From the Newswire by Seedot: A report and pics from a weekend in London - covers the Camden Centre, Beyond the ESF and the Official ESF.

The ideals of the social forum process speak of the creation of a space for dialog and debate between the many social movements that present an opposition to capitalism. The Porto Allegre principles are designed to ensure as inclusive and broad a forum as possible, to encourage the cross-fertilization of all these strands that make up what is referred to as the 'movement'. While the London organising process has been heavily criticised for its departures from the charter of principles many people traveled to London because of the sheer scale of the event, the opportunity to see the differences between the groups and test the pulse of the European movements. The diversity was supposed to be the strength of the social forum, the size was supposed to overcome the problems in the organising with space for everyone in the various events.

Before I left Dublin I had read of the range of groups and spaces and thought that the weekend would be an opportunity to witness this marvelous coming together that many had spoken of in the social forum process. The weekend before I had sat in a circle at the Irish Social Forum and heard academics, trade unionists, social democrats and anarchists discussing their opposing and complimentary views of neo-liberalism and their strategies for dealing with it. The meeting had been positive, not least for the links that were made and the comparisons drawn with the mass movement that developed in Ireland a century before as Nationalism, Socialism and what came to be Irish Republicanism coalesced to defeat the imperialism of that time. London was supposed to be this on a much larger stage.

Flying home my feelings were more of frustration and opportunities missed than any real satisfaction or excitement. I attended events at the Indymedia Centre in Camden, at the Beyond the ESF in Tottenham and the 'Official' ESF at Alexander Palace. Each event was well organised and attended yet it felt like I had been to three conferences in the one weekend. The frustration was that the linkages and cross fertilizations seem to have been ruled out even before the event began as each of the movements retreated into its own space, establishing multiple fora which talked amongst themselves. While what happened was thoughtful, sincere and at times exciting it was what didn't happen that left the lasting impression.

From The Newswire: "Anti Fascist Action (AFA) wishes to state that we are the organisation which prevented the fascist Justin Barrett from speaking at an 'Immigration Debate' in University College Dublin last night. A number of other people attending the event also joined us in preventing a platform being granted to Barrett.

AFA has a policy of 'No Platform' for fascists, which means that anyone attempting to organise fascist or racist political groups will not be permitted to do so. We believe in political and ideological opposition to the far right, and have been active in Ireland for the past 12 years.

The 'No Platform' policy relates to ANYWHERE fascists may attempt to organise or spread their repugnant views. It is quite humourous to hear spokespeople for debating societies attempting to claim UCD as an ideological asylum where the likes of Justin Barrett can claim sanctuary. This is not the case.

We would also like to clarify regarding a young male member of the audience who spoke at the end and claimed he was an innocent student who had been assaulted. As a result of AFA monitoring and information received over several years we know for a fact that this bonehead is a member of a 'National Socialist Black Metal' band calling itself 'Ketzer'. He is a frequent contributor to the openly Nazi 'Stormfront' website."

Related Stories / Info
Example of a University 'No Platform' Policy
Sunday Mirror Article on Justin Barrett's Neo-Nazi Links
Article announcing the L&H meeting and detailing Barrett's fascist links
Justin Barret 'Attacked' while attending UCD debate
Fascist Barrett scores hit with great & good of NUI Galway
Neo-Nazis at Lit. & Deb. Forum in NUI Galway - report from ucdsu.net
Barrett's Friends and Supporters.

Click here to download the MP3 interview from radio.indymedia.org with Rita Fagan.

Transport and airport workers, along with Aer Rianta and SIPTU officials, may have been dancing a jig of schadenfreudic glee at the clipping of Seamus Brennan's wings from his post as Minister for Transport; but his replacement Martin Cullen, is no stranger to privatising public resources. During Cullen's time as Minister for the Environment, he presided over the M50/Carrickmines saga, and also pursued the construction of the M3 through the Tara Skreen Valley with renewed vigour. His commitment to public transport is minimal. He also undermined the local democratic process in Dublin by imposing a PPP (Public Private Partnership) on St. Michael's Estate in Inchicore, usurping years of consultation and negotiation with the tenants of the estate.

