Pictures from Top Oil Blockade on March 20th - one year anniversary of the start of the Iraq war

by Indymedia Kevin - IMC Éire Tue Mar 23, 2004 16:43

Round 2 - quantity over quality!

The Garda van arrives down.

Observing the situation.

by Indymedia Kevin - IMC Éire Tue Mar 23, 2004 16:45

more.

Being told to stop the blockade.

Garda in land rovers arriving.

Higher ranks discussing the blockade.

More arrive.

Somebody is obviously enjoying themselves. Must be all the overtime.

by Indymedia Kevin - IMC Éire Tue Mar 23, 2004 16:47

and more...

Receiving orders.

Telling people (again) to stop the blockade.

Garda van pushes its way through the blockade onto the forecourt.

Telling people (yet again) to stop the blockade.

Telling base that the protesters aren't moving.

by sumdsumguy Tue Mar 23, 2004 17:05

Hey, what group are these people affiliated with etc.

I kinda like their idea of affimative action over listening to Rich Boy Barrett at a march.

by conor (wsm personal capacity) Tue Mar 23, 2004 17:36

It was a variety of different types - Grassrots Dublin, Magpies, Grassroots Galway, UCD heads and a few WSM

It could have been better organised and I think we would have got more if we had off dragged them off at the end of the march.

But it was a good action and achieved something - better than listening to speeches, well at least if, like me, you've heard em before a few times.................

Conor

by All that space Tue Mar 23, 2004 17:40

Fair play to the initiative.
I read another account of the action that mentioned the locking of the petrol pumps.

Any pictures of this?
This sounds like direct action - more interesting than flags and grinning gardai.

by Free Faller Tue Mar 23, 2004 17:51

This blockade comprised the Galway and Dublin Grassroots, a group of anarchists and a few people who came along for the ride. The main organizing of the boycott was by the Galway heads who kept in fairly good contact with the other groups involved. Meself thinks its absolutely crucial to have a tight communication stream between groups which will lead to a successful outcome no matter what. We need to improve contact to keep a flow of thought and ideas for May day and the chimp visit. 'Tis a shame that the crowd wasn't larger but it still gave the gardaí something to think about over their subsequent masses of tea breaks and snack bars....
Mise le meas
p.s. i heard on the radio that the baboon is arriving at Shannon at night... whats ye thinks?

by sumdumguy Tue Mar 23, 2004 18:52

anybody know how i can get into comtatc with these people?

by Grassroots boyo Tue Mar 23, 2004 19:08

Is on Sunday April 3rd at 2pm in the Teachers Club.

by sumdumguy Tue Mar 23, 2004 20:27

for that. I'll pop along.

by supporter Tue Mar 23, 2004 21:38

well done to all involved, couldn't be there unfortunately!
But just one little quibble don't you think it would be easier to let the cars that were already in the station to exit without them almost having to drive thru the banner, there's no point in causing unnecessary aggro!
but apart from that good action and i'll try to get to the next one!

ps, kev your pics are brutal,serve the purpose but shite nonetheless (sorry)

by Get Real Tue Mar 23, 2004 21:51

15 present and 5 organisations?

by Starstruck - UCD Left Tue Mar 23, 2004 23:14

Good work Galway Grass Roots
i arrived just as the blockade had ended after listening to our SWP anti-war leader give his podium ri-ra accompanied by some spirited stuff from Michael D and Dave Norris.
Felt that it had the potential to be a lot bigger without sacrificing tight security for the blockers themselves.
Still though the fight goes on as does the buildup for May 1 and Gee Dubs visit.
The mouth waters.

by Indymedia Kevin - IMC Éire Tue Mar 23, 2004 23:44

Hey "supporter", thanks for your comments, its always good to hear intelligent criticism. But you know what? Your pictures are much better than mine, please tell me, what camera are you using? Judging by the quality of them, you're obviously a much more committed individual than me with your skills and technical wizardry.

