Ireland

Ireland Jails Three Top Bankers Over 2008 Meltdown

July 31, 2016 Conor Humphries and Mark Heinrich, www.reuters.com Create! 2008 crash, Accountability, Banking, Criminal Justice, Ireland

By Conor Humphries and Mark Heinrich for Reuters. Three senior Irish bankers were jailed on Friday for up to three-and-a-half years for conspiring to defraud investors in the most prominent prosecution arising from the 2008 banking crisis that crippled the country's economy. The trio will be among the first senior bankers globally to be jailed for their role in the collapse of a bank during the crisis. The lack of convictions until now has angered Irish taxpayers, who had to stump up 64 billion euros - almost 40 percent of annual economic output - after a property collapse forced the biggest state bank rescue in the euro zone. The crash thrust Ireland into a three-year sovereign bailout in 2010 and the finance ministry said last month that it could take another 15 years to recover the funds pumped into the banks still operating.

From South Africa To Ireland, #BlackLivesMatter Finds Solidarity Worldwide

July 13, 2016 Nika Knight, www.commondreams.org Resist! #BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Ireland, South Africa

By Nika Knight for Common Dreams - As the U.S. reels from multiple shootings that made international headlines last week, the country's grassroots movement for racial justice and against police brutality has been met with solidarity around the world. Denouncing the recent fatal police shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, people marched and rallied over the weekend and through Tuesday for the Black Lives Matter movement in the UK, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, and South Africa.

Northern Irish Women Ask To Be Prosecuted For Taking Abortion Pills

May 24, 2016 Amelia Gentleman, www.theguardian.com Resist! Abortion, health, Ireland, Women

By Amelia Gentleman for The Guardian - Three women have handed themselves into a police station in Derry, stating they have procured and taken illegal abortion pills and requesting that they be prosecuted, in protest at Northern Ireland’s restrictive abortion laws. Dozens of pro-choice campaigners gathered at Derry police station in support of the women as they handed themselves in for questioning. The women hope to trigger a trial to showcase the archaic nature of the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act – the legislation which makes abortion in Northern Ireland illegal except in extremely rare circumstances.

[Dublin] Squat City Has Been Liberated!

February 22, 2016 The Free Org, www.thefreeonline.wordpress.com Resist! Housing, Ireland

By The Free Org for The Free - Spread the word friends. The warehouse will soon be full of words; the garden has begun regrowing community; music and paint about to burst across the city. At the lower end of Grangegorman and where the block continues along North Brunswick Street, acres of warehouses and yards and houses and space space spaces have been laying vacant far too long, once again. Fromdevelopers to NAMA to developers to judge’s friendsand back to developers for more and more money while people and places rot.

Tens Of Thousands Protest In Ireland Against Water Charges

September 1, 2015 RT, www.rt.com Resist! Ireland, Water

By RT - Tens of thousands of people took part in the anti-water charges protest in Ireland on Saturday, marching through the capital of Dublin to show their dissatisfaction with the government’s policy. It was the first mass rally in the last six months to protest the water charges imposed by the government. Organized by the Right2Water campaign group, it was the fifth major demonstration since the controversial utility fee was levied. The protesters gathered at two meeting points located near the train stations of Heuston in the western part of the city, and Connoly in the city’s east. The demonstration began at 2 pm local time, as crowds of people marched through Dublin’s quays to Spire on O’Connel Street in the city center.

Ireland Showed We Can Get By Without Banks

July 12, 2015 Patrcick Cockburn, www.independent.co.uk Create! Banking, Finance and the Economy, Greece, Ireland

By Patrick Cockburn for the Independent - Shuttered banks are a striking physical symbol of economic disaster, but even they are not proof that the final dénouement is at hand. I recall a six-and-a-half month strike that closed all banks in Ireland in 1970 which was meant to have similarly calamitous results as predicted for Greece today, but in fact had very little destructive impact. Contrary to expectations, Irish people rapidly found other ways of carrying out the functions previously performed by the banking industry. The economist Michael Fogarty, who wrote the official report on the bank dispute, was quoted by the Irish Independent as saying that “the services of the clearing banks proved by no means as indispensable as would have been expected before the dispute”. Others take the example of the Irish bank strike as evidence that much of what banks do is a “socially useless activity”. My father was not alone in enjoying the crisis which turned out to be no such thing. Almost half a century later, many Irish people remember with relish how they successfully replaced the banks with other ways of dealing with payment and credit.

