Wednesday, December 12, Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, announced plans for his new military adventure against the Kurds read full story / add a comment

“It is with deep sadness and regret that the Workers Party announces the death of Sean Garland, a life-long comrade, a member of the Party’s Central Executive Committee and one of the people who most influenced and shaped the Workers Party over many decades.

Party President Michael Donnelly has paid tribute to Mr Garland saying that he was “a unique and charismatic individual whose contribution to Irish political life cannot be overestimated”. read full story / add a comment

On Thursday 6th December, to coincide with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)’s General Assembly, the Irish Campaign to Boycott the Eurovision in Apartheid Israel 2019 wrote to the Director General of RTÉ, Dee Forbes, Rory Coveney, Strategic Advisor to the Director General, and Michael Kealy, Head of RTÉ’s delegation for Eurovision, asking them to call on the EBU not to broadcast any Eurovision events into Israel’s illegal settlements in occupied Palestine. read full story / add a comment

Many of us have been following the Yellow Vest clashes on the streets of France with great interest and trying to understand this movement that appeared to come from nowhere. It is another story of the pressures of late stage capitalism collapsing the center of politics, a center no longer able to fool more of the people most of the time. A movement made possible by social media but which also reflects the often chaotic ‘apolitics’ of such movements. And worrying in the context of the millions being poured into far right propaganda a movement in which the far-right have made some progress in infiltrating, even if our comrades in France are physically driving them out of the protests.
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First images showing the detour the National Transport Authority plans to provide for cycling after they remove cycle lanes in Rathmines, the most used arterial cycle route in Dublin.

As IrishCycle.com website reported previously, traffic counts show that in the AM peak last year, there was 1,637 bicycles and 1,325 cars/van, even with the traffic counts happening in November. read full story / add a comment

Climate change has been completely underestimated thanks to the pressure from the Coal & Oil backed deniers that have put such pressure on scientists that they have been afraid to tell the truth and what their gut feelings are about the state of play. The reality is we are past the point of no return and the root problem is capitalism need for endless growth, although that is not addressed here -Indy Editor

Global warming will happen faster than we think
Three trends will combine to hasten it, warn Yangyang Xu, Veerabhadran Ramanathan and David G. Victor.

Prepare for the “new abnormal”. That was what California Governor Jerry Brown told reporters last month, commenting on the deadly wildfires that have plagued the state this year. He’s right. California’s latest crisis builds on years of record-breaking droughts and heatwaves. The rest of the world, too, has had more than its fair share of extreme weather in 2018. The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change announced last week that 157 million more people were exposed to heatwave events in 2017, compared with 2000. read full story / add a comment

The WSM are shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the death of Alan MacSimoin, one of our founder members, a friend, and a key central figure in building the anarchist movement in Ireland for over four decades. Alan had not been a member of WSM for some years but remained politically active right to the end. His last Facebook post on November 29th was supporting the locked out bricklayers at Mary’s Mansions. Alan will be sorely missed by all in the WSM and we offer our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends. read full story / add a comment

The WSM has been having a 'big picture' discussion around the housing crisis from which the following points emerged. We are publishing them ahead of the December 1st demonstration in Dublon (14.00 Parnell square). read full story / add a comment

In The case of Selahattin Demirtaş v. Turkey (no. 2) – The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ordered Turkey to release the opposition deputy from prison….and, in its complex ruling this week, concluded there has been “several violations of the Convention”. read full story / add a comment

Current efforts by social media companies and Atlanticist think tanks to remove various alternative media pages are part of a coordinated corporate attempt to disrupt and destroy a "global intifada" of social movements, according to documents and data examined by this writer read full story / add a comment

Today saw another hearing, this time in Court 5, Dublin Circuit Court - Judge Melanie Greally presiding - in a case involving peace activists Edward Horgan and Dan Dowling. The case relates to the alleged writing of some graffiti (DANGER DANGER DO NOT FLY) on a US war-plane at Shannon Airport on 25 September 2017, and a charge of trespass relating to the same incident which the Ennis District Court has arguably being trying to hold in reserve (or park as they describe it) so that if we are acquitted in the Circuit Court they might have second go at us in the lower District Court. read full story / add a comment

Ireland has just been identified as one of the most unequal countries in the EU regarding access to healthcare according to a joint report by TASC, FEPS and Trinity College.

“Without health and social measures that compensate for poor health, individuals are not able to fully participate in political and social life. The great importance of health is related to its value to all other life spheres. Not only do individuals have a right to health and well-being, but they also have manifold individual rights that are constrained in the case of poor health. From this perspective, health inequalities represent a particularly serious social injustice in modern societies” (‘Health Inequalities in Europe’) read full story / add a comment

Dublin Save Movement specialise in running vigils at slaughterhouses in Ireland. This includes "bearing witness" with regards to the plight of the other animals about to be slaughtered. These animals have never experienced much in respect to their well-being, and nothing in respect to their rights. read full story / add a comment

In a letter published today in the Irish Times ( https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/israel-and-arms-trade-...78396 ) newspaper, Minister of State Finian McGrath and fifty other Irish TDs and Senators have called for an arms embargo to be placed on Israel, and for “an end to the bi-lateral arms trade between Ireland and the apartheid state”.

In addition to independent Minister McGrath, the signatories include members of Sinn Féin, Solidarity-People Before Profit, Labour, the Green Party, Independents 4 Change and other independent members of the Oireachtas, who condemn “the shooting dead of some 205 [Palestinian] protestors, including 40 children, and wounding of more than 5,000 people by live fire [on the Great March of Return] in Gaza since April”. read full story / add a comment

New IPCC report on 1.5°C shows the urgency of transformational policy change if we are to avoid dangerous climate change. But Ireland is still lagging behind.

The IPCC special report on global warming of 1.5°C is the most important climate science report of the decade. It offers the most exhaustive and authoritative assessment of the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and the action needed to stay below this threshold. The report will hugely influence international, EU and domestic climate policy making over the next few years. read full story / add a comment

Ten thousand people attended a lunchtime protest outside the Dáil on Wednesday, Oct 3 to protest Government inaction on the growing housing crisis and demand change.

The protest was called by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) and the National Homeless and Housing coalition – a coalition of student unions, Housing campaigners, political parties including Solidarity, trade unions and others. read full story / add a comment

Masked Garda threatening people with batons in the aftermath of the violent eviction carried out by thugs in Dublin last night. Pepper spray, dogs and batons were deployed, there were 5 or 6 arrests and four housing campaigners required hosptial visits from injuries received in the course of the eviction of the Frederick St occupation. Video at https://youtu.be/BaBTdaWv3Ro read full story / add a comment

Yesterday the housing activist occupation at 35 Summerhill Parade entered its third day. Approximately 100 people attended the 'Leo’s Early Risers'* event yesterday evening to show solidarity and support to the local community and all those involved in the occupation. read full story / add a comment

Justin and Anne Morahan have started a petition to Pope Francis asking him to intervene in the case of Julian Assange. There have been recent reports of Julian's health deteriorating due to lack of light, fresh air, isolation (no visitors allowed). There are also rumours afloat that he may be removed from the Ecuadorian embassy in London and extradited to Mr Trump's United States where capital punishment is still in vogue. read full story / add a comment

The Vegan Information Project are saying a sad farewell to Temple Bar Square in the heart of Dublin after featuring its "Vegan Information Day" events there since 2013. read full story / add a comment