The Plough #45
27 June 2004
E-Mail Newsletter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party
1) Bodenstown 2004 Speech
2) There May Be Trouble Ahead
3) NIPSA Strike Update -- Pearson Gets a Home Visit
4) NIPSA Watch Committee
5) What's On?
*******
IRSP ADDRESS
BODENSTOWN 2004 SPEECH
Delivered by IRSP Ard-Chomhairle member Gerard Foster
Friends and comrades, in 1966, Seamus Costello, founder and leader of
the IRSP and the INLA, stood on this very spot, the most revered
grave in Irish republican history. He delivered one of the most
prophetic orations ever delivered here in Bodenstown; we make no
apology for revisiting his oration here today. 38 years ago Costello
said of the Six Counties:
"In the North, the destinies of one and a half million of our
countrymen are controlled by a puppet regime whose existence for some
45 years has depended on the support of British armed forces. This
regime has found to its apparent delight that one of the simplest
ways of ensuring its continued existence is by the furtherance of
bigotry and sectarianism. Ample evidence of this policy can be found
in the recent antics of a certain reverend agent provocateur. These
then are the means by which the British imperialists intend to
maintain the people of the North in perpetual slavery. These are also
the means by which the working classes are divided against their own
material welfare. The pro-British capitalist classes who control the
economy of the North know very well that, when the people reject
those who foster sectarianism, their next step will be to demand a
just share of the wealth, which they create. These are the real
reasons why one section of the community are led to believe that it
is in their interest to discriminate against another section. Never
are they told that the standard of living which they enjoy, at the
expense of their victimised neighbors, is theirs by right -- rather
are they tricked into believing that these natural rights are a
reward for their support of the regime. These tactics serve to ensure
that a large section of the population of the North remain loyal to
the regime and at the same time do not insist on having a bigger
share in the wealth."
Costello was highlighting how Britain maintained its rule in Ireland
by sectarian division and social division. Of course Britain could
not only have done this by force of arms alone. There are native
capitalist classes both North and South of the border that have
facilitated British rule because it allowed them to profit. They
serve no master but money. They have been a constant block to the
Republic.
No matter what guise they went under, or what republican name they
choose to call themselves -- such as Fianna Fail-Soldiers of Destiny
-- so long as they were in defence of existing property relations
they were and are a block to the Republic. In every generation there
have been those who have compromised their principles, endeavouring
to partially liberate Ireland from the yoke of the British through
negotiation that first required the concession of equity instead of
social equality.
We regard the Good Friday Agreement as one such effort. Sinn Fein
have reaped electoral rewards as a result. They are now the largest
nationalist party in the North and have built a base in the South
that seems impressive. But in so doing they may well have forgotten
the lessons of history. The Workers Party once had similar success in
the South. Where are they now? When a political movement ditches its
principles it may well have short-term electoral reward but in the
long term it will be no longer what it was.
It would be remiss of us at Bodenstown not to highlight that Wolfe
Tone, over whose grave we stand, believed in Liberty, Fraternity,
Equality.
Liberty includes the freedom to express your views without fear or
favour. We call on all who call themselves republicans to recognise
the right to dissent, the right not to agree -- the right to
articulate minority views. And we call on all republicans to condemn
anyone or any organisation that tries to stifle political opinions
they don't agree with. We in the Republican Socialist Movement have
endured bitter times in the past. We have learnt that the way to
resolve differences is not to take up the gun against our opponents
but to respect their views while not agreeing with them.
We have strong differences with other republicans over such issues as
the Good Friday Agreement, abstentionism, armed struggle and so on.
But we must not allow those differences to embitter us or to demonise
our political opponents. If we call for the unity of the working
class so also should we call for the unity of republicans on issues
on which we can agree. That is why we welcome the growing openness
among all shades of republicanism to sit down together and discuss
issues. We have long called for a broad front. A few years ago we
pushed the idea of a republican forum where republicans could discuss
differences in an open and fraternal way and debate how best to move
towards the Republic. Therefore we can but only welcome calls for a
republican congress. This movement will play a constructive role in
helping to bring that about.
But what is unique about our analysis of the political situation is
that we assert that the Republic will not emerge under capitalism.
Unless the working class as a class take the leading role in the
national struggle fighting for social freedom then the end result
will be a neo-colony in thrall to international capital. The forging
of links between the different sections of the working class is
critical to the successful struggle for socialism in Ireland.
As republican socialists we support the continuing dialogue with
sections of the unionist working class. However, that dialogue must
be an exploration and examination of working class communities'
views, fears and most importantly politics. LIBERTY, FRATERNITY AND
EQUALITY for PROTESTANT, CATHOLIC AND DISSENTER are principles which
remain the cornerstone of republican socialism. They also represent
the best formula for uniting our class.
Seamus Costello recognised in an article that engagement with
unionist working class was and is important but equally so there can
be no exclusion of republican socialist politics from any agenda
concerned with working class politics such as that practicised by the
Socialist Environmental Alliance in the North's European election.
Costello wrote:
"Connolly was totally in opposition to this approach. He categorised
them as gas and water socialists. Today in Belfast we have what we
call ring-road socialists. They are exactly the same type of people.
They are, in fact, the leadership of the Official Republican Movement
in Belfast. We maintain that any co-operation with the Protestant
working class must be on the basis of a principled political
position. It must be on the basis of explaining fully to the
Protestant working class what all our policies are, not just our
policy on the ring road. We must try and politicise them,
simultaneously with conducting a political campaign to get rid of
Britain. It will be primarily an educational function, or an
educational campaign directed towards Protestants in the hope at
least that some significant section of the Protestant working class
will understand."
In reaching out to all sections of the working class, including the
recent arrivals to our country fleeing economic or political
oppression, we must not be afraid to face up to issues. We are told
by the administrations in Dublin, Belfast and London, and we are also
told by some republicans, that the failed Belfast/Good
Friday/Stormont Agreement somehow will provide not only a pathway to
peace on the island but is also a stepping stone to a democratic
socialist republic. Like Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, this
is hogwash.
We are being asked to believe in a new Republican slogan, LIBERTY,
FRATERNITY AND EQUITY.
Equity means fairness. It does not mean equality. Equity is not part
of my definition of republicanism.
EQUITY CAN NEVER LEAD TO EQUALITY. At its very best equity will
maintain the status quo of discrimination of rich over poor,
Protestant over Catholic, white over other ethnic groups. And so will
the Good Friday Agreement. Importantly, for republican socialists the
current political dispensation will maintain, nurture and propagate
the divisions in the working class. Irish republican socialists will
never endorse any political settlement between Ireland and Britain
which has at its heart the destruction of Irish working class unity
and the promotion of greed and avarice.
As republican socialists we reject this process as flawed. Already in
the North we have major funders of community infra-structure charged
with targeting social need talking about a 'benign apartheid reward'
(Urban 2 Inner North Belfast, Community Empowerment Partnership, 9th
June 2004). This is at the behest of reactionary unionism led by the
DUP and unchallenged by supposedly progressive unionism within the
loyalist community sector.
'Benign apartheid' like 'secondary discrimination' is a direct result
of the sectarian social equity being delivered by the Good Friday
Agreement. Supporters of the status quo would have the working class
believe this is acceptable because the apartheid and discrimination
that results from equity is not the primary motivation but merely an
unavoidable secondary outcome of the process. In other words,
Northern working class Catholics still remain twice as likely to be
unemployed and homeless as they were ten years ago! But that's okay
as in the bad old days of unionist domination discrimination was
direct and intentional; today discrimination is merely a benign by-
product of a flawed political process. So that's okay then!
Meanwhile today, working class Catholics are twice as likely to be
unemployed and homeless!! We are asked to accept that this secondary
discrimination is benign. If this is the case where is the strategy
to combat secondary discrimination?
Discrimination either primary or secondary can never be benign or
harmless; it can only deliver the continuation of inequality and
division. Both are anathema to republican socialists.
James Connolly referred to 'gas and water' socialists, Seamus
Costello referred to 'ring road' socialists in the 1970s and today we
have the 'equitable' socialists or 'stepping stone' republicans. The
titles may change but the politics remain the same. All the above
require unacceptable compromises of basic republican principles.
The core values of republicanism as articulated by Wolfe Tone and the
United Irishmen, that of liberty, fraternity and equality, were then
and remain now the most progressive form of political thought and one
that we in the IRSP fully endorse and principles that we hold dear.
We remain determined to insure that republican socialism will be a
core plank of any progressive agenda that sets as its goal the
liberation of our class, our country and common humanity.
In his 1966 oration Seamus Costello laid out the path to the
socialist republic:
"This in effect means that we must aim for the ownership of our
resources by the people, so that these resources will be developed in
the best interests of the people as a whole. Some of you may feel
that these aims are impossible to achieve until such time as we have
an independent all-Ireland government. It is certainly true that some
of these aims will not reach fruition until such time as we have an
all-Ireland parliament. However, in the meantime, you as republicans
have an extremely important part to play in the furtherance of this
policy. It is your duty to spearhead the organisation of a virile co-
operative movement among the farming community. It is also your duty
to use your influence as trade unionists to organise a militant trade
union movement with a national consciousness. In short, it is your
duty to become active, hard working members of each and every
organisation that is working for the welfare of all the people and
towards the reunification of the country."
As it was in 1966, so it is today.
Comrades and friends here today, get out there and work for the
liberation of your class and your country!
*******
THERE MAY BE TROUBLE AHEAD
We bring to the attention of our readers this recent article: "A
survey by computer services outfit Cap Gemini and investment bank
Merrill Lynch has estimated that the 26 counties' 15,000 highest 'net
worth' people control assets of more than 43 billion Euros. This
breaks down to an average of almost 2.9 million Euros per
person...One in every 260 (or almost 4 in every 1,000 people) in
Ireland has, according to the survey, the necessary loot. In an Irish
town with a population of, say 20,000, between 75 and 80 people on
average would have the money to propel them into the richest 15,000
individuals of the state...The average wage in the 26 counties is
around 27,000 Euros a year. Working for hundred years and saving
every penny, a person on such a wage wouldn't make the list of the
wealthiest 15,000 people. Given even radically pared-back living
costs, the average person would have to work for a few centuries to
join the rich set and buying even an average house would dramatically
prolong that time."
The article goes on: "Aside from grossly unequal distribution...a
large part of the problem generated by coalition policies is that
they make this state a wealthy slum. In terms of infrastructure such
as housing, public transport and roads, or social provisions like
healthcare, education and social welfare, Ireland lags behind the EU
average...But infrastructure and social provision interest few of the
wealthy. Naturally everybody would approve if roads, public transport
and communal amenities were better. Yet in an economic climate that
so exalts competition and pits people against each other, the
prospects for improvements in communal enterprises are gravely
weakened...Anyway, if you are one of the wealthiest four-in-every-
thousand, you are more likely to approve of current government
policy. If, on the other hand, you're working every hour to pay for
an absurdly overpriced house, perhaps your disillusionment is
growing. There may be trouble ahead." (Eddie Holt, 'Rich People, Poor
State', Irish Times, 19 June 2004).
*******
NIPSA STRIKE UPDATE -- PEARSON GETS A HOME VISIT
As of yesterday (Friday) 505 NIPSA members were on selective strike
action.
These include the ongoing strikes at the MOT offices and the Pensions
Centre, Derry. In addition, and as part of a new strategy, those who
process teachers and Health Service pay in Derry have also come out.
This newly "engaged" strategy initiated by the recently elected left-
wing NIPSA Civil Service Executive led to amusing scenes in Dudley,
West Midlands last Friday. Dudley, the home constituency of Brit
minister Ian Pearson, witnessed his weekly constituency surgery
picketed by 10 NIPSA members, with support from the local trades
council who are seeking Pearson's de-selection from his parliamentary
seat. Pearson called the police (who didn't turn up), and the NIPSA
members in protest staged a "white line" (i.e. middle of the road)
picket. This produced a massively positive response from passing
Dudley motorists. Pearson's days do indeed appear to be numbered.
Yesterday over 15000 NIPSA members staged a half-day walkout from
offices throughout the North. In Belfast around 2000 people, members
of NIPSA and other trade unions, marched to the city hall to re-
affirm the commitment of the whole labour movement in the North to
support the industrial action of civil servants to a successful
conclusion.
Colin Craig
*******
NIPSA WATCH COMMITTEE
The import of scabs into the Derry Pensions Centre continues. It is
particularly disturbing that two NIPSA activists have taken
the "King's shilling" and betrayed their erstwhile comrades. For the
record the WC would like to point out that those concerned are: K.
McClean (Portadown) and K. McVeigh (Kilkeel).
T.U.
*******
WHAT'S ON?
*
PROTEST JULY 3RD: WHITE LINE PICKET IN CASTLEWELLAN, SOUTH DOWN.
THERE WILL BE A WHITE LINE PICKET IN CASTLEWELLAN, SOUTH DOWN ON
SATURDAY 3RD JULY AT 3.00PM. THIS PICKET WILL BE IN SUPPORT OF THE
REPUBLICAN POWS IN MAGHABERRY GAOL AND A PROTEST AT THE CONTINUED
HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES THEY ARE CURRENTLY BEING FORCED TO ENDURE. ALL
ARE WELCOME.
ASSEMBLE UPPER SQUARE.
*
SATURDAY 17th JULY 3PM: WHITE LINE PICKET AND RALLY
Meeting @ entrance to Falls Park.
Speakers to be announced.
"(We) call on all groups and concerned individuals to attend the
above protest to highlight the ongoing harassment and abuse of
Republican prisoners in Maghaberry Jail.
"Despite achieving the hard won but moderate demand of segregation
from Loyalists and criminals the POW's in Roe House are still under
pressure from the Prison Administration and vindictive screws. This
includes the continuation of forced strip searches, denials of basic
amenities, the intensification and lengthening of lock-up time plus
the humiliation still being endured by visiting family members,
friends and political representatives.
"We urge everyone to stand behind these men and their families by
coming out onto the streets in the coming weeks and making their
voices heard once more."
*
Wednesday 7th July, 2004
Professor Arend Lijphart
The de Borda Institute has invited Professor Arend Lijphart, a well
recognised protagonist of consociationalism and a patron to The de
Borda Institute, to conduct a seminar on voting procedures in The
Linenhall Library at 10.30 - 12.00 on Wednesday 7th July, 2004.
All welcome on a first-come-first-served basis, but places are
limited. Further details from The de Borda Institute:
pemerson@deborda.org.
*
Friday 9 July
Honouring anti-fascist fighters
A monument to the eleven Waterford men who fought in defence of the
Spanish Republic, 1936-38, will be unveiled at the Mall, Waterford.
The work of the acclaimed artist Michael Warren from Gorey, it will
be unveiled by the International Brigade veterans Michael O'Riordan
and Jack Jones.
Aoine 9 Iúil
In onóir trodaithe frithfhaisisteacha
Nochtfar leacht i gcuimhne ar an aon fhear Port Láirgeach déag
a throid i gcosaint Phoblacht na Spáinne, 1936-38, sa Mheal, Port
Láirge. Saothar de chuid an ealaíontóra mholta Michael
Warren as Guaire is ea é, agus is iad Michael O'Riordan agus Jack
Jones, seansaighdiúirí de chuid na Briogáide
Idirnáisiúnta, a nochtfaidh é.
[from CPI website]
*
Friday, July 30th
BALKANS SEMINAR
Democratic Dialogue is organising a seminar, in conjunction with the
Institute of Governance at Queen's University Belfast and the de
Borda Institute, on 'The Difficulties of Democracy Building, Identity
Formation and Ethnic Nationalism in the Balkans'. The seminar is to
be led by Rory Conces, an assistant professor of philosophy and
member of the International Studies faculty at the University of
Nebraska at Omaha, who is also editor of the International Third
World Studies Journal and Review. The event will take place on
Friday, July 30th, at 11.00am in room 101 Lanyon North (first floor,
Lanyon Building), at Queen's (directions from the porter's lodge at
main entrance). Prof Conces has lectured in China, Croatia, and
Kosovo; as well as having been a Fulbright Scholar in Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Approaching issues of ethnic identity from a political-
philosophical standpoint, his talk will be of considerable resonance
to Northern Ireland.
Further information from robin@democraticdialogue.org.
*
August 2-7-2004
1) Resistance and Hope Assisi, August 2-7
Call for the Anti-imperialist Camp, Assisi, Italy, August 2-7
Mankind is travelling in fear on a train towards the abyss. This
abyss is the mercilessly waged global war. The train is steered by
the United States of America, to be precise, by a group of
adventurers dreaming of a dead and mute world with one single God,
the dollar; with one single banner, that of stars and stripes; with
one single language, that of American oppression.
These adventurers are driven by a vision which neither admits
compromises nor half ways: the clash of civilisations not only with
Islam but also with anybody who believes in the co-operation between
the peoples and who consider peace as the holiest of all values. They
have given a name to their doctrine: "permanent and pre-emptive war"
which not only displays the warmongering character of the North
American regime but also the idea that the US were a superior nation
with a special mission namely to exercise the global predominance at
any cost. The alibi, which this doctrine builds on, is the terrorist
threat. Those who employ indiscriminate force against defenceless and
innocent civilians, those who consider a person guilty if it does not
believe in their God, might believe to be on a straight way to
paradise but surely contribute to the transformation of this world
into an inferno without hope. The only remaining hope of the world is
the Resistance, the struggle of the peoples for freedom and self-
determination.
The American aim is not only to subjugate the poor and oppressed
nations but also those who still enjoy some liberty. The Patriot Act
and the anti-terrorist Black Lists show that the most elementary
democratic rights are at stake also in the West and particularly in
the United States. Virulent racist and chauvinist crusades attempt to
criminalise the anti-imperialist and revolutionary forces as well as
the organisations of immigrants. They even want to silence the peace
movement.
The anti-imperialist Resistance has indestructible roots and dates
back to the very beginning of the imperial North American ambitions.
Where there is oppression there will always be revolt as well, where
there is dictatorship there will always be the struggle for
democracy, where there is injustice there never will be peace.
Today the Iraqi people is testifying for the Resistance keeping up
their heads against the American war criminals and their paranoid
designs to Guantánamise the world. The Iraqi resistance has taken
the way paved by the Palestinian Intifada. By building a united front
of all the fighting forces it will gain further strength transforming
itself into a national liberation war. This front, the embryo of a
future government of a liberated Iraq, will be able once the
invaders are driven out to call upon the Iraqis to elect a
democratic constituent assembly exercising the full and undivided
sovereignty of the Iraqi people.
The future of humanity depends on the outcome of the battle raging in
Iraq. The heroic town of Falluja, having chased away mercenaries
armed with the most sophisticated weaponry, shows that the Iraqi
people are able to win as the Vietnamese people won. The decisive
factor in war even more than in peace is not technological
superiority but what motivates the people to fight.
We have to unite with the Resistance of the Iraqi people to help
mankind to liberate itself from the North American menace.
The future of the world depends on the victory of Iraq!
2) Iraqi presences and programme of Assisi
This year's Anti-imperialist Camp will have its focus on the Iraqi
resistance. The Iraqi Patriotic Alliance (IPA) will present its
efforts to build a common political front of all forces struggling
against occupation. For the Iraqi Democratic Communist Current, which
is a component of the IPA, Ahmed Karim will be present and for the
Iraqi Communist Party (cadre) Nori al-Moradi.
A global meeting of all the forces and committees in open support of
the Iraqi resistance is scheduled. The preparation of the
international day of action for the resistance scheduled for
September 25 will be one of the topics on the agenda.
The preliminary programme:
http://www.antiimperialista.com/en/view.shtml?category=48&id=1083700704&keyword=+.
*******
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*
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Sunday 27 June 2004
Sunday 20 June 2004
The Plough Vol 01 No 44
The Plough #44
20 June 2004
E-Mail Newsletter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party
1) It's Good to Talk
2) A Renewal of the Republican Dream
3) Letters: US Nationwide Irish American Rights Group
4) What's On?
