Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005
 RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony
Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony
Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony
RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony
Waiting for SIPO Anthony Public Inquiry >>
Parse failure for http://humanrights.ie/feed/. Last Retry Friday September 19, 2025 08:23
News Round-Up Fri Sep 19, 2025 01:07 | Richard Eldred
A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
We Shouldn?t Welcome Right-Wing Cancel Culture Thu Sep 18, 2025 19:00 | Noah Carl
The Right has spent much of the last decade railing against cancel culture, and was arguably winning the debate. It would be a mistake to abandon that position now.
The post We Shouldn?t Welcome Right-Wing Cancel Culture appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Trump Tells Starmer: Use Military to Stop Small Boats, Drill in the North Sea and Uphold Free Speech Thu Sep 18, 2025 17:00 | Will Jones
Donald Trump?urged?Keir Starmer?to deploy the military to stop the Channel small boats crisis that is "destroying" the country, drill in the North Sea and uphold free speech at a tense joint press conference today.
The post Trump Tells Starmer: Use Military to Stop Small Boats, Drill in the North Sea and Uphold Free Speech appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Egyptian Illegal Migrant Who Raped Woman While Living in Hilton Hotel is a Convicted Islamic Terrori... Thu Sep 18, 2025 15:00 | Will Jones
An Egyptian asylum seeker who was jailed for raping a woman in?London's?Hyde Park while living in the Hilton hotel at taxpayers' expense?has been revealed to be a convicted Islamic terrorist.
The post Egyptian Illegal Migrant Who Raped Woman While Living in Hilton Hotel is a Convicted Islamic Terrorist appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
British Police Order Trump-Supporting Pensioner to Apologise for ?Upsetting? Facebook Post or Face I... Thu Sep 18, 2025 13:51 | Will Jones
British police have been accused of a "dystopian" attack on free speech after an American woman was threatened with investigation over a Facebook post and ordered to "apologise".
The post British Police Order Trump-Supporting Pensioner to Apologise for “Upsetting” Facebook Post or Face Investigation appeared first on The Daily Sceptic. Lockdown Skeptics >>
Voltaire, international edition
Will intergovernmental institutions withstand the end of the "American Empire"?,... Sat Apr 05, 2025 07:15 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N?127 Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:38 | en
Disintegration of Western democracy begins in France Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:00 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N?126 Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:39 | en
The International Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism by Amichai Chikli and Na... Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:31 | en Voltaire Network >>
|
Public scrutiny of Irish arms export licenses needed
 national |
anti-war / imperialism |
opinion/analysis
 Saturday February 28, 2004 13:36 by Eoin Dubsky
When a publican wants to renew his license to sell intoxicating liquor we are all equally entitled to make an objection, in writing or in person to the District Court. If the same guy wanted to start, say, a salmon farm in a nearby estuary (polluting it), he would have to post notices in the papers to alert the public of his plans, who once again could try to stop him with objections and appeals. If his business involved selling lethal weapons for export to regimes which torture and kill their opponents, guess what, his license application would be dealt with in secret by Mary Harney's functionaries in the Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment. No public scrutiny, not even parliamentary scrutiny. The Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment is reviewing Ireland's current arms export control regime, which was slammed by Amnesty International in their 2001 report "Ireland and the arms trade" and by AfrI in their 1996 "Links Report".
On their website, AI wrote: "The present export control system is inadequate in terms of transparency, and accountability and there is no effective parliamentary scrutiny. If the government is to be held accountable to its commitment to human rights, it is essential that the information on military and dual use goods transferred is easily accessible to the public, up-to-date and comprehensive." (http://www.amnesty.ie/user/content/view/full/577)
Parliamentary scrutiny isn't good enough by far though, we need public scrutiny of the arms trade. Ideally every time someone seeks a license to export MSP ("military, security or police") technology they need to post notices in the newspapers, produce a freely-accessible human rights impact assessment (like an environmental impact assessment for the salmon farm in the estuary), and need the concent of the community. There should be a public appeals process too, like there is for planning and pollution licensing.
|
printable version
Digg this
del.icio.us
Furl
Reddit
Technorati
Facebook
Gab
Twitter
View Comments Titles Only
save preference
Comments (1 of 1)
Jump To Comment: 1Thank you Eoin for this posting. This information needs to be kept in the headlines.
Well done for putting it so simply.
Best of luck (Labouring Under Correct Knowledge )
Mary Kelly