Irish Burn Water Bills, Fly Greek Flag In Solidarity At Mass Dublin Protest

June 22, 2015 Paul Hosford, www.thejournal.ie Resist! Austerity, Greece, Ireland, Water

A LARGE CROWD has marched to the GPO in Dublin today as water charge protests return to the capital. Having taken a backseat to campaigning for the same-sex marriage referendum, is once again at the forefront of the political agenda. Today in Dublin, thousands marched to the GPO, where they heard a speech from independent TD Catherine Murphy and proceeded to burn their Irish Water bills. There were a number of Greek flags on display, as protesters used the event to show solidarity with the country, which is teetering on the edge of default. Union officials and leaders from the Right2Water campaign also addressed the crowds. While there was a small Garda presence, no incidents have been reported.

Ireland: Thousands Say No To Water Charges

June 21, 2015 Jennifer Baker, www.revolution-news.com Resist! Human Rights, Ireland, Water

By Jennifer Baker in Revolution News. Ireland – Today is the latest affirmation of overwhelming public opposition to the privatization of the nations water. Not only is privatizing the nations water a disturbingly bad idea, Dennis O’Brien the head of the ‘Irish Water’ corporation is one of the biggest crooks in the country. People elsewhere might argue that they have to pay water taxes, or charges, but in Ireland, the citizens are already paying increased rates of central tax part of which is earmarked to accommodate the cost of maintaining and upgrading the water supply and infrastructure. Also in 2000, Irish people were given an exemption to the article 9 requirement of the European Commission domestic water directive which requires European governments to charge for domestic water supply, an exemption the current government allowed to expire at the end of 2014.

Over 80,000 Turn Out For Right2Water Protest In Ireland

March 22, 2015 Right2Water, www.facebook.com Resist! Ireland, Privatization, Water

Following today’s massive National Demonstration which saw well over 80,000 people from all over Ireland converge on Dublin to assert their Right2Water, the Right2Water campaign has again called on the Government to abolish domestic water charges. The trade unions affiliated to the campaign are also calling for a referendum to be held following abolition of the charges to enshrine public ownership of our water in the Constitution. Speaking at today’s event, CWU General Secretary Steve Fitzpatrick announced the wording of a proposed constitutional amendment to enshrine water in public ownership in the Constitution following abolition of domestic water charges. A new Article 28 section 4:2:1 would be inserted to read: "The Government shall be collectively responsible for the protection, management and maintenance of the public water system. The Government shall ensure in the public interest that this resource remains in public ownership and management."

The Irish Slave Trade – The Forgotten “White” Slaves

March 17, 2015 John Martin, www.globalresearch.ca Educate! Education, History, Ireland, Slavery

They came as slaves; vast human cargo transported on tall British ships bound for the Americas. They were shipped by the hundreds of thousands and included men, women, and even the youngest of children. Whenever they rebelled or even disobeyed an order, they were punished in the harshest ways. Slave owners would hang their human property by their hands and set their hands or feet on fire as one form of punishment. They were burned alive and had their heads placed on pikes in the marketplace as a warning to other captives. We don’t really need to go through all of the gory details, do we? We know all too well the atrocities of the African slave trade.

