Over 30 years of anarchist writing from Ireland listed under hundreds of topics
Analysis
Dignity and Decent Housing for All!
Date: Tue, 2015-10-20 12:49
There are over 5,000 homeless people across Ireland. And if current trends continue there will be over 6,500 homeless by the end of the year [1]. Our leaders worship the free market faith. We must organise together if we want them to bend to a social logic and the rule of fairness.
We do not expect those who inhabit Leinster House to solve our housing problems. Last week, Taoiseach Kenny ruled out state intervention in the property market to curb the cost of renting. “It is very clear that interference in the market to its detriment is not something we should do,’’ he said [2]. They call this ‘restoring confidence to the market’. We call this ‘destroying the fabric of society’.
Republican Prisoners in Maghaberry Protest for Basic Conditions in 2015
Date: Sun, 2015-10-18 12:00
Republican prisoners in Maghaberry prison will be coming off their protest on Monday 19th of October. The prisoners were on protest for 9 weeks because of the closing of a hatch in the kitchen that prevents ventilation and the prisoners receiving their food.
The prison administration struck a deal with the protesting prisoners, confirming they will open the kitchen hatch which will let the prisoner “prepare and consume meals in a dignified manner” [1]. Tomorrow the prisoners will return eating the two meals (lunch and dinner) which are granted by the jail.
Free Republican Prisoner Willy Wong
Date: Sat, 2015-10-17 12:00
A case that needs highlighting is the case of Republican prisoner Willy Wong - he is held in Maghaberry Prison in Co Antrim. In March 2010 he was arrested along with another man and charged, eventually convicted of possession of a pipe bomb. He was sentenced very differently to the way Republican prisoners (and social prisoners) usually get sentenced. He was sentenced for an undetermined period, but after 5 years inprisoned it would be up to the Parole Board to decide when he is to be released.
Willy Wong was 22 when arrested, he is now 27 years old, he is still in jail. In March he was up in front of the Parole Board. The board came to the conclusion that Willy Wong is not “eligible” for release. The board said they believe he was not “totally reformed” or had not “fully regretted his actions”.
Believe a better world is possible and don't be afraid to dream
Date: Thu, 2015-10-15 17:08
Believe a better world is possible. Don't be afraid to dream. We all know this isn't good enough. How could it be? Are we not destined for so much more? Have we not seen glimpses of what we are truly capable of? This could be paradise. It really could be.
Margaret Thatcher, former UK prime minister, was fond of bragging that 'There Is No Alternative!'. Settle in you plebs, there is no way out, this is it. Capitalism is the only way - and not only capitalism, but capitalism in its most feral neoliberal form.
And not only that but state domination, and the assault on our persons by an arsenal of tyrannies: sexism, racism, queerphobia, ableism, and more.
Travellers’ struggles are our struggles too: decent housing for all!
Date: Tue, 2015-10-13 13:59
Last weekend, ten people died in a fire at a halting site in South Dublin. Thomas Connors, Sylvia Connors, Willie Lynch, Tara Gilbert, and Jimmy Lynch and five children lost lives. Their deaths are a tragedy, and we mourn their loss. But we are also angry. Because we know the loss of their lives was not the outcome of chance or blind fate. Our society, its laws and its institutions are designed to marginalise, to penalise and to discriminate against Travellers. So long as we accept these forms of oppression and exploitation, tragedy will follow tragedy.Mass murder in Ankara - the finger points at the Turkish state
Date: Sun, 2015-10-11 15:33
Graffiti has appeared at the site of the bomb explosion in Ankara yesterday that reads "It was not terror that killed us, it was the state." This is reflecting the widespread belief that the true origins of the bombing that killed around 100 people at the pro Kurdish peace demonstration are to be found in Erdogan's AKP party desperate attempt to intensify conflict in the hope of polarizing the electorate ahead of Novembers elections. The same process in other words that those killed yesterday were demonstrating against.
Make McNamara’s Class Pay! Against all Landlords! Squat the City!
Date: Tue, 2015-10-06 12:39
Bernard McNamara and his class are thieves who well deserve our scorn and derision. But if our communities want to take control of our city we must organise together.
News broke last week of how residents in a Dublin apartment complex are facing a €4 million bill to fireproof their homes. Or else they face eviction. Around 900 people live in 300 apartments in the Longboat Quay complex in Dublin's docklands, 'built' by developer Bernard McNamara in 2006. People paid between €450,000 and €750,000 for apartments there at the height of the boom. Longboat Quay also incorporated some social housing units.
6 reasons why YOU should be Pro-Choice
Date: Wed, 2015-09-30 16:34
Here's 6 reasons why you should support the decriminalization of abortion and the pro-choice position.
Abortions rights are just one part of the struggle for full ( reproductive ) freedom
Date: Wed, 2015-09-30 16:25
The demand for abortion rights is a shallow one if all that it means is a right to a safe and legal abortion. The demand for abortion rights must be brought into the greater battle for full reproductive freedom.
Reproductive freedom means that if someone is pregnant and does not wish to be they are supported, financially and emotionally in that decision. Likewise, if someone wishes to have a child they should not be constrained by, for example, financial issues.
People's need for housing before markets property speculators and bankers
Date: Wed, 2015-09-30 14:08
People's need for housing has to be put before the considerations of the markets, the property speculators, and the bankers.
Property is once again on the rise which means this is a great time to be a landlord as you kick tenants out on the streets on some pretense, only to get in a new batch at a higher rental rate. The neo-liberal agenda has really given a free hand to the landlords to do what they wish, whilst the banks are only too happy to take homes of families who cannot meet their mortgage obligations, so that they can sell it or rent it out for quick cash.