*******
IT'S GOOD TO TALK
The election results were a disappointment for those on the left.
In England, Respect, an opportunist creation of the Socialist Workers
Party, crashed to a humiliating defeat. Respect was trumpeted as the
spearhead of the radical left's revival. It was to have mobilised the
votes of the millions of people who opposed the Iraq war, and its
leaders confidently boasted they would win seats and "give Blair a
bloody nose" on June 10. But reality checked in. In the European
elections, it averaged a mere 1.67% of the vote in the nine English
regions. The other radical left party, the Greens, polled nearly four
times more, notching up 6.19%. As well as being annihilated by the
big three parties, UKIP and the Greens, Respect was also eclipsed in
the European ballot by a motley collection of minor fringe parties,
including the BNP, English Democrats, Seniors, Independents and the
Countryside Alliance.
In the North of Ireland, the Socialist Environmental Alliance
candidate, Eamonn McCann, who based the bulk of his campaign on
opposition to the Iraq war, polled a disappointing 9 thousand odd
votes, just over 1% of the vote. The manner in which the SEA
established itself, chooses its candidate and conducted its campaign
is an object lesson in how not to build a socialist alternative.
Remember the SEA claimed to have support from environmentalists,
trade unionists, etc. In reality the Green Party stood their own
candidate, the Workers Party supported the independent, Gilliland,
(no politics) and some trade unionists refused to back McCann because
of his stance on the IRSP. At the end of the day McCann had the
support of only some members of the CPI, the SWP and some very
dedicated socialists and trade unionists. We take no pleasure in the
low vote for McCann. We warned the SEA that by placing the emphasis
on calling for imperialism out of Iraq they were making a fundamental
mistake. To oppose Imperialism far away while deliberately ignoring
its presence in Ireland and refusing to tackle the fundamental
contradictions at the heart of Irish politics the SEA were
opportunist and dishonest. Because of the national question the vast
majority of workers voted for the party that they believed could best
protect what they saw as their national interest. Hence the huge
votes for both the DUP and Sinn Fein. As republican socialists we may
regret the workers' choice as it seems to set worker against worker
but we will not ignore where the workers consciousness is. The SEA's
stance of appeals to an abstract class-consciousness while ignoring
the real consciousness of the workers was an ultra leftist error. It
is relevant to recall the remarks made by Jack Bennett in an
introduction to "Freedom the Wolfe Tone Way" by Sean Cronin and
Richard Roche 1973 when he wrote,
"The socialists of the O'Brien School hold that it is not permissible
even to talk about territorial unity and political independence
because they say a million Protestants in the North don't want those
things. It is quite all right however to blether away to your hearts
content about 'socialism' even though five million Irish people, at
the moment at any rate do not want socialism. How come? What's the
difference? Simple. It is a hellavalot safer to blether about
socialism. It gets you nowhere. It keeps the cosy status quo
comfortably intact. And it does not bring you too closely to the bone
of the real politics."
The relative success of some socialists in the 26 county elections
shows the importance of sustained political work on the ground. There
is no shortcut to support for socialist policies other than by
sustained long term work within the working class and that work is
political, economic socials and cultural as well as electoral. Sinn
Fein's populist approach paid off in electoral terms. The strategy of
broadening their base by appealing out from the traditional
republican base towards the wider radical, environmentally conscious
and educated youth has reaped its reward. Sinn Fein is now in the
process of challenging for the support of the traditional Irish
Labour Party supporter while at the same time winning over the more
republican minded grass roots Fianna Fail supporter. As its support
grows we can confidently see an even more shift to the centre away
from any concept of socialism.
The IRSP is a small republican socialist party that considers itself
internationalist. We have members mainly residing in nationalist
working class areas in the North and with strong roots among some
working class communities. We were prepared to consider working with
other groups on a principled basis to see if agreement could be
reached for agreed political platform for the last election. The
opportunism of the SEA prevented that. Nevertheless we will continue
to have an open door to those who wish to talk about developing
socialist/socialist republican ideas, policies and programmes.
If the left and the republican left can not even talk to each other
why oh why would the bulk of the working class population even give
us the time of day? It's good to talk.
*******
A RENEWAL OF THE REPUBLICAN DREAM: EXTRACTS OF SPEECH BY DENIS MURPHY
AT JOHN MORRIS UNVEILING
The death of John was a loss to his family and to the Republican
Socialist Movement. John joins a long list of republicans since 1922
gunned down by the forces of the so-called Free State. We republicans
have long memories. We recall the murder of Harry Boland, the
executions of Mellows, Barrett, O'Connor and McKelvey, and the
bitterness with which the so-called 'De Valera republicans' hunted
down, murdered, tortured and beat those republicans who stood by
their principles in the thirties and forties.
We don't forget that in the last round of the armed struggle against
the presence of British troops in Ireland, all sections of the Free
State establishment rounded up republicans, banned us from the
airwaves, handed our men over the border to the British imperialists
and did everything physically possible to destroy republicanism in
Ireland. They did not succeed. Our presence here today to honour our
fallen comrade is a testimony to the enduring power of our
republicanism.
But, comrades and friends, it is important to stress that our
republicanism is not some sterile abstract ideology, divorced from
the everyday realities of peoples' lives. John Morris and many others
like him are proof that our republicanism is rooted in the everyday
reality of working class life. John was a member of the INLA. While
politically he saw the need for a working class party that stood for
the marginalised and dispossessed, he realised that the rich and
powerful, the supporters of the imperialists, could not relinquish
their power without a fight hence the necessity for a cutting edge to
the struggle. And in that struggle he fell.
Of course the full forces of the establishment have united to
denigrate his and the sacrifices of others. Through the judiciary,
the media, the Gardai and the political elites, barriers are erected
to prevent the full truth coming out. The paid perjurers of the press
have mocked, lied and distorted the truth. Sections of the media have
denigrated us as drug dealers. We are not. No member of the INLA is
involved in drug dealing. No member of the IRSP is involved in drug
dealing. The IRSP have challenged those journalists who have made
these allegations in the past to produce the evidence. We are still
waiting for the evidence.
We are however aware that a small number of pseudo-gangs, and former
members of not only the INLA but other republican armies, are engaged
in extortion, racketeering and drug dealing using the name of the
INLA. We know who they are, for some of these gangs are operating
obviously with the full approval of the so-called security forces.
Those who descend into extortion and racketeering have no right to
call themselves republicans for they besmirch the very name.
By repeatedly linking this movement with drug dealing, the
establishment hope to belittle the sacrifices of volunteers like
John. But the truth is simple. John Morris was a victim of a shoot to
kill policy because he was a republican socialist. The same policy
adopted by the British in the North is the same policy carried out by
the Gardai in the South. So long as we remember this, the crumbs from
the table of the rich will not seduce us nor the slanderous lies of
the media halt us.
Friends, it would be easy from this platform to make an inflammatory
speech about our enemies and to spew out the anger we all feel at the
injustice not only of John's murder but at all the injustices we
see around us. But that would be anger misdirected. We need to channel
our energies into positively building up the self-confidence of
working class communities. It is those communities who can tackle
injustice. To do that, we need to redouble our political work and
redouble our commitment.
Our republicanism, our republican socialism, has to become relevant
to the lives of the people we come from and are part of. We recognise
that there is a huge amount of work to be done. We need to make not
ourselves angry but our class. We need to help arouse our class to
the corruption endemic in this Free State, to the poverty, to the
racism, to the exploitation of the low paid, to the whittling away of
what remains of Irish neutrality. We need to make our class angry
that the Irish government has invited the war mongering oil baron
George Bush to our shores. Everyone here today should take to the
streets when Bush comes to town. Yes, the war in Iraq is important.
We make no apology for calling for the defeat of the Coalition forces
in Iraq. We stand today as republicans in defence of the right of the
Iraqi people to self determination, just as we support the right of
self determination of the whole of the people on this island to
determine our own future without interference.
But we need to point out to those people who say that the issue of
Iraq is the main issue that there are only 8,500 British troops in
Iraq but 13,500 in the North of Ireland. Unlike some so-called
leftists, we oppose imperialism both at home and abroad.
Meanwhile the facade of what passes for politics in the North
continues. Do we really think that the elections will change
anything? The political process that produced the Good Friday
Agreement is fatally flawed. So long as the political parties,
including Provisional Sinn Fein, play the tribal card then no
progress can be made towards the Republic we all want. It may gain
support for an internal settlement but it will not deliver the
Republic.
We in the Republican Socialist Movement have made it clear time and
time again that the only Republic worth fighting for is the Socialist
Republic as envisaged by James Connolly. It is not part of our
republicanism to administer British rule in Ireland and say that it
is a stepping stone to the Republic. It is not. That may be what
Irish nationalism is about. It is not what Irish republicanism is
about.
It is clear that there needs to be a renewal of the republican dream
-- a dream based on the realities of the peoples' lives today. We
call for all republicans regardless of background to engage in this
renewal. We will play our part in renewing republicanism, bringing
into it our class analysis and our republican desire to create a
state that truly encompasses not only Catholic, Protestant and
Dissenter, but all who have for whatever reason sought refuge on our
shores. Our Republic will be multicultural, democratic, inclusive and
socialist, and will be a fitting testament to our class politics.
*******
LETTERS
*
US NATIONWIDE IRISH AMERICAN RIGHTS GROUP TO HOLD 2004 CONVENTION IN
BELFAST
Irish American Unity Conference (IAUC) National Board members, Carol
Russell and Dr Fred Wilcox, booked into a South Belfast guest-house
last week, ahead of the IAUC's November convention in Northern
Ireland to evaluate costs and assess suitable neutral venues for the
annual event.
The IAUC's 2-day program in Ireland is the organisation's first
convention to be held outside of America and when asked why, Russell
said, "The IAUC is discouraging any political party rhetoric during
the Belfast convention. We hear Irish Politicians regularly in
America she said, and our organisation wants to hear from the people
on the ground and obtain their recommendations for positive movements
forward."
Russell said, "The IAUC is inviting all community groups to contact
us. We are encouraging participation from the fullest local spectrum
to what she described as "an IAUC from the heart program". Our goal
she said, is to provide an opportunity for people from all sections
of the community and political opinion in Northern Ireland to speak
openly at an open forum."
The Irish American Unity Conference (IAUC) advocates "the end of
British colonial occupation" and the peaceful reunification of
Ireland describe the program's agenda as "focussing on the
implementation of all the elements of the Good Friday Agreement and
on Collusion."
Further details or enquiries Contact Carol Russell
(ckr@bellatlantic.net) or Jim Gallagher by e-mail at
(JimGall98@juno.com) or by telephone via the IAUC 1-800-947-4282.
IAUC Convention, Belfast: November 12-14, 2004
IAUC web site: http://www.iauc.org/
(Sean McAughey -- 31 May 2004)
*******
WHAT'S ON?
*
Sunday 27th June
At 2.00 in Sallins
Wolfe Tone Republican Socialist Commemoration
All welcome
*
Activists to cycle across Ireland
Ireland's next Critical Mass bicycle rally will be longer than usual
-- six days long, in fact. Activists from the Dublin Grassroots
Network will set off from Dublin by bicycle next Saturday, June 19th,
on a 176-mile trip to Shannon Airport to protest against the visit by
US President, George Bush.
Bush is due to arrive at Shannon on Friday, June 25thfor an EU-US
Summit at Dromoland Castle on June 26th. The cyclists will be
arriving at Shannon in time to participate in the demonstrations
organised by AmBush2004 and Anti-War Ireland. Dublin Grassroots
Network spokesperson Dermot Sreenan said: "The Critical Mass bike
ride is just one of the many events organised to show our opposition
to the continuing occupation of Iraq and the Irish government's
complicity in the war by allowing Shannon Airport to be used by the
US military." We will be stopping in towns along the way, encouraging
others to get involved and to join our entourage. Everyone is welcome
to join us!"
CRITICAL MASS ROUTE:
Leaving at 5.00 from the Department of Justice, St Stephens Green on
Saturday 19th.
Saturday 19th June - Dublin to Straffan, via Baldonnel, Newcastle and
Celbridge.
Sunday 20th June - Straffan to Kildare. via Clane, Prosperous,
Kilmeague, Allen, Milltown.
Monday 21st June - Kildare to Aghaboe, via Crosskeys, Vicarstown,
Cashel, Ballyroan.
Tuesday 22nd June - Agaboe to Roscrea, via Ballybrophy, Knock.
Wednesday 23rd June - Roscrea to Killaloe, via Shinrone,
Cloughjordan, Lisgarode, Nenagh, Ballina.
Thursday 24th June - Killaloe to the Shannon Peace Camp.
We expect to be at our final destinations by 7.00 pm each day.
To find out where we are on route ring Dermot at 08-7627-7606
*
Anti War
Upcoming STOP BUSH meetings and other events -- check out
http://www.irishantiwar.org/.
US military is still landing in Shannon and Baldonnel. Ahern and
Cowen will fall over themselves to welcome the warmonger Bush in
June. We must show them up for the war criminals and liars that they
are. The majority of Irish people oppose the visit and want to
protest against it. It is up to us to get that opposition organised
and make sure that tens of thousands march on June 25th at 7pm and
then at 10am in Dromoland Castle, Co Clare. Wherever you are get a
Stop Bush meeting going, put up posters, distribute leaflets etc. The
potential is there to make these demos as big as the Feb 15th 150,000
that marched last year. Its up to us to get organised to make sure
that potential is fulfilled. For posters, info, etc contact Rory at
086 1523542
STOP BUSH PROTESTS:
* Friday June 25th -- STOP BUSH Demonstration, 7pm Assemble Garden of
Remembrance Parnell Sq, Dublin contact 086 1523542
REGIONAL DEMOS:
* 7pm Galway: Assemble at City Hall and then Father Burke Park --
contact 086 8343667
* 7pm Waterford: Meet Red Square, contact 0863274015
* 7pm Tralee: Assemble Brandon Hotel, contact 087 6176009
* 7pm Sligo: Assemble Town Hall, contact 086 303 9787
* Saturday June 26th -- Demonstration & March, 9-10am Assemble
Dromoland Castle, Co Clare followed by a march to Shannon, (To book
buses to Dromoland phone: 086 1523542/087 6187680)
Don't miss the When Bush Comes to Shove gig -- with Christy Moore,
Damian Rice, the Revs, Mary Black, Kila, Katell Keineg and comedian
Barry Murphy -- June 19th Point Theatre. All funds raised to go to
IAWM and STOP BUSH CAMPAIGN. Contact us about tickets or check out
http://www.irishantiwar.org/.
*
Wednesday 7th July, 2004
Professor Arend Lijphart
The de Borda Institute has invited Professor Arend Lijphart, a well
recognised protagonist of consociationalism and a patron to The de
Borda Institute, to conduct a seminar on voting procedures in The
Linenhall Library at 10.30 - 12.00 on Wednesday 7th July, 2004.
All welcome on a first-come-first-served basis, but places are
limited. Further details from The de Borda Institute:
pemerson@deborda.org.
*
Friday 9 July
Honouring anti-fascist fighters
A monument to the eleven Waterford men who fought in defence of the
Spanish Republic, 1936-38, will be unveiled at the Mall, Waterford.
The work of the acclaimed artist Michael Warren from Gorey, it will
be unveiled by the International Brigade veterans Michael O'Riordan
and Jack Jones.
Aoine 9 Iúil
In onóir trodaithe frithfhaisisteacha
Nochtfar leacht i gcuimhne ar an aon fhear Port Láirgeach déag
a throid i gcosaint Phoblacht na Spáinne, 1936-38, sa Mheal, Port
Láirge. Saothar de chuid an ealaíontóra mholta Michael
Warren as Guaire is ea é, agus is iad Michael O'Riordan agus Jack
Jones, seansaighdiúirí de chuid na Briogáide
Idirnáisiúnta, a nochtfaidh é.
[from CPI website]
*
Friday, July 30th
BALKANS SEMINAR
Democratic Dialogue is organising a seminar, in conjunction with the
Institute of Governance at Queen's University Belfast and the de
Borda Institute, on 'The Difficulties of Democracy Building, Identity
Formation and Ethnic Nationalism in the Balkans'. The seminar is to
be led by Rory Conces, an assistant professor of philosophy and
member of the International Studies faculty at the University of
Nebraska at Omaha, who is also editor of the International Third
World Studies Journal and Review. The event will take place on
Friday, July 30th, at 11.00am in room 101 Lanyon North (first floor,
Lanyon Building), at Queen's (directions from the porter's lodge at
main entrance). Prof Conces has lectured in China, Croatia, and
Kosovo; as well as having been a Fulbright Scholar in Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Approaching issues of ethnic identity from a political-
philosophical standpoint, his talk will be of considerable resonance
to Northern Ireland.
Further information from robin@democraticdialogue.org.
*
August 2-7-2004
1) Resistance and Hope Assisi, August 2-7
Call for the Anti-imperialist Camp, Assisi, Italy, August 2-7
Mankind is travelling in fear on a train towards the abyss. This
abyss is the mercilessly waged global war. The train is steered by
the United States of America, to be precise, by a group of
adventurers dreaming of a dead and mute world with one single God,
the dollar; with one single banner, that of stars and stripes; with
one single language, that of American oppression.
These adventurers are driven by a vision which neither admits
compromises nor half ways: the clash of civilisations not only with
Islam but also with anybody who believes in the co-operation between
the peoples and who consider peace as the holiest of all values. They
have given a name to their doctrine: "permanent and pre-emptive war"
which not only displays the warmongering character of the North
American regime but also the idea that the US were a superior nation
with a special mission namely to exercise the global predominance at
any cost. The alibi, which this doctrine builds on, is the terrorist
threat. Those who employ indiscriminate force against defenceless and
innocent civilians, those who consider a person guilty if it does not
believe in their God, might believe to be on a straight way to
paradise but surely contribute to the transformation of this world
into an inferno without hope. The only remaining hope of the world is
the Resistance, the struggle of the peoples for freedom and self-
determination.
The American aim is not only to subjugate the poor and oppressed
nations but also those who still enjoy some liberty. The Patriot Act
and the anti-terrorist Black Lists show that the most elementary
democratic rights are at stake also in the West and particularly in
the United States. Virulent racist and chauvinist crusades attempt to
criminalise the anti-imperialist and revolutionary forces as well as
the organisations of immigrants. They even want to silence the peace
movement.
The anti-imperialist Resistance has indestructible roots and dates
back to the very beginning of the imperial North American ambitions.
Where there is oppression there will always be revolt as well, where
there is dictatorship there will always be the struggle for
democracy, where there is injustice there never will be peace.
Today the Iraqi people is testifying for the Resistance keeping up
their heads against the American war criminals and their paranoid
designs to Guantánamise the world. The Iraqi resistance has taken
the way paved by the Palestinian Intifada. By building a united front
of all the fighting forces it will gain further strength transforming
itself into a national liberation war. This front, the embryo of a
future government of a liberated Iraq, will be able once the
invaders are driven out to call upon the Iraqis to elect a
democratic constituent assembly exercising the full and undivided
sovereignty of the Iraqi people.
The future of humanity depends on the outcome of the battle raging in
Iraq. The heroic town of Falluja, having chased away mercenaries
armed with the most sophisticated weaponry, shows that the Iraqi
people are able to win as the Vietnamese people won. The decisive
factor in war even more than in peace is not technological
superiority but what motivates the people to fight.
We have to unite with the Resistance of the Iraqi people to help
mankind to liberate itself from the North American menace.
The future of the world depends on the victory of Iraq!
2) Iraqi presences and programme of Assisi
This year's Anti-imperialist Camp will have its focus on the Iraqi
resistance. The Iraqi Patriotic Alliance (IPA) will present its
efforts to build a common political front of all forces struggling
against occupation. For the Iraqi Democratic Communist Current, which
is a component of the IPA, Ahmed Karim will be present and for the
Iraqi Communist Party (cadre) Nori al-Moradi.