St. Michael's Estate was built in 1969, at the same time that Ballymun rose up on the other side of the city. The community within the estate has a long history pre-dating the construction of the flats. Originally Richmond Barracks during English rule, it was given over to the new Free State Army in 1923. In the 1940's the Army moved out and the land was given to Dublin Corporation (now Dublin City Council). Around this time the area was known as Keogh Square, which was primarily composed of tenements, and had the name of being a slum on the city fringe. When the flats were being built, there was a huge demand of people who wanted to be housed there. There was heating, green spaces, and of course high-rise communities were viewed as the way of the future.

In the late 1970's and early 1980's the social and living conditions on St. Michael's Estate started to decline. Working families were given housing grants of £5,000 by the Council, so many of them simply moved out. Single parents were given flats, and the Council rarely investigated the people it was housing. What was once a traditional stable family society became a single parent society, and this created gaps and imbalances in the social fabric. The long-term residents of the estate were increasingly exasperated with the Council officials making decisions in the city centre without any local consultation, and so in 1986 a group of women set up the St. Michael's Family Resource Centre, which is located in a ground floor flat on the estate.

Edgar Paez a leader of the Colombian Coca Cola workers’ union Sinaltrainal is due to visit Ireland to meet with Irish trade unionists and to address the Irish public. The international boycott of Coke products launched by Sinaltrainal last year has received the support of three unions that operate in Ireland.

So far, Unison, NIPSA and the TUI have backed the boycott at their annual conference. The decision by the TUI was the most public and controversial decision. SIPTU officials have brought pressure ot bear on the TUI and have tried to get the union to reverse its conference decision.

Edgar Paez was invited here by the Latin America Solidarity Centre to meet those trade unionists and student organisations that have given their support to the boycott. The boycott campaign has met with fierce opposition from sections of SIPTU. The food and drinks branch has been to the forefront in that campaign. However, it would seem that their position is not by any means the unanimous view of the Irish trade union movement.

On Thursday 7th of October a motion was put to the Dublin Regional Conference of SIPTU to disinvest from Coke and sell their shares. The same trade-unionists who said that their disagreement with the boycott was tactical also opposed disinvestment. However, despite a concerted campaign by the Regional Executive the conference only narrowly voted not to sell its shares in Coke. The vote was 156 against the motion and 142 in favour.

It would seem that the “position of the ICTU” might not be in line with that of many of its members. Edgar Paez has requested a meeting with the workers of Coca Cola in a letter to Jack O Connor the president of SIPTU. A meeting has duly been arranged for just before the public meeting on Monday. He has also arranged to meet people from the TUI and NIPSA during his visit.

Sinaltrainal have had a tough time from trade union officials as outlined by its president Javier Correa who has accused some IUF (International Union of Food and Drink Workers) officials of having a similar ideology to Coke. Coke have also recently contracted Jack Otero - a leading trade unionist from the AFL-CIO in the USA - to run its counter-campaign.

Edgar will also speak at Wynne’s Hotel, at 7.30 PM on Monday October 18th. This event is organised by Lasc and all are welcome.

Indymedia Ireland Archive on the battle between Coke and Colombian workers

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Read statements of support for Vanunu allowing to make a new home in Ireland by Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Daniel Ellsberg, Katharine Gun, Garret FitzGerald and more.... The Irish Asylum for Vanunu Project Website is at freewebs.com/Vanunu2Ireland

In 1986 Mordechai Vanunu offered information about Israel's secret Dimona nuclear 'research center' programme to The Sunday Times, later that year he was drugged and kidnapped in Italy by Israeli agents, was tried and convicted in Israel for treason and spent eighteen years in Ashkelon prison, twelve of which were in solitary confinement in a two-by-three metre cell.

His restrictions include not speaking to international journalists. Mordechai Vanunu has violated court orders by speaking to Indymedia.ie...

"I would like to get out of Israel and start a new life. I hope the Irish government will help me to receive asylum and much more importantly to act, as a government, [to convince the Israelis] to let me go. That is what I need now. We need someone to ask the Israeli government to let me go. If I were to come to Ireland, I would like to write my book. I have an obligation to write my book for people who want to know my story. I would like to speak to people about anti-nuclear weapons, to speak about peace, and, if I can, to enter university to learn and teach."