The Real Irish American Story Not Taught In Schools

March 17, 2015 Bill Bigelow, www.zinnedproject.org Educate! Education, History, Ireland

“Wear green on St. Patrick’s Day or get pinched.” That pretty much sums up the Irish-American “curriculum” that I learned when I was in school. Yes, I recall a nod to the so-called Potato Famine, but it was mentioned only in passing. Sadly, today’s high school textbooks continue to largely ignore the famine, despite the fact that it was responsible for unimaginable suffering and the deaths of more than a million Irish peasants, and that it triggered the greatest wave of Irish immigration in U.S. history. Nor do textbooks make any attempt to help students link famines past and present. Yet there is no shortage of material that can bring these dramatic events to life in the classroom. Let’s make sure that our schools show some respect, by studying the social forces that starved and uprooted over a million Irish—and that are starving and uprooting people today.

The Slaves That Time Forgot

March 17, 2015 gjohnsit, www.dailykos.com Educate! History, Ireland, Slavery

For some reason, history likes to call these Irish slaves as 'indentured servants'. As if they were somehow considered better than African slaves. This can be considered an attempt at whitewashing the history of the Irish slave trade. There does exist indentured servitude where two parties sign a contract for a limited amount of time. This is not what happened to the Irish from 1625 onward. They were sold as slaves, pure and simple. In reality, they were considered by some to be even lower than the blacks. African slaves were still relatively new, and were expensive to transport such a long distance (50 sterling in the late 1600's). Irish slaves on the other hand, were relatively cheap in comparison (5 sterling).

Large Anti-Water Charge Protests Across Ireland

February 1, 2015 Staff, www.thejournal.ie Resist! Government, Human Rights, Ireland, Water

TheJournal.ie was out on the streets of Dublin asking people why they were marching today. Lorraine from Tallaght, who was walking on crutches said that people have had enough with the current government. “They have tried to blacken protesters as they have nothing else on us. We are just normal people, everyday people, who are saying no more. We are in debt, we are losing our homes, people are taking their lives, and enough is enough. We won’t take it,” she said. “Every age group is here, it is a peaceful protest,” she added. John from Finglas said that the slogan today is “No way, we won’t pay”. He said that he is broken by the taxes he has to pay, but said while he has no problem paying his taxes, this one is just “too far”. He said that the government are “shooting themselves in the foot” by not listening to the people, but said that message will be delivered to them “loud and clear” at the ballot boxes.

Mass Protests Across Ireland Against Water Charges

November 2, 2014 Staff, www.bbc.com Resist! Ireland, Water

Almost 100 separate demonstrations were staged in towns and cities on Saturday, over charges introduced last month. The controversial austerity measure is a key part of the government's plan to pay back the international financial bailout the state had to seek in 2010. It was one of the largest ever mass protests over Irish government policy. Irish state broadcaster, RTÉ, reported that more than 120,000 people attended demonstrations throughout the day. Protests took place in towns and cities across the Republic, including Letterkenny in County Donegal, where up to 7,000 people are believed to have taken to the streets About 20 protests were staged in Dublin, culminating in a crowd of about 10,000 who gathered outside the General Post Office (GPO) building in the city centre. It is not just about water charges, it is about all these taxes that have been forced by the greedy and paid for on the backs of the needy” Éamonn Campbell. RTÉ estimated that another 10,000 protesters took to the streets of Cork city, while in excess of 8,000 people marched in both Letterkenny and Drogheda. Demonstrations in Limerick, Waterford, and Dundalk were estimated to have attracted about 5,000 people each.

Mass Irish Protest: Water Is A Human Right

October 14, 2014 Kitty Holland, www.irishtimes.com Resist! Human Rights, Ireland, Water

Upwards of 50,000 people marched against water charges in Dublin today in one of the largest demonstrations seen in the capital in years. The marchers took one hour and twenty minutes to pass the Spire in O’Connell Street as they made their way from Parnell Square, around the city finishing at the GPO in O’Connell Street. While the Garda press office could not give a figure for the numbers in attendance, one garda observing the march estimated they could be as high as 100,000. “Enough is enough,” said Kathleen McWilliams, a woman in her 50s from Artane.

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