Down with this sort of thing!

Thanks to the publication of a British police intelligence "spotter card" issued to rank & file coppers for a climate change protest in 2007 this week by a British newspaper, many people regardless of whether they are activists in the UK or Ireland or indeed elsewhere in the EU are wondering about their constitutional and statutory rights in the face of the European wide creation of intelligence databases by police forces. Whereas those whose images appeared without prior consent in this week's British media may have recourse to legal action and a bit of chatter, Irish political activists, protesters & ordinary citizens thus far enjoy no public recognition of the existence of such databases in Ireland nor it would appear have any mechanism to ensure that their details if not guilty of any criminal offence are removed from the intelligence files of the Garda Siochana.

Related Link:
Original Article from The Guardian: Doth I Protest Too Much?

Yes to Irish, Blacks, and Dogs. NO to the BNP

As this article is published the leader of the BNP, England's neo-fascist racist political party & one of the principle articulators of European neo-nazism in the English language has entered the BBC studios in London to take part in a BBC "question time" broadcast. The presence of Griffin has not gone without protest or reaction in Britain as much as in Ireland. This article collates much of the recent coverage of that reaction & puts this week's publishing on the internet on "Wikileaks" of the current BNP membership list in context.

But the point of this article is to examine from a leftist and Irish perspective the possible consequences of the BBC invitation to Griffin and the reaction in the liberal English chattering classes and at parliamentary level. Rather than moving to a revamping of the Race Relations Act the British it seems are considering a return to the censorship which was applied to the factions of the north of Ireland in general and Sinn Fein in particular.

Stephen Gately's Funeral
Photo © Michael Gallagher

Today's (October 16th) edition of the English newspaper "The Daily Mail" carried an opinion piece by the English journalist Jan Moir. The homophobia and inherent hatred voiced in the article led to an extraordinary amount of comments on that newspaper's website which together with reaction from other newspapers saw the title of the article changed by mid afternoon. By late afternoon an internet campaign had begun to pressure advertisers who use the Daily Mail to cut their support.

The loss of revenue to the English newspaper might be the most serious blow to its editorial policy of articulating and pandering to middle English prejudice ever. As such the article which prompted this reaction merits archiving.

Excerpts from the Daily Mail article:
"Something is terribly wrong with the way this incident has been shaped and spun into nothing more than an unfortunate mishap on a holiday weekend, like a broken teacup in the rented cottage."
...
"And I think if we are going to be honest, we would have to admit that the circumstances surrounding his death are more than a little sleazy."
...
"Another real sadness about Gately's death is that it strikes another blow to the happy-ever-after myth of civil partnerships."
...
"For once again, under the carapace of glittering, hedonistic celebrity, the ooze of a very different and more dangerous lifestyle has seeped out for all to see."
Read the full article HERE.

INN to close?

More than 50 NUJ members and supporters came down to protest at the proposed loss of jobs at INN.

Journalists from national and regional media organisations gathered in Dublin yesterday for a lunchtime rally in support of Independent Network News workers who are threatened with redundancy.

From the NUJ website:
'The National Union of Journalists is demanding withdrawal of the redundancy notices and at the rally Irish Secretary Séamus Dooley announced that the union has written to chief executive of the Labour Relations Commission Kieran Mulvey seeking an urgent Rights Commissioner hearing into the collective redundancies.'

Embedded Video Description: Video Id: 0w9jlvcjRXk Type: Youtube Video
NUJ protest to defend media workers jobs

It might take more than a car to stop Shell,
but it's a start

This morning the 14 October, a local resident blocked the entrance gate to a Shell construction site for which there is no planning permission, refusing to move until some proof that Shell's actions are legal were provided.

Related Links from Indymedia.ie:
'We Know What You Did This Summer!' - Cork Shell to Sea visits LE Aisling during 'Culture Night' | Niall Harnett Released on Bail from Custody after 15 Days at Castlerea Prison | Two Anti-Shell Campaigners Jailed for Civil Disobedience | A weekend in Erris at the national Shell to Sea meeting | Shell's Lackey's in the Media Out in Force Again | Message to an Bord Snip Nua. Resolve the Recession. Tax Shell! | Reports that Pat the Chief's boat was sunk last night | Massacre of Indigineous Amazonians in Peru - 25 dead and counting | The Pirates of Broadhaven Defeat Shell’s Armada | Prison van carrying Maura into Montjoy blockaded for 20 minutes by Dublin S2S | Shell security attack Willie Corduff after illegal Glengad compound dismantled | Scuffles At Mountjoy As Maura Harrington Is Jailed |

Related Links outside of Indymedia.ie
The website of Shell-to-Sea - CorribSOS.com
Keep the pressure up: Contact ALL TDs, Senators, and MEPs in Ireland and let them know how you feel about Shell in Rossport - Contact.ie