For anyone that is interested, the camera I have I got for free off a relative who was getting rid of it, the software I use is shareware, and I have no idea how to use a camera. But at least I'm out there documenting events instead of calling other people's work shite. So FUCK YOU!

by Des Wed Mar 24, 2004 01:22

In fairness they are fairly shite, and as for the captions, but don't let us stop your good work "kev" you go boy, just take it like a man.
good man yerself

by Badman Wed Mar 24, 2004 01:31

they paint a picture of what happened, they are decent (if low-tech) documentary photos. I particularly like the one of the grinning guard. What the fuck do ye want crimson flowers bathed in a violet sunset???? To echo Kev, if you don't like em, easy to show him how to do it. In the meantime, fuck the carpers.

by conor (wsm personal capacity) Wed Mar 24, 2004 12:39

Daft sods
by Get Real Tuesday, Mar 23 2004, 8:51pm


15 present and 5 organisations?

- well actually 37 heads and 15 cops we had plenty of time to count - i think that could have been doubled or more with a bit of organisation and pre advertising

Conor

by Joe Wed Mar 24, 2004 13:28

The Grassroots is all about getting organisations to work together despite differences. It's not about 'building the party' or 'build one big organisation'. So while the total numbers might be disappointing the fact that despite the problems there were five groups taking part is good.

by alois vincenzo Wed Mar 24, 2004 18:41

maybe some people would prefer no photos rather than photos taken on rudimentary equipment?

maybe some people think low-tech photography ruins their freedom to close their eyes and imagine an action for themselves?

I suppose that would have it's advantages: personally I would have imagined five hundred libertarian youth rebels running amock at TOP.. riot cops.. explosions.. helicopters.. a time-travelling detachment of the C.N.T. militias intervening to lend a hand..

but if you prefer to get a glimpse of reality, how actions actually look, then photos taken on whatever equipment is at hand facilitate this better than none.

by alois vincenzo Wed Mar 24, 2004 18:51

about your quibble, supporter, you're dead right; but although one of the photos makes it kind of look like we're defiantly blocking the exiting car with our banner, in reality as soon as we copped on what was going on we raised the banner and let the car out without further ado.

the appearance of a stand-off in the photo is down to the rapidity with which the car was driven towards the banner, as well as the mildly chaotic nature of all such actions.

but no harm done or nasty words said.

by R Isible Wed Mar 24, 2004 18:58

Are you people looking at them with magnifying glasses trying to identify individuals or something? I can't see anything wrong with them.

by All that space Wed Mar 24, 2004 19:14

I'm not critising the aesthethics but the content -
Where's the photographic documentation of the locking of the petrol pumps.

I wasn't there - did it happen?

Not according to the above report.

Fair play for taking the photos, but I'm trying to be constructively critical, why so many photos of gardai and flags?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Suppose this photography lark is a learned process.
Any chance of indymedia running a photography workshop?
I'd be willing to pay a few quid to learn how to upload photos...
Maybe it could raise some money to help cover costs of covering Mayday?

by R Isible Wed Mar 24, 2004 19:38

If locking pumps is a criminal/prosecutable action in some way then perhaps it's smarter not to have photos of it.

It's good that your criticism isn't solely aesthetic (but then you say you don't like flags and cops and that is aesthetic surely?) and of course criticism can be useful.

That said, Kev went out there and took photos which provide an impression of the event and given that we all have the ability to go out there and take photos if we feel that Kev isn't doing a good job it seems a little churlish that so much space has been devoted to criticising his (to me) nice photos.

W.r.t. photo workshops there is a photovideo email list which you should subscribe to to ask this question. I know that the editors active in this stuff are keen on teaching anyone that wants to learn:

From the "Subscribe" link at the top of every page:

Photo-list:
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/imc-irl-photo

Video-list:
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/imc-ireland-video

Hope that helps: happy snapping. In the months to come there should be plenty of opportunity for interesting pictures.

by All that space Wed Mar 24, 2004 21:35

What I'm criticising is that the some parts of the event get highlighted but another newsworthy part gets ignored.

I think a photo of the locked pumps would show an everyday example of ways to act against the war.

After all it's about taking personal responsibility.

Isn't it?

How would a photo have been illegal?

by j26 Thu Mar 25, 2004 00:53

but the attendant/manager cut them open with a scissors shortly after the first Garda arrived. It happened at the very start of the action- my camera was still in my bag.

Someone should really have got a shot of it , though.

by x Thu Mar 25, 2004 10:43

Dont hate the media,
Become the media.

Dont hate Indymedia,
Become Indymedia.

Dont hate Indymedia Kevin,
Become Indymedia Kevin!