A global meeting of all the forces and committees in open support of
the Iraqi resistance is scheduled. The preparation of the
international day of action for the resistance scheduled for
September 25 will be one of the topics on the agenda.
The preliminary programme:
http://www.antiimperialista.com/en/view.shtml?category=48&id=1083700704&keyword=+.
*******
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*
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20 June 2004
E-Mail Newsletter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party
1) It's Good to Talk
2) A Renewal of the Republican Dream
3) Letters: US Nationwide Irish American Rights Group
4) What's On?
*******
IT'S GOOD TO TALK
The election results were a disappointment for those on the left.
In England, Respect, an opportunist creation of the Socialist Workers
Party, crashed to a humiliating defeat. Respect was trumpeted as the
spearhead of the radical left's revival. It was to have mobilised the
votes of the millions of people who opposed the Iraq war, and its
leaders confidently boasted they would win seats and "give Blair a
bloody nose" on June 10. But reality checked in. In the European
elections, it averaged a mere 1.67% of the vote in the nine English
regions. The other radical left party, the Greens, polled nearly four
times more, notching up 6.19%. As well as being annihilated by the
big three parties, UKIP and the Greens, Respect was also eclipsed in
the European ballot by a motley collection of minor fringe parties,
including the BNP, English Democrats, Seniors, Independents and the
Countryside Alliance.
In the North of Ireland, the Socialist Environmental Alliance
candidate, Eamonn McCann, who based the bulk of his campaign on
opposition to the Iraq war, polled a disappointing 9 thousand odd
votes, just over 1% of the vote. The manner in which the SEA
established itself, chooses its candidate and conducted its campaign
is an object lesson in how not to build a socialist alternative.
Remember the SEA claimed to have support from environmentalists,
trade unionists, etc. In reality the Green Party stood their own
candidate, the Workers Party supported the independent, Gilliland,
(no politics) and some trade unionists refused to back McCann because
of his stance on the IRSP. At the end of the day McCann had the
support of only some members of the CPI, the SWP and some very
dedicated socialists and trade unionists. We take no pleasure in the
low vote for McCann. We warned the SEA that by placing the emphasis
on calling for imperialism out of Iraq they were making a fundamental
mistake. To oppose Imperialism far away while deliberately ignoring
its presence in Ireland and refusing to tackle the fundamental
contradictions at the heart of Irish politics the SEA were
opportunist and dishonest. Because of the national question the vast
majority of workers voted for the party that they believed could best
protect what they saw as their national interest. Hence the huge
votes for both the DUP and Sinn Fein. As republican socialists we may
regret the workers' choice as it seems to set worker against worker
but we will not ignore where the workers consciousness is. The SEA's
stance of appeals to an abstract class-consciousness while ignoring
the real consciousness of the workers was an ultra leftist error. It
is relevant to recall the remarks made by Jack Bennett in an
introduction to "Freedom the Wolfe Tone Way" by Sean Cronin and
Richard Roche 1973 when he wrote,
"The socialists of the O'Brien School hold that it is not permissible
even to talk about territorial unity and political independence
because they say a million Protestants in the North don't want those
things. It is quite all right however to blether away to your hearts
content about 'socialism' even though five million Irish people, at
the moment at any rate do not want socialism. How come? What's the
difference? Simple. It is a hellavalot safer to blether about
socialism. It gets you nowhere. It keeps the cosy status quo
comfortably intact. And it does not bring you too closely to the bone
of the real politics."
The relative success of some socialists in the 26 county elections
shows the importance of sustained political work on the ground. There
is no shortcut to support for socialist policies other than by
sustained long term work within the working class and that work is
political, economic socials and cultural as well as electoral. Sinn
Fein's populist approach paid off in electoral terms. The strategy of
broadening their base by appealing out from the traditional
republican base towards the wider radical, environmentally conscious
and educated youth has reaped its reward. Sinn Fein is now in the
process of challenging for the support of the traditional Irish
Labour Party supporter while at the same time winning over the more
republican minded grass roots Fianna Fail supporter. As its support
grows we can confidently see an even more shift to the centre away
from any concept of socialism.
The IRSP is a small republican socialist party that considers itself
internationalist. We have members mainly residing in nationalist
working class areas in the North and with strong roots among some
working class communities. We were prepared to consider working with
other groups on a principled basis to see if agreement could be
reached for agreed political platform for the last election. The
opportunism of the SEA prevented that. Nevertheless we will continue
to have an open door to those who wish to talk about developing
socialist/socialist republican ideas, policies and programmes.
If the left and the republican left can not even talk to each other
why oh why would the bulk of the working class population even give
us the time of day? It's good to talk.
*******
A RENEWAL OF THE REPUBLICAN DREAM: EXTRACTS OF SPEECH BY DENIS MURPHY
AT JOHN MORRIS UNVEILING
The death of John was a loss to his family and to the Republican
Socialist Movement. John joins a long list of republicans since 1922
gunned down by the forces of the so-called Free State. We republicans
have long memories. We recall the murder of Harry Boland, the
executions of Mellows, Barrett, O'Connor and McKelvey, and the
bitterness with which the so-called 'De Valera republicans' hunted
down, murdered, tortured and beat those republicans who stood by
their principles in the thirties and forties.
We don't forget that in the last round of the armed struggle against
the presence of British troops in Ireland, all sections of the Free
State establishment rounded up republicans, banned us from the
airwaves, handed our men over the border to the British imperialists
and did everything physically possible to destroy republicanism in
Ireland. They did not succeed. Our presence here today to honour our
fallen comrade is a testimony to the enduring power of our
republicanism.
But, comrades and friends, it is important to stress that our
republicanism is not some sterile abstract ideology, divorced from
the everyday realities of peoples' lives. John Morris and many others
like him are proof that our republicanism is rooted in the everyday
reality of working class life. John was a member of the INLA. While
politically he saw the need for a working class party that stood for
the marginalised and dispossessed, he realised that the rich and
powerful, the supporters of the imperialists, could not relinquish
their power without a fight hence the necessity for a cutting edge to
the struggle. And in that struggle he fell.
Of course the full forces of the establishment have united to
denigrate his and the sacrifices of others. Through the judiciary,
the media, the Gardai and the political elites, barriers are erected
to prevent the full truth coming out. The paid perjurers of the press
have mocked, lied and distorted the truth. Sections of the media have
denigrated us as drug dealers. We are not. No member of the INLA is
involved in drug dealing. No member of the IRSP is involved in drug
dealing. The IRSP have challenged those journalists who have made
these allegations in the past to produce the evidence. We are still
waiting for the evidence.
We are however aware that a small number of pseudo-gangs, and former
members of not only the INLA but other republican armies, are engaged
in extortion, racketeering and drug dealing using the name of the
INLA. We know who they are, for some of these gangs are operating
obviously with the full approval of the so-called security forces.
Those who descend into extortion and racketeering have no right to
call themselves republicans for they besmirch the very name.
By repeatedly linking this movement with drug dealing, the
establishment hope to belittle the sacrifices of volunteers like
John. But the truth is simple. John Morris was a victim of a shoot to
kill policy because he was a republican socialist. The same policy
adopted by the British in the North is the same policy carried out by
the Gardai in the South. So long as we remember this, the crumbs from
the table of the rich will not seduce us nor the slanderous lies of
the media halt us.
Friends, it would be easy from this platform to make an inflammatory
speech about our enemies and to spew out the anger we all feel at the
injustice not only of John's murder but at all the injustices we
see around us. But that would be anger misdirected. We need to channel
our energies into positively building up the self-confidence of
working class communities. It is those communities who can tackle
injustice. To do that, we need to redouble our political work and
redouble our commitment.
Our republicanism, our republican socialism, has to become relevant
to the lives of the people we come from and are part of. We recognise
that there is a huge amount of work to be done. We need to make not
ourselves angry but our class. We need to help arouse our class to
the corruption endemic in this Free State, to the poverty, to the
racism, to the exploitation of the low paid, to the whittling away of
what remains of Irish neutrality. We need to make our class angry
that the Irish government has invited the war mongering oil baron
George Bush to our shores. Everyone here today should take to the
streets when Bush comes to town. Yes, the war in Iraq is important.
We make no apology for calling for the defeat of the Coalition forces
in Iraq. We stand today as republicans in defence of the right of the
Iraqi people to self determination, just as we support the right of
self determination of the whole of the people on this island to
determine our own future without interference.
But we need to point out to those people who say that the issue of
Iraq is the main issue that there are only 8,500 British troops in
Iraq but 13,500 in the North of Ireland. Unlike some so-called
leftists, we oppose imperialism both at home and abroad.
Meanwhile the facade of what passes for politics in the North
continues. Do we really think that the elections will change
anything? The political process that produced the Good Friday
Agreement is fatally flawed. So long as the political parties,
including Provisional Sinn Fein, play the tribal card then no
progress can be made towards the Republic we all want. It may gain
support for an internal settlement but it will not deliver the
Republic.
We in the Republican Socialist Movement have made it clear time and
time again that the only Republic worth fighting for is the Socialist
Republic as envisaged by James Connolly. It is not part of our
republicanism to administer British rule in Ireland and say that it
is a stepping stone to the Republic. It is not. That may be what
Irish nationalism is about. It is not what Irish republicanism is
about.
It is clear that there needs to be a renewal of the republican dream
-- a dream based on the realities of the peoples' lives today. We
call for all republicans regardless of background to engage in this
renewal. We will play our part in renewing republicanism, bringing
into it our class analysis and our republican desire to create a
state that truly encompasses not only Catholic, Protestant and
Dissenter, but all who have for whatever reason sought refuge on our
shores. Our Republic will be multicultural, democratic, inclusive and
socialist, and will be a fitting testament to our class politics.
*******
LETTERS
*
US NATIONWIDE IRISH AMERICAN RIGHTS GROUP TO HOLD 2004 CONVENTION IN
BELFAST
Irish American Unity Conference (IAUC) National Board members, Carol
Russell and Dr Fred Wilcox, booked into a South Belfast guest-house
last week, ahead of the IAUC's November convention in Northern
Ireland to evaluate costs and assess suitable neutral venues for the
annual event.
The IAUC's 2-day program in Ireland is the organisation's first
convention to be held outside of America and when asked why, Russell
said, "The IAUC is discouraging any political party rhetoric during
the Belfast convention. We hear Irish Politicians regularly in
America she said, and our organisation wants to hear from the people
on the ground and obtain their recommendations for positive movements
forward."
Russell said, "The IAUC is inviting all community groups to contact
us. We are encouraging participation from the fullest local spectrum
to what she described as "an IAUC from the heart program". Our goal
she said, is to provide an opportunity for people from all sections
of the community and political opinion in Northern Ireland to speak
openly at an open forum."
The Irish American Unity Conference (IAUC) advocates "the end of
British colonial occupation" and the peaceful reunification of
Ireland describe the program's agenda as "focussing on the
implementation of all the elements of the Good Friday Agreement and
on Collusion."
Further details or enquiries Contact Carol Russell
(ckr@bellatlantic.net) or Jim Gallagher by e-mail at
(JimGall98@juno.com) or by telephone via the IAUC 1-800-947-4282.
IAUC Convention, Belfast: November 12-14, 2004
IAUC web site: http://www.iauc.org/
(Sean McAughey -- 31 May 2004)
*******
WHAT'S ON?
*
Sunday 27th June
At 2.00 in Sallins
Wolfe Tone Republican Socialist Commemoration
All welcome
*
Activists to cycle across Ireland
Ireland's next Critical Mass bicycle rally will be longer than usual
-- six days long, in fact. Activists from the Dublin Grassroots
Network will set off from Dublin by bicycle next Saturday, June 19th,
on a 176-mile trip to Shannon Airport to protest against the visit by
US President, George Bush.
Bush is due to arrive at Shannon on Friday, June 25thfor an EU-US
Summit at Dromoland Castle on June 26th. The cyclists will be
arriving at Shannon in time to participate in the demonstrations
organised by AmBush2004 and Anti-War Ireland. Dublin Grassroots
Network spokesperson Dermot Sreenan said: "The Critical Mass bike
ride is just one of the many events organised to show our opposition
to the continuing occupation of Iraq and the Irish government's
complicity in the war by allowing Shannon Airport to be used by the
US military." We will be stopping in towns along the way, encouraging
others to get involved and to join our entourage. Everyone is welcome
to join us!"
CRITICAL MASS ROUTE:
Leaving at 5.00 from the Department of Justice, St Stephens Green on
Saturday 19th.
Saturday 19th June - Dublin to Straffan, via Baldonnel, Newcastle and
Celbridge.
Sunday 20th June - Straffan to Kildare. via Clane, Prosperous,
Kilmeague, Allen, Milltown.
Monday 21st June - Kildare to Aghaboe, via Crosskeys, Vicarstown,
Cashel, Ballyroan.
Tuesday 22nd June - Agaboe to Roscrea, via Ballybrophy, Knock.
Wednesday 23rd June - Roscrea to Killaloe, via Shinrone,
Cloughjordan, Lisgarode, Nenagh, Ballina.
Thursday 24th June - Killaloe to the Shannon Peace Camp.
We expect to be at our final destinations by 7.00 pm each day.
To find out where we are on route ring Dermot at 08-7627-7606
*
Anti War
Upcoming STOP BUSH meetings and other events -- check out
http://www.irishantiwar.org/.
US military is still landing in Shannon and Baldonnel. Ahern and
Cowen will fall over themselves to welcome the warmonger Bush in
June. We must show them up for the war criminals and liars that they
are. The majority of Irish people oppose the visit and want to
protest against it. It is up to us to get that opposition organised
and make sure that tens of thousands march on June 25th at 7pm and
then at 10am in Dromoland Castle, Co Clare. Wherever you are get a
Stop Bush meeting going, put up posters, distribute leaflets etc. The
potential is there to make these demos as big as the Feb 15th 150,000
that marched last year. Its up to us to get organised to make sure
that potential is fulfilled. For posters, info, etc contact Rory at
086 1523542
STOP BUSH PROTESTS:
* Friday June 25th -- STOP BUSH Demonstration, 7pm Assemble Garden of
Remembrance Parnell Sq, Dublin contact 086 1523542
REGIONAL DEMOS:
* 7pm Galway: Assemble at City Hall and then Father Burke Park --
contact 086 8343667
* 7pm Waterford: Meet Red Square, contact 0863274015
* 7pm Tralee: Assemble Brandon Hotel, contact 087 6176009
* 7pm Sligo: Assemble Town Hall, contact 086 303 9787
* Saturday June 26th -- Demonstration & March, 9-10am Assemble
Dromoland Castle, Co Clare followed by a march to Shannon, (To book
buses to Dromoland phone: 086 1523542/087 6187680)
Don't miss the When Bush Comes to Shove gig -- with Christy Moore,
Damian Rice, the Revs, Mary Black, Kila, Katell Keineg and comedian
Barry Murphy -- June 19th Point Theatre. All funds raised to go to
IAWM and STOP BUSH CAMPAIGN. Contact us about tickets or check out
http://www.irishantiwar.org/.
*
Wednesday 7th July, 2004
Professor Arend Lijphart
The de Borda Institute has invited Professor Arend Lijphart, a well
recognised protagonist of consociationalism and a patron to The de
Borda Institute, to conduct a seminar on voting procedures in The
Linenhall Library at 10.30 - 12.00 on Wednesday 7th July, 2004.
All welcome on a first-come-first-served basis, but places are
limited. Further details from The de Borda Institute:
pemerson@deborda.org.
*
Friday 9 July
Honouring anti-fascist fighters
A monument to the eleven Waterford men who fought in defence of the
Spanish Republic, 1936-38, will be unveiled at the Mall, Waterford.
The work of the acclaimed artist Michael Warren from Gorey, it will
be unveiled by the International Brigade veterans Michael O'Riordan
and Jack Jones.
Aoine 9 Iúil
In onóir trodaithe frithfhaisisteacha
Nochtfar leacht i gcuimhne ar an aon fhear Port Láirgeach déag
a throid i gcosaint Phoblacht na Spáinne, 1936-38, sa Mheal, Port
Láirge. Saothar de chuid an ealaíontóra mholta Michael
Warren as Guaire is ea é, agus is iad Michael O'Riordan agus Jack
Jones, seansaighdiúirí de chuid na Briogáide
Idirnáisiúnta, a nochtfaidh é.
[from CPI website]
*
Friday, July 30th
BALKANS SEMINAR
Democratic Dialogue is organising a seminar, in conjunction with the
Institute of Governance at Queen's University Belfast and the de
Borda Institute, on 'The Difficulties of Democracy Building, Identity
Formation and Ethnic Nationalism in the Balkans'. The seminar is to
be led by Rory Conces, an assistant professor of philosophy and
member of the International Studies faculty at the University of
Nebraska at Omaha, who is also editor of the International Third
World Studies Journal and Review. The event will take place on
Friday, July 30th, at 11.00am in room 101 Lanyon North (first floor,
Lanyon Building), at Queen's (directions from the porter's lodge at
main entrance). Prof Conces has lectured in China, Croatia, and
Kosovo; as well as having been a Fulbright Scholar in Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Approaching issues of ethnic identity from a political-
philosophical standpoint, his talk will be of considerable resonance
to Northern Ireland.
Further information from robin@democraticdialogue.org.
*
August 2-7-2004
1) Resistance and Hope Assisi, August 2-7
Call for the Anti-imperialist Camp, Assisi, Italy, August 2-7
Mankind is travelling in fear on a train towards the abyss. This
abyss is the mercilessly waged global war. The train is steered by
the United States of America, to be precise, by a group of
adventurers dreaming of a dead and mute world with one single God,
the dollar; with one single banner, that of stars and stripes; with
one single language, that of American oppression.
These adventurers are driven by a vision which neither admits
compromises nor half ways: the clash of civilisations not only with
Islam but also with anybody who believes in the co-operation between
the peoples and who consider peace as the holiest of all values. They
have given a name to their doctrine: "permanent and pre-emptive war"
which not only displays the warmongering character of the North
American regime but also the idea that the US were a superior nation
with a special mission namely to exercise the global predominance at
any cost. The alibi, which this doctrine builds on, is the terrorist
threat. Those who employ indiscriminate force against defenceless and
innocent civilians, those who consider a person guilty if it does not
believe in their God, might believe to be on a straight way to
paradise but surely contribute to the transformation of this world
into an inferno without hope. The only remaining hope of the world is
the Resistance, the struggle of the peoples for freedom and self-
determination.
The American aim is not only to subjugate the poor and oppressed
nations but also those who still enjoy some liberty. The Patriot Act
and the anti-terrorist Black Lists show that the most elementary
democratic rights are at stake also in the West and particularly in
the United States. Virulent racist and chauvinist crusades attempt to
criminalise the anti-imperialist and revolutionary forces as well as
the organisations of immigrants. They even want to silence the peace
movement.
The anti-imperialist Resistance has indestructible roots and dates
back to the very beginning of the imperial North American ambitions.
Where there is oppression there will always be revolt as well, where
there is dictatorship there will always be the struggle for
democracy, where there is injustice there never will be peace.
Today the Iraqi people is testifying for the Resistance keeping up
their heads against the American war criminals and their paranoid
designs to Guantánamise the world. The Iraqi resistance has taken
the way paved by the Palestinian Intifada. By building a united front
of all the fighting forces it will gain further strength transforming
itself into a national liberation war. This front, the embryo of a
future government of a liberated Iraq, will be able once the
invaders are driven out to call upon the Iraqis to elect a
democratic constituent assembly exercising the full and undivided
sovereignty of the Iraqi people.
The future of humanity depends on the outcome of the battle raging in
Iraq. The heroic town of Falluja, having chased away mercenaries
armed with the most sophisticated weaponry, shows that the Iraqi
people are able to win as the Vietnamese people won. The decisive
factor in war even more than in peace is not technological
superiority but what motivates the people to fight.
