From the newswire: To Ireland, from People of Peace and Justice, with love and peace: a message of peace from friends in St. Augustine, Florida!

We are a coalition of concerned citizens in St. Augustine, FL., who feel called to speak out on issues of justice and peace. We believe that the American people possess all the resources necessary to achieve peace, anywhere, through diplomacy. We believe that the U.S. has a moral obligation to seek peace for all who share this world. We invite all to join us in calling for a just and peaceful resolution to the Iraq war and to all conflicts. Now is the time to take personal responsibility for our individual and collective actions that jeopardize the safety and health of humankind. War is not the answer.

This is the first part of three interlinked articles on the potential political role of net based alternative media

The first part looks at American autonomist Marxist Harry Cleaver’s account of how international solidarity networks were built up around the Chiapas revolt in 1994, ‘The Zapatistas and the Electronic Fabric of Struggle’ and at the states’ response to on-line social movement organising, in particular at state actions against the Indymedia network.

The second article, An Historical Overview of Media and Class Struggle argues that the full potential of the Internet for political mobilisation has yet to be realised, as societies where Internet usage is currently widespread are pretty quiescent, with relatively little in the way of social protest and class struggle by comparison with say the 1960s and 70s. This argument is made by an historical overview of the role of the media and alternative media in various instances of protest and struggle.

Finally,The Internet, Communication and Horizontal Organisation looks at the role of the internet in communications, and argues that it can facilitate horizontal as opposed to hierarchal forms of social movement organising.

We were assured during the Irish Ferries saga that it could only happen because it was a maritime industry and landbound Irish jobs were safe. Many newspapers editorialised against escalation and for reasoned negotiation etc, the Irish Examiner was no different.

But a story absent by and large from the Irish media has been the Examiner Group's move to shed its print workers and replace them with lower paid workers in a 'new company' which will print it's stable of papers on contract. Under the new arrangement workers in Ballina and Cork city were invited to agree redundancy, redeployment or a transfer to the 'new firm' - under new conditions of course. Out of a staff of almost 90 only eleven are transferring to the 'new' firm.

In related news Irish Ferries – Great Struggle Terrible Deal offers a post-match analysis focused on the role of ICTU in domesticating the struggle.

Don't get sick in ireland, a friend recently advised me. Of course my friend was referring to our antiquated and underfunded hospital service where there is a better chance of catching MRSA than getting a bed. Lo and behold only a matter of weeks after this comment was made to me and I fell ill. Thankfully my illness didn't necessitate a visit to hospital, however my doctor did advise me that I would be off work for a month and maybe longer and that I should rest and avoid any stressful situations.

Not to worry, I thought, sure I'm insured against this type of thing. I pay my P.R.S.I(almost 5 grand between my own and my employers contribution in 2005) and can therefore claim disability benefit. No problem there. But what about my extortionate rent? I could claim rent allowance from my local C.W.O. So I set about it. First, I had to find out where my local C.W.O operated from. I phoned what used to be the health board and after six phonecalls(daytime rates from a mobile at 55cent per minute) I discovered where to go. So off I set, down to the local health centre which turned out to be a short bus ride away. I would have walked but I am sick and walking any distance is a problem, naturally. No problem said the C.W.O, just get this form (s.w.a 3) filled out. One section to be completed by me, one by the landlord and one by Dublin City Council.

A run down of what filled the newswire over the past 12 months.

Over the last 12 months, the site has grown from strength to strength, with a huge increase in readership, a wide variety of subjects and issues being covered, and more people regularly contributing quality material to the newswire. To welcome our readers and contributors into the new year, the editorial collective have compiled a comprehensive review of the events and stories of the year just gone, that were published on Indymedia Ireland.

We hope that 2006 will continue to see IMC activities increase and improve. Dont forget that you can write for us too - thats the beauty of open publishing. You can become the media with a click of the publish button. We want your stories, images, audio and video!