasants' lives. She has been a long term supporter of LASC. The views expressed here are her own. We hope that this interview will give a better insight into the developments in that country. read full story / add a comment

On the 30th of June 2012, the Citizens Defence Committee held an extremely successful fundraising event in the Dublin Supporters Bar on Parnell Street.

We got off to a great night with a fantastic performance from Irish ballad/folk music band, the Celtic Rebels, who gave it their all and graced us with a brilliant set of traditional Irish music, followed by an excellent rendition of popular Irish rebel songs. Both lads played beautifully and are to be highly recommended by the CDC!

As the night went on and we reached the interval, the long anticipated draw took place.
Among the top prizes was a pair of boxing gloves donated and signed by Anthony (The Pride) Fitzgerald, a rugby ball signed by members of the Irish rugby squad and a beautiful handcrafted bodhrán made by republican prisoners in Portlaoise Gaol. We wish to express our sincere gratitude to all of our comrades for donating the wonderful prizes! read full story / add a comment

After a 9-hour debate, the Italian Supreme Court has issued its final sentence against the 25 defendants – policemen and heads of security forces – responsible for the violence against the activists sleeping in the Diaz school during the G8 summit in Genoa in 2001. Result: most of the charges have been declared time-barred, leading to impunity for all the people involved. In the meantime, 10 activists are facing a total of 100 years of jail between themselves for crimes of “devastation and looting”. read full story / add a comment

After being left derelict and neglected for 6 years, during which the only intervention by the local authorities has been the building of a wall around the old changing rooms which turned them into a dangerous sewer, Pisa’s sports centre Polisportiva della Fontina has come back to life, and being put to use by hundreds of people of all ages who want a space to hang out and practice sports freely. read full story / add a comment

The Latin America Solidarity Centre condemns the coup d’etat against President Lugo in Paraguay as an affront to democratic practice. read full story / add a comment

"Rent a drunken Paddy"
"They are only there for a sing song"
"Singing away while we are humiliated"
"They are an embarrassment"

These are some of the abuse leveled at the Irish fans who travelled to the Euro's by a small, yet loud, number of fans who stayed at home. To those of us who travelled we have a different story to tell. read full story / add a comment

I’m not usually one for signing petitions, but a recent initiative has started up which I feel very strongly about. While the top table directly involved in organising and carrying out the butchery of the G8 in Genoa 11 years ago have happily got away with it, 10 activists are risking a total of about 100 years in jail for crimes of “devastation and looting”.

As the official site of the campaign “10 x 100″ likes to point out, the crime of “devastation and looting” was first introduced in 1930, that is, while Italy was still under a Fascist regime. Funny how it’s still there. It was first applied to modern Italy as a repressive measure against football fans, but, interestingly, it has been more recently used against migrants revolting in detention centres and activist protests. Here’s the official call out: read full story / add a comment

The 7th Rossport solidarity camp June bank holiday weekend was great! :) read full story / add a comment

There are fools who decry history as if it was irrelevant to the present or the future. Here is an extract from a piece my late father wrote in 1969 on the subject of the drive towards membership of the EEC, now the EU. Relevant? I certainly think it is, in the context of the vote we are going to cast, or not cast, or cast unwisely, on May 31st. read full story / add a comment

Last Saturday morning a bomb exploded outside the vocational college for young women “Morvillo-Falcone” in the Southern city of Brindisi, killing a teenage girl, Melissa Bassi, and severely wounding several other classmates. read full story / add a comment

Standing with one foot in Ireland and the other foot in Greece and having an interest and a natural curiosity for all "things", I listen, watch and follow events that take place in both countries regarding all aspects of human life, social-political-economical and not only. read full story / add a comment

Volume 4/1 of Interface: a journal for and about social movements is now out, with the topic "the season of revolution: the Arab Spring and European mobilizations". read full story / add a comment

The site of the birthplace of the Abbey Theatre and separately the Fianna in Dublin's Camden Street needs to be bought by CPO following fire, An Taisce say. read full story / add a comment