After the Cyprus mauling the fans called for the sacking of Steve Staunton. The FAI got rid of Brian Kerr while Mick McCarty ran under the pressure of his failings. So is it time we forgot about blaming those the FAI appointed as international soccer managers and look towards the FAI as the continuing reasons for the decline in our interantion football team and the long departed good old days of glory?

The appointment by the FAI of Steve Staunton as manager of the Republic of Ireland international football team has once again demonstrated the capability of those who walk the corridors of Merrion Square to professionally handle the responsibilities necessary for an international football team to progress on the international or world stage.

Let us be openly straight and honest about this current situation, the FAI are about as capable of directing the interests of Irish international football as Eamonn Dunphy is of keeping quiet and that is by no means of any disrespect to Eamonn Dunphy. Time and time again the FAI have made one debacle after another, as one crisis runs immediately into another and Irish soccer, be it at a national or international level, is once again placed under the microscope and seen for what it really is.

Other links: A Clear Case of Off-Side | Red card to racism shown at Tolka Park | Roy Keane was right to speak out | Sam Maguire - Irelands most famous Protestant | Ireland v Israel | Israel v Zimbabwe | Opening up Croke Park | Will Handball Ever "Take" in Cooley? | Who Stole the Soul of Manchester United?

“I’m happy with the way the Gardaí have conducted themselves”. Garda Press Officer, Supt. Ray McHugh at Bellanaboy.

In the wake of Tuesday’s dramatic events outside the gates of Shell’s proposed refinery site at Bellanaboy, campaigners were out in force Wednesday and Thursday undeterred by the heavy police presence and inclement weather. For the last two days over 200 local residents and Shell to Sea activists gathered in the semi darkness of the early mornings to voice their opposition to the Corrib gas project and to underline the fact that although work has temporarily recommenced on site, Shell to Sea resistance to this project will continue. In the face of deliberate attempts by Gardaí to opportunistically provoke and inflame the tempers of the protestors at this sensitive time, the nature of the last few days’ protests has been consciously peaceful, as usual, in an effort to diffuse the tension imported by An Garda Síochána.

The effective occupation of the Bellanaboy area by police since Tuesday morning continues. Hundreds of Gardaí who have been drafted into the small community to facilitate Shell’s work remain in the area and have maintained a strong presence outside the proposed refinery site since then. In the same way that Nigeria’s “oil police” violently suppress dissent to Shell’s corporate rape, the Gardaí are effectively Shell’s state provided private army protecting the global giant from the community which it is attempting to destroy. Public roads have been blocked and Garda checkpoints erected. Wednesday morning’s protest witnessed a heavy police presence with luminous coated Gardaí lining the roadside. This morning police presence was more low-key with Gardaí waiting on standby in buses.

At this point in time it is a rare and welcome event when a book by an Irish activist is published and rarer still when a book by an Irish anti-capitalist writer receives widespread praise and acclaim. Clandestines: the Pirate journals of an Irish Exile, which has received a slew of positive reviews following it’s publication in the US by AK Press, is just such a rarity, and as it is being launched in Ireland this week means readers here will soon be able to make their own appraisal of the book.

Although this is Ryan's first full length book many Indymedia readers may have already come across Ryan’s articles and essays before as the author is relatively well known and his work is included in probably two of the most notable collections of anti-capitalist writing of recent years- the Verso Press’ ‘We are Everywhere’ and Softskull Press’ ‘Confronting Capitalism.

Links to some more of Ramor's Writings: We Are Everywhere | Confronting Capitalism | Days of Horror Nights Of War | More online pieces

Late Monday saw a call out from Shell to Sea as rumours circulated that the state was ready to force the construction workers through the blockade at Ballinaboy. At 3.30 a.m. Tuesday morning there was a large amount of police activity with roadblocks being set up and then a woman is injured as the guards insist on forcing the entry of the security staff (who have been previously allowed onto the site without confrontation). At 6.30 a.m. the order goes out to 'Send in the Carrying Squad' and protestors are carried away from the blockade - with one man receiving a broken finger.

By 8 a.m. it was obvious that the decision had been made to re-take Ballinaboy for Shell on the same day that gas prices rise 30% and the Taoiseach is appearing in the Dail over his loans / gifts / whatever your having yourself. According to the guards they deployed 170 directly at Ballinaboy with riot police borught up from Cork on standby. But the mood amongst protestors is resilient and solidarity protests are being organised.

More Coverage:Galway protest at 6pm outside Mill street garda station, Tuesday 2nd Report and pics | Protest outside Shell HQ Lwr. Leeson st. Dublin, at 1 pm Wednesday | Cork Protest Wed. 4th October, 8:30am, Anglesea Garda Station. | Mainstream media claims Shell to Sea is infiltrated by IRA | Audio Updatefrom John Monaghan

Updates: Tuesday Full Account and Photos: | Thursday 5th: More Action in Mayo

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After nearly a fortnight of political turmoil, which Bertie really wishes would have died down by now, today seems to be the D-day on which all of his future will be decided. After his Nixon-esque interview on Six-One, the FF strategists were surely hoping that his personal life being laid bare for the cynical public, as well as his stated intention to pay back the "loans", were enough to silence the hounds. However the Manchester payment, by some group of businessmen, for some vague reason or other, is going to cause him enormous damage, and it remains difficult to see how he could come out on the other side of all this with his image as a simple man of the people intact. Surely even FF are going to be wondering if sticking with their leader is worth it. In the last general election, his face was the face of Fianna Fail, adorning the posters on the lamposts, with the slogan 'A Lot Done, More To Do'. They face losing the next election if Bertie is still at the helm and is the brand of FF.

But by the end of play today - if McDowell does pull the plug and Bertie gets the chop in an internal putsch, and we're all watching a leadership contest, or maybe even a general election nine months sooner than expected - will whatever happens make the slightest bit of difference? I find it hard to believe so. I dont think that any replacement for Bertie will be any less susceptible to corruption. Fianna Fail has always been the friend of the builder, developer, businessman, and whoever else is interested in getting access to the tent at the Galway Races - for the right price.