The regular news digest of the People’s Movement, No. 147 is out now. It can be freely downloaded from the People's movement website and this issue has articles covering TTIP and a trade union view on Brexit. Recently Greenpeace published details of secret negotiations between the EU-US which were leaked and they indicated that EU officials had completely sold out to the US on all their corporate agenda demands. The TTIP agreement is by far and away the most undemocratic agreement ever devised and will shred protections of all kinds and oblierate the sovereignty every state that has this imposed on them. However the mainstream rightwing corporate media is not covering what is in TTIP and simply make false statements that it will bring jobs and growth, where the core issues are central to what it means to how society right across both the EU and US is run. Naturally our own mainstream political parties of FG and FF are completely for this corporate power grab of an agreement. read full story / add a comment

Peace activists were arrested after they had sprayed a red cross on runway and arrived at a US jet to examine it for arms. read full story / add a comment

The National Parks and Wildlife Service [NPWS] does not have the power to stop the Forest Service permitting forestry felling during the breeding season, even in an area designated for protection under European law.

This has emerged in controversy over the felling of trees at Castleforbes Estate, County Longford, where the local NPWS staff’s request for permission to stop the felling was denied by the Regional Manager of NPWS, who stated that ‘NPWS cannot stop such works and that is in the remit of the Forest Service.’ read full story / add a comment

Woodburn Forest near Carrickfergus in County Antrim has become the site of the first operational fracking rig on the island of Ireland. On Monday 16 May InfraStrata PLC began to drill, seeking to confirm a viable oil find which will pave the way for large scale extraction. Community campaigners continue to resist and all support is welcome on the site to stop the drilling while one local mounts a legal challenge. read full story / add a comment

In the recent elections north and south there have been a number of candidates elected who have stood on an anti capitalist platform. This article here tries to put forward a strategy how these forces could work together to engage more with the mass of the working class north and south and build a mass anti capitalist movement in ireland, England, Scotland and Wales. read full story / add a comment

The environmental group friends of the Irish Environment [FIE] have published on their website photographs of young birds killed in their nests by tree felling during this bird’s breeding season at a County Longford estate.

An investigation into felling at Castleforbes Estate County Longford by the Forest Service after a complaint from FIE in early April confirmed reports of the great spotted woodpecker drumming in the woods scheduled for felling but officials refused to halt the work because no nests were found. Other bird recorded in the Castleforbes Estate include the owl and the kestrel, harrier, and the cuckoo[TL1] . The badger, fox, pine martin, hedgehog, stoat and red squirrel are also present, the latter returning and flourishing only in the last 10 years. read full story / add a comment

A cross party group of TDs have expressed concern at the jailing of two political activists, Sean Doyle and Eamonn McGrath. Both men have been remanded in custody until the 21st of May and 24th of June respectively for taking part in a peaceful protest in Kilcoole. Sean was arrested after being assaulted by an individual in front of Gardai while his attacker went unpunished. The same attacker then viciously pushed a woman to the ground. The Gardaí present saw fit to arrest the protesters for trespass while they gently escorted the assailant away. No charges have been brought against this man. The continuation of the political policing of the Irish Water protests exposes the Garda, yet again, as a force used to protect the status quo at the expense of ordinary people. read full story / add a comment

All taxation is bourgeois! read full story / add a comment

Shell to Sea campaigner Maura Harrington was arrested in Belmullet on Friday afternoon and jailed for 10 days in Mountjoy prison for the non-payment of a court fine of E300.
It is thought that the jailing relates to a 2012 protest attempting to block construction of the disputed development. read full story / add a comment

To mark Nakba Day 2016 the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign is honoured to present a speaking tour with Lubna Shomali and Nidal Al-Azzah from BADIL, Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights.

They will tour Ireland from Monday 9th to Saturday 14th May. read full story / add a comment

Vulture Funds have been a key player in the Global South for years, but more recently their focus on the Irish property market has been a subject of concern closer to home.