We have to unite with the Resistance of the Iraqi people to help
mankind to liberate itself from the North American menace.
The future of the world depends on the victory of Iraq!
2) Iraqi presences and programme of Assisi
This year's Anti-imperialist Camp will have its focus on the Iraqi
resistance. The Iraqi Patriotic Alliance (IPA) will present its
efforts to build a common political front of all forces struggling
against occupation. For the Iraqi Democratic Communist Current, which
is a component of the IPA, Ahmed Karim will be present and for the
Iraqi Communist Party (cadre) Nori al-Moradi.
A global meeting of all the forces and committees in open support of
the Iraqi resistance is scheduled. The preparation of the
international day of action for the resistance scheduled for
September 25 will be one of the topics on the agenda.
The preliminary programme:
http://www.antiimperialista.com/en/view.shtml?category=48&id=1083700704&keyword=+.
*******
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*
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Sunday 13 June 2004
The Plough Vol 01 No 43
The Plough #43
13 June 2004
E-Mail Newsletter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party
1) Editorial
2) "Socialism Doesn't Work?"
3) 60th Anniversary of D-Day
4) Saving Private Ivan
5) NIPSA Strike Strong as Ever
6) NIPSA Watch Committee
7) US Nationwide Irish American Rights Group to Hold Convention in
Belfast
8) What's On?
*******
EDITORIAL
Regarding the comments of the Health Secretary for Britain, John
Reid, one fact should be noted. Smoking is the biggest cause of
preventable death in the UK, responsible for 120,000 premature deaths
a year. Now think of that world wide!!!
*******
"SOCIALISM DOESN"T WORK?"
People are accustomed to hear that "socialism is impossible" or that
"socialism doesn't work". The London Guardian recently carried (27
May 2004) an extraordinary article entitled: "Chinese Lesson in How
to Put Food in the Mouths of Millions: World Applause for Beijing's
Record Achievement in Creating and Spreading Wealth". Since 1978,
Socialist China has accounted for three quarters of all the people in
the world lifted out of abject poverty. According to the World Bank,
the number of Chinese people subsisting on a dollar or less a day
(the World Bank's definition of poverty) has dropped from 49 percent
of the population (490 million in 1981) to 6.9 percent (88 million in
2002). Average life expectancy has increased from 35 years in 1949 to
71.4 years today. From 1978 to today, the country's GDP has increased
more than eightfold (from 362.4 billion dollars to 11.9 trillion
dollars) and it is expected to double again in the next ten years.
For more information, visit the following UN link:
http://www.unchina.org/about_china/html/poverty.shtml.
*******
60TH ANNIVERSARY OF D-DAY
On the 60th anniversary of D-Day, the Plough would like to remind its
readers of a few facts ignored during the official commemorations.
Things have to be put in perspective. Who paid the highest price in
the struggle against fascism? 14.5 million Soviet soldiers died
during the Second World War:
* 9.5 million on the Eastern front and in Europe
* 2 million in Asia fighting the Japanese
* 3 million in concentration camps
Among civilians 7 million Russians died, 1 million of them Jews.
Contrast this with the other casualties: Germany, 2.85 million
soldiers and 2.3 million civilians died; The UK lost 271,311 soldiers
and 60,595 civilians; France, 210,000 soldiers and 400,000 civilians,
240,000 of them in camps; USA 292,100 soldiers; Belgium: 9,561
soldiers and 75,000 civilians; The Netherlands: 13,700 soldiers and
236,300 civilians; Italy: 279,820 soldiers and 93,000 civilians;
Japan: 1.5 million soldiers and 300,000 civilians; China: 1.3 million
soldiers and 10 million civilians.
(Source: Grand atlas de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, Larousse -- The
Times, 1990, p. 205.)
Who played the biggest role in the military defeat of the Nazis? Out
of the 783 Nazi Divisions, 607 -- more than three quarters -- were
destroyed on the Eastern front. In contrast, Anglo-American troops
faced a total of 176 Divisions. On the Soviet front, Nazi Germany
lost a total of 77,000 planes (70 percent of all lost), 48,000 tanks
(75 percent), 167,000 artillery pieces (74 percent). The Wehrmart
lost on daily basis 7,055 men, 55 planes, 34 tanks and 118 artillery
pieces.
What did the contemporaries say?
Franklin Roosevelt, President of the USA: "It is difficult to ignore
the simple fact that the Russians killed more enemy troops and
destroyed more enemy material than all the 25 allied nations put
together"
Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister: "...It is the Russian Army
that broke the back of the German war machine..."
General Charles De Gaulle: "Les Français savent ce qu'a fait la
Russie soviétique et ils savent que c'est elle qui a joué le
rôle principal dans leur libération!"
Dwight Eisenhower, Chief of Staff of allied armies in Europe and
Africa: "The campaigns of the Red Army played a decisive role in the
defeat of Germany."
Bernard Montgomery: "We, the British people, will never forget
Russia's achievement"
The Plough proudly remembers the Soviet Union's decisive contribution
to the defeat of fascism. (LOR)
*******
SAVING PRIVATE IVAN
London Guardian
11 June 2004
By Mike Davis
Remember Normandy's heroes -- but also that the Red army played the
decisive role in defeating Nazi Germany.
The decisive battle for the liberation of Europe began 60 years ago
this month when a Soviet guerrilla army emerged from the forests and
bogs of Belorussia to launch a bold surprise attack on the mighty
Wehrmacht's rear.
The partisan brigades, including many Jewish fighters and
concentration-camp escapees, planted 40,000 demolition charges. They
devastated the vital rail lines linking German Army Group Centre to
its bases in Poland and Eastern Prussia.
Three days later, on June 22 1944, the third anniversary of Hitler's
invasion of the Soviet Union, Marshal Zhukov gave the order for the
main assault on German front lines. Twenty-six thousand heavy guns
pulverised German forward positions. The screams of the Katyusha
rockets were followed by the roar of 4,000 tanks and the battle cries
(in more than 40 languages) of 1.6 million Soviet soldiers. Thus
began Operation Bagration, an assault over a 500-mile-long front.
This "great military earthquake", as the historian John Erickson
called it, finally stopped in the suburbs of Warsaw as Hitler rushed
elite reserves from western Europe to stem the Red tide in the east.
As a result, American and British troops fighting in Normandy would
not have to face the best-equipped Panzer divisions.
But what American has ever heard of Operation Bagration? June 1944
signifies Omaha Beach, not the crossing of the Dvina River. Yet the
Soviet summer offensive was several times larger than Operation
Overlord (the invasion of Normandy), both in the scale of forces
engaged and the direct cost to the Germans.
By the end of summer, the Red army had reached the gates of Warsaw as
well as the Carpathian passes commanding the entrance to central
Europe. Soviet tanks had caught Army Group Centre in steel pincers
and destroyed it. The Germans would lose more than 300,000 men in
Belorussia alone. Another huge German army had been encircled and
would be annihilated along the Baltic coast. The road to Berlin had
been opened.
Thank Ivan. It does not disparage the brave men who died in the North
African desert or the cold forests around Bastogne to recall that 70%
of the Wehrmacht is buried not in French fields but on the Russian
steppes. In the struggle against Nazism, approximately 40 "Ivans"
died for every "Private Ryan". Scholars now believe that as many as
27 million Soviet soldiers and citizens perished in the second world
war.
Yet the ordinary Soviet soldier -- the tractor mechanic from Samara,
the actor from Orel, the miner from the Donetsk, or the high-school
girl from Leningrad -- is invisible in the current celebration and
mythologisation of the "greatest generation".
It is as if the "new American century" cannot be fully born without
exorcising the central Soviet role in last century's epochal victory
against fascism. Indeed, most Americans are shockingly clueless about
the relative burdens of combat and death in the second world war. And
even the minority who understand something of the enormity of the
Soviet sacrifice tend to visualise it in terms of crude stereotypes
of the Red army: a barbarian horde driven by feral revenge and
primitive Russian nationalism. Only GI Joe and Tommy are seen as
truly fighting for civilised ideals of freedom and democracy.
It is thus all the more important to recall that -- despite Stalin,
the NKVD and the massacre of a generation of Bolshevik leaders -- the
Red army still retained powerful elements of revolutionary
fraternity. In its own eyes, and that of the slaves it freed from
Hitler, it was the greatest liberation army in history. Moreover, the
Red army of 1944 was still a Soviet army. The generals who led the
breakthrough on the Dvina included a Jew (Chernyakovskii), an
Armenian (Bagramyan), and a Pole (Rokossovskii). In contrast to the
class-divided and racially segregated American and British forces,
command in the Red army was an open, if ruthless, ladder of
opportunity.
Anyone who doubts the revolutionary elan and rank-and-file humanity
of the Red army should consult the extraordinary memoirs of Primo
Levi (The Reawakening) and KS Karol (Between Two Worlds). Both hated
Stalinism but loved the ordinary Soviet soldier and saw in her/him
the seeds of socialist renewal.
So, after George Bush's recent demeaning of the memory of D-day to
solicit support for his war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, I've
decided to hold my own private commemoration.
I will recall, first, my Uncle Bill, the salesman from Columbus, hard
as it is to imagine such a gentle soul as a hell-for-leather teenage
GI in Normandy. Second - as I'm sure my Uncle Bill would've wished --
I will remember his comrade Ivan.
The Ivan who drove his tank through the gates of Auschwitz and
battled his way into Hitler's bunker. The Ivan whose courage and
tenacity overcame the Wehrmacht, despite the deadly wartime errors
and crimes of Stalin. Two ordinary heroes: Bill and Ivan. Obscene to
celebrate the first without also commemorating the second.
* Mike Davis teaches American history at the University of California
at Irvine and is an editor New Left Review; his latest book is "Dead
Cities." miked@uci.edu
*******
SIX MONTHS IN NIPSA STRIKE STRONG AS EVER
This week marks the 6th month anniversary of the beginning of
industrial action by civil servants in the north. At NIPSA's annual
conference last week the left improved its position on the union's
Civil Service Executive, and delegates confirmed without dissent
their determination to see the action through to a successful
conclusion.
As the dispute continues the words and actions of civil service
management have become more provocative by the day. On Thursday, 4
workers in the Rates Collection Agency were suspended without pay by
management for refusing to cover the work of absent colleagues. As a
result a mass walkout of RCA workers took place in Belfast and
Craigavon. In addition, partly spurred on by this attack on their
colleagues, MOT workers yesterday decided to continue their strike
indefinitely. When the strike of NIPSA members at the DSD's flagship
Pensions Centre in Derry is taken into account, at present over 500
workers are currently withdrawing their labour.
Totally oblivious to the counterproductive effect of his statements
Brit Minister Ian Pearson has called on NIPSA members to "take their
heads out of the sand" claiming that they have "little public
sympathy." This may well be the case in Pearson's Dudley constituency
(where he might be better advised to spend more time, if his party's
election fiasco on Thursday is anything to go by), but as been made
clear in countless demonstrations over the past six months, it is
clearly not representative of the working class of the six counties.
(by CC)
*******
NIPSA WATCH COMMITTEE
As NIPSA's industrial action enters it's seventh month, the courage
and sacrifice of the vast majority of members is ever more threatened
by the actions of a selfish few. This is clearly illustrated by the
current situation in Derry's Pensions Centre, where a skeleton
service is being by a tiny number of scabs, in the face of massive
support for the ongoing strike by their colleagues.
Such actions cannot be allowed to continue with impunity. Those who
put private greed before general welfare must be shamed before their
working class neighbours. Therefore, for the record, those scabbing
in the Pensions Centre last week were: ? Lindsay (Ballynahinch), ?
Smith (Newcastle), ? McPolin (Falls Road), ? Orr (Ballymoney), ?
Litter (Lurgan), ?McNally (Lisburn), ? Murphy (Andersonstown) and ?
Ussher (Limavady).
*******
US NATIONWIDE IRISH AMERICAN RIGHTS GROUP TO HOLD 2004 CONVENTION IN
BELFAST
Irish American Unity Conference (IAUC) National Board members, Carol
Russell and Dr Fred Wilcox, booked into a South Belfast guest-house
last week, ahead of the IAUC's November convention in Northern
Ireland to evaluate costs and assess suitable neutral venues for the
annual event.
The IAUC's 2-day program in Ireland is the organisation's first
convention to be held outside of America and when asked why, Russell
said, "The IAUC is discouraging any political party rhetoric during
the Belfast convention. We hear Irish Politicians regularly in
America she said, and our organisation wants to hear from the people
on the ground and obtain their recommendations for positive movements
forward."
Russell said, "The IAUC is inviting all community groups to contact
us. We are encouraging participation from the fullest local spectrum
to what she described as "an IAUC from the heart program". Our goal
she said, is to provide an opportunity for people from all sections
of the community and political opinion in Northern Ireland to speak
openly at an open forum."
The Irish American Unity Conference (IAUC) advocates "the end of
British colonial occupation" and the peaceful reunification of
Ireland describe the program's agenda as "focussing on the
implementation of all the elements of the Good Friday Agreement and
on Collusion."
Further details or enquiries Contact Carol Russell
(ckr@bellatlantic.net) or Jim Gallagher by e-mail at
(JimGall98@juno.com) or by telephone via the IAUC 1-800-947-4282.
IAUC Convention, Belfast: November 12-14, 2004
IAUC web site: http://www.iauc.org/
(Sean McAughey -- 31 May 2004)
*******
WHAT'S ON?
*
Thursday, June 17th
ASYLUM REPORT
The Refugee Action Group is launching a new report on imprisonment of
asylum-seekers. The launch of 'Measuring Misery: Detention of Asylum-
Seekers in Northern Ireland: A Statistical Analysis, 2002-2004' will
take place on Thursday, June 17th, at 12.45 in The Exchange Place, 23
Donegall Street, Belfast. Speaking at the event will be Les Allamby,
director of the Law Centre; Patrick Corrigan, Northern Ireland
programme director for Amnesty International; and a female asylum-
seeker from Zimbabwe, previously detained in Maghaberry jail. Short
presentations will be followed by questions/discussion, and
refreshments including Fairtrade wine (courtesy of the Co-op). Anyone
wishing to attend should contact Cornelius Wiesener at
cornelius.wiesener@amnesty.org.uk.
*
June the 19th
The Anti Racist Network is to hold a protest at the immigration
offices at Belfast International Airport we are asking those with
cars who can attend to contact the ARN as so to give lifts to others.
Details to follow. Picket at the Immigration Office (Belfast
International Airport) on Saturday 19th of June at 2.30 against
current immigration policy
Could people please email ARN or Nathalie (90 244639) if they
need/can provide transport to the International airport.
THANKS. N.
Finally as more and more community and trade union organisations as
well as individuals are joining us, the ARN therefore is to hold
meetings in several towns in the short time ahead to establish new
groups, anyone wishing to establish a local ARN group can again
contact us at antiracism_ni@hotmail.com.
*
Satharn/Saturday
19ú Meitheamh/June 2004
Cumann Ceoil An Chaisleáin The Castle Folk Club
Singer and Songwriters Festival
Ceardlanna/Workshops
(in The Unemployed Resource Centre, beside The John Hewitt)
11.00-12.30 Rosie Stewart and Patricia Flynn
2.00-3.30 Brian Moore
2.00-3.30 Dermot Rooney Slide Guitar
2.00-3.30 Caoimhín Mac Ghiolla Cháthain (Bréag)
5.00-7.00 Traditional Session in The John Hewitt
9.30-late Concert, Ceolchoirm Mhór Halla Dessie Wilson, Conway
Mill, Belfast: Starring Rosie Stewart, Patricia Flynn, Brian Moore,
Caoimhín Mac Ghiolla Cháthain, Dermot Rooney and friends of
Cumann Ceoil An Chaisleáin
Domhanach/Sunday
20ú Meitheamh/June 2004
11.00-12.30 Mary Anne McCracken Historical Walk with Jane Cassidy and
Maurice Leyden (meet at the John Hewitt)
5.00-7.00 Errol Walsh Roots Music Club
9.00-12.00 Cumann Ceoil An Chaisleáin, The Castle Folk Club in The
John Hewitt: Starring Roisin White, Francie McPeake and friends of
Cumann Ceoil An Chaisleáin
*
Wednesday 7th July, 2004
Professor Arend Lijphart
The de Borda Institute has invited Professor Arend Lijphart, a well
recognised protagonist of consociationalism and a patron to The de
Borda Institute, to conduct a seminar on voting procedures in The
Linenhall Library at 10.30 - 12.00 on Wednesday 7th July, 2004.
All welcome on a first-come-first-served basis, but places are
limited. Further details from The de Borda Institute:
pemerson@deborda.org.
*
Friday 9 July
Honouring anti-fascist fighters
A monument to the eleven Waterford men who fought in defence of the
Spanish Republic, 1936-38, will be unveiled at the Mall, Waterford.
The work of the acclaimed artist Michael Warren from Gorey, it will
be unveiled by the International Brigade veterans Michael O'Riordan
and Jack Jones.
Aoine 9 Iúil
In onóir trodaithe frithfhaisisteacha
Nochtfar leacht i gcuimhne ar an aon fhear Port Láirgeach déag
a throid i gcosaint Phoblacht na Spáinne, 1936-38, sa Mheal, Port
Láirge. Saothar de chuid an ealaíontóra mholta Michael
Warren as Guaire is ea é, agus is iad Michael O'Riordan agus Jack
Jones, seansaighdiúirí de chuid na Briogáide
Idirnáisiúnta, a nochtfaidh é.
[from CPI website]
*
Anti War
Upcoming STOP BUSH meetings and other events -- check out
http://www.irishantiwar.org/.
US military is still landing in Shannon and Baldonnel. Ahern and
Cowen will fall over themselves to welcome the warmonger Bush in
June. We must show them up for the war criminals and liars that they
are. The majority of Irish people oppose the visit and want to
protest against it. It is up to us to get that opposition organised
and make sure that tens of thousands march on June 25th at 7pm and
then at 10am in Dromoland Castle, Co Clare. Wherever you are get a
Stop Bush meeting going, put up posters, distribute leaflets etc. The
potential is there to make these demos as big as the Feb 15th 150,000
that marched last year. Its up to us to get organised to make sure
that potential is fulfilled. For posters, info, etc contact Rory at
086 1523542
STOP BUSH PROTESTS:
* Friday June 25th -- STOP BUSH Demonstration, 7pm Assemble Garden of
Remembrance Parnell Sq, Dublin contact 086 1523542
REGIONAL DEMOS:
* 7pm Galway: Assemble at City Hall and then Father Burke Park --
contact 086 8343667
* 7pm Waterford: Meet Red Square, contact 0863274015
* 7pm Tralee: Assemble Brandon Hotel, contact 087 6176009
* 7pm Sligo: Assemble Town Hall, contact 086 303 9787
* Saturday June 26th -- Demonstration & March, 9-10am Assemble
Dromoland Castle, Co Clare followed by a march to Shannon, (To book
buses to Dromoland phone: 086 1523542/087 6187680)
Don't miss the When Bush Comes to Shove gig -- with Christy Moore,
Damian Rice, the Revs, Mary Black, Kila, Katell Keineg and comedian
Barry Murphy -- June 19th Point Theatre. All funds raised to go to
IAWM and STOP BUSH CAMPAIGN. Contact us about tickets or check out
http://www.irishantiwar.org/.
*
Friday, July 30th
BALKANS SEMINAR
Democratic Dialogue is organising a seminar, in conjunction with the
Institute of Governance at Queen's University Belfast and the de
Borda Institute, on 'The Difficulties of Democracy Building, Identity
Formation and Ethnic Nationalism in the Balkans'. The seminar is to
be led by Rory Conces, an assistant professor of philosophy and
member of the International Studies faculty at the University of
Nebraska at Omaha, who is also editor of the International Third
World Studies Journal and Review. The event will take place on
Friday, July 30th, at 11.00am in room 101 Lanyon North (first floor,
Lanyon Building), at Queen's (directions from the porter's lodge at
main entrance). Prof Conces has lectured in China, Croatia, and
Kosovo; as well as having been a Fulbright Scholar in Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Approaching issues of ethnic identity from a political-
philosophical standpoint, his talk will be of considerable resonance
to Northern Ireland.
