An Indymedia contributor stumbles out of their weekend lethargy long enough to dust off a hangover and type up this report on a Tony Benn address entitled "Peace, Faith and Power" delivered over two weeks ago on January 23rd to Trinity's Hist. With the dazzling might of the Internet age at my disposal, contemporaneous reporting has never been so exciting…

First the platitudes, Tony Benn is one of Britain's most graceful statesmen, serving over half a century in the British parliament before famously leaving to “devote more time to politics” and declaring himself "free at last" of the parliamentary shackles delaying real struggle.

So why doesn't Shell have a big banner outside their office announcing that they are making record profits? Why don't they issue a press release saying that they are doing better than ever, and things are improving for their shareholders like never before? Why aren't they celebrating?

On February 1st, Shell to Sea protesters in Dublin drew attention to just how much Shell are making by asking passers-by to calculate how long it would take for them to earn what Shell made last year.

Shell's profits don't include the amount of oil and gas reserves they own, or the huge amount of equipment and buildings they are leasing or that they own. This is money that they have after they have paid all the bills (although not the security costs at Bellanaboy- the taxpayer pays that), and everyone's salary. This is pure profit for their shareholders.

This year's figure - €20,000,000,000 - is deceptive because it hides the fact that the dollar is weak at the moment, and energy has to be traded in dollars (Saddam Hussein started to sell oil in euros a few years ago, and look what happened to him). Profits are way up this year.

The company never had it so good.

Related Links: Galway solidarity protest with Rossport   |   Vigil for Shell victims in Belfast   |   Shell to Sea banner display at Patrick's Bridge, Cork

The G8 will be visiting Germany next summer, and the “travelling circus” of protesters (as it was dubbed by Tony Blair) are already mobilising for the occasion. But it seems clear that the hey-day of summit protests is long past.

The great Seattle protest of 1999 put “anti-capitalism” on the mainstream agenda. Having been consigned to the dust-bin of history after 1989, the idea of a left-wing alternative to capitalism was again being discussed. It came as a bit of a shock for those, like Blair, who thought “socialism” had died out with New Romanticism and other naff 80s movements.

Related Links: Indymedia anti-capitalist articles | Indymedia Summit Mobilization stories | Irish Socialist Network |

Thousands gathered in the Creggan, in Derry, Northern Ireland last Sunday to commemorate the murder of civilians by British Paratroopers in 1972.

The vote by Sinn Féin to accept the Northern police was expected, but not unanimously welcome. Anonymous grafitti and a protest banner unfurled during the speeches signalled the disquiet with Sinn Féin's new departure. However, much of the anti-Sinn Féin grafitti had been obscured overnight while Martina Anderson, the Sinn Féin speaker at the rally, said that Sinn Fein's new role would act a check on the PSNI, holding them accountable.

A man climbed outside of Irish embassy in London in protest over the Irish government's collusion with Shell's hellish activities in North West Ireland At midday today, while a samba band played below, a man who wished to be known as "G" climbed the Irish embassy. This was in protest over the Irish government’s collusion with Shell's activities in North West Ireland where they are constructing a pipeline and refinery. Many campaigners claim this pipeline and refinery pose as serious environmental risk. While there have been widespread protests in Ireland itself, many claim that the government of Ireland has given Shell suspiciously favourable business terms on the deal.

The event was good natured on both sides and "G", who was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage, was released within 2 hours with a caution.