Join DDCI on Wednesday May 4th at 18:30 in the Teacher's club for the launch of our research paper, 'From Puerto Rico to the Dublin Docklands: Vulture Funds and debt in Ireland and the Global South.' read full story / add a comment

DDCI calls on incoming Government to prioritise strict regulation of controversial funds

A new report released today (Tuesday May 3rd) by Debt Development Coalition Ireland highlights the manner in which vulture funds have aggressively bought up large volumes of debt in recent years, and how this form of financial speculation has had hugely negative social impacts both in Ireland and the Global South.

Entitled "From Puerto Rico to the Dublin Docklands: Vulture Funds and debt in Ireland and the Global South" the report shows how the Irish government has actively facilitated vulture funds through both the IBRC and NAMA. read full story / add a comment

Recenly the emergence of a "new party" in Ireland made headlines, however social democracy is not new whatsoever. The legacy of this idealogy has left millions dead across the world however this article will focus on its impact in Mexico and how the Irish government were the only government in the world at the time to break off diplomatic relations with Mexico and its social democracy policies. read full story / add a comment

Free Screenings of Forgotten Plague Documentary about Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in Dublin, Dundalk, Galway & Limerick during May, ME/CFS Awareness Month read full story / add a comment

"New research also indicates that the frequency and severity of violence forcing women to leave their homes could be worse than previously documented"

SAFE Ireland warned that homeless figures and needs are being greatly under-estimated because over 4,000 women and children being accommodated on a yearly basis in emergency refuge accommodation are not being counted and recognised as being homeless.

At the launch today of a new SAFE Ireland report The State We Are In, CEO Sharon O’Halloran stressed that women and children forced to leave violent homes are being caught in the cross-fire of the national housing crisis. She said that 37 services that participated in new housing research as part of The State We Are In are reporting that they have never seen things so bad for women and children. read full story / add a comment

The Minister for Agriculture has been urged not to end the suspension of timber felling at Castle Forbes Estate in County Longford until a full investigation has been undertaken.

The suspension was initiated by the Forest Service on April 5, 2016 after a complaint was lodged by the environmental group Friends of the Irish Environment for General Felling Licences issued in January and February of this year.

In today’s letter, the group alleges that neither of the two licenses granted required that work not take place during the bird nesting season from 1 May to 30 September. read full story / add a comment

Shannonwatch and Veterans for Peace member Edward Horgan will appear in Ennis District Court tomorrow, Friday April 15th, to answer a charge that he entered a part of Shannon Airport to which persons were not permitted, contrary to airport byelaws. Dr Horgan was attempting to do what the authorities have repeatedly refused to do, which is to inspect US military aircraft in order to establish if they were in breach of international laws at Shannon.

On April 18th 2015, Dr Horgan was on his way to a peace conference in London when he saw four US Hercules C-130 jets lined up just beyond the Aer Lingus plane he was about to board. Knowing that the Gardaí were almost certainly not going to search them or to inform the public of the nature of these plane's reasons for being at Shannon, he felt compelled to search them. read full story / add a comment

Human Safety or State Security? The global migrant crisis from a Latin American perspective.
A series of events around Ireland focusing on Latin America. Talks, documentary screening, music...

Bring your own vegetarian dish to share and celebrate Latin American Week with music, good food, conversation... read full story / add a comment

Human Safety or State Security? The global migrant crisis from a Latin American perspective.
A series of events around Ireland focusing on Latin America. Talks, documentary screening, music...

LASC Latin America Week this year will focus on the migrant and humanitarian crisis in Europe and Central America/Mexico. Events around Ireland will highlight the links between similar realities in two different areas of the globe. read full story / add a comment

Human Safety or State Security? The global migrant crisis from a Latin American perspective.
A series of events around Ireland focusing on Latin America. Talks, documentary screening, music...

LASC Latin America Week this year will focus on the migrant and humanitarian crisis in Europe and Central America/Mexico. Events around Ireland will highlight the links between similar realities in two different areas of the globe. read full story / add a comment