Further information from robin@democraticdialogue.org.
*
August 2-7-2004
1) Resistance and Hope Assisi, August 2-7
Call for the Anti-imperialist Camp, Assisi, Italy, August 2-7
Mankind is travelling in fear on a train towards the abyss. This
abyss is the mercilessly waged global war. The train is steered by
the United States of America, to be precise, by a group of
adventurers dreaming of a dead and mute world with one single God,
the dollar; with one single banner, that of stars and stripes; with
one single language, that of American oppression.
These adventurers are driven by a vision which neither admits
compromises nor half ways: the clash of civilisations not only with
Islam but also with anybody who believes in the co-operation between
the peoples and who consider peace as the holiest of all values. They
have given a name to their doctrine: "permanent and pre-emptive war"
which not only displays the warmongering character of the North
American regime but also the idea that the US were a superior nation
with a special mission namely to exercise the global predominance at
any cost. The alibi, which this doctrine builds on, is the terrorist
threat. Those who employ indiscriminate force against defenceless and
innocent civilians, those who consider a person guilty if it does not
believe in their God, might believe to be on a straight way to
paradise but surely contribute to the transformation of this world
into an inferno without hope. The only remaining hope of the world is
the Resistance, the struggle of the peoples for freedom and self-
determination.
The American aim is not only to subjugate the poor and oppressed
nations but also those who still enjoy some liberty. The Patriot Act
and the anti-terrorist Black Lists show that the most elementary
democratic rights are at stake also in the West and particularly in
the United States. Virulent racist and chauvinist crusades attempt to
criminalise the anti-imperialist and revolutionary forces as well as
the organisations of immigrants. They even want to silence the peace
movement.
The anti-imperialist Resistance has indestructible roots and dates
back to the very beginning of the imperial North American ambitions.
Where there is oppression there will always be revolt as well, where
there is dictatorship there will always be the struggle for
democracy, where there is injustice there never will be peace.
Today the Iraqi people is testifying for the Resistance keeping up
their heads against the American war criminals and their paranoid
designs to Guantánamise the world. The Iraqi resistance has taken
the way paved by the Palestinian Intifada. By building a united front
of all the fighting forces it will gain further strength transforming
itself into a national liberation war. This front, the embryo of a
future government of a liberated Iraq, will be able once the
invaders are driven out to call upon the Iraqis to elect a
democratic constituent assembly exercising the full and undivided
sovereignty of the Iraqi people.
The future of humanity depends on the outcome of the battle raging in
Iraq. The heroic town of Falluja, having chased away mercenaries
armed with the most sophisticated weaponry, shows that the Iraqi
people are able to win as the Vietnamese people won. The decisive
factor in war even more than in peace is not technological
superiority but what motivates the people to fight.
We have to unite with the Resistance of the Iraqi people to help
mankind to liberate itself from the North American menace.
The future of the world depends on the victory of Iraq!
2) Iraqi presences and programme of Assisi
This year's Anti-imperialist Camp will have its focus on the Iraqi
resistance. The Iraqi Patriotic Alliance (IPA) will present its
efforts to build a common political front of all forces struggling
against occupation. For the Iraqi Democratic Communist Current, which
is a component of the IPA, Ahmed Karim will be present and for the
Iraqi Communist Party (cadre) Nori al-Moradi.
A global meeting of all the forces and committees in open support of
the Iraqi resistance is scheduled. The preparation of the
international day of action for the resistance scheduled for
September 25 will be one of the topics on the agenda.
The preliminary programme:
http://www.antiimperialista.com/en/view.shtml?category=48&id=1083700704&keyword=+.
*******
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*
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13 June 2004
E-Mail Newsletter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party
1) Editorial
2) "Socialism Doesn't Work?"
3) 60th Anniversary of D-Day
4) Saving Private Ivan
5) NIPSA Strike Strong as Ever
6) NIPSA Watch Committee
7) US Nationwide Irish American Rights Group to Hold Convention in
Belfast
8) What's On?
*******
EDITORIAL
Regarding the comments of the Health Secretary for Britain, John
Reid, one fact should be noted. Smoking is the biggest cause of
preventable death in the UK, responsible for 120,000 premature deaths
a year. Now think of that world wide!!!
*******
"SOCIALISM DOESN"T WORK?"
People are accustomed to hear that "socialism is impossible" or that
"socialism doesn't work". The London Guardian recently carried (27
May 2004) an extraordinary article entitled: "Chinese Lesson in How
to Put Food in the Mouths of Millions: World Applause for Beijing's
Record Achievement in Creating and Spreading Wealth". Since 1978,
Socialist China has accounted for three quarters of all the people in
the world lifted out of abject poverty. According to the World Bank,
the number of Chinese people subsisting on a dollar or less a day
(the World Bank's definition of poverty) has dropped from 49 percent
of the population (490 million in 1981) to 6.9 percent (88 million in
2002). Average life expectancy has increased from 35 years in 1949 to
71.4 years today. From 1978 to today, the country's GDP has increased
more than eightfold (from 362.4 billion dollars to 11.9 trillion
dollars) and it is expected to double again in the next ten years.
For more information, visit the following UN link:
http://www.unchina.org/about_china/html/poverty.shtml.
*******
60TH ANNIVERSARY OF D-DAY
On the 60th anniversary of D-Day, the Plough would like to remind its
readers of a few facts ignored during the official commemorations.
Things have to be put in perspective. Who paid the highest price in
the struggle against fascism? 14.5 million Soviet soldiers died
during the Second World War:
* 9.5 million on the Eastern front and in Europe
* 2 million in Asia fighting the Japanese
* 3 million in concentration camps
Among civilians 7 million Russians died, 1 million of them Jews.
Contrast this with the other casualties: Germany, 2.85 million
soldiers and 2.3 million civilians died; The UK lost 271,311 soldiers
and 60,595 civilians; France, 210,000 soldiers and 400,000 civilians,
240,000 of them in camps; USA 292,100 soldiers; Belgium: 9,561
soldiers and 75,000 civilians; The Netherlands: 13,700 soldiers and
236,300 civilians; Italy: 279,820 soldiers and 93,000 civilians;
Japan: 1.5 million soldiers and 300,000 civilians; China: 1.3 million
soldiers and 10 million civilians.
(Source: Grand atlas de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, Larousse -- The
Times, 1990, p. 205.)
Who played the biggest role in the military defeat of the Nazis? Out
of the 783 Nazi Divisions, 607 -- more than three quarters -- were
destroyed on the Eastern front. In contrast, Anglo-American troops
faced a total of 176 Divisions. On the Soviet front, Nazi Germany
lost a total of 77,000 planes (70 percent of all lost), 48,000 tanks
(75 percent), 167,000 artillery pieces (74 percent). The Wehrmart
lost on daily basis 7,055 men, 55 planes, 34 tanks and 118 artillery
pieces.
What did the contemporaries say?
Franklin Roosevelt, President of the USA: "It is difficult to ignore
the simple fact that the Russians killed more enemy troops and
destroyed more enemy material than all the 25 allied nations put
together"
Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister: "...It is the Russian Army
that broke the back of the German war machine..."
General Charles De Gaulle: "Les Français savent ce qu'a fait la
Russie soviétique et ils savent que c'est elle qui a joué le
rôle principal dans leur libération!"
Dwight Eisenhower, Chief of Staff of allied armies in Europe and
Africa: "The campaigns of the Red Army played a decisive role in the
defeat of Germany."
Bernard Montgomery: "We, the British people, will never forget
Russia's achievement"
The Plough proudly remembers the Soviet Union's decisive contribution
to the defeat of fascism. (LOR)
*******
SAVING PRIVATE IVAN
London Guardian
11 June 2004
By Mike Davis
Remember Normandy's heroes -- but also that the Red army played the
decisive role in defeating Nazi Germany.
The decisive battle for the liberation of Europe began 60 years ago
this month when a Soviet guerrilla army emerged from the forests and
bogs of Belorussia to launch a bold surprise attack on the mighty
Wehrmacht's rear.
The partisan brigades, including many Jewish fighters and
concentration-camp escapees, planted 40,000 demolition charges. They
devastated the vital rail lines linking German Army Group Centre to
its bases in Poland and Eastern Prussia.
Three days later, on June 22 1944, the third anniversary of Hitler's
invasion of the Soviet Union, Marshal Zhukov gave the order for the
main assault on German front lines. Twenty-six thousand heavy guns
pulverised German forward positions. The screams of the Katyusha
rockets were followed by the roar of 4,000 tanks and the battle cries
(in more than 40 languages) of 1.6 million Soviet soldiers. Thus
began Operation Bagration, an assault over a 500-mile-long front.
This "great military earthquake", as the historian John Erickson
called it, finally stopped in the suburbs of Warsaw as Hitler rushed
elite reserves from western Europe to stem the Red tide in the east.
As a result, American and British troops fighting in Normandy would
not have to face the best-equipped Panzer divisions.
But what American has ever heard of Operation Bagration? June 1944
signifies Omaha Beach, not the crossing of the Dvina River. Yet the
Soviet summer offensive was several times larger than Operation
Overlord (the invasion of Normandy), both in the scale of forces
engaged and the direct cost to the Germans.
By the end of summer, the Red army had reached the gates of Warsaw as
well as the Carpathian passes commanding the entrance to central
Europe. Soviet tanks had caught Army Group Centre in steel pincers
and destroyed it. The Germans would lose more than 300,000 men in
Belorussia alone. Another huge German army had been encircled and
would be annihilated along the Baltic coast. The road to Berlin had
been opened.
Thank Ivan. It does not disparage the brave men who died in the North
African desert or the cold forests around Bastogne to recall that 70%
of the Wehrmacht is buried not in French fields but on the Russian
steppes. In the struggle against Nazism, approximately 40 "Ivans"
died for every "Private Ryan". Scholars now believe that as many as
27 million Soviet soldiers and citizens perished in the second world
war.
Yet the ordinary Soviet soldier -- the tractor mechanic from Samara,
the actor from Orel, the miner from the Donetsk, or the high-school
girl from Leningrad -- is invisible in the current celebration and
mythologisation of the "greatest generation".
It is as if the "new American century" cannot be fully born without
exorcising the central Soviet role in last century's epochal victory
against fascism. Indeed, most Americans are shockingly clueless about
the relative burdens of combat and death in the second world war. And
even the minority who understand something of the enormity of the
Soviet sacrifice tend to visualise it in terms of crude stereotypes
of the Red army: a barbarian horde driven by feral revenge and
primitive Russian nationalism. Only GI Joe and Tommy are seen as
truly fighting for civilised ideals of freedom and democracy.
It is thus all the more important to recall that -- despite Stalin,
the NKVD and the massacre of a generation of Bolshevik leaders -- the
Red army still retained powerful elements of revolutionary
fraternity. In its own eyes, and that of the slaves it freed from
Hitler, it was the greatest liberation army in history. Moreover, the
Red army of 1944 was still a Soviet army. The generals who led the
breakthrough on the Dvina included a Jew (Chernyakovskii), an
Armenian (Bagramyan), and a Pole (Rokossovskii). In contrast to the
class-divided and racially segregated American and British forces,
command in the Red army was an open, if ruthless, ladder of
opportunity.
Anyone who doubts the revolutionary elan and rank-and-file humanity
of the Red army should consult the extraordinary memoirs of Primo
Levi (The Reawakening) and KS Karol (Between Two Worlds). Both hated
Stalinism but loved the ordinary Soviet soldier and saw in her/him
the seeds of socialist renewal.
So, after George Bush's recent demeaning of the memory of D-day to
solicit support for his war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, I've
decided to hold my own private commemoration.
I will recall, first, my Uncle Bill, the salesman from Columbus, hard
as it is to imagine such a gentle soul as a hell-for-leather teenage
GI in Normandy. Second - as I'm sure my Uncle Bill would've wished --
I will remember his comrade Ivan.
The Ivan who drove his tank through the gates of Auschwitz and
battled his way into Hitler's bunker. The Ivan whose courage and
tenacity overcame the Wehrmacht, despite the deadly wartime errors
and crimes of Stalin. Two ordinary heroes: Bill and Ivan. Obscene to
celebrate the first without also commemorating the second.
* Mike Davis teaches American history at the University of California
at Irvine and is an editor New Left Review; his latest book is "Dead
Cities." miked@uci.edu
*******
SIX MONTHS IN NIPSA STRIKE STRONG AS EVER
This week marks the 6th month anniversary of the beginning of
industrial action by civil servants in the north. At NIPSA's annual
conference last week the left improved its position on the union's
Civil Service Executive, and delegates confirmed without dissent
their determination to see the action through to a successful
conclusion.
As the dispute continues the words and actions of civil service
management have become more provocative by the day. On Thursday, 4
workers in the Rates Collection Agency were suspended without pay by
management for refusing to cover the work of absent colleagues. As a
result a mass walkout of RCA workers took place in Belfast and
Craigavon. In addition, partly spurred on by this attack on their
colleagues, MOT workers yesterday decided to continue their strike
indefinitely. When the strike of NIPSA members at the DSD's flagship
Pensions Centre in Derry is taken into account, at present over 500
workers are currently withdrawing their labour.
Totally oblivious to the counterproductive effect of his statements
Brit Minister Ian Pearson has called on NIPSA members to "take their
heads out of the sand" claiming that they have "little public
sympathy." This may well be the case in Pearson's Dudley constituency
(where he might be better advised to spend more time, if his party's
election fiasco on Thursday is anything to go by), but as been made
clear in countless demonstrations over the past six months, it is
clearly not representative of the working class of the six counties.
(by CC)
*******
NIPSA WATCH COMMITTEE
As NIPSA's industrial action enters it's seventh month, the courage
and sacrifice of the vast majority of members is ever more threatened
by the actions of a selfish few. This is clearly illustrated by the
current situation in Derry's Pensions Centre, where a skeleton
service is being by a tiny number of scabs, in the face of massive
support for the ongoing strike by their colleagues.
Such actions cannot be allowed to continue with impunity. Those who
put private greed before general welfare must be shamed before their
working class neighbours. Therefore, for the record, those scabbing
in the Pensions Centre last week were: ? Lindsay (Ballynahinch), ?
Smith (Newcastle), ? McPolin (Falls Road), ? Orr (Ballymoney), ?
Litter (Lurgan), ?McNally (Lisburn), ? Murphy (Andersonstown) and ?
Ussher (Limavady).
*******
US NATIONWIDE IRISH AMERICAN RIGHTS GROUP TO HOLD 2004 CONVENTION IN
BELFAST
Irish American Unity Conference (IAUC) National Board members, Carol
Russell and Dr Fred Wilcox, booked into a South Belfast guest-house
last week, ahead of the IAUC's November convention in Northern
Ireland to evaluate costs and assess suitable neutral venues for the
annual event.
The IAUC's 2-day program in Ireland is the organisation's first
convention to be held outside of America and when asked why, Russell
said, "The IAUC is discouraging any political party rhetoric during
the Belfast convention. We hear Irish Politicians regularly in
America she said, and our organisation wants to hear from the people
on the ground and obtain their recommendations for positive movements
forward."
Russell said, "The IAUC is inviting all community groups to contact
us. We are encouraging participation from the fullest local spectrum
to what she described as "an IAUC from the heart program". Our goal
she said, is to provide an opportunity for people from all sections
of the community and political opinion in Northern Ireland to speak
openly at an open forum."
The Irish American Unity Conference (IAUC) advocates "the end of
British colonial occupation" and the peaceful reunification of
Ireland describe the program's agenda as "focussing on the
implementation of all the elements of the Good Friday Agreement and
on Collusion."
Further details or enquiries Contact Carol Russell
(ckr@bellatlantic.net) or Jim Gallagher by e-mail at
(JimGall98@juno.com) or by telephone via the IAUC 1-800-947-4282.
IAUC Convention, Belfast: November 12-14, 2004
IAUC web site: http://www.iauc.org/
(Sean McAughey -- 31 May 2004)
*******
WHAT'S ON?
*
Thursday, June 17th
ASYLUM REPORT
The Refugee Action Group is launching a new report on imprisonment of
asylum-seekers. The launch of 'Measuring Misery: Detention of Asylum-
Seekers in Northern Ireland: A Statistical Analysis, 2002-2004' will
take place on Thursday, June 17th, at 12.45 in The Exchange Place, 23
Donegall Street, Belfast. Speaking at the event will be Les Allamby,
director of the Law Centre; Patrick Corrigan, Northern Ireland
programme director for Amnesty International; and a female asylum-
seeker from Zimbabwe, previously detained in Maghaberry jail. Short
presentations will be followed by questions/discussion, and
refreshments including Fairtrade wine (courtesy of the Co-op). Anyone
wishing to attend should contact Cornelius Wiesener at
cornelius.wiesener@amnesty.org.uk.
*
June the 19th
The Anti Racist Network is to hold a protest at the immigration
offices at Belfast International Airport we are asking those with
cars who can attend to contact the ARN as so to give lifts to others.
Details to follow. Picket at the Immigration Office (Belfast
International Airport) on Saturday 19th of June at 2.30 against
current immigration policy
Could people please email ARN or Nathalie (90 244639) if they
need/can provide transport to the International airport.
THANKS. N.
Finally as more and more community and trade union organisations as
well as individuals are joining us, the ARN therefore is to hold
meetings in several towns in the short time ahead to establish new
groups, anyone wishing to establish a local ARN group can again
contact us at antiracism_ni@hotmail.com.
*
Satharn/Saturday
19ú Meitheamh/June 2004
Cumann Ceoil An Chaisleáin The Castle Folk Club
Singer and Songwriters Festival
Ceardlanna/Workshops
(in The Unemployed Resource Centre, beside The John Hewitt)
11.00-12.30 Rosie Stewart and Patricia Flynn
2.00-3.30 Brian Moore
2.00-3.30 Dermot Rooney Slide Guitar
2.00-3.30 Caoimhín Mac Ghiolla Cháthain (Bréag)
5.00-7.00 Traditional Session in The John Hewitt
9.30-late Concert, Ceolchoirm Mhór Halla Dessie Wilson, Conway
Mill, Belfast: Starring Rosie Stewart, Patricia Flynn, Brian Moore,
Caoimhín Mac Ghiolla Cháthain, Dermot Rooney and friends of
Cumann Ceoil An Chaisleáin
Domhanach/Sunday
20ú Meitheamh/June 2004
11.00-12.30 Mary Anne McCracken Historical Walk with Jane Cassidy and
Maurice Leyden (meet at the John Hewitt)
5.00-7.00 Errol Walsh Roots Music Club
9.00-12.00 Cumann Ceoil An Chaisleáin, The Castle Folk Club in The
John Hewitt: Starring Roisin White, Francie McPeake and friends of
Cumann Ceoil An Chaisleáin
*
Wednesday 7th July, 2004
Professor Arend Lijphart
The de Borda Institute has invited Professor Arend Lijphart, a well
recognised protagonist of consociationalism and a patron to The de
Borda Institute, to conduct a seminar on voting procedures in The
Linenhall Library at 10.30 - 12.00 on Wednesday 7th July, 2004.
All welcome on a first-come-first-served basis, but places are
limited. Further details from The de Borda Institute:
pemerson@deborda.org.
*
Friday 9 July
Honouring anti-fascist fighters
A monument to the eleven Waterford men who fought in defence of the
Spanish Republic, 1936-38, will be unveiled at the Mall, Waterford.
The work of the acclaimed artist Michael Warren from Gorey, it will
be unveiled by the International Brigade veterans Michael O'Riordan
and Jack Jones.
