Seán Ryan reports on a frank and open discussion with the Mainstream Media with regard to how they report the war. Organised by Miriam Cotton and David Manning of MediaBite, and hosted by DIT, the discussion featured both working journalists and anti-war activists.

Panel:
Pepe Escobar - Asia Times / Real News Network
Dahr Jamail - Independent Journalist
Patrick Smyth - Irish Times Foreign Editor
Joe Zefran - RTE.ie News Editor
Harry Browne - DIT lecturer and journalist
Ciaron O'Reilly - Anti-war Activist
Fergal Keane - RTE Journalist

Related Links:
View the debate streamed at RTÉ.ie
Download the MP3 at archive.org

Fergal Keane 0.05 Mb Patrick Smyth 0.05 Mb Joe Zefran 0.05 Mb

The five day hunger strike by three sacked airport shop stewards, Gordon McNeill, Madan Gupta and Chris Bowyer was suspended at 5.30 this afternoon after the workers received a letter from the union solicitors guaranteeing that their demands would be met.

Related Links: Previous Indy coverage

Why Anarchafeminism?
A women-only discussion hosted by RAG

RAG, the Revolutionary Anarchafeminist Group is now in its third year. The collective was set up in order to explore our ideas and produce a magazine, the Rag. Meetings are held weekly on Mondays, but the first Monday of every month is an open meeting, in which non-members are invited to a workshop or discussion.

On Monday 7th April, the open meeting was entitled “Why Anarchafeminism?” The purpose of the meeting was to encourage women outside of RAG to question and explore their ideas about feminism and anarchism and to draw links between the two. Also, it gave members of the group a chance to revisit the fundamental aspects of our beliefs. The following is a personal account by two of us of the discussion. It is limited by the quality of our notes and recollections. It does not present a RAG position on anything, but is simply an attempt to share some of the ideas that were touched upon with those who were unable to attend.

Related Links: Rag's Blog Feminist Gathering Fundraiser

For us it is important to discuss homelessness because it is not just something that we pass by on the streets guiltily ignoring people or handing out a few pence depending on our humour.

It is definitely not something we just read about in reports or newspapers - it is a problem that we have or could experience in the future. Everyone in the media talks about the Celtic Tiger but we don’t see it in our areas and we see more people on the streets rather than less and we want to know why.

Related Links: Indy Housing Coverage | Focus Ireland | Simon Community

Hunger Strike Update- Gordon McNeill Taken to City Hospital

Hunger striker Gordon McNeill has been rushed to City Hospital for treatment. An ambulance was called to the scene at Transport House due to a deterioration in his condition. Gordon is on his fourth day without food and his second day without water. Also on hunger strike are Madan Gupta and Chris Bowyer. The former airport shop stewards have taken the action to demand talks with the leadership of Unite/TGWU, who have refused to meet with the workers.

For more information, contact Chris Bowyer on 07764850945, Madan Gupta on 07810290938 or Gary Mulcahy on 07743282321.

Related Links: Union official accused Previous Indy coverage UNITE's Belfast Office DearUNITE.com