On Thursday, the 3rd of July, Mary Kelly walked out of Kilrush Circuit Court a free woman, to the sound of the loud cheers of a crowd of delighted anti-war activists and supporters. She had been charged on two counts – trespass (by going over the perimeter fence at Shannon) and criminal damage to a U.S. Naval aircraft that had landed at Shannon for refueling. The jury found her guilty on the much less serious charge of trespass, with the judge adjourning sentencing until October. They could not, however, reach the required ten-two majority verdict on the criminal damage charge, finally stating that they had reached deadlock and that there was no prospect of reaching agreement. Despite strenuous efforts by the prosecuting counsel throughout the four-day trial to discredit the defence, a significant portion of a jury made up of ordinary members of the Irish public could not find it in their hearts to criminalise Mary Kelly.

A report in the Sunday Business Post on April 29th stated that the Starbucks chain of coffee shops intended on opening up several outlets in Ireland. I took a dictaphone out to some independent cafes in Dublin and asked people what they thought about the potential arrival of this cocoa behemoth.

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Off site Links
Starbucks
I hate Starbucks
Organic Consumers campaign against Starbucks
Global Exchange Starbucks Campaign
Starbucks and Union Busting
Onion Article on Starbucks

Shannon Airport is the destination again on Saturday 21st of June for a National Demonstration called by the Cork Anti-War Campaign against the continued US Military use of the Airport. Buses are travelling from Cork and Dublin.

The demonstration will be complimented by a party/gathering called by SOS at what was previously the site of the Shannon Peace Camp and by a Catholic Worker Peace Walk. SOS have issued an open invitation for people interested in contributing to the party and in a statement and interview have outlined their novel approach.

Court cases centring on events at previous Shannon demonstrations and direct actions continue, as do efforts to raise funds for those facing charges and fines. These include a pub quiz in Dublin on Thursday 19th June, and a concert in Dublin on Tuesday 17th.

An abundance of material continues to be published on Indymedia on the subject of the ongoing war in Iraq and protests and actions in opposition to it including these audio interviews with Caoimhe Butterly, who has recently travelled there.

Comment on this feature

In March 1849, several hundred starving people set out on a desperate walk from Louisburgh in County Mayo, Ireland. Their destination was a mansion where dinner was being served to the Board of Guardians who had the powers to release food or issue certificates of destitution to give entry to the workhouse. The Louisburg people were denied both. On the return journey as many as a hundred men, women and children died.

The Famine/Peace Walk Walk organised by Afri (Action from Ireland) took place from Doolough to Louisburg, Co Mayo on Saturday 31st May to commemorate this event and raise awareness around issues of world poverty and the arms trade. Walk leaders were Brendan Forde OFM who has worked for 30 years in Latin America, Kathy Kelly of Voices in the Wilderness, Nuria Mustafa, an Iraqi exile living in Ireland, and Pat O’Brien, priest, poet and anti-war activist.

Photos of the 'Famine Walk 2003': (1) (2) (3) (4) MP3 Audio of AFrI Speeches at the Co. Mayo Famine Walk Song about the Irish Famine in Co. Mayo, sung by Michael O'Grady: (MP3 stream / MP3 ftp download) - Iraqi Woman Connects the Irish Famine & Muslim Charity on the 1840's: (MP3 stream / MP3 ftp download) - Kathy Kelly Speaks About Her Experience in Iraq During the US/UK Invasion: (MP3 stream / MP3 ftp download) - Father Pat O'Brien speaks about the Irish Famine's relevance today: (MP3 stream / MP3 ftp download) Afri: Action For Ireland (AFrI) / Kathy Kelly's organisation: Voices in the Wilderness / Previous Famine Walks: 1999 / 1992 History of the Irish Famine: The Great Famine 1845-1849 in Co Mayo, Ireland / Interpreting The Irish Famine, 1846-1850 / The Irish ‘Famine’ / The Irish Memorial in Philadelphia, USA Hunger in the 'Developing World' as a result of Debt: Hunger follows crisis in Argentina / Vicious circle traps starving Ethiopians / 40 million starving 'as world watches Iraq' / GM Crops 'May Push Poorest Farmers Into Debt' / U.S. Exploiting Hunger to Promote GM Crops / Iraq Locked into Debt, how will it pay?

One night I was woken up by a Garda, by him booting me in the ribs, because, he said, `I can't be arsed bending down and I don't like touching shit with my hands!'

My name is David and I am homeless. I was asked to write a piece on the reason for my situation and my experiences of being homeless. This is it. I am sorry if it comes across as a sob story, it isn't meant to and I am not looking for sympathy or for people to feel sorry for me. As it is things are looking up for me at last but it probably does come across that way because after a long time spent thinking about it, there aren?t many good things that I can say about it.

Contrary to popular belief homeless people haven't brought the situation on themselves and do not choose to live that way, as is the case with me. After my mother passed on, I decided that I wanted to get away from Liverpool and go back to my home country of Ireland, (having left when I was six or seven because my Mum and Dad split up, my Mum being from Liverpool she took me back to be with her parents.) as I had no family left there, being born an only child and late on in my parents life (my Father had passed on two years earlier and I had no family in Ireland either.) I had nothing to keep me there and I felt I needed a change.

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Threshold has some good resources which indicate that if David were to wait for "social housing" he could wait as long as 12 years. More of this research is at Focus Ireland calls into question (pg. 126) the role that land speculation and the planning process in the provision of "social housing". As part of a response to the situation the evangelical Dominican Friars run the Merchant's Quay Project and the Simon Community and St. Vincent de Paul undertake similar work. However David can rest assured that the proper authorities have the problem in hand. As long ago as the 21st of January 2002, Minister Bobby Molloy, in a criticism of a Focus Ireland report said "[...]There is no escaping the fact that there are far too many people homeless and this Government is totally committed to dealing with the problem of homelessness. We have made considerable improvements in the way we are addressing the problem."