Aoine 9 Iúil
In onóir trodaithe frithfhaisisteacha
Nochtfar leacht i gcuimhne ar an aon fhear Port Láirgeach déag
a throid i gcosaint Phoblacht na Spáinne, 1936-38, sa Mheal, Port
Láirge. Saothar de chuid an ealaíontóra mholta Michael
Warren as Guaire is ea é, agus is iad Michael O'Riordan agus Jack
Jones, seansaighdiúirí de chuid na Briogáide
Idirnáisiúnta, a nochtfaidh é.
[from CPI website]
*
Anti War
Upcoming STOP BUSH meetings and other events -- check out
http://www.irishantiwar.org/.
US military is still landing in Shannon and Baldonnel. Ahern and
Cowen will fall over themselves to welcome the warmonger Bush in
June. We must show them up for the war criminals and liars that they
are. The majority of Irish people oppose the visit and want to
protest against it. It is up to us to get that opposition organised
and make sure that tens of thousands march on June 25th at 7pm and
then at 10am in Dromoland Castle, Co Clare. Wherever you are get a
Stop Bush meeting going, put up posters, distribute leaflets etc. The
potential is there to make these demos as big as the Feb 15th 150,000
that marched last year. Its up to us to get organised to make sure
that potential is fulfilled. For posters, info, etc contact Rory at
086 1523542
STOP BUSH PROTESTS:
* Friday June 25th -- STOP BUSH Demonstration, 7pm Assemble Garden of
Remembrance Parnell Sq, Dublin contact 086 1523542
REGIONAL DEMOS:
* 7pm Galway: Assemble at City Hall and then Father Burke Park --
contact 086 8343667
* 7pm Waterford: Meet Red Square, contact 0863274015
* 7pm Tralee: Assemble Brandon Hotel, contact 087 6176009
* 7pm Sligo: Assemble Town Hall, contact 086 303 9787
* Saturday June 26th -- Demonstration & March, 9-10am Assemble
Dromoland Castle, Co Clare followed by a march to Shannon, (To book
buses to Dromoland phone: 086 1523542/087 6187680)
Don't miss the When Bush Comes to Shove gig -- with Christy Moore,
Damian Rice, the Revs, Mary Black, Kila, Katell Keineg and comedian
Barry Murphy -- June 19th Point Theatre. All funds raised to go to
IAWM and STOP BUSH CAMPAIGN. Contact us about tickets or check out
http://www.irishantiwar.org/.
*
Friday, July 30th
BALKANS SEMINAR
Democratic Dialogue is organising a seminar, in conjunction with the
Institute of Governance at Queen's University Belfast and the de
Borda Institute, on 'The Difficulties of Democracy Building, Identity
Formation and Ethnic Nationalism in the Balkans'. The seminar is to
be led by Rory Conces, an assistant professor of philosophy and
member of the International Studies faculty at the University of
Nebraska at Omaha, who is also editor of the International Third
World Studies Journal and Review. The event will take place on
Friday, July 30th, at 11.00am in room 101 Lanyon North (first floor,
Lanyon Building), at Queen's (directions from the porter's lodge at
main entrance). Prof Conces has lectured in China, Croatia, and
Kosovo; as well as having been a Fulbright Scholar in Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Approaching issues of ethnic identity from a political-
philosophical standpoint, his talk will be of considerable resonance
to Northern Ireland.
Further information from robin@democraticdialogue.org.
*
August 2-7-2004
1) Resistance and Hope Assisi, August 2-7
Call for the Anti-imperialist Camp, Assisi, Italy, August 2-7
Mankind is travelling in fear on a train towards the abyss. This
abyss is the mercilessly waged global war. The train is steered by
the United States of America, to be precise, by a group of
adventurers dreaming of a dead and mute world with one single God,
the dollar; with one single banner, that of stars and stripes; with
one single language, that of American oppression.
These adventurers are driven by a vision which neither admits
compromises nor half ways: the clash of civilisations not only with
Islam but also with anybody who believes in the co-operation between
the peoples and who consider peace as the holiest of all values. They
have given a name to their doctrine: "permanent and pre-emptive war"
which not only displays the warmongering character of the North
American regime but also the idea that the US were a superior nation
with a special mission namely to exercise the global predominance at
any cost. The alibi, which this doctrine builds on, is the terrorist
threat. Those who employ indiscriminate force against defenceless and
innocent civilians, those who consider a person guilty if it does not
believe in their God, might believe to be on a straight way to
paradise but surely contribute to the transformation of this world
into an inferno without hope. The only remaining hope of the world is
the Resistance, the struggle of the peoples for freedom and self-
determination.
The American aim is not only to subjugate the poor and oppressed
nations but also those who still enjoy some liberty. The Patriot Act
and the anti-terrorist Black Lists show that the most elementary
democratic rights are at stake also in the West and particularly in
the United States. Virulent racist and chauvinist crusades attempt to
criminalise the anti-imperialist and revolutionary forces as well as
the organisations of immigrants. They even want to silence the peace
movement.
The anti-imperialist Resistance has indestructible roots and dates
back to the very beginning of the imperial North American ambitions.
Where there is oppression there will always be revolt as well, where
there is dictatorship there will always be the struggle for
democracy, where there is injustice there never will be peace.
Today the Iraqi people is testifying for the Resistance keeping up
their heads against the American war criminals and their paranoid
designs to Guantánamise the world. The Iraqi resistance has taken
the way paved by the Palestinian Intifada. By building a united front
of all the fighting forces it will gain further strength transforming
itself into a national liberation war. This front, the embryo of a
future government of a liberated Iraq, will be able once the
invaders are driven out to call upon the Iraqis to elect a
democratic constituent assembly exercising the full and undivided
sovereignty of the Iraqi people.
The future of humanity depends on the outcome of the battle raging in
Iraq. The heroic town of Falluja, having chased away mercenaries
armed with the most sophisticated weaponry, shows that the Iraqi
people are able to win as the Vietnamese people won. The decisive
factor in war even more than in peace is not technological
superiority but what motivates the people to fight.
We have to unite with the Resistance of the Iraqi people to help
mankind to liberate itself from the North American menace.
The future of the world depends on the victory of Iraq!
2) Iraqi presences and programme of Assisi
This year's Anti-imperialist Camp will have its focus on the Iraqi
resistance. The Iraqi Patriotic Alliance (IPA) will present its
efforts to build a common political front of all forces struggling
against occupation. For the Iraqi Democratic Communist Current, which
is a component of the IPA, Ahmed Karim will be present and for the
Iraqi Communist Party (cadre) Nori al-Moradi.
A global meeting of all the forces and committees in open support of
the Iraqi resistance is scheduled. The preparation of the
international day of action for the resistance scheduled for
September 25 will be one of the topics on the agenda.
The preliminary programme:
http://www.antiimperialista.com/en/view.shtml?category=48&id=1083700704&keyword=+.
*******
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*
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Sunday 6 June 2004
The Plough Vol 01 No 42
The Plough #42
6 June 2004
E-Mail Newsletter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party
1) Editorial
2) No More Lies
3) We Have Nothing to Learn from South Africa
4) Keep Water Public
5) Letters
6) What's On?
*******
EDITORIAL
The Plough endorses the statement below entitled "No More Lies." We
call on all who in any way consider themselves Republican and who are
in agreement with the five key points outlined below to send their
names to The Plough beneath the letter.
*******
NO MORE LIES
Throughout the month of May, a group of Republicans met in Belfast.
The purpose of the meetings was to facilitate all Republican ideas,
defend the right of people to pursue them free from fear and ensure
that the freedom to think is safeguarded. The Republicans surveyed
the options available to those intent on promoting Republicanism. As
a result the following points were agreed.
* Within the Republican family there should be room for the open
airing of our disagreements; we cannot move forward until we are able
to do so.
* We believe the criminalisation of Republicanism in the vacuum of
the current process is shameful and contrary to the principles of
Republicanism. It is our duty to stand up against it and speak out.
* It is time for Republicans to reclaim the honour and integrity of
the cause which sustained our beliefs; to stand together against the
tyranny of abuse and intimidation employed against anyone who has the
courage and fortitude to speak out against the wrongs and injustices
they see, or suffer themselves.
* Republicans should stand with each other in repossessing the
ownership of their struggle. It does not belong to a clique, it is
owned by all the people who believe and participate in it.
* Republicanism is not about corruption, intimidation, or isolation
from one another. It is not self serving. It is about the Republic,
and that Republic is about people. The true spirit of Republicanism
is not a cult of personality. It is those who have always been the
hidden backbone -- once upon a time the volunteer, now the taxi
driver, the door man, the day labourer; the support staff in
hospitals, waitresses, school workers; the unemployed, marginalised,
forgotten.
We have all stood together in times of hardship and crisis.
Increasingly we find ourselves standing apart from one another, and
our destinies loosened from our grip and out of our control. We once
believed we would deliver the Republic to each other where we are
equal -- Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter.
Today the ideals we fought for are never spoken of, and those who do
remember them silenced. Our beliefs were traded for the realities of
the current process, a process that suits the interests of political
parties and not the common people. These realities include a
criminalisation of the people's armies; corruption that fills the
coffers of the elite and expands their empires, rather than advances
the Republic; children beaten, shot, tortured; comrades isolated,
spat upon, silenced, imprisoned, disappeared.
No more.
We stand against the tyranny in our midst. It is time to come
together, to convene a congress of Republicans, to determine where we
are going, to support each other no matter our differences, to
reclaim our heritage, integrity and honour, to speak out against
injustice, corruption and criminality, and to stand up for the
Republic.
Stand with us. Make your voice heard.
Martin Cunningham, South Down; Mickey Donnelly, Derry; Paddy Fox,
Tyrone; Tommy Gorman, Belfast; Brendan Hughes, Belfast; John Kelly,
South Derry; Anthony McIntyre, Belfast; Tommy McKearney, Monaghan;
Tony McPhilips, Fermanagh; Kevin McQuillan, Belfast; Clare Murphy,
Belfast; Roisin Ni Sheanain, Belfast; Fionnbarra O'Dochartaigh, Derry;
Mary Ellen O'Doherty, Derry; Noel O'Reilly, Belfast; Liam O'Ruairc,
Belfast; Francie and Geraldine Perry, Downpatrick; Dolours Price,
Dublin; Marian Price, Belfast; Brendan Shannon, Belfast; Carrie
Twomey, Belfast
I wish to add my name to the above list.
NAME AREA ANY OTHER INFORMATION
*******
WE HAVE NOTHING TO LEARN FROM SOUTH AFRICA
(By Suzanne Breen, Belfast News Letter, 3 June 2004)
It has loads of sunshine, endless beaches, and stunning scenery. No
wonder some politicians say Northern Ireland should become more like
South Africa. Paul Murphy, who is on a fact-finding mission there,
said we could learn much from the South African reconciliation
process. Gerry Adams agreed but claimed the British government had a
cheek to use that example. While South Africa enjoyed democracy, we
certainly didn't, he declared. South Africa's admirers would have us
believe it has undergone a fairytale transformation. President De
Klerk (unlike all those obstreperous unionists) displayed courageous
leadership. He embraced change.
Nelson Mandela was freed from jail. He forgave his enemies. An
election was held, the old order collapsed, and -- apart from minor
teething problems and a high crime rate -- everything is hunky dory.
South Africa has moved from pariah state to rainbow nation. Bitter
divisions and prejudices have collapsed. Heck, everybody votes ANC
these days.
Yet Northern Ireland remains wedded to the past. Some of our
politicians still refuse to even shake hands. Ten years into the
peace process, agreement on government, policing, and human rights
remains elusive.
South Africa's problems once appeared as intractable as ours. If they
can sort themselves out, why can't we? But look a little closer and
South Africa isn't quite the shining beacon. Its 'transformation' has
been only skin deep. There has actually been greater change in
Northern Ireland. On taking power, the ANC promised a fairer
distribution of wealth. Everyone had the right to work, a home, and
security, it declared.
That hasn't happened. The new government fell into bed with the
pillars of apartheid -- the foreign multinationals and wealthy
whites. A band of nouveau riche blacks have done well. But most of
their brothers and sisters remain in the gutter. The powerful whites
have given up nothing. They still live in their luxury mansions,
though with bigger dogs and more extensive security systems these
days. Apartheid's end has actually been good for them. No longer the
outcasts of the world, they can now travel, play sport, and do
business wherever they want.
Around 10 million blacks still have no reliable water supply. Whites
fill their swimming pools and lawn sprinkler systems, while black
women in rural areas walk miles to draw water from wells. South
Africa is one of the most unequal countries in the world. The
multinationals, which did business with the old regime -- like Shell,
Coca-Cola and BMW -- have enjoyed huge profit increases.
Eighty-five per cent of the country's wealth is in the hands of a new
middle-class white and black elite, with only five per cent for the
15 million in the largely black under-class. Unemployment at 40% is
substantially higher than under apartheid. One in ten people are
infected with HIV. The ANC completely bungled the Aids epidemic.
Fifty per cent of the budget allocated to the problem was spent on a
stage musical to increase awareness of the disease.
Houses are springing up in a transformed Soweta but new shantytowns,
just as squalid as Soweta ever was, are going up even faster on the
edge of cities. Corruption in government is rife. President Thabo
Mbeki recently acquired a Boeing jet, which cost seven per cent of
the entire national health budget.
Nelson Mandela, universally hailed as a secular saint, approved £4
billion on a foreign arms deal, acquiring huge quantities of weapons
South Africa didn't need. The debt will take 50 years to pay off. The
top ANC brass have been kind to themselves. Many have become
millionaires. They wear suits that make the Sinn Féin leadership
look like they were dressed by Oxfam.
South Africa shouldn't be cited as an example of liberty and justice.
There is little about it that is inspirational. Apartheid survives
today, through money rather than rigid laws. Northern Ireland, for
all its faults, is actually a more equal society.
*******
KEEP WATER PUBLIC
On 11th March 2003, the direct rule minister for Northern Ireland
announced a 'major public consultation' to discuss the reform of
water and sewage services in Northern Ireland.
From the very start, this document was flawed as it claimed the
people of Northern Ireland did not already pay for water and sewage
provision. The fact of the matter is that water charges are included
in the domestic rates bill -- the average paid per household is
£200. To add another £350 to £400 on top as a separate
charge would mean the people of Northern Ireland would be paying
amongst the highest water and sewage charges in the UK.
The ATGWU is leading the fight against water charges and the threat
of around 600 job losses. To date, led by our new assistant general
secretary Jack Dromey, we have united almost all shades of political
opinion against water charges and job losses and the communities.
Jack led a delegation of Northern Ireland water workers to Downing
Street and the minister in charge of this 'back-door privatisation,'
Angela Smith MP, has stood down from this role after admitting she
was 'losing the argument.'
The 'Keep water public' campaign, which is led by lead officer Albert
Mills and senior shop stewards Pat Torley, Davey Gordon, Adrian
Gilmore and Harry McBride, will continue to ensure that they continue
to lose the argument!
For more details contact the ATGWU Belfast office on 02890 232381.
*******
LETTERS
*
Doctors launch 'No' campaign 31 May 2004 08:53
A group of doctors are launching their campaign for a No vote in the
forthcoming referendum on citizenship today. The GPs claim the poll
is an attempt by the Government to deflect anger from the real issues
of under funding of the health services.
Among the 30 doctors who have given their names to the campaign are
the sitting independent TD, Jerry Crowley, and Senator Mary Henry.
BTW For anyone wanting to follow the campaign in the South RTE radio
is available across NI on 567 MW (AM) and 252 long wave also check
out "the last word" 5-7pm on Today FM 105.5/100-102
Vote No: Send a Message to McDowell on June 11th
If we vote 'Yes' on June 11th, children who were born in Ireland, and
have never set foot outside of Ireland, will have no rights as Irish
citizens. They will be liable to be kicked out of their own country.
They will be discriminated against because of where their parents
came from. This proposal is a blatant attempt to whip up racial
prejudice to divert our attention away from real problems like a
crumbling health service, overpriced houses and prefab classrooms.
All of these are the fault of government, not the small number of
Irish children whose skin happens to be a different colour to other
Irish born babies.
They want us to think the problems in the maternity service are
caused by overcrowding as a result of 'too many babies'. But there
has been a dramatic fall in the number of births in Ireland over the
last twenty years. For example, there were 16,604 less births in 2000
than in 1982. The crisis in the health service is a result, of
cutbacks, under funding, and ward closures. 40% of births take place
in 3 hospitals.
One of our busiest hospitals, the National Maternity in Holles
Street, experienced a cut in income of 594,000 Euro between 2001 and
2002, which led to cut-backs in medicines, staff and heating. This
referendum will do nothing to solve these problems. What is needed is
cash for hospitals, not huge grants to rich horse owners. The
government's plan, in the Hanly report, is that 10 more maternity
units in nine counties will be closed.
Instead of blaming the greedy, selfish ruling class and their pals in
Leinster House, we are supposed to take out our frustration on people
with a different colour skin or a different accent. Even more
unpleasantly, we are supposed to take it out on babies!
Our rulers get away with so much because they keep us divided. In the
North they played Protestant off against Catholic, in the South
Bertie and his friends want to play off White against Black. Instead
of getting together with other working people to win improvements, we
are supposed to be happy if we can blame someone worse off then
ourselves. The bosses criminalise immigrant workers because they want
a cheap and obedient workforce to do the less desirable jobs. This
only benefits the rich, who care about nothing but their profits. An
open immigration policy would benefit all Irish people because of the
taxes those legal immigrant workers could be used to increase the
budget for housing, education and health.
The best way to stop immigrants being used as a low pay workforce is
to recruit them into our unions and win decent conditions and
the 'going rate' for all workers. Sadly, because of capitalism, all
children are not equal. A child born to a wealthy business owner has
a much better start in life than one born to a shop assistant or
security guard. The government wants to make this even worse. It
wants to leave some children with no constitutional rights whatsoever.
It is a nasty proposal. You can send the government a message that we
won't scapegoat the children of new arrivals so he can take the heat
off his corrupt friends. Vote NO on June 11th. You can download a one-
page leaflet of this text from
http://struggle.ws/wsm/pdf/leaf/votenojune11.html we'd encourage you
to do this, make a few copies and give them out locally from the
ainriail mailing list. Join at
http://www.struggle.ws/mailman/listinfo/ainriail.
*******
WHAT'S ON?
*
Sunday 13th June
A memorial to Vol. John Morris will be unveiled in Bohernabreena
Cemetery, Dublin, on 13 June 2004 at 2.00pm.
*
Elizabeth Corrie's visit to Belfast
Arrival in Belfast 10.35am Tuesday 8th June
Tuesday 8th 12.30pm-2.00pm Meeting organised by the Committee on the
Administration of Justice, at the N. I. Human Rights Commission
building, 39 North Street, Belfast city centre.
Tuesday 8th June 3.00pm
Meeting with ICTU (informal).
Wed 9th June 12.30pm-2.00pm
Meeting with the Irish Council of Churches.
Wednesday 9th June 3.00-4.30pm
Meeting in Conway Mill, organised jointly with Falls Women's Centre,
for West Belfast community workers and women's groups.
Thursday 10th June 1.00pm - 2.00pm
One World Centre, 4 Lower Crescent, Belfast BT7
Meeting organised by the One World centre, South Belfast.
Meeting with NGOs, development workers and reps of ethnic minority
groups.
Friday 11th June
Journey to Galway (evening meeting).
Elizabeth Corrie is the cousin of Rachel Corrie; the human rights
activist killed 16 March 2003 by an Israeli soldier in Rafah, Gaza
Strip, while she was attempting to prevent the demolition of a
Palestinian civilian home. An educator and activist in Atlanta,
Georgia, Elizabeth has been working to raise awareness about the
significance of Rachel's life, work and death within the context of
the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories.
She works with Atlanta Palestine Solidarity, the American Friends
Service Committee's Middle East Peace Education Program, and the
Rachel Corrie Foundation for Justice and Peace. She has a PhD in
Religion, and teaches classes in ethics, philosophy, theology and non-
violence theories and practices.
