NO BORDERS WEEKEND: Dublin Grassroots Network May 2nd No Borders trip report

dublin | summit mobilisations | news report Monday May 03, 2004 01:53 by silverknifeblade - always say fuck you to the state - organisation can happen in a non-hierarchical way but people DO need to ORGANISE if we're serious plant rhizomes not roots! dont fall for the trap of spectacle protests only! build from the bottom up!

Trip to Mosney Refugee Centre for the No Borders Weekend

Meanwhile while all of you were sitting around buying the Sunday papers and watching the same footage over and over again on Sky News...

Around 40 people got on the train to Mosney refugee centre today at 12pm to take a trip out there with wine and good food. There were loads of Gardai milling around on Customs House Quay but they had no idea where we were going or what people were doing. Thankfully our trip was free of cops & journos (although not _entirely_ sure about that..). There was a good mix of people making the trip, including some English, Scottish, & Italians - thanks for coming along with us, it was a nice way to get out of the city and talk to people properly in a relaxing atmosphere.

After walking from Laytown train station, we set up our little picnic/camp at the fence of Mosney which is now used as a refugee accommodation centre. We cracked out the football (which was soon kicked over the wire fence accidentally!), the frisbee, and the stereo. We met up with people from Albania, Iraq, Nigeria (and another nationality but I cant remember now) and talked to them about why we were there (we welcome people from all over the world, not just the EU).

The refugees living there told us about the shit situation they found themselves in. Most if not all have been there for at least a year. Their applications take forever to be processed and they cannot work in the interim. The Albanians said that all they wanted to do was work (their English was certainly better than my Albanian), get on with their lives & provide for their kids. The people living there get only 19 euro a week living expenses.

The security guards were obviously a bit nervous at our presence, and the Gardai arrived at the gate shortly afterwards. They stopped other Dublin Grassroots people from coming in. After a while at the gate, they then drove up and told people sitting down to leave. We were playing football so I didnt hear the conversation, but reportone of the refugees said that it would be better if we complied with the Garda wishes. We respected his request and packed up our stuff to catch the 4pm train back to Dublin.

It was a good day's trip and important to make face to face contact with the people who are directly affected by the policies of Fortress Europe. All we talked to expressed thanks/solidarity to us for making the trip up to Mosney.

On the other hand (on a personal level) I was annoyed that many people came out on a big spectacle of a march the previous day but not bother their arses with the No Borders trip. IMO both have their merits - its important to show resistance to the State but also to make genuine connections with people outside the activist circle.

Why are we for No Borders? Read the information at this link - http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=64530 - and EDUCATE yourself about the bullshit that the State (wherever you live) tries to feed your head.

Anyway, just to let you know other stuff happened apart from a small bit of shoving and water cannon. But sure I imagine it will fill the newswire for a while yet...