After a week and a half in custody, Shell to Sea activist Izzy Ní Graidim left Mountjoy prison yesterday at 1.30pm on temporary release! We'd expect that to turn into full release in a week's time when she's due back in there. read full story / add a comment

This is a call for all individuals, collectives and people around the world who are working towards the construction of another society from below to come together for an international meeting. The aim is to establish the Bloc for the Integral Revolution. read full story / add a comment

PRESS STATEMENT

Survivors of the Dublin's Protestant run Bethany Home today welcomed Taoiseach's apology to Magdalen survivors and the plan to institute a system of compensation and redress. They especially welcomed the government's decision to include Stanhope Street Magdalen laundry that had been excluded from consideration by the Martin McAleese enquiry into the laundries.

Bethany Survivors Chairperson, Derek Leinster said he "hopes the Minister for Justice Alan Shatter will act on his long-expressed promise to TDs, senators and northern MLAs to give justice to Bethany survivors". Mr Leinster noted, "Alan Shatter's first response to publication of the McAleese Report was to apologise for the delay in recognising the injustice done to the Magdelen women. We now suffer the same delay. Now would not be too early to give Bethany survivors the same apology and consideration as the Magdalen women". read full story / add a comment

A change in mining policy and use of coal in power generation must be taken into consideration when government agencies conduct their investigations on the mining disaster that took place off Semirara island in the province of Antique, the labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM - Labor Party) said in a statement.
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Glengad compound invaded and work stopped for over 3 hours. Traffic control out of control. read full story / add a comment

This last week has been another week of resistance to Shell controversial pipeline, with numerous truck blockades and disruption to workers. read full story / add a comment

Ms Ní Ghraidm pleaded guilty to a Section 8 and 9 charge and refused to do community service as she felt her protest was a service to a community under siege from Shell. The Judge then sentenced Ms Ní Ghraidm to 3 months in jail. read full story / add a comment

Blockades of forced eviction of family of five in Berlin successful.
Attempt 3 from the bailiffs, polices and legal system tomorrow. read full story / add a comment

The government inter-departmental committee setup to establish the facts into State involvement of the Magdalen Laundries was published on Tues 5th Feb in an attempt to deal with the issue for once and for all. What the findings show is that there was significant involvement and the laundries seem to have been used by a variety of state institutions for dealing for young women in terms of the justice system and social services that the state was unable or unwilling to deal with and the interface with reformatories and industrial schools.

In the aftermath the government has only offered a partial apology to the victims and they feel this is not good enough read full story / add a comment

Catholic torture of a political activist now before U.S. high court. Huminski v. Mercy Gilbert Mecical Center. Court papers reveal an unholy alliance between Sheriff Joseph Arpaio, Federal Judge Frederick Martone (both life-long Catholics) and a Catholic Church hospital network, Dignity Health, and their efforts to silence a critic of the racist sheriff with an attempted murder and torture at a Catholic hospital, Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, Gilbert, Arizona.
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State 'can't afford' disability costs - Irish Times read full story / add a comment

After 30 meters the Tunnel Boring Machine got bored read full story / add a comment

VIDEO VERSION:
http://youtu.be/3gQkDTYbmG8

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu has recently recorded a special video message of support for Afri - action from Ireland - the justice and peace group of which he is patron. In his 4 minute message the acclaimed campaigner and spiritual leader celebrates Afri's 37 years of activism and says 'independent voices like Afri's are more essential than ever in our world today'. He also refers to the importance of Afri's approach of linking the global with the local including their anti-apartheid campaigns as well as solidarity work with Philippines, East Timor, Latin America, the Niger Delta and the people of Rossport in Co. Mayo and what he calls their 'admirable struggle against Shell'. read full story / add a comment

VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFuLbx_UkW4
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Rtd Commandant Edward Horgan has just been in contact. After a vigil today at Shannon, which was specially to mark the 10th anniversary of the peaceful act of sabotage on a US warplane by the catholic ploughshares people, there was evidence of a lot of Irish military activity at the airport. read full story / add a comment

On Feb 1st, St. Bridget's Day and Human Rights Day, Galway Pussy Riot in solidarity with the three Pussy Rioters two who were sent to a Russian labor camp gave a 20 minute riotous and righteous rant outside AIB bank in Galway calling for the tearing down of the false gods of capitalism, the freemarket, greed, their minions in the Irish Government and the Troika. read full story / add a comment

Today, Shell to Sea held a morning protest outside Bellanaboy refinery to highlight Shell's announcement of profits of €19.6 billion for 2012.

Brandishing signs including “Shell Destroys Communities & Environment” and “Harmful to Local Community”, members of the community blocked trucks drawing material to Shell tunneling compound at Aughoose. read full story / add a comment

APL dares Philippine President Aquino to penalize US Navy for Tubbataha damage read full story / add a comment

In this process truly poetic rather than scientific, in which consortia of species succeed in building an environment increasingly rich and varied, every plant, every animal, every micro-organism has its contributory role, being the man for the first time in history, leaving his sad protagonist role of stingy tormentor of nature and life and move creatively to assume the coordination of the construction process.
Throughout the process disappears the necessity of introducing the classic Fordist agriculture inputs: the live system produces himself the nutrients needed, regardless of chemical fertilizer, all seeds and seedlings can now be obtained locally, are not required the pesticides, pests are controlled by the multiplicity of species that evolve together, there is no monoculture, there is work, activity, harvesting, planting and management throughout the year. read full story / add a comment

Last Thurs 24th Jan 2013, the Irish and British governments agreed on a memorandum of understanding for energy trading between Ireland and the UK. This will pave the way for the export of Wind Energy to the UK. This would likely make use of the electric interconnector completed last year between the UK and Ireland although it may need additional cables.

The wind resource in Ireland is probably greater than what the Irish electrical grid can cope with and hence the idea is that the surplus wind energy can be exported to the UK which has a far larger electrical demand than here and could probably take every watt exported.

Unfortunately it seems that there is a bit more to this though the official green good news because apparently there are plans by a number of companies to erect up to 2,300 wind turbines in the Midlands of Ireland. Is blighting our landscape for the UK the way to solve the energy problem? read full story / add a comment