The conference Elizabeth is attending in Dublin is 'RELIGIONS AND THE
POLITICS OF PEACE AND CONFLICT, An International Interdisciplinary
Conference,' June 15-17, 2004, Arts Building, Trinity College.
*
Tuesday 8th June
Anti Racist Network events have been organised.
Tuesday 8th June at lunchtime, a picket shall be held outside the
British-Irish Secretariat offices. They are based in Windsor House,
Bedford Street. The picket is to lend solidarity for those opposing
the Racist Citizenship Referendum and who are calling for a no vote.
This referendum in being held in the South of Ireland. The ARN
therefore shall hold a picket and we ask supporters to arrive around
12.45.
Thursday 10th June
A benefit and fund raising gig for the ARN is to be held at the Front
Page, Donegall Street, Belfast, on the 10th June and we both thank
those organising it and also urge persons to attend it. The ARN is
funded only be those who participate in it and by those gigs etc that
are organised by supporters.
Saturday 19th June
The ARN is to hold a protest at the immigration offices at Belfast
International Airport we are asking those with cars who can attend to
contact the ARN as so to give lifts to others. Details to follow.
Finally as more and more community and trade union organisations as
well as individuals are joining us, the ARN therefore is to hold
meetings in several towns in the short time ahead to establish new
groups, anyone wishing to establish a local ARN group can again
contact us at antiracism_ni@hotmail.com.
*
Friday 11th of June
The School of Politics and International Studies
The Centre for the Study of Ethnic Conflict In conjunction with the
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) presents a one-day
conference: 'Interpreting ongoing crises in the Northern Ireland
peace process: International dimensions'
Professor David Schmitt (North Eastern University)
The US War on Terrorism and Its Impact on the Politics of
Accommodation in Northern Ireland.
Dr Christopher Farrington (Queen's University Belfast)
'We're not quite as interesting as we used to be': Conflicting
interpretations of the international dimension among Northern Irish
political elites
Professor Paul Arthur (University of Ulster)
The American-Irish Dimension: Have the dynamics changed?
Dermot Nesbitt MLA (Ulster Unionist Party)
The Northern Ireland problem in the 21st Century European context
Professor Elizabeth Meehan (Queen's University Belfast)
From the EU in NI to NI in the EU
David Russell (Democratic Dialogue)
The unintended consequences of power-sharing: A compared exploration
of the Belfast Agreement and Lebanese Ta'if Accord.
Professor Adrian Guelke (Queen's University Belfast)
The lure of the miracle? The South African connection and the
Northern Ireland peace process
Eoin O'Broin (Sinn Féin)
Sinn Féin and Batasuna: Fact and fiction in an evolving
relationship
Professor Michael Cox (London School of Economics)
'Bringing in the international' Revisited
Places will be strictly limited. If interested please contact
Christopher Farrington, School of Politics and International Studies,
Queen's University Belfast, C.Farrington@qub.ac.uk, 028 9097 3231.
*
Saturday 19th June
IRISH ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT Presents WHEN BUSH COMES TO SHOVE...AN ANTI-
WAR GIG OF TOP IRISH MUSICIANS WILL PERFORM IN A MAJOR CONCERT
AGAINST BUSH'S WAR AND US MILITARY USE OF SHANNON
Featuring Christy Moore, Damien Rice, Mary Black, Kila, The Revs,
Katell Keineg & comedy with Barry Murphy (Aprés Match).
Saturday 19th June -- The Point Depot, Dublin. (Doors Open - 5.30pm)
The concert is aimed at raising awareness of the issues involved in
the protests against Bush, particularly highlighting opposition to
the US war and occupation of Iraq.
Tickets for the event are 30 standing 33.50 seated. (Plus 2 for
agents / 12.5% phone and Internet bookings) Tickets from The Point,
Ticket Master -- Usual outlets. Ph: 0818 719300 Internet:
http://www.ticketmaster.ie/ Also from CTB at Liberty Hall, Dublin.
Ph: 01 8721122 http://www.libertythall.ie/ Or to avoid paying booking
fee and get your tickets directly contact Kieran O'Sullivan at 087 61 87 680.
The funds generated from the gig will be used to finance the costs of
organising and advertising the STOP BUSH CAMPAIGN protests taking
place the following weekend.
Any surplus funds will go to the Irish Anti-War movement to finance
its on-going anti-war work. All of the musicians have generously
offered their services to perform at the concert free.
*
Saturday 19th June
AGAINST THE BUSH VISIT
Protest details: Dublin; Saturday 19th June at Parnell square at
2.30pm Critical mass to Shannon; leaves from end of Dublin march,
ring 0872820906 to join Buses to Shannon (going Friday 25th return
Sat 26th) Ring 086 1767936 to book ticket
Dublin Grassroots Network - More info at http://struggle.ws/dgn.
*
Anti War
1. Stop Bush -- end the occupation
2. Public meeting June 8th in Wynn's Hotel with the Editor of a
Baghdad newspaper
3. Reminder of June 19th Christy Moore and Damian Rice Anti-War gig
4. Anti-War Movement gets office in ATGWU -- appeal for equipment
5. Upcoming STOP BUSH meetings and other events -- check out
irishantiwar.org
1. US military is still landing in Shannon and Baldonnel. Ahern and
Cowen will fall over themselves to welcome the warmonger Bush in
June. We must show them up for the war criminals and liars that they
are. The majority of Irish people oppose the visit and want to
protest against it. It is up to us to get that opposition organised
and make sure that tens of thousands march on June 25th at 7pm and
then at 10am in Dromoland Castle, Co Clare. Wherever you are get a
Stop Bush meeting going, put up posters, distribute leaflets etc. The
potential is there to make these demos as big as the Feb 15th 150,000
that marched last year. Its up to us to get organised to make sure
that potential is fulfilled. For posters, info, etc contact Rory at
086 1523542
STOP BUSH PROTESTS Friday June 25th -- STOP BUSH Demonstration,
7pm
Assemble Garden of Remembrance Parnell Sq, Dublin contact 086 1523542
REGIONAL DEMOS;
* 7pm Galway: Assemble at City Hall and then Father Burke Park --
contact 086 8343667
* 7pm Waterford: Meet Red Square, contact 0863274015
* 7pm Tralee: Assemble Brandon Hotel, contact 087 6176009
* 7pm Sligo: Assemble Town Hall, contact 086 303 9787
* Saturday June 26th –- Demonstration & March, 9-10am Assemble
Dromoland Castle, Co Clare followed by a march to Shannon, (To book
buses to Dromoland >phone: 086 1523542/087 6187680)
2. Dr. Ibrahim Allawi, editor of a Baghdad newspaper will speak at a
Public Meeting on the 8th June at 7pm in Wynn¹s Hotel, Dublin.
Dr. Allawi is the editor in chief of the Baghdad left wing weekly
paper Al Ghad. Ibrahim was a left wing political activist for the
past 55 years, he was in exile for the past 35 years from the Baath
regime. He was sentenced to death in absentia in the 70s by Saddam
Regime. Al Ghad newspaper is the leading newspaper in Baghdad against
the occupation, it used to be published as a quarterly in London from
1978. After the collapse of Saddam regime it started to be published
in Baghdad as a weekly from the beginning of this year.
3. Don't miss the When Bush Comes to Shove gig -- with Christy Moore,
Damian Rice, the Revs, Mary Black, Kila, Katell Keineg and comedian
Barry Murphy -- June 19th Point Theatre. All funds raised to go to
IAWM and STOP BUSH CAMPAIGN. Contact us about tickets or check out
http://www.irishantiwar.org/.
4. The IAWM is now moving into office space in the ATGWU, Abbey St.
The Irish Anti-War Movement has been generously given the use of
office space in the ATGWU hall, Abbey Street, Dublin to organise for
the STOP BUSH demos. This is important for the anti-war movement to
establish itself as a serious and permanent organisation in Ireland.
It is only by having a well-resourced and organised anti-war movement
that we will be in a position to pressure the government to reverse
its support for the US war and to campaigning effectively against the
occupation of Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and so on. We hope you
appreciate therefore our need for substantial resources and equipment
to run the office. If you have any printers, computers, phones,
photocopiers, filing cabinets and any other office equipment to spare
please contact us at 086 523542 or 087 6187680 5. Here is a list of upcoming STOP BUSH meetings and events. Check
them out to find out where and when your local meeting or antiwar
activity takes place.
* Ballymun Against War White Line Picket every Thursday
Ballymun Against War holds a White Line Picket in the Central
reservation near Ballymun's new Civic Centre every Thursday from 5.30-
6.30. All Welcome Details: 086-3074060
*
Wednesday 7th July, 2004
Professor Arend Lijphart
The de Borda Institute has invited Professor Arend Lijphart, a well
recognised protagonist of consociationalism and a patron to The de
Borda Institute, to conduct a seminar on voting procedures in The
Linenhall Library at 10.30 - 12.00 on Wednesday 7th July, 2004.
All welcome on a first-come-first-served basis, but places are
limited. Further details from The de Borda Institute:
pemerson@deborda.org
*
Friday 9 July
Honouring anti-fascist fighters
A monument to the eleven Waterford men who fought in defence of the
Spanish Republic, 1936-38, will be unveiled at the Mall, Waterford.
The work of the acclaimed artist Michael Warren from Gorey, it will
be unveiled by the International Brigade veterans Michael O'Riordan
and Jack Jones.
Aoine 9 Iúil
In onóir trodaithe frithfhaisisteacha
Nochtfar leacht i gcuimhne ar an aon fhear Port Láirgeach déag
a throid i gcosaint Phoblacht na Spáinne, 1936-38, sa Mheal, Port
Láirge. Saothar de chuid an ealaíontóra mholta Michael
Warren as Guaire is ea é, agus is iad Michael O'Riordan agus Jack
Jones, seansaighdiúirí de chuid na Briogáide
Idirnáisiúnta, a nochtfaidh é.
[from CPI website]
*
August 2-7-2004
1) Resistance and Hope Assisi, August 2-7
Call for the Anti-imperialist Camp, Assisi, Italy, August 2-7
Mankind is travelling in fear on a train towards the abyss. This
abyss is the mercilessly waged global war. The train is steered by
the United States of America, to be precise, by a group of
adventurers dreaming of a dead and mute world with one single God,
the dollar; with one single banner, that of stars and stripes; with
one single language, that of American oppression.
These adventurers are driven by a vision which neither admits
compromises nor half ways: the clash of civilisations not only with
Islam but also with anybody who believes in the co-operation between
the peoples and who consider peace as the holiest of all values. They
have given a name to their doctrine: "permanent and pre-emptive war"
which not only displays the warmongering character of the North
American regime but also the idea that the US were a superior nation
with a special mission namely to exercise the global predominance at
any cost. The alibi, which this doctrine builds on, is the terrorist
threat. Those who employ indiscriminate force against defenceless and
innocent civilians, those who consider a person guilty if it does not
believe in their God, might believe to be on a straight way to
paradise but surely contribute to the transformation of this world
into an inferno without hope. The only remaining hope of the world is
the Resistance, the struggle of the peoples for freedom and self-
determination.
The American aim is not only to subjugate the poor and oppressed
nations but also those who still enjoy some liberty. The Patriot Act
and the anti-terrorist Black Lists show that the most elementary
democratic rights are at stake also in the West and particularly in
the United States. Virulent racist and chauvinist crusades attempt to
criminalise the anti-imperialist and revolutionary forces as well as
the organisations of immigrants. They even want to silence the peace
movement.
The anti-imperialist Resistance has indestructible roots and dates
back to the very beginning of the imperial North American ambitions.
Where there is oppression there will always be revolt as well, where
there is dictatorship there will always be the struggle for
democracy, where there is injustice there never will be peace.
Today the Iraqi people is testifying for the Resistance keeping up
their heads against the American war criminals and their paranoid
designs to Guantánamise the world. The Iraqi resistance has taken
the way paved by the Palestinian Intifada. By building a united front
of all the fighting forces it will gain further strength transforming
itself into a national liberation war. This front, the embryo of a
future government of a liberated Iraq, will be able once the
invaders are driven out to call upon the Iraqis to elect a
democratic constituent assembly exercising the full and undivided
sovereignty of the Iraqi people.
The future of humanity depends on the outcome of the battle raging in
Iraq. The heroic town of Falluja, having chased away mercenaries
armed with the most sophisticated weaponry, shows that the Iraqi
people are able to win as the Vietnamese people won. The decisive
factor in war even more than in peace is not technological
superiority but what motivates the people to fight.
We have to unite with the Resistance of the Iraqi people to help
mankind to liberate itself from the North American menace.
The future of the world depends on the victory of Iraq!
2) Iraqi presences and programme of Assisi
This year's Anti-imperialist Camp will have its focus on the Iraqi
resistance. The Iraqi Patriotic Alliance (IPA) will present its
efforts to build a common political front of all forces struggling
against occupation. For the Iraqi Democratic Communist Current, which
is a component of the IPA, Ahmed Karim will be present and for the
Iraqi Communist Party (cadre) Nori al-Moradi.
A global meeting of all the forces and committees in open support of
the Iraqi resistance is scheduled. The preparation of the
international day of action for the resistance scheduled for
September 25 will be one of the topics on the agenda.
The preliminary programme:
http://www.antiimperialista.com/en/view.shtml?category=48&id=1083700704&keyword=+
*******
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*
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6 June 2004
E-Mail Newsletter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party
1) Editorial
2) No More Lies
3) We Have Nothing to Learn from South Africa
4) Keep Water Public
5) Letters
6) What's On?
*******
EDITORIAL
The Plough endorses the statement below entitled "No More Lies." We
call on all who in any way consider themselves Republican and who are
in agreement with the five key points outlined below to send their
names to The Plough beneath the letter.
*******
NO MORE LIES
Throughout the month of May, a group of Republicans met in Belfast.
The purpose of the meetings was to facilitate all Republican ideas,
defend the right of people to pursue them free from fear and ensure
that the freedom to think is safeguarded. The Republicans surveyed
the options available to those intent on promoting Republicanism. As
a result the following points were agreed.
* Within the Republican family there should be room for the open
airing of our disagreements; we cannot move forward until we are able
to do so.
* We believe the criminalisation of Republicanism in the vacuum of
the current process is shameful and contrary to the principles of
Republicanism. It is our duty to stand up against it and speak out.
* It is time for Republicans to reclaim the honour and integrity of
the cause which sustained our beliefs; to stand together against the
tyranny of abuse and intimidation employed against anyone who has the
courage and fortitude to speak out against the wrongs and injustices
they see, or suffer themselves.
* Republicans should stand with each other in repossessing the
ownership of their struggle. It does not belong to a clique, it is
owned by all the people who believe and participate in it.
* Republicanism is not about corruption, intimidation, or isolation
from one another. It is not self serving. It is about the Republic,
and that Republic is about people. The true spirit of Republicanism
is not a cult of personality. It is those who have always been the
hidden backbone -- once upon a time the volunteer, now the taxi
driver, the door man, the day labourer; the support staff in
hospitals, waitresses, school workers; the unemployed, marginalised,
forgotten.
We have all stood together in times of hardship and crisis.
Increasingly we find ourselves standing apart from one another, and
our destinies loosened from our grip and out of our control. We once
believed we would deliver the Republic to each other where we are
equal -- Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter.
Today the ideals we fought for are never spoken of, and those who do
remember them silenced. Our beliefs were traded for the realities of
the current process, a process that suits the interests of political
parties and not the common people. These realities include a
criminalisation of the people's armies; corruption that fills the
coffers of the elite and expands their empires, rather than advances
the Republic; children beaten, shot, tortured; comrades isolated,
spat upon, silenced, imprisoned, disappeared.
No more.
We stand against the tyranny in our midst. It is time to come
together, to convene a congress of Republicans, to determine where we
are going, to support each other no matter our differences, to
reclaim our heritage, integrity and honour, to speak out against
injustice, corruption and criminality, and to stand up for the
Republic.
Stand with us. Make your voice heard.
Martin Cunningham, South Down; Mickey Donnelly, Derry; Paddy Fox,
Tyrone; Tommy Gorman, Belfast; Brendan Hughes, Belfast; John Kelly,
South Derry; Anthony McIntyre, Belfast; Tommy McKearney, Monaghan;
Tony McPhilips, Fermanagh; Kevin McQuillan, Belfast; Clare Murphy,
Belfast; Roisin Ni Sheanain, Belfast; Fionnbarra O'Dochartaigh, Derry;
Mary Ellen O'Doherty, Derry; Noel O'Reilly, Belfast; Liam O'Ruairc,
Belfast; Francie and Geraldine Perry, Downpatrick; Dolours Price,
Dublin; Marian Price, Belfast; Brendan Shannon, Belfast; Carrie
Twomey, Belfast
I wish to add my name to the above list.
NAME AREA ANY OTHER INFORMATION
*******
WE HAVE NOTHING TO LEARN FROM SOUTH AFRICA
(By Suzanne Breen, Belfast News Letter, 3 June 2004)
It has loads of sunshine, endless beaches, and stunning scenery. No
wonder some politicians say Northern Ireland should become more like
South Africa. Paul Murphy, who is on a fact-finding mission there,
said we could learn much from the South African reconciliation
process. Gerry Adams agreed but claimed the British government had a
cheek to use that example. While South Africa enjoyed democracy, we
certainly didn't, he declared. South Africa's admirers would have us
believe it has undergone a fairytale transformation. President De
Klerk (unlike all those obstreperous unionists) displayed courageous
leadership. He embraced change.
Nelson Mandela was freed from jail. He forgave his enemies. An
election was held, the old order collapsed, and -- apart from minor
teething problems and a high crime rate -- everything is hunky dory.
South Africa has moved from pariah state to rainbow nation. Bitter
divisions and prejudices have collapsed. Heck, everybody votes ANC
these days.
Yet Northern Ireland remains wedded to the past. Some of our
politicians still refuse to even shake hands. Ten years into the
peace process, agreement on government, policing, and human rights
remains elusive.
South Africa's problems once appeared as intractable as ours. If they
can sort themselves out, why can't we? But look a little closer and
South Africa isn't quite the shining beacon. Its 'transformation' has
been only skin deep. There has actually been greater change in
Northern Ireland. On taking power, the ANC promised a fairer
distribution of wealth. Everyone had the right to work, a home, and
security, it declared.
That hasn't happened. The new government fell into bed with the
pillars of apartheid -- the foreign multinationals and wealthy
whites. A band of nouveau riche blacks have done well. But most of
their brothers and sisters remain in the gutter. The powerful whites
have given up nothing. They still live in their luxury mansions,
though with bigger dogs and more extensive security systems these
days. Apartheid's end has actually been good for them. No longer the
outcasts of the world, they can now travel, play sport, and do
business wherever they want.
Around 10 million blacks still have no reliable water supply. Whites
fill their swimming pools and lawn sprinkler systems, while black
women in rural areas walk miles to draw water from wells. South
Africa is one of the most unequal countries in the world. The
multinationals, which did business with the old regime -- like Shell,
Coca-Cola and BMW -- have enjoyed huge profit increases.
Eighty-five per cent of the country's wealth is in the hands of a new
middle-class white and black elite, with only five per cent for the
15 million in the largely black under-class. Unemployment at 40% is
substantially higher than under apartheid. One in ten people are
infected with HIV. The ANC completely bungled the Aids epidemic.
Fifty per cent of the budget allocated to the problem was spent on a
stage musical to increase awareness of the disease.
Houses are springing up in a transformed Soweta but new shantytowns,
just as squalid as Soweta ever was, are going up even faster on the
edge of cities. Corruption in government is rife. President Thabo
Mbeki recently acquired a Boeing jet, which cost seven per cent of
the entire national health budget.
