Report and photos from Connolly Festival

national | rights, freedoms and repression | news report

Wednesday June 21, 2006 16:26

by Labour Youth

The Connolly Festival took place last weekend on Friday evening and all day Saturday. It was well attended by a large and diverse group of activists. On Friday night the same sex marriage discussion was packed to the brim with the meeting overflowing into the next room. What follows are some quotes and notes on what the different contributors said.

Marie Mulholand :

“More than 10 years ago two female friends of mine lived together in a couple and had a child together, living in London. One of these friends, Deborah, was involved in the Nicaraguan support community and wanted to visit Nicaragua. She drowned over there. Our union (UNISON) worked with Nicaraguan comrades to get the body home. Deborah had been ostracised by her family when she came out. They had had no contact with her since, didn’t know she had a child. When Anne arrived to the airport to the body arriving home, they found out that only the “family” had the rights to the body.

No one was at the ceremony, only her parents, who had ostracised her. It was a horrendous situation. There were no rights for Anne. It was a painful experience for all of us who were gay, it brought home with such force exactly where we stood. The experience never left me.”

Marie Mulholand

Same Sex Marriage
Rachel Matthews McKay (Labour LGBT Co-Chair):

“The time has come for the LGBT community and those in the liberal heterosexual community to fight for our rights. None of us are asking for more rights, just the same rights. I want, when the time is right, to be able to ask my girlfriend to marry me, with all the rights that go along with that.”

“Homophobes don’t just come in the face of religious zealots but as politicians, community groups and even LGBT people themselves who don’ stand up and fight and live up only to stereotypes.
I hope we can all find the courage to be advocates and activists for equality and justice. We should all be calling for the recognition of diversity of individuals and family forms.”

Pro-Choice Activism

Jane Horgan Jones – “A motion was brought to UCDSU Council to fulfil the mandate of information provision. The Welfare Officer refused to provide information. I printed off a sheet with information on abortion services and put it on the door of my office. It was continually ripped down along with pictures of aborted foetus and sign saying “infanticide services here” being put up.”

Boycott Killer Coke

Claire Hall (UK Students Against Coke) explained the complicity of Coke in the murder, kidnap, displacement, etc of trade unionists in Colombia.

US military out of Shannon

Cllr Declan Bree:

“We should be proud of the Labour movement’s role in the Irish anti-war movement and against the use of Shannon airport. In this context there should now be assurance from the leadership of the Labour Party that the end of the use of Shannon by the US military should be a precondition to the entry of Government.”