DFSAA Street Event, Thursday, Galway

galway | miscellaneous | event notice Sunday November 09, 2003 20:40 by Orla Ni Chomhrai - DFSAA nichomhrai at eircom dot net

The Defend Free Speech, Assembly and Activity Campaign will be having a street event on Moons Corner (outside Brown Thomas)on Thursday at 1pm, where award winning director Donnacha O Brien will come out to voice his opposition to the bye-laws as they currently stand. Please come early to get it kick started. Poets, buskers, performers etc. welcome.

Donnacha O' Brien, Director of Chavez-Inside the Coup, will be participating in a street event with the Defend Free Speech, Activity and Assembly Campaign outside Brown Thomas - Moons Corner, in Galway City. We will have the petition stall and some street preformances. This will be happening around 1pm-2pm (though the stall will be out earlier than this).It will be a bit of fun, and we are making an alternative arrangement in case of bad weather.

AS well as protesting against the Parks and Open Spaces Bye-Laws (which will restrict assembly, busking, sports etc.) we might be celebrating a positive development in relation to the right to leaflet.

On Tuesday next the committee dealing with the litter pollution bye-law will be meeting to discuss this law. In its original draft form this bye-law would have banned leafletting except at times of election or referendum. Now an amended version is being proposed by the Director of Services Michael Burke. This states:

"The Distribution of advertising material to the public within the
administrative area of the Council is hereby prohibited with the exception
of advertisments announcing any event or issues of a religious, cultural,
educational, political, social, recreational or sporting character, not
being an event promoted or carried on for commercial purposes."


If this is accepted it by the committee it will go to the City Council to be voted on. If accepted it will be a victory for the Defend Free Speech, Assembly and Activity Campaign.

This committee meeting (of the Environment SPC ) will take place in Galway City Hall on Tuesday 11th November at 4.30pm. Members of the public are entitled to attend.