Nelson Mandela, universally hailed as a secular saint, approved £4
billion on a foreign arms deal, acquiring huge quantities of weapons
South Africa didn't need. The debt will take 50 years to pay off. The
top ANC brass have been kind to themselves. Many have become
millionaires. They wear suits that make the Sinn Féin leadership
look like they were dressed by Oxfam.
South Africa shouldn't be cited as an example of liberty and justice.
There is little about it that is inspirational. Apartheid survives
today, through money rather than rigid laws. Northern Ireland, for
all its faults, is actually a more equal society.
*******
KEEP WATER PUBLIC
On 11th March 2003, the direct rule minister for Northern Ireland
announced a 'major public consultation' to discuss the reform of
water and sewage services in Northern Ireland.
From the very start, this document was flawed as it claimed the
people of Northern Ireland did not already pay for water and sewage
provision. The fact of the matter is that water charges are included
in the domestic rates bill -- the average paid per household is
£200. To add another £350 to £400 on top as a separate
charge would mean the people of Northern Ireland would be paying
amongst the highest water and sewage charges in the UK.
The ATGWU is leading the fight against water charges and the threat
of around 600 job losses. To date, led by our new assistant general
secretary Jack Dromey, we have united almost all shades of political
opinion against water charges and job losses and the communities.
Jack led a delegation of Northern Ireland water workers to Downing
Street and the minister in charge of this 'back-door privatisation,'
Angela Smith MP, has stood down from this role after admitting she
was 'losing the argument.'
The 'Keep water public' campaign, which is led by lead officer Albert
Mills and senior shop stewards Pat Torley, Davey Gordon, Adrian
Gilmore and Harry McBride, will continue to ensure that they continue
to lose the argument!
For more details contact the ATGWU Belfast office on 02890 232381.
*******
LETTERS
*
Doctors launch 'No' campaign 31 May 2004 08:53
A group of doctors are launching their campaign for a No vote in the
forthcoming referendum on citizenship today. The GPs claim the poll
is an attempt by the Government to deflect anger from the real issues
of under funding of the health services.
Among the 30 doctors who have given their names to the campaign are
the sitting independent TD, Jerry Crowley, and Senator Mary Henry.
BTW For anyone wanting to follow the campaign in the South RTE radio
is available across NI on 567 MW (AM) and 252 long wave also check
out "the last word" 5-7pm on Today FM 105.5/100-102
Vote No: Send a Message to McDowell on June 11th
If we vote 'Yes' on June 11th, children who were born in Ireland, and
have never set foot outside of Ireland, will have no rights as Irish
citizens. They will be liable to be kicked out of their own country.
They will be discriminated against because of where their parents
came from. This proposal is a blatant attempt to whip up racial
prejudice to divert our attention away from real problems like a
crumbling health service, overpriced houses and prefab classrooms.
All of these are the fault of government, not the small number of
Irish children whose skin happens to be a different colour to other
Irish born babies.
They want us to think the problems in the maternity service are
caused by overcrowding as a result of 'too many babies'. But there
has been a dramatic fall in the number of births in Ireland over the
last twenty years. For example, there were 16,604 less births in 2000
than in 1982. The crisis in the health service is a result, of
cutbacks, under funding, and ward closures. 40% of births take place
in 3 hospitals.
One of our busiest hospitals, the National Maternity in Holles
Street, experienced a cut in income of 594,000 Euro between 2001 and
2002, which led to cut-backs in medicines, staff and heating. This
referendum will do nothing to solve these problems. What is needed is
cash for hospitals, not huge grants to rich horse owners. The
government's plan, in the Hanly report, is that 10 more maternity
units in nine counties will be closed.
Instead of blaming the greedy, selfish ruling class and their pals in
Leinster House, we are supposed to take out our frustration on people
with a different colour skin or a different accent. Even more
unpleasantly, we are supposed to take it out on babies!
Our rulers get away with so much because they keep us divided. In the
North they played Protestant off against Catholic, in the South
Bertie and his friends want to play off White against Black. Instead
of getting together with other working people to win improvements, we
are supposed to be happy if we can blame someone worse off then
ourselves. The bosses criminalise immigrant workers because they want
a cheap and obedient workforce to do the less desirable jobs. This
only benefits the rich, who care about nothing but their profits. An
open immigration policy would benefit all Irish people because of the
taxes those legal immigrant workers could be used to increase the
budget for housing, education and health.
The best way to stop immigrants being used as a low pay workforce is
to recruit them into our unions and win decent conditions and
the 'going rate' for all workers. Sadly, because of capitalism, all
children are not equal. A child born to a wealthy business owner has
a much better start in life than one born to a shop assistant or
security guard. The government wants to make this even worse. It
wants to leave some children with no constitutional rights whatsoever.
It is a nasty proposal. You can send the government a message that we
won't scapegoat the children of new arrivals so he can take the heat
off his corrupt friends. Vote NO on June 11th. You can download a one-
page leaflet of this text from
http://struggle.ws/wsm/pdf/leaf/votenojune11.html we'd encourage you
to do this, make a few copies and give them out locally from the
ainriail mailing list. Join at
http://www.struggle.ws/mailman/listinfo/ainriail.
*******
WHAT'S ON?
*
Sunday 13th June
A memorial to Vol. John Morris will be unveiled in Bohernabreena
Cemetery, Dublin, on 13 June 2004 at 2.00pm.
*
Elizabeth Corrie's visit to Belfast
Arrival in Belfast 10.35am Tuesday 8th June
Tuesday 8th 12.30pm-2.00pm Meeting organised by the Committee on the
Administration of Justice, at the N. I. Human Rights Commission
building, 39 North Street, Belfast city centre.
Tuesday 8th June 3.00pm
Meeting with ICTU (informal).
Wed 9th June 12.30pm-2.00pm
Meeting with the Irish Council of Churches.
Wednesday 9th June 3.00-4.30pm
Meeting in Conway Mill, organised jointly with Falls Women's Centre,
for West Belfast community workers and women's groups.
Thursday 10th June 1.00pm - 2.00pm
One World Centre, 4 Lower Crescent, Belfast BT7
Meeting organised by the One World centre, South Belfast.
Meeting with NGOs, development workers and reps of ethnic minority
groups.
Friday 11th June
Journey to Galway (evening meeting).
Elizabeth Corrie is the cousin of Rachel Corrie; the human rights
activist killed 16 March 2003 by an Israeli soldier in Rafah, Gaza
Strip, while she was attempting to prevent the demolition of a
Palestinian civilian home. An educator and activist in Atlanta,
Georgia, Elizabeth has been working to raise awareness about the
significance of Rachel's life, work and death within the context of
the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories.
She works with Atlanta Palestine Solidarity, the American Friends
Service Committee's Middle East Peace Education Program, and the
Rachel Corrie Foundation for Justice and Peace. She has a PhD in
Religion, and teaches classes in ethics, philosophy, theology and non-
violence theories and practices.
The conference Elizabeth is attending in Dublin is 'RELIGIONS AND THE
POLITICS OF PEACE AND CONFLICT, An International Interdisciplinary
Conference,' June 15-17, 2004, Arts Building, Trinity College.
*
Tuesday 8th June
Anti Racist Network events have been organised.
Tuesday 8th June at lunchtime, a picket shall be held outside the
British-Irish Secretariat offices. They are based in Windsor House,
Bedford Street. The picket is to lend solidarity for those opposing
the Racist Citizenship Referendum and who are calling for a no vote.
This referendum in being held in the South of Ireland. The ARN
therefore shall hold a picket and we ask supporters to arrive around
12.45.
Thursday 10th June
A benefit and fund raising gig for the ARN is to be held at the Front
Page, Donegall Street, Belfast, on the 10th June and we both thank
those organising it and also urge persons to attend it. The ARN is
funded only be those who participate in it and by those gigs etc that
are organised by supporters.
Saturday 19th June
The ARN is to hold a protest at the immigration offices at Belfast
International Airport we are asking those with cars who can attend to
contact the ARN as so to give lifts to others. Details to follow.
Finally as more and more community and trade union organisations as
well as individuals are joining us, the ARN therefore is to hold
meetings in several towns in the short time ahead to establish new
groups, anyone wishing to establish a local ARN group can again
contact us at antiracism_ni@hotmail.com.
*
Friday 11th of June
The School of Politics and International Studies
The Centre for the Study of Ethnic Conflict In conjunction with the
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) presents a one-day
conference: 'Interpreting ongoing crises in the Northern Ireland
peace process: International dimensions'
Professor David Schmitt (North Eastern University)
The US War on Terrorism and Its Impact on the Politics of
Accommodation in Northern Ireland.
Dr Christopher Farrington (Queen's University Belfast)
'We're not quite as interesting as we used to be': Conflicting
interpretations of the international dimension among Northern Irish
political elites
Professor Paul Arthur (University of Ulster)
The American-Irish Dimension: Have the dynamics changed?
Dermot Nesbitt MLA (Ulster Unionist Party)
The Northern Ireland problem in the 21st Century European context
Professor Elizabeth Meehan (Queen's University Belfast)
From the EU in NI to NI in the EU
David Russell (Democratic Dialogue)
The unintended consequences of power-sharing: A compared exploration
of the Belfast Agreement and Lebanese Ta'if Accord.
Professor Adrian Guelke (Queen's University Belfast)
The lure of the miracle? The South African connection and the
Northern Ireland peace process
Eoin O'Broin (Sinn Féin)
Sinn Féin and Batasuna: Fact and fiction in an evolving
relationship
Professor Michael Cox (London School of Economics)
'Bringing in the international' Revisited
Places will be strictly limited. If interested please contact
Christopher Farrington, School of Politics and International Studies,
Queen's University Belfast, C.Farrington@qub.ac.uk, 028 9097 3231.
*
Saturday 19th June
IRISH ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT Presents WHEN BUSH COMES TO SHOVE...AN ANTI-
WAR GIG OF TOP IRISH MUSICIANS WILL PERFORM IN A MAJOR CONCERT
AGAINST BUSH'S WAR AND US MILITARY USE OF SHANNON
Featuring Christy Moore, Damien Rice, Mary Black, Kila, The Revs,
Katell Keineg & comedy with Barry Murphy (Aprés Match).
Saturday 19th June -- The Point Depot, Dublin. (Doors Open - 5.30pm)
The concert is aimed at raising awareness of the issues involved in
the protests against Bush, particularly highlighting opposition to
the US war and occupation of Iraq.
Tickets for the event are 30 standing 33.50 seated. (Plus 2 for
agents / 12.5% phone and Internet bookings) Tickets from The Point,
Ticket Master -- Usual outlets. Ph: 0818 719300 Internet:
http://www.ticketmaster.ie/ Also from CTB at Liberty Hall, Dublin.
Ph: 01 8721122 http://www.libertythall.ie/ Or to avoid paying booking
fee and get your tickets directly contact Kieran O'Sullivan at 087 61 87 680.
The funds generated from the gig will be used to finance the costs of
organising and advertising the STOP BUSH CAMPAIGN protests taking
place the following weekend.
Any surplus funds will go to the Irish Anti-War movement to finance
its on-going anti-war work. All of the musicians have generously
offered their services to perform at the concert free.
*
Saturday 19th June
AGAINST THE BUSH VISIT
Protest details: Dublin; Saturday 19th June at Parnell square at
2.30pm Critical mass to Shannon; leaves from end of Dublin march,
ring 0872820906 to join Buses to Shannon (going Friday 25th return
Sat 26th) Ring 086 1767936 to book ticket
Dublin Grassroots Network - More info at http://struggle.ws/dgn.
*
Anti War
1. Stop Bush -- end the occupation
2. Public meeting June 8th in Wynn's Hotel with the Editor of a
Baghdad newspaper
3. Reminder of June 19th Christy Moore and Damian Rice Anti-War gig
4. Anti-War Movement gets office in ATGWU -- appeal for equipment
5. Upcoming STOP BUSH meetings and other events -- check out
irishantiwar.org
1. US military is still landing in Shannon and Baldonnel. Ahern and
Cowen will fall over themselves to welcome the warmonger Bush in
June. We must show them up for the war criminals and liars that they
are. The majority of Irish people oppose the visit and want to
protest against it. It is up to us to get that opposition organised
and make sure that tens of thousands march on June 25th at 7pm and
then at 10am in Dromoland Castle, Co Clare. Wherever you are get a
Stop Bush meeting going, put up posters, distribute leaflets etc. The
potential is there to make these demos as big as the Feb 15th 150,000
that marched last year. Its up to us to get organised to make sure
that potential is fulfilled. For posters, info, etc contact Rory at
086 1523542
STOP BUSH PROTESTS Friday June 25th -- STOP BUSH Demonstration,
7pm
Assemble Garden of Remembrance Parnell Sq, Dublin contact 086 1523542
REGIONAL DEMOS;
* 7pm Galway: Assemble at City Hall and then Father Burke Park --
contact 086 8343667
* 7pm Waterford: Meet Red Square, contact 0863274015
* 7pm Tralee: Assemble Brandon Hotel, contact 087 6176009
* 7pm Sligo: Assemble Town Hall, contact 086 303 9787
* Saturday June 26th –- Demonstration & March, 9-10am Assemble
Dromoland Castle, Co Clare followed by a march to Shannon, (To book
buses to Dromoland >phone: 086 1523542/087 6187680)
2. Dr. Ibrahim Allawi, editor of a Baghdad newspaper will speak at a
Public Meeting on the 8th June at 7pm in Wynn¹s Hotel, Dublin.
Dr. Allawi is the editor in chief of the Baghdad left wing weekly
paper Al Ghad. Ibrahim was a left wing political activist for the
past 55 years, he was in exile for the past 35 years from the Baath
regime. He was sentenced to death in absentia in the 70s by Saddam
Regime. Al Ghad newspaper is the leading newspaper in Baghdad against
the occupation, it used to be published as a quarterly in London from
1978. After the collapse of Saddam regime it started to be published
in Baghdad as a weekly from the beginning of this year.
3. Don't miss the When Bush Comes to Shove gig -- with Christy Moore,
Damian Rice, the Revs, Mary Black, Kila, Katell Keineg and comedian
Barry Murphy -- June 19th Point Theatre. All funds raised to go to
IAWM and STOP BUSH CAMPAIGN. Contact us about tickets or check out
http://www.irishantiwar.org/.
4. The IAWM is now moving into office space in the ATGWU, Abbey St.
The Irish Anti-War Movement has been generously given the use of
office space in the ATGWU hall, Abbey Street, Dublin to organise for
the STOP BUSH demos. This is important for the anti-war movement to
establish itself as a serious and permanent organisation in Ireland.
It is only by having a well-resourced and organised anti-war movement
that we will be in a position to pressure the government to reverse
its support for the US war and to campaigning effectively against the
occupation of Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and so on. We hope you
appreciate therefore our need for substantial resources and equipment
to run the office. If you have any printers, computers, phones,
photocopiers, filing cabinets and any other office equipment to spare
please contact us at 086 523542 or 087 6187680 5. Here is a list of upcoming STOP BUSH meetings and events. Check
them out to find out where and when your local meeting or antiwar
activity takes place.
* Ballymun Against War White Line Picket every Thursday
Ballymun Against War holds a White Line Picket in the Central
reservation near Ballymun's new Civic Centre every Thursday from 5.30-
6.30. All Welcome Details: 086-3074060
*
Wednesday 7th July, 2004
Professor Arend Lijphart
The de Borda Institute has invited Professor Arend Lijphart, a well
recognised protagonist of consociationalism and a patron to The de
Borda Institute, to conduct a seminar on voting procedures in The
Linenhall Library at 10.30 - 12.00 on Wednesday 7th July, 2004.
All welcome on a first-come-first-served basis, but places are
limited. Further details from The de Borda Institute:
pemerson@deborda.org
*
Friday 9 July
Honouring anti-fascist fighters
A monument to the eleven Waterford men who fought in defence of the
Spanish Republic, 1936-38, will be unveiled at the Mall, Waterford.
The work of the acclaimed artist Michael Warren from Gorey, it will
be unveiled by the International Brigade veterans Michael O'Riordan
and Jack Jones.
Aoine 9 Iúil
In onóir trodaithe frithfhaisisteacha
Nochtfar leacht i gcuimhne ar an aon fhear Port Láirgeach déag
a throid i gcosaint Phoblacht na Spáinne, 1936-38, sa Mheal, Port
Láirge. Saothar de chuid an ealaíontóra mholta Michael
Warren as Guaire is ea é, agus is iad Michael O'Riordan agus Jack
Jones, seansaighdiúirí de chuid na Briogáide
Idirnáisiúnta, a nochtfaidh é.
[from CPI website]
*
August 2-7-2004
1) Resistance and Hope Assisi, August 2-7
Call for the Anti-imperialist Camp, Assisi, Italy, August 2-7
Mankind is travelling in fear on a train towards the abyss. This
abyss is the mercilessly waged global war. The train is steered by
the United States of America, to be precise, by a group of
adventurers dreaming of a dead and mute world with one single God,
the dollar; with one single banner, that of stars and stripes; with
one single language, that of American oppression.
These adventurers are driven by a vision which neither admits
compromises nor half ways: the clash of civilisations not only with
Islam but also with anybody who believes in the co-operation between
the peoples and who consider peace as the holiest of all values. They
have given a name to their doctrine: "permanent and pre-emptive war"
which not only displays the warmongering character of the North
American regime but also the idea that the US were a superior nation
with a special mission namely to exercise the global predominance at
any cost. The alibi, which this doctrine builds on, is the terrorist
threat. Those who employ indiscriminate force against defenceless and
innocent civilians, those who consider a person guilty if it does not
believe in their God, might believe to be on a straight way to
paradise but surely contribute to the transformation of this world
into an inferno without hope. The only remaining hope of the world is
the Resistance, the struggle of the peoples for freedom and self-
determination.
The American aim is not only to subjugate the poor and oppressed
nations but also those who still enjoy some liberty. The Patriot Act
and the anti-terrorist Black Lists show that the most elementary
democratic rights are at stake also in the West and particularly in
the United States. Virulent racist and chauvinist crusades attempt to
criminalise the anti-imperialist and revolutionary forces as well as
the organisations of immigrants. They even want to silence the peace
movement.
The anti-imperialist Resistance has indestructible roots and dates
back to the very beginning of the imperial North American ambitions.
Where there is oppression there will always be revolt as well, where
there is dictatorship there will always be the struggle for
democracy, where there is injustice there never will be peace.
Today the Iraqi people is testifying for the Resistance keeping up
their heads against the American war criminals and their paranoid
designs to Guantánamise the world. The Iraqi resistance has taken
the way paved by the Palestinian Intifada. By building a united front
of all the fighting forces it will gain further strength transforming
itself into a national liberation war. This front, the embryo of a
future government of a liberated Iraq, will be able once the
invaders are driven out to call upon the Iraqis to elect a
democratic constituent assembly exercising the full and undivided
sovereignty of the Iraqi people.
The future of humanity depends on the outcome of the battle raging in
Iraq. The heroic town of Falluja, having chased away mercenaries
armed with the most sophisticated weaponry, shows that the Iraqi
people are able to win as the Vietnamese people won. The decisive
factor in war even more than in peace is not technological
superiority but what motivates the people to fight.
We have to unite with the Resistance of the Iraqi people to help
mankind to liberate itself from the North American menace.
The future of the world depends on the victory of Iraq!
2) Iraqi presences and programme of Assisi
This year's Anti-imperialist Camp will have its focus on the Iraqi
resistance. The Iraqi Patriotic Alliance (IPA) will present its
efforts to build a common political front of all forces struggling
against occupation. For the Iraqi Democratic Communist Current, which
is a component of the IPA, Ahmed Karim will be present and for the
Iraqi Communist Party (cadre) Nori al-Moradi.
A global meeting of all the forces and committees in open support of
the Iraqi resistance is scheduled. The preparation of the
international day of action for the resistance scheduled for
September 25 will be one of the topics on the agenda.
The preliminary programme:
http://www.antiimperialista.com/en/view.shtml?category=48&id=1083700704&keyword=+
*******
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